Setting

Mrs Nicola Denton Headteacher Mora Primary School Mora Road Brent NW2 6TD

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2005 to Mora Primary School, Brent

Following my visit to your school on 18 April 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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2005 to Mora Primary School, Brent

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in January 2013.

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Evidence

During the visit, I held meetings with you, the deputy headteacher and Key Stage 1 leader, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. We evaluated the school action plan and looked at data on achievement. We walked around the school together to meet staff and pupils.

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Context

Since the last inspection an external review of governance has been completed. Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5359 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Email :christina.bannerman@tribalgroup.com

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Main findings

You and the senior leaders provide strong leadership. You have responded promptly, with determination and a great sense of urgency, to the recommendations from the inspection report. The detailed action plan identifies too many priorities and attempts to do too much too quickly so that the key priority of improving the quality and consistency of teaching and learning is not given enough prominence. As a result, some actions are having more impact than others. Performance management targets are being used well to improve aspects of teaching identified in the previous inspection report and to provide additional support for teachers that need to sharpen their practice. Training has been suitably targeted on improving teachers’ planning to better meet the needs of the most able pupils and those who speak English as an additional language but it is difficult for teachers to apply the training directly to their

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Main findings

practice. This is because the rigorous systems used to track pupil progress do not identify pupils exceeding their targets or the needs of those at different stages of learning English. There could also be a sharper focus on highlighting pupils’ progress from their starting points so that teachers are clear which pupils need to accelerate their learning as they move through the school.

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Main findings

Actions to improve attendance are working well in the short term. By celebrating good attendance through rewards, displays and assemblies and taking a hard line on denying parental requests for absence, the majority of the classes are meeting their attendance targets. The school recognises that they will need more external support and to appoint an attendance officer in order to sustain improvement over a longer period of time.

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Main findings

Governors have a strong commitment to the school and have responded positively to the outcomes of the external review of governance. They gather a lot of information about the school and carry out their statutory duties well. As a result of the review, they recognise that they need to be more rigorous in following up issues that are holding teaching back and in asking senior staff to account directly for their areas of responsibility.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have begun to take effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 refine the action plan by identifying fewer key priorities, making sure that that improving teaching and learning has top priority

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Main findings

 improve the input of governors by setting agendas for meetings that ask searching questions about the school’s work as well as gathering information.

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Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The local authority works in close partnership with the headteacher to identify where best to target support. The local authority representative is taking the lead in brokering support from a local school to share good practice and draw on different models of leadership. This is near completion. When the school has redefined and prioritised its action plan it will be easier to plan how to share practice most effectively. The external review of governance has allowed governors to reflect on their role and develop a better understanding of how to provide more challenge to the school leaders.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Brent. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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