Setting

Mr Nick Hague, Headteacher Mr Richard Thornhill, Executive Headteacher Jubilee Primary School Tulse Hall London SW2 2JE

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2005

Following my visit to your school on 2 May 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on my findings. 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 when your school was judged to require improvement. Key areas requiring improvement included: teachers’ use of assessment in lessons, and achievement in writing, reading and mathematics. Leaders were asked to improve pupils’ personal and social development across the curriculum and involve pupils in improving behaviour in the playground. School leaders and governors were asked to improve the monitoring of teaching and make sure visits by governors are linked to priorities for improvement.

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Evidence

I met with you and your senior leaders, your school improvement adviser from the local authority and members of the governing body. I reviewed your school action plan, and other documentation relating to planning and teaching. I met with your school council to seek their views about behaviour in the playground and how you are helping them improve their personal, social and emotional development. We toured the school to see pupils in lessons and discuss strengths and weaknesses in teaching.

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Context

Since the most recent section 5 inspection you have increased the level of support from colleagues from the Loughborough Federation. 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 your senior leaders are working collaboratively to focus on the development of high quality teaching and consistency across the school. The reviews of teaching in each phase have given you a clear understanding of strengths and areas for development. There is good strategic planning for teachers’ professional development. Teachers are not bombarded with too many training sessions that lack specific foci. Recent training about different ways to use assessment in lessons is starting to improve teaching. Teachers are more aware of how they can stretch all pupils. Some teachers are more confident to diverge from lesson plans and respond to what is taking place in lessons. You are encouraging teachers to reflect on their pedagogy through their ‘learning logs’. This is helping teachers think about what skills and knowledge they are improving. This needs ‘tweaking’ so that teachers link their commentary about their learning to its impact on pupils’ achievement. You

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Main findings

make good use of the Teachers’ Standards to set targets for teachers and raise expectations of what they and their pupils can achieve.

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Main findings

You use pupils’ ideas to improve behaviour and socialising in the playground. The school council confirm that pupils are developing better awareness of respecting difference and are socialising well at break and lunchtimes. No one is left on their own anymore and the playground is much friendlier. Pupils like the new playground equipment. The new roles of ‘playground angels’ and ‘mediators’ are helping pupils develop new friendships. One pupil felt that being a playground angel is ‘a big responsibility’ but was really pleased with the training for her new role. Themes for assemblies now permeate into work in lessons, guiding pupils’ personal and social development.

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Main findings

You are regularly checking the quality of teaching, including teachers’ planning and marking. Your joint lessons observations as senior team and with your school improvement adviser ensure that judgements about teaching are secure. Through regular, challenging meetings about pupils’ progress you expect your teachers and leaders to quickly identify and address gaps in pupils’ expected and actual progress. You are rightly placing greater responsibility and accountability on leaders to develop teaching and eradicate any underperformance by pupils. The school action plan includes challenging targets for pupils’ achievement and securing 100% of good teaching by the end of this term. The plan has ambitious success criteria and timescales to test how quickly the school is improving.

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Main findings

Governors are determined in helping you and your staff to make Jubilee a good school. They are aware of the need to focus intently upon the quality of teaching and how well teachers’ performance is managed and rewarded. They are starting to ask more detailed questions about how well different groups of pupils are performing, and how this compares with pupils nationally. Governors are reporting how the pupil premium is used but need more detailed scrutiny of how each activity promotes better achievement, for instance, the additionally funded booster groups. They now ask more forthright questions about the quality of teaching and how senior leaders tackle weak performance. Your Chair is leading governors well, for example, in reviewing how governors’ school visits link to priorities in the school’s action plan. The governors’ action plan needs to specify how the impact of additional training for governors can be measured at different points.

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Main findings

You and your governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection.

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Main findings

Following my visit to the school, I recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 tighten the leadership section of your action plan by including specific actions, success criteria and timescales to strengthen governance to a good standard  refine and draw together documents relating to the scrutiny of teachers’ work, lessons observations and their ‘learning logs’ so that teachers can evaluate its impact on pupils’ achievement  develop more precise detail in evaluating the impact of pupil premium funding.

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Main findings

During my visit I discussed with you and your governors that you might consider using Ofsted’s published materials about the pupil premium and effective governance. These are on our website at: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/pupil-premium-analysis-and-challenge-tools-for- schools and http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/school-governance

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External support

The local authority has an accurate understanding of the current progress of the school and the impact of developments since the last inspection. It continues to provide a good level of support, brokered through the use of expertise from the Loughborough Federation of primary schools. You and your leaders are very responsive to the additional support from external advisers. There is a good momentum for change to lead to sustainable rather than ‘quick fix’ solutions. The local authority holds you to account robustly for the pace of change needed to secure good achievement for all pupils at Jubilee Primary School.

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External support

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection. I am copying this letter to your Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Lambeth.

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