Nightingale Primary School

Nightingale Primary School Rendelsham Road, Hackney, London, E4 8PH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils make consistently good progress throughout the school in English and mathematics. This includes many from extremely low starting points when they join.  Teaching is consistently good because teachers know their pupils well, plan work which matches their needs and mark their work very well so that pupils always know how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve.  Leaders are passionate that no child in the school will fail and provide a high level of care that ensures pupils are happy and keen to learn.  Systems to check on the quality of teaching are rigorous and regular. This has led to improvements in teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning and behaviour are exemplary and by the time they leave the school they are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.  The staff are totally committed and feel highly valued. They receive excellent support to

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

improve their teaching.  The pupils enjoy excellent relationships with each other and their teachers which results in a very strong sense of community.  Governors are highly effective in checking how the school is doing, challenging it to do better and in planning for the future.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The gap in attainment between pupils who are eligible for extra government funding and other pupils is not closing quickly enough because support is not always precisely targeted to make the most difference.  Middle leaders are not using data to help make plans for the future and are not involved enough in checking on the quality of teaching.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 15 lessons, of which eight were joint observations with the headteacher and senior leaders. In addition, inspectors made a number of other short visits to lessons. They also looked at pupils’ books and observed other aspects of the school’s work.  Meetings were held with the Chair of the Governing Body and another governor and teachers. Pupils in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 took inspectors around the school. The inspectors also spoke to pupils about their reading and listened to them read. A meeting was held with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the school’s own parent survey and spoke to parents and carers on the school gate. There were two responses on Parent View. Inspectors reviewed 24 questionnaire responses from staff.  A number of documents were looked at, including the school’s own data relating to pupils’ achievement in the school year 2011/12 and since September 2012, the school’s self-evaluation

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Information about this inspection

summary and school development plan, planning documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, policy documents and documents relating to safeguarding. The inspectors also looked at the school’s website.

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Inspection team

Martin Marsh, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Patricia Underwood Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  Two thirds of pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding which in this school supports pupils known to be eligible for free school meals). This is well above average.  Nearly all the pupils belong to minority ethnic groups. A third of pupils are from Black Caribbean backgounds and one in eight from Black African heritages. One in five pupils are from other White backgounds with a high proportion of these from the Turkish community.  Three quarters of pupils do not speak English as their first langauge which is well above average.  A higher proportion of pupils join the school at times other than the start of a key stage or at the start of a school year than is found nationally.  One in six pupils are disabled or have special educational needs, about half of whom are on school action and half are supported through school action plus or with a statement of special

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Information about this school

educational needs. This is broadly average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Since the previous inspection the school has restructured its leadership team and its governing body.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Target government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals more precisely throughout the school so that the gap in attainment between them and other pupils closes more quickly.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of middle leaders by:  making sure that they all understand and use data to plan improvements and measure the impact of their work  involving them more in checking on the quality of teaching.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Many children enter the school in Nursery, Reception, and most other year groups speaking very little English and have skills and knowledge well below what is typical for their age. Regardless of their starting points, they make good progress so that they are attaining broadly in line with national averages in English and mathematics by the time they leave Year 6.  The emphasis the school puts on developing pupils’ speaking skills benefits all pupils. There is a strong focus on building vocabulary and ensuring pupils respond to questions in sentences helped by ‘sentence stems’. This contributes significantly to good progress for pupils who speak English as an additional language.  Black Caribbean and Black African pupils also make good progress as do the increasing numbers of Turkish pupils because the school is working hard to engage Turkish families in their children’s learning.  Progress is consistently good in all year groups in the school and rapid in Years 5 and 6.

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The achievement of pupils is good

Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and pupils at an early stage of learning English, receive good support in class and in small groups out of class enabling them to make similar progress to other pupils.  Effective teaching of letters and the sounds they make means children make a good start in learning to read in Nursery and Reception. This continues in Years 1 to 6 where pupils are taught in mixed age groups at their level enabling them to learn quickly and become confident readers with a real love of books.  Although pupils known to be eligible for free school meals were 20 months behind other pupils in English and mathematics based on 2012 Key Stage 2 statutory tests, they still made good progress because their starting points were so low. However, the school acknowledges that they are not closing the gap in attainment fast enough and have put in place more specific support.

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The achievement of pupils is good

This includes additional adults in all classes, one-to-one and small-group support for English and mathematics in Years 2, 5 and 6 and intensive support for individuals following regular reviews of pupils’ progress in other year groups. As a result, eligible pupils are now making more rapid progress and the gap is closing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Excellent relationships between adults and pupils, and among the pupils themselves, are typical of all lessons. As a result, pupils listen to their teachers and each other and learn very well when working together.  Marking is exceptionally good and as a result pupils know what they need to do to improve and produce work that is presented beautifully. Pupils are routinely encouraged to reflect on their own learning and respond to their teachers’ comments. The use of teachers’ questions to check on learning is usually good and exceptional in some lessons.  Lessons have clearly identified outcomes for learning which the pupils are routinely asked to assess themselves against. In many lessons pupils can make choices as to what level of difficulty they start working on and, by the time they reach Years 5 and 6, need very little guidance in making appropriate choices. The most able routinely select the ‘Hot chilli challenge’ activities

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The quality of teaching is good

ensuring they do not waste time on work they can already do easily and so make faster progress and deepen their learning.  Generally the pace of learning is good with a good balance of teacher talk and pupils working on their own or in groups. The school has a planning format which helps teachers to make sure there is a balance of activities in lessons.  The provision in Nursery and Reception, identified as satisfactory at the last inspection, is now good. The planning is strong ensuring that activities outside reflect those inside to suit the needs of different children. There are many opportunities for children to write and adults have the same expectations of children in speaking as in the rest of the school. Children in Reception were seen writing enthusiastically about a fish the teacher had brought from a fishmonger using their knowledge of letters and the sounds they make to spell words correctly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Many children enter the school not prepared for school or to learn. The school does an excellent job in instilling the right attitudes in children through totally consistent approaches to the management of behaviour throughout the school. These approaches are understood by all adults and pupils. As a result pupils have exemplary attitudes to learning throughout the school.  The high standard of care shown to the pupils is mirrored by the behaviour the pupils show towards each other. Pupils feel extremely happy and safe in school and greet adults and visitors with big smiles eager to tell them about their school and their work. They enjoy taking responsibility including being on the school council, taking on prefect responsibilities or just being a friend to a younger child who may be unhappy.  Pupils are courteous and well mannered, feel safe and are proud of their school. ‘I wish I could go to secondary school here’ said one Year 6 pupil. There are hardly any bullying incidents and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

few racist incidents as the pupils respect each other’s differences, cultures and religious beliefs. This shows that the school is successful in promoting equality of opportunity and fairness, fostering good relationships and tackling discrimination. The different types of bullying, including cyber bullying, are well understood and they develop an excellent understanding of right and wrong.  The school welcomes children who find managing their behaviour difficult. They work hard with them and their families and are very successful is helping them to integrate into the school and learn well. Instances of poor behaviour are carefully recorded and analysed enabling the school to spot patterns and identify issues and deal with them quickly. As a result the number of incidents is reducing.  Attendance is average and has been improving over a number of years. There is also a reduction in the number of pupils persistently absent. Pupils are typically punctual.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has developed a team that wholly shares her drive, passion and determination. Staff and governors work as a highly cohesive team aiming to provide the very best for all the pupils. Staff morale is very high and everyone has a real desire to improve.  The quality of teaching is checked rigorously and regularly by senior leaders. This information is used to set targets for how teachers can improve, provide focused professional development and check on the difference this makes. All of this information contributes to the rigorous performance management processes that are clearly linked to teachers’ pay progression. This ensures that the quality of teaching is continually being improved.  The curriculum is exciting and enables pupils to benefit from visits and visitors. Conscious of the needs of some pupils, the school is working with the Goldie Hawn Foundation and has appeared on national television talking about the work they have done on the ‘Mind Up’ pilot programme

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The leadership and management are good

which successfully helps pupils to feel happier and learn more effectively as a result. The school is highly successful in promoting all aspects of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development so they are very well prepared for the next stage in their education.  Middle leaders, especially those who are responsible for foundation subjects, do not understand enough about how well pupils are doing or what the quality of teaching is because they do not have a good understanding of the pupil performance information and do not routinely observe teaching. As a consequence plans are not based on good information and the impact of some initiatives can not be easily measured.  The school values highly the local authority’s good support in giving them an external view as to how well they are doing.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is highly effective. Governors visit regularly and have an excellent

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The leadership and management are good

knowledge about the school which they use to challenge in a very supportive way and help make plans for the future. They understand the close link between the checks on teachers’ performance and teachers’ pay, and what is being done to reward good teachers and tackle underperformance. Governors know how the pupil premium is being spent and know that the gap in attainment is too wide and are checking to make sure that funding is now being used more effectively to close it. They value the support from the local authority in training for new governors and in the understanding of performance data. The governing body gives good support to the school in meeting safeguarding responsibilities, particularly regarding the safety of pupils and the appointment of staff, and the school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet legal requirements.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 100254 Local authority Hackney Inspection number 413029

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 243 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Richard Lee Headteacher Catrina Tilbury Date of previous school inspection 1–2 March 2010 Telephone number 020 8985 4259 Fax number 020 8533 6449 Email address ctilbury@nightingale.hackney.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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