Kentish Town Church of England Primary School

Kentish Town CofE Primary School Islip Street, London, NW5 2TU

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Achievement is good. Pupils make good progress from their low starting points to reach average and, sometimes, above- average standards at the end of Year 6.  Outstanding leadership ensures that any weaknesses in the quality of teaching and pupil progress are quickly identified and addressed. Staff are extremely well trained and work together to raise the levels of attainment for all pupils continually.  Pupils in the two specialist resource bases are particularly well supported to make good progress in their leaning and to be fully included in all aspects of school life.  Teaching is good and, since the previous inspection, an increasing proportion is outstanding. Teachers, ably supported by teaching assistants, make learning fun and ensure that pupils are purposefully engaged.  Behaviour is outstanding. Pupils respect and get on well with each other and with adults. They have exemplary attitudes to their learning

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and all aspects of school life. Attendance has improved since the time of the previous inspection.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development extremely well and pupils are offered a very broad range of enjoyable opportunities and experiences.  Partnerships with parents are exemplary. Parents frequently learn with their children in school, and are regularly helped to support their children’s learning at home. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of the school’s work. As one parent said, ‘The school has offered my children an outstanding and aspirational education.’

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not yet strong enough to ensure that pupils make consistently outstanding progress across the year groups and subjects. Teachers do not regularly tell pupils what their targets are and what they need to do to achieve to reach the next level.  Marking and feedback do not always tell pupils precisely how well they are doing. Teachers do not consistently set follow-up activities to help pupils improve the quality of their work.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 18 lessons taught by 11 teachers. Some of these observations were made jointly with the executive headteacher and the head of school. Inspectors did not observe teaching in Year 6 as the class was on a residential visit at the time of the inspection.  Meetings were held with the Vice-Chair of the Governing Body and three other governors, staff, including senior and middle leaders and groups of pupils. The lead inspector also met with the Diocesan Board of London advisor and spoke on the telephone to a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at school documentation, including teachers’ planning, the school’s self-evaluation and development plans, assessment information, monitoring files, governing body minutes, safeguarding documentation and samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and talked with them about their enjoyment of books.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors considered the 127 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and 32 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

David Radomsky, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Gillian Bosschaert Additional Inspector Sibani Raychaudhuri Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than the average-sized primary school.  A well-above-average proportion of pupils are supported by the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children who are looked after by the local authority and the children of service families).  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported through school action plus or a statement of special educational needs is well above average.  Pupils who have complex physical disabilities are supported through a specialist resource base, which currently has seven pupils on roll.  In 2011, the school opened an additional 16 place specialist resource base to support pupils with autistic spectrum disorder, which currently has eight pupils on roll.  A well-above-average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.

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Information about this school

 A well-above-average proportion of pupils come from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds, the biggest group being of Bangladeshi heritage.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The executive headteacher is a ‘Local Leader of Education’ (LLE) and the school is providing support to another school. Since the previous inspection, the governing body has appointed a head of school to lead the day-to-day running of this school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the proportions of pupils making consistently outstanding progress by:  regularly sharing targets with pupils and helping them understand what they need to achieve to reach the next level  ensuring that teachers’ marking always gives pupils clear feedback on how well they are doing and that pupils are given follow-up activities to improve their work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Most children enter Nursery with skills that are well below those found nationally, especially in language and social development. As a result of good teaching and well-targeted support, children make good progress by the time they start in Year 1.  Pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 is broadly average, but with few pupils reaching the higher Level 3.  Rates of progress across Key Stage 2 are consistently good and sometimes outstanding. As a result, attainment over time at the end of Year 6 is broadly average, with an above-average proportion of pupils reaching Level 5, especially in reading. Attainment in mathematics dipped to below average in 2012. The school has successfully addressed this decline and the school’s tracking information shows that results for mathematics this year are set to be above average.  Following below-average performance in the Year 1 phonics (linking letters with the sounds they

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The achievement of pupils is good

make) screening check last year, leaders undertook a detailed review of the teaching of reading. Consequently, the school arranged additional training for teachers and other adults in the effective teaching of early reading skills. Combined with intensive one-to-one support and encouragement of home reading, pupils’ early reading skills have improved rapidly. Older pupils are keen readers, reaching above-average standards by the time they leave the school.  Pupils in the autistic and the physically disabled resource bases make good and sometimes outstanding progress as a result of carefully planned and individualised support plans.  Other disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are also well supported and make similar progress to their peers. The same is true of the pupils from different ethnic backgrounds and those for whom English is an additional language.  Pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding are supported across the year groups

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The achievement of pupils is good

through additional small group teaching, individual tuition, and opportunities to enhance their personal development. Attainment gaps are narrowing but some inconsistencies remain. The school’s tracking information indicates that the 2013 Year 6 outcomes for these pupils in both English and mathematics will be similar to those for the pupils who did not receive the grant.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is consistently good across the school and the proportion of outstanding teaching is rising. Teachers’ own enthusiasm for learning motivates pupils to learn well.  Classrooms and the outdoor areas are attractive and stimulating. Displays provide prompts to guide learning and also celebrate pupils’ achievements and experiences.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, teachers help children to develop their language skills, creativity and social skills extremely well. Children were seen doing art work on the topic of sea creatures, choosing their own resources to make fish and working together in groups. Adults continually questioned the children, which helped them develop their language and thinking skills.  Typically, teachers plan activities that excite pupils and gain their interest and curiosity. They model effectively what pupils are expected to do. In an English lesson, pupils were palpably

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The quality of teaching is good

enthralled when the teacher quietly told and acted out a scary story with appropriate use of language. Pupils were then encouraged to act out these scenes briefly and share appropriate vocabulary. As a result, they were well prepared and motivated to write their own stories to a high standard.  Cross-curricular links helps to make learning coherent. In a Key Stage 1 class, pupils are currently reading a book about boats. Their interest in the topic was used in a mathematics lesson where they built their own models of boats and practised measuring them by comparing the size of each other’s boats.  Teaching assistants make a highly valuable contribution to pupils’ learning through the effective support they offer to pupils and, particularly, in supporting their integration from the resource bases into the other classes.  Teachers have ambitious targets for each pupil’s achievement, but these are not always shared

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The quality of teaching is good

with the pupils. The pupils are not regularly given overall guidance on what they need to achieve in order to reach the next level in their work.  The quality of teachers’ written feedback is variable and therefore is not effective enough to support consistently outstanding progress. It does not always pick up pupils’ misconceptions, especially in mathematics, or offer clear guidance on how they could improve their work. Follow- up activities to help pupils learn from their mistakes are not always set.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ behaviour in lessons, around school and in the playground is outstanding. Pupils of all backgrounds get on extremely well together and are welcoming and polite to children and adults alike.  Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning and older pupils enjoy supporting the younger ones, for example through the weekly activity where all older pupils read with younger children.  Pupils say that they feel very safe in school and they are aware of how to keep safe, for example when using the internet.  Pupils know about different forms of bullying, including racist and cyber bullying. They value the understanding that they gain during the anti-bullying week and the school has recently done much work to educate pupils about the wrongs of homophobic bullying. Pupils say that on the rare occasion that inappropriate behaviours occur, they are dealt with swiftly and efficiently by school staff.  Exclusions and reported racist incidents are extremely rare.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils are proud of their school and relish the many opportunities that they have to make a positive contribution. For instance, the school council visited five other schools to gain ideas in order to contribute to the design of the new playground. Others are working with staff and governors on the steering committee in seeking accreditation as a UNICEF Rights Respecting School.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 All leaders, including the governing body, together with the entire staff, continuously strive for excellence in all aspects of the school’s work. Central to their shared vision is ensuring equality of opportunity and inclusion for all. The many pupils and their families whose circumstances make them vulnerable are extremely well supported and no discrimination is tolerated.  Staff turnover is very low and morale is high. This is because senior leaders ensure all staff are very well supported through lesson observations and feedback, training, and learning from outstanding practice. Many of the middle leaders joined the school as newly qualified teachers and are now highly effective teachers and leaders.  The executive headteacher is a Local Leader of Education and he and other leaders support other schools to improve. The school is also part of a teaching school alliance and offers training to both beginning teachers and those preparing for headship.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 All staff are involved in the processes of checking the school’s work. Leaders frequently commission external consultants to review aspects of its work and offer expert advice. Consequently, leaders have a thorough understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.  Improvement plans focus on the right key priorities, and the effect of resulting actions is carefully checked. Since the previous inspection, more teaching is outstanding, boys’ writing has improved significantly, and, through focused training programmes this year, progress in early reading is much more rapid. Last year’s decline in the mathematics results in Year 6 has been reversed and leaders have begun working with teachers to improve the quality of their marking.  Leaders frequently check on every pupil’s progress and use the resulting information to provide high-quality support to help any pupils who are not on track to reach their targets. They also use

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The leadership and management are outstanding

this information to hold teachers, and other adults providing additional support, to account for the progress of each of their pupils.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is extremely well developed. It is promoted through the many opportunities within taught subjects and additional activities, such as performing in the local authority’s Shakespeare’s festival, the visit to Paris and regular visits of children’s authors whose books they have read.  The local authority provides light touch support for this good school.  The governance of the school:  Governors ensure that arrangements for safeguarding are robust and other statutory duties are securely implemented. They play a key role in deciding the strategic future of the school. With detailed information from school leaders, governors are well informed about the quality of teaching, pupils’ overall progress and how the school’s performance compares to other

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The leadership and management are outstanding

schools. Governors check that teachers’ salary progression is linked to their appraisal outcomes. They visit the school regularly to monitor its work, and provide both support and challenge to school leaders. Governors usually check spending priorities to ensure value for money. They know that the pupil premium funding is targeted to raise achievement through funding additional academic tuition and personal development opportunities. They have identified that they need to analyse with even greater precision the exact difference it has made to the achievements of those pupils supported by the additional funding.

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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 100034 Local authority Camden Inspection number 413289

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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 Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 273 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gillian Dale-Skey Headteacher Calvin Henry (Executive Headteacher) and James Humphries (Head of School) Date of previous school inspection 26 January 2010 Telephone number 020 74851279 Fax number 020 74851289 Email address admin@kentishtown.camden.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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