Deanesfield Primary School

Deanesfield Primary School and Nursery Queen’s Walk, South Ruislip, Middlesex, HA4 0LR

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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 Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils across the school make good progress from their starting points because teachers create a positive climate for learning with lessons that are creative and that build on pupils’ prior learning.  In 2011, the numbers of pupils who gained higher levels in mathematics in the end of Key Stage 1 tests and the expected levels in writing in the end of Key Stage 2 tests were significantly above average.  Middle ability pupils made outstanding progress in English across Key Stage 2 in 2011.  Close monitoring of teaching by phase leaders has ensured that teaching in the school remains good.  The school is a friendly community where pupils and staff interact well and where pupils enjoy learning new things.  Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They have positive attitudes to learning and enjoy good opportunities to develop creative and personal skills which prepare them well for life after school.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The governing body knows how well the school is doing in relation to others. It offers good support and challenge to the school, holding senior leaders to account well.  Senior leaders have worked successfully to address the dip in achievement in English and mathematics at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 in 2012.  The school works effectively with other schools to improve teaching practice.  Light touch support from the local authority has helped the school to improve its checks on its effectiveness and the quality of teaching in reading and writing.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always use assessment information well to match work closely to all pupils’ abilities, so that a small number of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are not always as well supported as possible.  Work is not always at the right level of difficulty for pupils and the pace of learning in lessons is, occasionally, too slow.  Leaders do not use assessment information as rigorously as possible to accelerate progress for pupils particularly in reading in Key Stage 1 and for some disabled pupils and those with special educational needs.  The gaps between pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and their peers, while closing, are not closing at a rapid enough rate.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 26 lessons over the two-day inspection across all phases and key stages. Some of these observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders.  Sports Day for some pupils took place on the second day of the inspection.  Meetings were held with pupils, senior and middle leaders, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors held informal discussions with parents and carers. They also took account of 64 responses to the Parent View online survey, and 45 questionnaire responses from staff.  They looked at pupils’ work in lessons, and also scrutinised pupils’ books with the phase leaders and headteacher. Inspectors heard pupils reading and observed them in class and around the school.  A wide range of school documentation was considered. This included information relating to the attainment and progress of pupils now in the school, the management of staff performance,

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Information about this inspection

records of lesson observations, the school’s website, the school’s action plans, professional development of staff, the school’s self-evaluation, local authority reports, behaviour records, the minutes of governing body meetings and safeguarding information.

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Inspection team

Najoud Ensaff, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Alastair Mac Mecken Additional Inspector Kanwaljit Singh Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Deanesfield is much larger than the average-sized primary school and numbers have increased since the last inspection.  There has been a restructuring of the leadership team since the last inspection and a significant number of changes in teaching staff.  The school has below average stability, with a higher than average proportion of pupils entering and leaving the school during their school life.  The majority of pupils are White British with the remainder coming from a range of other ethnic backgrounds. A larger than average proportion of pupils speaks English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported through school action is below the national average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above the national average.  There is a specialist resource unit on site which has room for 12 pupils with severe speech and

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Information about this school

language difficulties.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, in the care of the local authority or with a parent in the armed services) is just below the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching to outstanding by ensuring that:  teachers always use assessment information to match work closely to pupils’ abilities so that disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are better supported and middle and high ability pupils are always well challenged  learning moves at a suitable pace in all lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise leadership and management to outstanding by ensuring that leaders always use assessment information rigorously to:  improve pupils’ progress in reading, particularly in Key Stage 1, and to increase the rates of progress for the small number of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who make less progress than others  eliminate remaining gaps in attainment between pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and their peers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter nursery with varying skills. About a third of children entering Reception classes come from other pre-school settings.  Pupils make good progress from their starting points across the school so that when they leave in Year 6 their attainment in English and mathematics is at least in line with the national average. For those pupils without special educational needs or who are not known to be eligible for free school meals, their attainment is above average.  Work in books indicates that pupils are making good progress in both English and mathematics, although work is more consistently well matched to pupils’ abilities in mathematics. Current school information suggests that attainment in mathematics is stronger than in English, particularly in the upper Key Stage 2 classes, and that progress in Key Stage 2 and the Early Years Foundation Stage is stronger than in Key Stage 1.  Up to a third of pupils who joined the school leave in Years 5 and 6 to join schools in

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The achievement of pupils is good

neighbouring boroughs where there are secondary grammar schools. These are predominantly more able pupils. There are an above average number of pupils who have statements of special educational needs in these years. As a result of both of these factors, the overall levels reached by pupils in Years 6 and 5 in particular are lower than nationally.  In 2012, pupils’ performance in the Key Stage 1 phonics (linking sounds and letters) screening check was better than in other schools nationally. Projected figures from the school indicate that pupils in Year 1 will perform even better this year. Attainment in reading by the end of Key Stage 2 is broadly in line with the national average.  The school has addressed the dip in attainment and progress for Year 2 and Year 6 pupils last year. While White British pupils in particular did not perform well, current school information indicates that pupils are making good progress in almost all classes. Pupils who speak English as

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The achievement of pupils is good

an additional language make similar progress to their peers and those from ethnic minorities also make good and sometimes outstanding progress because they receive good support and are keen to learn.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs often make good progress, but in a small number of instances, some of these pupils make less progress. This is because teachers do not consider pupils’ abilities and needs carefully enough and do not provide effective enough support or set work at the right level for these pupils.  Almost all pupils who attend the specialist resource unit make good progress, as a result of effective checks on their provision and good quality teaching and support.  The gap in attainment between pupils in Year 6 who were known to be eligible for free school meals and their peers closed last year, so that pupils eligible for the funding were doing better than their classmates in English and were just four months behind in mathematics. Pupils known

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The achievement of pupils is good

to be eligible for free school meals continue to make good progress in almost all classes but because of historical underachievement there remain gaps in attainment between them and their peers of up to three terms.  More able pupils at the school make good progress, although, occasionally, because work is not as well matched as possible to their abilities, the pace of learning slows for them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching over time ensures that pupils make good progress from their starting points. Teachers have positive working relationships with pupils, who behave well in almost all lessons so that learning proceeds without interruption. As a result, pupils achieve well.  Teachers provide pupils with work that builds on pupils’ prior learning and offers them good opportunities to share their learning and develop their communication and literacy skills, across subjects. Where teaching is strong, learning goals and tasks are at the right level of difficulty for all pupils. The best teaching also stimulates pupils’ imagination, makes learning meaningful, and provides pupils with the right level of challenge so that learning moves at a brisk pace.  For example, in a well-planned science lesson in Year 5, the teacher considered pupils’ different abilities well, used open questions to challenge pupils and motivated them effectively. Pupils

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The quality of teaching is good

shaped their own learning by generating ways of measuring how successful their ‘shaky hand tester’ design was. As a result, they made good and better progress.  While teachers plan lessons that increasingly develop pupils’ independence, they do not always set work at the right level of difficulty or move learning on for all pupils at the right time. This means that progress for some pupils, particularly in reading in Key Stage 1, is not as good as it should be, and a small number of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs or who are known to be eligible for free school meals do not always make enough progress.  Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly, often providing pupils with effective guidance about how to improve. Particularly in Key Stage 2, pupils are given the opportunity to respond to teachers’ written comments. As a result, they make good progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are well motivated at Deanesfield. As several said, they enjoy learning ‘new things’. Their work is well celebrated and walls are covered in their impressive art work and writing.  Pupils focus well in almost all lessons, and they work hard. This makes a strong contribution to their good achievement. School records of behaviour and responses by pupils and parents and carers indicate that this good behaviour is usual for pupils at the school.  Behaviour around the school is also good. Pupils are friendly, welcoming, polite and respectful to adults and to one another. Behaviour is not yet outstanding because in lessons where teaching is less strong, pupils occasionally lose attention.  Pupils report that they feel safe at school because the site is secure and teachers look after them well. One pupil summed up how several felt: ‘Everybody cares for you so you don’t feel lonely.’  Pupils know how to keep safe, when walking or cycling to school, and older pupils know how to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

keep safe when using the internet. They understand about physical, verbal and cyber bullying. They say that any rare instances of bullying are effectively dealt with, and several pupils spoke openly about how this contrasted with their experiences at other schools.  Most parents and carers agree that the school keeps their children safe, and that their children are well looked after and happy in the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Changes in the way in which the governing body operates have allowed it to understand the school better and to offer more effective support and challenge to senior leaders. This, alongside a restructuring of management, has helped to ensure that staff are being held to account for pupils’ achievement. It ensures there is no discrimination, all pupils have the same opportunities and underperformance is being tackled.  School leaders have a broadly accurate view of the school, with school action plans in place which are focused on the right priorities. They set challenging, quantifiable targets which are easy to measure, and these are helping the school to move forward.  Senior leaders make regular checks on the quality of teaching and marking as well as the planning of learning. They provide useful feedback to staff, setting them clear targets and providing them with relevant training which is helping to improve the quality of teaching for the

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The leadership and management are good

many new staff. Pay progression is securely linked to performance. Phase leaders hold formal meetings with teachers every term to review pupils’ progress, and this is helping them to close gaps in the learning and attainment of groups of pupils.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills effectively through a range of subjects as well as regular music and art activities, visits and assemblies.  The school works effectively with parents and carers, for example through offering parent workshops and providing weekly newsletters about events, as well as through fund-raising and social activities run by the ‘Friends of Deanesfield’.  A number of parents and carers who responded to the online Parent View survey expressed some dissatisfaction over the school’s response to concerns and information about progress. The inspection team found that useful information relating to the topics covered in all subjects and

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The leadership and management are good

pupils’ progress in core subjects is provided by the school, and that the internal parent survey conducted by the school had a much more positive satisfaction rate.  Leadership and management of the specialist resource unit are effective. This ensures that provision for these pupils and their progress are good.  Senior leaders have used assessment information well to address the dips in achievement last year. However, they do not use this information consistently well to increase rates of progress in reading for pupils, in Key Stage 1 and for a small number of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs or who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is both supportive of the school and asks searching questions of it. Governors, through training, have an improving understanding of the school’s work, including the quality of teaching in the school. They discuss how well the school is doing in comparison

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The leadership and management are good

to others in the country, for example about the achievement of pupils in 2012. The governing body has a clear oversight of how well teachers are doing, ensuring that pay and promotion for staff are closely linked to the good achievement of their pupils and that underperformance is being tackled. It oversees the school’s finances well, ensuring that the school’s budget does not fall into deficit and that pupil premium funding is spent appropriately so that it is beginning to make a positive difference to these pupils. The governing body ensures that safeguarding meets requirements and that staff and pupils work in a safe environment

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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 102377 Local authority Hillingdon Inspection number 412087

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 591 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Bob Alley Headteacher Kristina O’Sullivan Date of previous school inspection 14 July 2009 Telephone number 020 88452715 Fax number 020 88456833 Email address admin@deanesfieldschool.org.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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