Setting

Maureen Jarrett Headteacher Betty Layward Primary School Clissold Road London N16 9EX

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 8 July 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report 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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Primary School

The visit was the second monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2011

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Evidence

During the visit, I met with you, other senior leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and two representatives of the local authority. I evaluated improvement plans, records of monitoring activities and achievement data. I visited classrooms with you.

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Main findings

Since the last monitoring visit, leaders have increased the frequency of their monitoring activities. They conduct more regular lesson observations and conduct weekly drop-ins to classrooms. Feedback to teachers following these activities is not as helpful as it could be because leaders do not identify precisely what needs to improve and how. For instance, leaders check that teachers plan a range of tasks to meet pupils’ needs in their lessons but they do not evaluate the impact of this work on pupils’ progress. Support plans for teaching that requires improvement are in place for some teachers but they too lack a deeper analysis of what precisely needs 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 to improve. Leaders do not identify the tailored support and training that is

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Main findings

necessary or set deadlines for follow-up visits to ensure that matters improve quickly.

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Main findings

Leaders have improved some elements of teaching by setting clearer expectations for teachers. Marking and feedback to pupils is more helpful in showing them how to improve. Teachers also identify next steps for pupils. Most teachers now set clearer expectations of pupils in ‘must, should and could’ statements but some expectations for the most able pupils are not high enough. In some lessons, the most-able pupils make slower progress because they have to complete lower level work before they begin the more challenging independent tasks.

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Main findings

Leaders track the progress of pupils more rigorously and have a broad overview of the average progress made by vulnerable groups in each year group which is broadly good. They are also able to identify pupils who are not working at age- related expectations. However, leaders do not analyse the assessment data they collect well enough to identify the slow progress of some groups of pupils. Leaders are not delving deeply enough to plan the necessary actions to address gaps in attainment. For instance between pupils eligible for pupil premium funding and other pupils in some year groups.

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Main findings

Governors are ambitious for the school. They have a good knowledge of the main strengths and weaknesses of the school based on the information they receive. They have received training to analyse school achievement data and compare it to national standards. The local authority and school joint action plan has been finalised and improved following recommendations made following the previous monitoring visit. Governors track the school’s progress against its agreed targets. The governing body is working to improve the school’s communication with parents and carers. Governors identify the need for further training to improve their own effectiveness.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors are not taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection. The school should take immediate action to:

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Main findings

 ensure that leaders evaluate the quality of teaching more precisely in order to identify the guidance, training and support required to improve teaching  ensure that leaders analyse the assessment data it receives more rigorously to identify the slow progress of some pupils  ensure that leaders track the progress of the most-able pupils in lessons and through assessment data to ensure they are making consistently good progress  ensure that the governing body benefits from high quality training to ensure it can monitor and challenge the school effectively. Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The local authority monitors the school’s progress carefully including through a recent review of teaching and learning. It has identified that the school’s self- evaluation does not focus sharply enough on the impact of the school actions to address areas for improvement. The local authority has provided support through a National Leader of Education which has had limited impact on improving the leadership of the school.

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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 Hackney.

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