Setting

Mrs Misbah Mann Headteacher Aldersbrook Primary School Harpenden Road London E12 5HL

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School

Following my visit to your school on 14 June, 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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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in February 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with you, other senior leaders, a group of teachers, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body and a representative of the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. The school action plan was evaluated along with other documentation. I also carried out a tour of the school with you.

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Context

There have been no staff changes since February. Three teachers are leaving the school at the end of this term and will be replaced by three new teaching appointments. Three newly qualified teachers will also join the school in September. 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 3115316 Direct F 0117 3150430 Direct email: shannyn.sachse@tribalgroup.com

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Main findings

You have accepted the challenge of leading the school to good or better before the next inspection and have made improvements to ensure that this happens. The school action plan shows a clear understanding of the priorities and accurately identifies what improvements need to be made. It is detailed and specific which has allowed you to regularly review and evaluate the progress you are making. The role of the governing body and the local authority in supporting, monitoring and evaluating improvements is made clear. You regularly check that your own judgements are accurate by asking other professionals to assess what impact your work is having. You have set clear targets and are making rapid progress towards them.

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Main findings

You have ensured that all improvements have involved staff, governors, parents and pupils. This has meant that everyone is working together to make the school good. This is particularly evident in the strong links that have been developed with parents. You have successfully communicated how they can contribute to the improvements and how they can support their children to learn more effectively. They have appreciated this, as seen by the very high number of positive responses on Parent View.

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Main findings

Significant improvements in the way you plan lessons and analyse information have resulted in all staff being aware of how well individuals, groups, and pupils across the school are performing. Teachers are now using this information to teach lessons that take account of every pupil’s needs. This has resulted in improved rates of progress and when progress is less than good, it is recognised, allowing further interventions to be made. You constantly evaluate what is working well so that you can extend successful strategies across the school. For example, a system for allowing able learners to move on quickly to more challenging activities and providing more opportunities for pupils to reflect on the quality of their work.

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Main findings

Professional training opportunities have been carefully planned to link closely to the needs of individuals and the action plan for the school. Teachers and middle managers now feel they are more effective due to the high quality training they have received. You are carefully monitoring how much difference this is making in the classroom. This is particularly evident within your VIP programme when senior leaders meet weekly with a designated very important pupil (VIP) to discuss their learning and look at their books. This helps leaders evaluate teachers’ lesson plans and be able to feedback further ideas for improvement.

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Main findings

Governors continue to support and challenge school leaders. They are determined that the school is recognised as good and are work closely with you to ensure that this happens in the shortest possible time. They participate in the training opportunities offered to staff and are well informed about how much progress pupils are making. They monitor carefully the impact new improvements are having on the quality of teaching and learning. Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified in the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to:

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Main findings

 provide more frequent opportunities for pupils to assess their own and others’ work to allow them to improve at a faster rate  extend successful new systems, such as ‘ Golden Tickets’, more consistently across the school so that able pupils can fast track to more challenging activities as soon as they are ready.

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Main findings

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 school has been supported strongly by the local authority. An associate advisor meets regularly with school leaders to monitor the implementation of the action plan. Training for teachers has been provided by the English and mathematics advisors. This has allowed an accurate picture of how well pupils are learning to be acquired. Support from the local authority will stay in place until the school is re- inspected and judged good. An independent data consultant has provided training to teachers, leaders and governors to develop an effective information system that can be shared across the school. Visits to other schools have helped to improve awareness of what outstanding teaching looks like. The Chair of the Governing Body is attending training offered by the National College of School Leaders (NCSL).

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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 Redbridge. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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