Setting

Miss Cathryn Mann Mr Richard Yarwood Interim Head Teachers St Andrew's Church of England Primary School 116 Churchbury Lane Enfield Middlesex EN1 3UL

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 16 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 first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in April 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 and middle leaders, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body along with three other members, an officer of the local authority and a representative from the diocese to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. The school action plan and other documentation were evaluated. I also carried out a tour of the school.

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Context

There will be a number of staff changes next term. Miss Mann has been appointed as the headteacher of the school from September. The interim headteacher job 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 5316 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Email : Shannyn.sachse@tribalgroup.com share will end at this point. The existing vacancy for deputy headteacher will continue to be covered by a senior teacher until a permanent appointment is made in the autumn term. Six teachers are leaving at the end of this term to take up new posts or start their retirement. This includes three who have held posts of responsibility for leading a key stage or subject. All vacancies have been successfully filled. Six new teachers, including three who are newly qualified, will take up their posts in September or before. A number of additional teaching assistant posts have

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Context

been created to allow for improved levels of support for pupils.

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Main findings

The school action plan shows a clear understanding of the priorities and accurately identifies what improvements need to be made. Targets and timescales are identified which allows you to evaluate the progress you are making. The role of the governing body, the diocese and the local authority in supporting, monitoring and evaluating improvements is made clear.

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Main findings

After a considerable period of uncertainty while a new headteacher was appointed, everyone is now working together. This is particularly evident in your efforts to work more closely with parents so that they can support their children to learn more effectively. They have appreciated this, as seen by positive comments expressed to governors and the increased number of parents who attend school events.

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Main findings

You are regularly monitoring the quality of teaching through formal lesson observations, learning walks and checking pupils’ work. You have identified any teaching that is not consistently good and have taken appropriate action. Training to improve the quality of marking has led to teachers applying the marking policy more consistently. Teachers now provide helpful feedback and pupils are provided with regular opportunities to respond to their comments. As a result, the quality of work in pupils’ books has improved. Teachers plan more carefully taking account of the starting points of all pupils, including the more able and those with additional learning needs. You are aware that there are still inconsistencies in how much progress pupils are making in different subjects and year groups. You are therefore monitoring rates of progress regularly to identify when further interventions are necessary. For example, standards in writing have improved but further

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Main findings

improvements are still needed in reading and mathematics. This is being addressed through further training next term to ensure that pupils can make better progress in these areas.

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Main findings

You have recognised that teachers need to have access to clearer assessment information. A new system for gathering and sharing information is currently used by senior and middle leaders but will be shared with all teachers from September. This will allow teachers to monitor how well individuals and groups of pupils are doing and make further interventions quickly.

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Main findings

The governing body has actively sought an external review to improve how it supports and challenges school leaders. This has been carried out and the actions identified will be shared with the full governing body in September. Further training and support is planned to enable them to play a more significant role in further improvements.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to:

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Main findings

 establish new systems for recording and sharing information so that all teachers understand how to track pupil progress and can identify further interventions allowing individuals and groups of pupils to make better progress

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Main findings

 carry out the actions identified within the external review of governance as soon as possible so that governors can provide high levels of support and challenge to school leaders.

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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 is being supported well by the local authority and the diocese, whose representatives work closely together. A school improvement consultant has worked with school leaders to agree and monitor the implementation of the action plan. He has also helped you to analyse pupil progress data. The school improvement advisor ensures that your evaluations are accurate. Teacher assessments from all key stages have been externally moderated and this has confirmed that teachers are making accurate judgements. The attached diocese advisor from the London Diocese Board for Schools (LDBS) has worked with the governing body to help them understand pupil progress information. She has also arranged to conduct a teaching and learning review to measure the impact that the recent improvements are having on teaching standards across the school. Opportunities to work with other schools within the diocese have been offered to allow staff to share best practice. The

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External support

external review of governance has been undertaken by a national leader in governance (NLG) and further actions identified. A local leader in governance (LLG) will work with the governing body to ensure that the recommendations are carried out. I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Enfield.

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