St John and St James CofE Primary School

St John and St James CofE Primary School Isabella Road, Hackney, E9 6DX

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 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 an outstanding school.  Senior leaders, managers and governors lead the school exceptionally well, ensuring that teaching and achievement are of a high standard.  Outstanding teaching inspires pupils to enjoy learning and to develop excellent personal skills.  Skilful marking of pupils’ work contributes to the high level of progress pupils make in literacy and numeracy.  Children begin school with levels of skill and knowledge that are well below that expected for their age. They make accelerated progress by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage.  The rigorous tracking of pupils’ learning, and meticulous planning for improvement, results in outstanding progress across the school. Attainment at all levels exceeds national expectations.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language achieve as well as their peers because teachers and teaching assistants ensure that pupils’ needs are met. This is also

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

true of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, and pupils eligible for the pupil premium.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school is exemplary. They are confident and independent. They feel safe in school and are respectful towards each other and adults.  Parents and carers are pleased with school’s ability to keep their children safe and happy.  Governors ensure resources are well allocated and that pupil premium funding makes a positive contribution to the excellent achievement of the pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 13 lessons, six of which were joint observations with members of the senior leadership team. In addition, the inspection team made 11 shorter visits to lessons to focus on specific aspects.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and attended an assembly.  Meetings were held with a group of pupils, the head of school, Executive principal, subject leaders, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the responses to parent surveys carried out by the school. Members of the inspection team also spoke to parents and carers while they were bringing their children to school.  The inspection team observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including school improvement plans, data on pupils’ current progress, pupils’ written work, the governing body minutes and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Janev Mehmet-Christofides, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Mirella Lombardo Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  A high proportion of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in the care of the local authority, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those from service families. There are no pupils from service families in the school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who are supported at school action is above the national average, as is the proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.  Pupils are from a wide variety of minority ethnic backgrounds and a large proportion speak English as an additional language.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school is part of a federation of schools.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Maintain the high level of standards across the school so existing strengths support the introduction of any new initiatives.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children join the school with skills and knowledge that are well below the levels expected for their age. By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, children attain above levels that are expected for their age. By the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, pupils’ attainment and levels of progress are also above average in both mathematics and English. Their progress is outstanding.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children learn quickly to recognise their letters and sounds (phonics) because of teachers’ focus on play activities that are built around speaking, movement and interactive learning. This leads to confident children in Year 1. For example, pupils confidently talked about mini-beasts and each other’s experiences of insects in other countries. This supported their writing activities on their favourite mini-beast.  Pupils read with confidence, interest and enthusiasm. Their literacy skills develop at a fast pace

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

because of the systematic delivery of language, literacy and communication skills. The phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 shows that children reach levels that are above the national average.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language, and disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, make excellent progress. This is as a result of a well-planned curriculum that addresses their specific needs.  The pupil premium funding is used very effectively to support the high number of eligible pupils by providing funding for extra teaching staff and extra-curricular activities. These pupils make accelerated progress across the school, so that their attainment is at least in line with their peers in both English and mathematics, with some achieving higher than their peers in Year 1.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The quality of teaching is outstanding because teachers have high expectations of pupils, and model excellent strategies to develop pupils’ independence and thinking skills. In a Year 6 mathematics lesson, for example, pupils in pairs were challenged to reorder a range of fractions in a limited time frame. Each pair confidently worked this out in their preferred way.  Pupils learn and develop their skills rapidly because their teachers track their progress regularly and accurately in lessons and move them onto what they need to learn next quickly. Pupils are used to checking their own learning by talking to their partners or by writing on whiteboards and showing their teachers.  Marking in books is of an exceptional quality. Teachers develop pupils’ awareness of how they can build on their learning and feed back to their teachers in their books and during lessons. Teachers actively use language to train pupils to support and praise each other, question each

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

other and ultimately in Key Stage 2, to teach each other. This process is planned across the school and is highly effective.  Teachers and teaching assistants are skilful and work collaboratively. They use positive language to motivate and engage pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and those who speak English as an additional language. Pupils who attend the ‘Rainbow Room’, a specially planned additional resource, learn fast because of the interesting activities they are involved in around their local community. Every topic they study has a local trip attached to it so that pupils can build on their experiences. For example, when learning about safety, pupils visited a fire station.  Positive relationships, and vibrant classrooms and corridors, contribute to a very stimulating atmosphere for learning across the whole school. Year 5 very successfully took part in a debate

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

about education for girls in Pakistan, and visited a news station where they were involved in a press release.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils and their attitudes to learning are exemplary. Pupils attend school regularly and are punctual. They are polite, considerate and have very good relationships with each other and with their teachers.  Pupils very ably talk about how they can keep themselves safe both in and out of school. They know how to apply the principles of e-safety when using computers and how to keep healthy. They describe their school as a happy place that is free from bullying.  Pupils are keen to help their teachers, and they carry out jobs around the school. They apply for positions of buddying, school counsellors and assembly assistants. Year 6 pupils are particularly caring and responsible around the school with younger pupils.  Pupils’ ability to reflect and care for others is nurtured through assemblies and fundraising opportunities as well. For example, pupils apply to sponsor a child in Uganda and organise

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

activities to raise the funds to donate to that child.  The school’s links with local businesses provide pupils with the opportunities to visit and learn about workplaces. They are competent users of information and communication technology. For example, pupils create i-books and i-movies using class ipads. These skills prepare them well for future work life.  Parents and carers highly praise the school and are happy that their children are safe and make excellent progress. A parent whose child had just started in the Reception class praised the school for how well they enabled her child to settle and enjoy learning.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Senior leaders drive improvement at every level of the school. They provide excellent role models for all their staff through their positive attitudes, collaborative style and high levels of expertise.  Processes for monitoring and developing staff are rigorous and consistent. The headteacher empowers staff to develop and excel in their high-quality teaching skills. All staff are committed to providing the best possible learning experiences for all pupils.  School leaders and managers meticulously analyse planning and teaching so that they ensure all pupils enjoy learning through a variety of experiences, which develop them in their local, national and global community.  The pupil premium is allocated effectively to focus on the literacy and numeracy needs of eligible pupils through a range of support, such as extra staffing in classes and specialised numeracy programmes. As a result, the progress made by these pupils is excellent.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The curriculum is a key strength of the school, and is exceptionally well planned and organised by all teachers. The stimulating curriculum ensures that there is excellent coverage of all subjects and makes links across subjects and beyond. For example to bring to life some of the science they studied, pupils visited the 4D Apollo launch experience at the science museum, and kept astronaut diaries.  The school ensures that all elements of spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning is taught through a school-based ‘values curriculum’. Pupils learn about other religions and countries around the world as well as the British culture. Pupils who studied the Victorians visited a museum, which provided them with a chance to re-enact a Victorian classroom. This provided memorable learning.  Discrimination in this highly diverse school is non-existent. The school is sensitive to diversity and disability, and, as a result, pupils are tolerant and respect diversity. Equal opportunities are

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The leadership and management are outstanding

embedded in every aspect of school life. All groups of pupils achieve well, and all staff are supported to perform at their best.  Leaders and managers have a major impact on developing teachers in the federation schools, as well as teachers from across the local authority, through a series of training programmes.  Safeguarding practices meet the statutory requirements.  The local authority provides a series of focused visits which validate the school’s own self- evaluation.  The governance of the school:  The governing body ensures that school leaders carry out their responsibilities effectively to deliver outstanding teaching and secure high levels of pupils’ achievement. The Chair of the Executive Governing Body actively supports and encourages the leadership team. Governors are linked to subject areas and visit the school regularly to carry out ‘learning walks’ and to monitor progress. Governors take part in specialised training provided for them by the local

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The leadership and management are outstanding

authority and can skilfully use data to understand how well the school is doing. They ensure that teachers are rewarded for good performance related to the progress of pupils. They check that that pupil premium funding is allocated in the best interests of the pupils concerned so that these pupils make rapid progress in their reading, writing and mathematics skills similar to their peers.

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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 132137 Local authority Hackney Inspection number 413270

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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 243 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gwen Gutzmore

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Executive Principal

Sian Davies Date of previous school inspection 17–18 January 2008 Telephone number 020 8985 2045 Fax number 020 8985 5768 Email address jclark@johnjames.hackney.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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Executive Principal

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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Executive Principal

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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Executive Principal

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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Executive Principal

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Executive Principal

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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