Setting

Mrs J Clensy Malmesbury Primary School Coborn Street London E3 2AB

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Malmesbury Primary School

Following my visit with Peter Thrussell, additional inspector, to your school on 1 and 2 October 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Malmesbury Primary School

The inspection was the fourth monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in March 2012. The full list of the areas for improvement which were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached and the main judgements are set out below.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Malmesbury Primary School

Progress since being subject to special measures – good

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Malmesbury Primary School

Progress since previous monitoring inspection – good

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Malmesbury Primary School

Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Malmesbury Primary School

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be posted on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Tower Hamlets.

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Her Majesty’s Inspector

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 5323 Direct email :suzy.smith@tribalgroup.com

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place in March 2012

Raise achievement in reading, writing and mathematics to national levels by: - implementing a systematic programme of phonics (letters and sounds) teaching throughout Key Stage 2 - providing pupils with more opportunities to write across the curriculum - improving pupils’ basic number skills - increasing expertise of teaching assistants, especially Key Stage 2 in phonics and sentence structure to enable them to support pupils effectively. By January 2013, improve the quality of teaching, so that the majority is good or better, by ensuring that teachers consistently: - provide pupils at different levels of ability with challenging work and let them know what they are to learn - correct any misunderstandings during lessons when pupils are working independently - let pupils know the next steps in their learning through marking and provide them with opportunities to respond to guidance. Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation carried out by senior staff and subject

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place in March 2012

leaders result in improved outcomes for pupils by: - providing further training in monitoring and evaluation - devising and implementing plans that lead to improved and measurable outcomes for pupils - ensuring the governing body provides a suitable level of challenge to the school’s senior leaders.

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the headteacher, staff, groups of pupils, parents and carers, the Chair of the Governing Body and two representatives from the local authority. Inspectors also heard six pupils from Years 2, 5 and 6 read and scrutinised mathematics and English books from pupils in Years 1 to 6.

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Context

Since the previous monitoring inspection in May, seven class teachers have left and seven appointments have been made. The school has entered into a strategic teaching school alliance partnership with a local school. The alliance will be called ‘Teach East’.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

The school’s data reflect that the school leaders have been successful in improving pupils’ attainment in all years. Years 6 pupils made the fastest progress to achieve average standards in July 2013. The improvements for those pupils in Year 2 were not as noteworthy, although results reflect a strong rise in all subjects. The proportion of pupils who achieved high grades also rose significantly when compared to 2012. A higher proportion of children successfully completed the phonics screening check. However, attainment in writing for a few year groups is still falling behind that of mathematics and reading. Bangladeshi pupils make progress equivalent to others. This is also correct for pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium and those who are disabled or have special educational needs. In lessons, pupils’ rates of progress vary too much. Children’s attainment in the Early Years Foundation Stage is the highest recorded for the school. They made outstanding

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Achievement of pupils at the school

progress in their personal, social and emotional development.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Through the increased use of topic work, there are more opportunities for pupils to write and to develop their numeracy skills. Topics are also providing them with interesting cultural experiences as well as improving their creative writing and written presentation. The use of learning partners is increasing. In some lessons, pupils are working with their partners to resolve problems and create new ideas very well. Older pupils are more commonly assessing how well they are doing in lessons. However, pupils do not work independently often enough.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on the areas for improvement:  Raise achievement in reading, writing and mathematics to national levels – good

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The quality of teaching

Teaching is not enabling pupils to make the progress that they are capable of. The new teaching appointments have secured a stronger level of teaching. Although one outstanding lesson was observed in the Nursery, the proportion of lessons that require improvement is too high and a small proportion of inadequate teaching remains. In the strongest lessons, teachers plan tasks that challenge and stimulate pupils’ interests to learn well. In a good literacy lesson, pupils were challenged to skim and search paragraphs that highlighted the differences of two pieces of text. They effectively discussed and evaluated their findings with their learning partners. However, there are still not enough lessons where pupils are challenged to do their best. Teachers have a good understanding of pupils’ levels of attainment from assessment data and they are using this to initially plan activities for different abilities. There is some effective use of the school-wide ‘chilli challenge’, where the

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The quality of teaching

level of difficulty is mild, medium or hot. These tasks are well known to pupils. However, planning does not always lead to teachers developing lesson activities that are pitched appropriately or are paced well. For example, in a few mathematics classes, teachers often give pupils bigger numbers to perform the same calculations without increasing the complexity of the tasks. As a result, pupils repeat the same activities for too long. The quality of marked work has significantly improved since the last monitoring inspection. More teachers are identifying the next steps for pupils to improve their work, especially in English. However, too few teachers check that pupils are acting on the guidance given. In some lessons, teachers talk for too long, which results in there being less time to complete the tasks. Teachers are developing improved techniques to assess pupils’ learning by asking more probing

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The quality of teaching

questions. They are now correcting pupils’ misconceptions more often by marking during lessons. In some lessons, teachers are not supporting pupils to work independently, especially those students with special educational needs. The use of teaching assistants is improving. They are providing better individual support and guidance for groups. They are more effectively supporting those pupils who are falling behind. However, a few teaching assistants still need close direction to support teaching. Adults in the Early Years Foundation Stage are supporting children to rapidly increase their progress in their learning. The effective and wide support for pupils who are falling behind for whatever reason is making a large contribution to improving pupils’ attainment in literacy and numeracy.

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The quality of teaching

Good changes to the curriculum have resulted in improved opportunities for pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. A topic-based approach to the curriculum has been introduced for all year groups. For example, in Year 4, pupils are learning about the life of Egyptians which covers a range of aspects including: how Egyptian families lived, their lifestyles and the key differences compared to modern life in London. Teachers are developing themes which engage pupils’ interests and improve their core skills, especially their levels of reading and writing. The growing number of related trips and enrichment opportunities has been welcomed by pupils..

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The quality of teaching

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on the areas for improvement:  By January 2013, improve the quality of teaching, so that the majority is good or better – satisfactory

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils say they feel safe and well supported by school staff; parents and carers spoken to also support this view. Behaviour in lessons and around the school is generally good. There are very few disruptions to lessons. The rate of attendance has improved, and is slightly above average. The firmer sanctions for punctuality have resulted in a decreased proportion of pupils coming late to school. The number of fixed-term exclusions is very low and has been for the last two years. Pupils know about the different forms of bullying and who to turn to if they have concerns.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The relentlessly hard work of the headteacher and the senior team has resulted in improvements in pupils’ achievement and the curriculum. They have also been successful in removing a large proportion of inadequate teaching. The teachers responsible for subjects or phases also share the vision of improving pupils’ outcomes well. Although support is being given to staff to improve teaching, this has been hampered by the inability to appoint substantive teachers. The assistant headteachers have made good contributions to the much improved Early Years Foundation Stage, teaching and mathematics. Subject leaders are aware of their roles and responsibilities; although they are not checking their work rapidly enough to assess the impact of their actions, there is still a reliance on the senior team. The school’s realistic yet challenging action plan reflects the need to focus on raising outcomes throughout the school, especially in writing. The good use of data and the

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

sharper checking by the senior team are enabling many good interventions to be rapidly implemented that are improving pupils’ attainment further. The highly supportive members of the governing body are working well with senior leaders to drive through the necessary and sometimes difficult changes to improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. They are scrutinising most of the work of senior leaders well. However, governors need to check the improvements in teaching more closely.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on the areas for improvement:  Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation carried out by senior staff and subject leaders result in improved outcomes for pupils – good

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External support

The local authority is providing timely and suitable support, and is thoroughly checking the work of the school. There has been focused support given to teachers in many areas including checking the children’s standards in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Through various partnerships with local schools, staff have been supported well to strengthen the capacity of subject leaders, improve the science curriculum and to observe stronger teaching.

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