Carterhatch Infant School

Carterhatch Infant School Carterhatch Lane, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 4JY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  All children make an exceptional start to their education because of excellent provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.  Pupils supported through the pupil premium, those with special educational needs, or English as an additional language, make outstanding progress.  Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education and they learn to read and write and use numbers exceptionally well. This helps them to make rapid progress in other areas of learning and subjects.  Teaching is outstanding over time. Adults’ support is exceptional. As a result, pupils become independent very quickly.  All pupils are very safe in the school. This is because the site is very secure; excellent links with parents ensure that children settle down in the nursery quickly. They have excellent relationships with each other and the adults around them.  There is outstanding provision for a wide range

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

of areas of learning and activities provided for pupils through the outstanding curriculum. The vast majority of pupils choose independent activities they like to do that are also linked to their interests at home.  The headteacher is exceptionally effective in motivating and setting up ambitious goals for staff through performance management so that each pupil achieves outstandingly well. Staff overwhelmingly support his vision.  Since the previous inspection, the school has improved the delivery of education from good to outstanding under this extremely successful leadership.  The governing body gives unequalled support to the school and has helped it to raise the exceptional performance in almost all aspects of its work, including teaching and children’s achievement, since the previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 19 lessons or parts of lessons. Four were observed jointly with the headteacher and other members of the senior leadership team. Children were observed in both morning and afternoon sessions in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Pupils were also observed working in small groups with teaching assistants.  Inspectors made a number of shorter visits to other lessons. They also listened to and observed pupils and scrutinised work in their books. Meetings with the Chair of the Governing Body, the local authority representative and senior leaders were conducted by inspectors.  Inspectors looked at documents relating to safeguarding, the performance management of staff, the tracking and assessment of pupils’ achievement, records on attendance, behaviour and safety, and the monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning.  There were only four views of parents registered on Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors also looked at the school’s own survey as well as meeting parents at the start and end of the school day. The 31 questionnaires completed by staff were scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Zahid Aziz, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Peter Nathan Additional Inspector Patricia Underwood Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Carterhatch Infant School is larger than the average-sized infant school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium grant is well above average. (The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, pupils from service families and those pupils who are looked after by the local authority.) At this school, most of the pupils eligible for the pupil premium are those known to be eligible for free school meals and this proportion is well above the national average.  The large majority of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds and the proportion who speaks English as an additional language is well above average. The proportion of pupils who

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Information about this school

are White British is well below average. The main languages spoken, other than English, are Polish and Turkish.  The school has a nurture group of 10 pupils, supported by the local authority, from the school.  The school has an autism resource base funded by the school.  The governing body runs two children’s centres with day care and community services that are inspected separately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Focus on improving the attitudes to learning of a few pupils so that they are of the same high standard as the rest of the school.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils make excellent progress in the school. They join the nursery with skills that are well below or below the levels expected for their ages, especially in their personal and social skills, and communication and language. As a result of the very high-quality independent learning by children from the time they enter nursery, very rigorous checks, high expectations and a very good partnership with parents, children make excellent progress. By the time they leave in Year 2, most pupils achieve above national expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupil observations and work show high levels of achievement in a wide range of subjects. In a Year 2 science session, a strong focus on practical work, such as looking at different types of materials and their qualities, enabled excellent progress. Pupils were given chances to touch and then discuss the softness of cotton and hardness of metals among themselves. As a result, they

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

rapidly improved their speaking and listening skills.  Results dipped in 2012, due to cohort specific issues, but were still above national expectations. However, work seen in the books, and the most up-to-date figures, show pupils are making accelerated progress to achieve very well this year.  Through varied topic work, pupils enjoy diverse and very wide-ranging experiences. For instance, in an outstanding guided reading session in Year 1, all pupils with a wide range of ability were able to make accelerated progress in reading because of excellent planning that catered for all their needs, and through the outstanding adult support. More-able pupils were able to make full sentences and then had the opportunity to write them successfully so that they improved their literacy skill outstandingly well.  Pupils have an opportunity to learn through activities such as gymnastics and, as a result, they

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

show exceptional skills in this area. This was very well demonstrated in Year 2 physical education session in gymnastics, when a child showed the ‘arch’ position very confidently.  Pupils who have special educational needs and those who are eligible for free school meals are exceptionally well supported. All adults very carefully plan according to each pupil’s needs and check their progress meticulously. They give them guidance that closely matches their particular needs and tasks that are hard but within their ability. As a result, these pupils make outstanding progress.  The achievement of all significant groups of pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language and White British, is equally strong. Equality of opportunity is clearly demonstrated by the way the school cares well for all its pupils and offers them the same level of challenge and high expectation, and ensures that there is no inequity.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 There is an excellent focus on the early development of pupils’ love of learning and reading skills, such as through the school library that has a wide range of books that are very well labelled so that pupils can find books that match their ability. This contributes very positively to raising their achievement even further across the different areas of learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching in the school is of a very high standard. Teachers plan a greatly enjoyable and wide range of activities for pupils to develop their reading, writing and mathematical skills, and investigative work, such as in the nursery planting vegetables, with children pondering over questions such as, ‘What does the plant need to grow?’  Teachers have very high expectations of pupils; staff are well trained, they have appropriate subject knowledge, including in mathematics, and they offer the right challenge and encourage pupils to be independent.  Teachers and other adults accurately focus on the pupils’ language development as most pupils come with little knowledge of the appropriate language skills. From when they start at the school, adults emphasise questioning to extend both learning and language development through play. This is an essential part of the early years’ organisation. As a result, children make

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

accelerated progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage, which then continues through Key Stage 1.  Staff listen carefully and respond to pupils at just the right level of understanding and development. In a mathematics session, the teacher skilfully changed the emphasis of the learning when a child explained the difficulty of adding numbers when going ‘forward’. As a result, the teacher focused on this aspect. This helped all pupils to understand this concept very quickly and gain confidence in adding numbers.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, the outside area is used exceptionally well to encourage children’s independent investigative skills and their physical development. They learn to share and take turns, as well as to appreciate mathematical language through practical activities such as pumping out water from underground, woodwork, using kitchen utensils to strengthen the muscles in their hands, arms and legs, and thus improve their coordination and physical

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

development.  Pupils’ progress is tracked termly in each of the subjects. Through whole school moderation half termly, staff observe and identify potentially achievable next steps and share this information with other staff. This underpins all children's excellent progress including those with special educational needs, those eligible for free school meals and those who speak English as an additional language.  Pupils and adults make very good use of new technology such as tablet computers. As a result, they are able to review, share and improve strategies with each other so that pupils make even better progress in those areas of activities monitored, such as physical education, writing, peer assessment, self-assessment and outdoor provision.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour is mostly good in the classroom and excellent in the playground. The pupils work well in groups. This has a good impact on their learning as they want to experiment with things themselves without any adult help. However, very occasionally, some pupils in a few lessons in Key Stage 1 lose concentration or are not focused well enough. As a result, learning for them is not as fast as the rest of the pupils in the school.  Staff fully understand the importance of providing pupils with a strong sense of security. They do this by ensuring they have familiar people caring for them who understand their needs at all times. This process starts very early when staff make home visits even before the children begin attending the nursery. Strong, familiar routines also help pupils, including those with few social skills and special educational needs, to feel very secure and confident.  Children explore confidently and show curiosity in all that is around them in the Early Years

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

Foundation Stage. Discussion with parents and the school’s own survey confirmed that parents feel that their children are very safe in the school because the site is very secure and there are plenty of staff to look after the children.  Staff are alert and manage unwanted behaviour effectively. They are working to make behaviour outstanding by using a ‘tool kit’. This is designed to improve learning and provide motivation to succeed. However, this still needs to be fully embedded. Staff are upbeat and promote pupils’ positive behaviour at all times. They attract pupils’ attention whenever necessary and talk about appropriate behaviour with pupils to reinforce positive messages. As a result, there are very few bullying or racist incidents. Any are dealt with very effectively.  Pupils with special educational needs are very well integrated into the daily routines. They have excellent relationships with each other and the adults around them, and as a result they make

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

outstanding progress in their learning .  The school has a high profile on attendance. It has been successful in improving attendance and punctuality since the previous inspection and it is now broadly in line with the national average. This is due to the efforts of outreach workers, the attendance officer being on the gate checking who is late and reward systems for those whose attendance is high, such as an attendance cup or attendance teddy bear.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has a strong vision for developing the school and takes on any opportunity to improve the delivery of education for the benefit of all pupils in his school. He is a great motivator. Since the previous inspection, and under his leadership, the school has accomplished outstanding outcomes for its pupils in achievement through improved teaching. As a result, parents feel that this school makes a very good contribution towards helping their children to be ready for the next stage of their education.  The senior leadership and governors are zealous about the provision they offer. They are constantly checking all aspects to improve the school through review days when all members of the governing body and senior leaders from the school get together and agree priorities for improvements, such as the new curriculum to be implemented from 2015.  The leadership of teaching is outstanding. This is because teachers’ targets are very well

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The leadership and management are outstanding

monitored and reviewed through excellent performance management. Teachers’ pay is linked with annual appraisal that takes into account targets set to meet pupils’ needs and the school.  The school is self-reflective in its teaching practices. For example, in the Early Years Foundation Stage, all learning takes place at the behest of the children and adults follow them. In Key Stage 1, all classes have clear planning structures displayed on the walls, with a key focus on literacy, numeracy, vocabulary, learning outcomes and challenging tasks, so that pupils can see the purpose of being there.  There is a strong commitment towards staff development. Staff have regular appraisals and opportunities to attend courses from a choice of at least 60 available from the local authority. They plan activities and experiences relevant to the pupils’ developmental needs and skilfully support and challenge their development. Consequently, almost all pupils make excellent

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The leadership and management are outstanding

progress.  The school has excellent working partnerships with other professionals. As part of the children’s centre campus they have easy access to them. They have an excellent relationship with the neighbouring special educational needs school and cooperate very well to support these pupils’ needs.  There are excellent opportunities for pupils to enjoy extra-curricular activities such as horse riding. There is high-quality provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through sharing their home life through pictures taken by the camera provided by the school, as well as appreciation of knowing about other cultures and visiting places of worship such as a church and a temple.  The school receives light touch support from the local authority which has confidence in the school’s own ability to sustain its high-quality development.  The governance of the school:  Governors come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, such as education, health

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The leadership and management are outstanding

and safety and finance. They know what happens in the school. They undertake regular training which helps them to challenge school leaders very effectively and contributes to the outstanding achievement of pupils. Governors make sure there is excellent provision for safeguarding, and child protection requirements are in place. Through scrutiny of the school’s finances, governors are well aware of how effectively money is used to support pupils’ learning. They are well informed about the quality of teaching and the progress pupils are making. Governors know about performance management and its impact on remuneration for teachers. Governors know the impact of how well the pupil premium funding is spent and how extra support staff are deployed to improve achievement for this group. They are well aware of the use of new primary school sports funding and work in partnership with the local authority to provide additional training through professional support to improve pupils’ physical

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The leadership and management are outstanding

education and well-being and their knowledge of how to adopt healthy lifestyles.

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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 101983 Local authority Enfield Inspection number 433148

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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 Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 333 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jane Dookheran Headteacher Andrew Boyes Date of previous school inspection 18 November 2010 Telephone number 020 880 46886 Fax number 020 8373 7323 Email address aboyes@carterhatch-inf.enfield.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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School details

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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School details

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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School details

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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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

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

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