West Twyford Primary School

West Twyford Primary School Twyford Abbey Road, London, NW10 7DN

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils’ achievement is good because they make good progress from low starting points and reach average standards at the end of Key Stage 2.  Children enter the Nursery with levels of development that are well below those typical for their age. As a result of good support and teaching, they make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  All groups of pupils, including lower attainers and those who are new to the school and speak English as an additional language, receive high-quality care and support.  The quality of teaching is good. Teachers receive good support from senior leaders and managers to bring about improvements.  Behaviour and safety are good. Pupils enjoy coming to school and they are keen to learn. Pupils from different backgrounds get on well with each other and feel safe at school.  The headteacher is supported effectively by a committed team of senior and middle leaders,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

including governors. Good levels of achievement and teaching have been maintained since the previous inspection.  The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, through the rich and vibrant curriculum, is a strength of the school.  There is strong support for leadership by parents, carers and staff, and staff morale is high.  Governors know the main priorities for the school and provide good support and challenge to bring about improvements.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Teaching is not yet of the highest quality to bring about rapid and sustained progress in all years.  The progress in reading, particularly for the most able pupils, is not consistently good in all year groups.  In some lessons teachers do not always check pupils’ work closely enough to correct mistakes quickly.  There are too few opportunities for pupils to respond to teachers’ comments on their work to enable them to improve it further.  Pupils do not always know and use their targets in lessons to check their own learning.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 21 lessons, of which four were joint observations with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. Inspectors also observed three short sessions, outside of lessons, where adults were supporting the learning of small groups of pupils.  Meetings were held with a group of pupils. Inspectors listened to pupils read and discussed their reading with them.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, senior leaders, subject coordinators, the Chair of the Governing Body and a governor overseeing teaching and learning, and a representative from the local authority who supports the school. In addition, inspectors spoke to parents and carers in the playground at the start of the school day.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and examined a range of documentation including the school’s own performance information, an analysis of its strengths and areas for development, improvement plans, records of the monitoring of the quality of teaching, minutes of governing

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Information about this inspection

body meetings and records relating to attendance, behaviour and safeguarding.  Pupils’ work was also scrutinised to evaluate their progress, the quality of marking and feedback and the curriculum.  The inspectors took account of 24 responses received from parents and carers to the online questionnaire (Parent View). They also considered 37 questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Avtar Sherri, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Velia Hartland Additional Inspector Karen Giles Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  There are significantly more girls than boys in the school.  There is only a small number of White British pupils as the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well above average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, looked after children and children of service families) is above average. The school currently has no one looked after child. There are no children from service families.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported by school action is average; the proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school does not currently use any alternative, off-site provision for its pupils.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  A high proportion of pupils join or leave the school other than at the usual times.  The school provides a daily breakfast and an after-school club for pupils.  The children’s centre, which shares the school site, is managed by the governing body and has not yet been inspected.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding so that all pupils make rapid and sustained progress in all years by ensuring that:  teachers’ marking of pupils’ work always includes clear steps on how it can be improved, and that pupils are given enough opportunities to respond to these comments to further their understanding  teachers always monitor pupils’ work closely in all lessons so that any mistakes and misconceptions are picked up quickly to move their learning on  pupils, particularly those in Key Stage 2, always know their targets in literacy and numeracy and use them in lessons to check their progress towards achieving them.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievement in reading, especially for those who are the most able, by ensuring that they always:  have access, in all subjects, to a wide range of books and reading materials that capture their interest and imagination  have opportunities to develop and apply their thinking skills further to strengthen their understanding of the meaning behind the words they read, and to extend their reading.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with levels of development considerably below the levels typical for their age. Most children are at early stages of speaking English. Children receive good care and support from adults who plan engaging indoor and outdoor learning activities for children to choose from.  Teaching is good in the Early Years Foundation Stage and, by the time they leave Reception, children have made good progress from their starting points. However, because of their low starting points, they leave Reception with levels of development that are below those typically expected for their age.  Pupils make good progress overall in reading, writing and mathematics in Key Stages 1 and 2. However, progress is not consistently good in some classes, particularly in reading. This is because pupils do not always have access to a wide range of books and reading materials to capture their interest. Also, opportunities are sometimes missed for pupils to develop and apply

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The achievement of pupils is good

their thinking skills to improve and extend their reading. Pupils say they would like a greater range of books: as one boy said, ‘We need books you never want to stop reading.’  The attainment at both of the key stages is affected by the large number of pupils who join the school in different years, often with low attainment at entry. Pupils who join the school in Reception attain significantly better than those who join the school in later year groups.  Pupils enjoy reading and use phonics (the links between letters and sounds) well to read difficult and unfamiliar words. In a Years 1 and 2 lesson, pupils made good progress in an engaging activity where they found out for themselves the sounds letters make when they became ‘sound detectives’. Children scored above the national average in the end of Year 1 national phonics screening check in 2013. There are effective small-group and one-to-one interventions outside

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The achievement of pupils is good

class lessons to improve lower-attaining pupils’ reading.  The most able pupils do well, particularly in writing and mathematics, as work is well planned to match their needs. In mathematics, pupils focus regularly on mental mathematics and calculation; pupils in Year 2 particularly enjoyed the timed activity of beating their previous test scores in number and calculation. There are good opportunities for pupils to write at length and to practise their writing skills across the different subject areas.  The school is committed to promoting equal opportunities by ensuring that individuals and different groups of pupils make good progress. Effective tracking systems are in place to identify pupils who are not doing well so they can be given support. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve well because they receive good care and support by teachers and teaching assistants, both in and out of lessons. Overall, there are no significant differences

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The achievement of pupils is good

in the progress of girls and boys, different ethnic groups or those who join the school other than at the usual times.  Pupils with English as an additional language do better than their peers because of the targeted support they receive, including the rich opportunities in lessons for speaking and listening, which helps them to improve their English quickly.  Leaders, including governors, ensure that pupil premium funding is effectively used to meet the needs of eligible pupils, so that they make the best possible progress. As a result, these pupils make good progress, and sometimes better than their peers. Their attainment gap in mathematics has been dramatically reduced so they attain as well as their peers. They are about one month behind in reading, but they are ahead in writing by about three months.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Leaders work together well as a team to ensure there is appropriate support for teachers and teaching assistants to improve the quality of teaching. As a result, teaching is good overall.  The good teaching is often exemplified by planning that is linked to previous learning and meets pupils’ different needs, questioning that tests and furthers pupils’ understanding, and positive relationships in the classroom that support learning. As well, teaching assistants help pupils to make good progress, especially those who struggle in their learning.  Teachers provide good opportunities for pupils to build their vocabulary and use their speaking and listening skills. This particularly helps pupils who have English as an additional language to make rapid improvements. In a Year 3 literacy lesson on poetry, for example, pupils interacted well with each other through drama, expression and music and confidently presented their work

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The quality of teaching is good

to each other.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage children are engaged in a good range of well-planned, indoor and outdoor activities. They have opportunities to interact and talk about their learning. In the Nursery, children were absorbed when counting and subtracting simple numbers; they learned about the meaning of ‘on’ and ‘under’ as they played hide and seek to work out how many penguins were hiding under the table. In a Reception class, a child was eager to share her model of a volcano and explained its important feature: ‘It has a mouth that throws out fire’!  Teachers mark pupils’ work but they do not always include enough guidance on how they can improve it. Sometimes, there are too few opportunities for pupils to respond to the comments teachers write to help them to take more responsibility for their learning and deepen their understanding. In a few lessons, teachers do not check pupils’ progress closely enough to pick

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The quality of teaching is good

up any mistakes or misconceptions quickly. In a lesson on telling the time, for example, some pupils wrote ‘am’ and ‘pm’ next to their digital times and the teacher did not pick up this mistake quickly.  Although pupils in Key Stage 2 have targets on what they need to do to improve in numeracy and literacy, they do not always know what their targets are or refer to them in lessons to check their progress themselves.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. Pupils from all backgrounds get on well with each other and value the cultural and religious diversity in the school. Assemblies provide opportunities for pupils to reflect on their behaviour, attitudes and achievements. Year 1 children were proud to talk about their favourite toys in a ‘show and tell’ assembly to the rest of the school and parents and carers. In Year 4, pupils reflected on the

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The quality of teaching is good

death of Nelson Mandela and learned about equality and respect. There was a considerable amount of enjoyment, awe and wonder among Key Stage 1 children during a ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ puppet show.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning. They are polite, courteous and friendly. They show respect and are keen to talk to visitors about their learning. They enjoy coming to school, reflected in their good punctuality and above average attendance.  Pupils feel safe in school and say that bullying, including racist and homophobic behaviour, is rare and that adults deal effectively with the few incidents when pupils do not behave well. Pupils are very clear about the school’s policy on positive behaviour and welcome the praise and awards linked to good behaviour.  Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe by learning about internet, road and fire safety. They know about the dangers of cyber bullying, as one pupil said, ‘Don’t give your details away!’  Pupils from all backgrounds get on well with each other and break and lunchtimes are calm. Pupils have good manners at lunch and say they enjoy their healthy foods. They show

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

responsibility by being careful not to drop their food on to the floor and by putting away their dishes and cutlery.  Pupils welcome the responsibilities they are given and opportunities for making decisions, for example, as a school council member, house captain or monitor around the school.  All staff responding to the staff questionnaire and most parents and carers responding to Parent View agree that behaviour and safety are good in the school.  Behaviour is not outstanding because in a few lessons some pupils are not always engaged in their learning and sometimes talk over the teacher. This, as one pupil said, ‘spoils our learning’.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides strong leadership and is well supported by committed leaders and managers in her drive to bring about improvements. School staff feel very positive about leadership and the morale in the school is high.  Middle managers are increasingly involved in checking the quality of teaching through book scrutiny, observing lessons and using data to hold teachers to account for pupils’ progress. They know about the main strengths of the school and areas of development.  The school’s self-assessment is mainly accurate and the school development plan identifies the right priorities for the school; it has a good focus on improving the quality of teaching and raising achievement. However, the dates for achieving some of the planned actions are not always sharp enough.  Performance management supports staff’s professional development to enhance their skills in teaching. There is an established link between teachers’ salaries and the quality of their teaching

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The leadership and management are good

and the progress their pupils make.  The curriculum promotes pupils’ key skills well in literacy and numeracy. However, pupils, particularly the most able, do not have access to wide range of books in all subjects and enough opportunities to develop and apply their thinking skills and extend their reading. There are good cross-curricular links between subjects. In a science lesson, pupils developed their understanding of verbs and improved their writing skills. There is a good promotion of pupils’ economic awareness and life skills through the school’s enterprise project, which has links with local businesses. Year 2 pupils sold cakes they made to other pupils and staff to raise money for different charities.  The school has good plans in place to spend the new primary sports funding (additional government funding to support the development of school sports) on high-quality physical education and more opportunities for pupils to compete in school sports, including competing

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The leadership and management are good

with other schools. The school is also spending sports funding to provide high quality team teaching through the Sports Partnership in order to improve teaching capacity long term.  Attendance has been improving because the school works closely with parents and carers, including through good communication with them through regular newsletters.  The local authority provides light touch support for this good school. However, it has worked with leaders to improve the use of data to track pupils’ progress.  Most parents and carers responding to Parent View agree that the school is well led and managed.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors know the school’s strengths and areas for development and provide support and challenge to generate improvements. These include better provision for information and communication technology and the transition from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2.  Governors are kept well informed by the headteacher about how the school is performing in relation to other similar schools and schools nationally, and they are also aware of the performance data available for them to check the information for themselves. They know how teachers’ performance management and quality of teaching are linked to their salary scales. They ensure the efficient management of financial resources and know how the pupil premium funding is used and its impact on eligible pupils. They also know how new sports funding is to be used to promote pupils’ physical well-being.  Governors are keen to enhance their skills and knowledge by attending courses, including

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The leadership and management are good

those on performance data and safeguarding. Their visits to school include looking at learning and how the curriculum is delivered and making safeguarding checks to ensure pupils are safe at school. They ensure that safeguarding arrangements meet requirements.

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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 101875 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 425613

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 306 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Paul Woodgate Headteacher Rachel Martin Date of previous school inspection 23 September 2008 Telephone number 020 8965 6858 Fax number 020 8963 1883 Email address admin@west-twyford.ealing.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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