St John's and St Clement's Church of England Primary School

St John’s and St Clement’s Primary School Adys Road, London, SE15 4DY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 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.  The school’s effectiveness has improved since its previous inspection. Senior leaders have made improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Most pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, now make good progress, particularly in reading and mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are supported well by additional adults. They make good progress like their peers.  Teaching is typically good. Most teachers ask probing questions and check pupils’ understanding regularly in lessons.  Pupils attend school regularly and are very polite to their classmates and adults. They behave well and have good attitudes to learning.  Governors rigorously monitor pupils’ progress and hold leaders accountable for accelerating their progress.  Senior leaders have created an inclusive, vibrant learning environment where pupils have a wide

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

range of creative topics and activities that engage their interests in most lessons.  Parents are very supportive of the school and praise teachers’ supportive and approachable manner.  Pupils’ books are marked regularly with detailed feedback from teachers that provides good advice to help them improve.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ progress in writing is not as good as in reading and mathematics.  Sometimes, teachers do not provide enough activities that stretch pupils to apply their knowledge and skills to solve harder problems.  Middle leaders do not always analyse pupils’ performance closely enough to help accelerate pupils’ progress further.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed 27 lessons. Most of the lesson observations were joint observations with the headteacher and senior leaders.  The team observed behaviour around the school at playtimes and lunchtimes.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and deputy headteacher to discuss the progress that groups of pupils make throughout the school. They analysed the school’s information on attainment and progress.  Meetings were held with other senior leaders, staff and with four governors. The team also met with the local authority’s senior advisor and diocese advisor.  Inspectors considered parents’ and carers’ views of the school through informal discussions at the start of the inspection and the 107 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View).  The team had lunch with some pupils, listened to them read and interviewed some pupils.  The team examined a number of documents, including those relating to the local authority’s

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Information about this inspection

involvement with the school, minutes of governors’ meetings and information on pupils with special educational needs. They looked at attendance figures and pupils’ work.

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Inspection team

Janice Williams , Lead inspector Additional inspector Brian Netto Additional inspector Victoria Turner Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Around 21 per cent the pupils are known to be eligible for additional support through the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for looked-after children, those eligible for free school meals and the children of service families. This figure is well above average. There are a few pupils who are looked after by the local authority, and no pupils from service families currently at the school.  Over half of the pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Most of these pupils are of Black British heritage.  Around a quarter of the pupils speak English as an additional language. This proportion is well above the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is below the national average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is similar to the national average.

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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.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that middle leaders analyse the performance of the pupils they are responsible for more closely in order to speed up their progress.  Improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement, particularly in Years 1 to 6, so that it is outstanding by:  providing pupils with more opportunities to use a range of punctuation and a variety of sentence structures in day-to-day activities to improve the quality of their writing  ensuring pupils are given more challenging activities that allow them to apply their knowledge and skills in solving harder problems  ensuring pupils are provided with more opportunities to read and respond to teachers’ marking.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ achievement is now good. Most pupils make good progress through the school in reading and mathematics, but do not do quite as well in writing.  Children enter Reception with skills that are often below levels expected for their age in most areas of learning. Over the last two years, they have entered with very low literacy and numeracy skill levels. Children make good progress because they are constantly challenged to use their linking of letters and sounds to spell words. Adults model their expectations well and children listen attentively to their peers and adults.  Most of the children continue into Year 1 and enter with similar attainment to their peers nationally. Pupils’ attainment in the Year 1 national phonics check (linking of letters and sounds) was lower than the national average this year, despite being around average last year.  Despite this lower attainment, most pupils, including the most and least able, make good

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The achievement of pupils is good

progress in reading. They have many opportunities to independently read a wide range of texts and discuss their understanding of the content with each other. Pupils particularly enjoyed the ‘healthy minds, healthy bodies’ focus for this half term, where some lessons focused on pupils reading, researching and finding facts about the function of different body parts.  At the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is broadly in line with that of other pupils nationally.  Pupils make good progress in mathematics because the teachers regularly check their understanding and, in many lessons, they frequently discuss their thoughts and solutions with partners or small groups.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language make similar progress to their peers in reading and mathematics because of good small-group support by teachers and additional adults.  In some classes, pupils, including those eligible for free school meals, those with special

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The achievement of pupils is good

educational needs and those who speak English as an additional language, are less confident to write. This is because there are not always enough opportunities in lessons for them to develop their written pieces with a wide range of punctuation and different types of sentences.  Some pupils are starting to make better progress in extending their writing skills because they have a wider range of interesting topics which stimulate them to write.  In 2012, the attainment of Year 6 pupils known to be eligible for free school meals was approximately two terms behind that of their peers in English, and a term behind their peers in mathematics, but, along with other groups of pupils, these gaps are closing quickly.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is typically good because most teachers ask probing questions that provide pupils with many opportunities for deeper reflection before answering. Teachers give detailed feedback that provides good guidance to pupils.  The teaching in Reception is consistently good, with many stimulating resources that enable children to use and apply their linking of letters and sounds (phonics) skills. Children make good progress because teachers and additional adults continuously model the correct pronunciation of words and check children’s understanding regularly.  In well-taught lessons, pupils enjoy tasks that appropriately match their abilities. In these lessons, pupils are fully engaged, build upon their skills and are keen to learn. For example, a lesson combined dance movements using pupils’ previous knowledge about ‘healthy minds and healthy bodies’. This helped increase their learning about the topic, while they enjoyed

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The quality of teaching is good

performing their new routines  In an outstandingly well-taught Year 6 music lesson, pupils made excellent progress in composing and performing their songs because the teacher provided very good guidance and continuous feedback that enabled pupils to be confident in their performances.  Where teaching is less effective over time, pupils are not given enough opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills to solve more challenging tasks.  Occasionally, pupils’ learning slows because there are too few opportunities for them to assess their own learning or that of their peers and independently identify how to improve their work.  Disabled pupils and/or those with special educational needs, including hearing-impaired pupils, are supported well in lessons. In many lessons, additional adults teach these pupils separately with creative resources that capture their interest and attention but still allow them to be

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The quality of teaching is good

included in lessons and learn similar topics and concepts as their peers. As a result, they make good progress in lessons.  Pupils’ books are regularly marked with detailed comments from teachers that help pupils improve their work, but they are not always given enough opportunities to consistently respond to teachers’ suggestions and improve their work to the highest levels.  Pupils at the early stages of speaking English benefit from activities which are well planned to meet their needs and through small-group or one-to-one support from teaching assistants.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are polite and respectful towards their peers and adults. In lessons, pupils are attentive and work well with each other. At playtimes, they play safely and happily with each other. Pupils use climbing equipment and interact well in teams as they develop their cricket and hockey skills.  Pupils attend school regularly and say they enjoy many different activities and clubs for them to attend. Most say that behaviour is good because leaders have ensured that there is an inclusive atmosphere with harmonious relationships among pupils of different backgrounds and beliefs. As a result, there are very few incidences of bullying because pupils have a clear understanding of the different types possible.  Most pupils say they love their lessons because the topics studied are interesting, and they love the new idea of whole-school topics. In a few lessons, pupils are passive and sometimes are willing do easy activities without requesting more challenging tasks.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that they feel safe because there are many adults around. Parents and carers say that their child is safe and enjoys attending school.  Parents say the school provides their children with many activities to get involved in the school. Many describe the school as ‘warm, open and inclusive’.  Pupils know how to keep themselves safe while using the internet and a few say that they would like more activities that involve information and communication technology (ICT).

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have secured sustained improvements since the last inspection. Provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage has improved and children now make good progress. Leaders have ensured that children develop their thinking and their skills with many creative and interactive resources.  The headteacher and the deputy headteacher have worked hard to ensure that the teaching has improved. As a result, pupils throughout the school now make good progress.  Leaders’ evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement is accurate. They have worked well with the local authority and the Diocese to validate their judgements on teaching and identify additional support to assist some middle leaders in their development.  Although senior leaders make checks on pupils’ progress in books, some subject leaders do not thoroughly monitor teaching by analysing pupils’ performance in assessments.  Since the last inspection, leaders have ensured that teachers’ feedback to pupils is more

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The leadership and management are good

frequent. However, phase leaders, some new to the role, do not often check how well pupils respond to teachers’ comments to check if pupils’ work improves as a result.  Teachers’ performance is monitored thoroughly by leaders and teachers are set targets that are linked to the school’s priorities. There are training opportunities for teachers and additional adults to develop their knowledge.  Pupils’ physical development is promoted well through the creative curriculum. In addition to physical education lessons, pupils have dance lessons.  Sports funding is used to employ specialist sport coaches to teach wide variety of sports and to purchase additional sports packages from a local secondary school to broaden their sports awareness.  Pupil premium funding is used effectively to provide additional support, including one-to-one and small-group support for eligible pupils. The funding is also used to subsidise clubs and employ an

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The leadership and management are good

art psychotherapist and play leaders.  The wide range of topics studied by pupils contributes to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. There are many opportunities for pupils to reflect in assemblies, dance, music and art lessons. Consequently, pupils are kind to and tolerant of each other.  The governance of the school:  Governors are dedicated to the school and continuously challenge leaders to accelerate pupils’ progress. As a result, pupils have made more rapid progress since the last inspection. They are accurate in their evaluation of how the school compares to other schools nationally. The governing body clearly understand their roles and have attended many training courses. The Chair of Governors has attended courses that provide further information about her role and most recently she has attended training on headteachers’ performance management. They are aware of the quality of teaching in the school and know that teachers’ salary and targets are

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The leadership and management are good

linked to pupils’ progress. Governors have rigorously evaluated the impact of the support provided through the pupil premium funding. They know that art therapy has resulted in improvement in pupils’ behaviour. Governors know that the sports funding is spent on specialist physical education coaches and are aware of the many clubs and activities that are offered to pupils. Governors ensure that equal opportunities are promoted and safeguarding requirements are met.

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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 100830 Local authority Southwark Inspection number 428821

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 408 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Miranda Wightman Headteacher Sarah Alexander Date of previous school inspection 22–23 March 2012 Telephone number 020 7525 9210 Fax number 020 7525 9208 Email address headteacher@st-johns-st- clements.southwark.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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