Setting

Alan Millington Headteacher Ravenstone Primary School Ravenstone Street Balham High Road London SW12 9SS

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School

Following my visit to your school on 16 December 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in October 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to:

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School

 ensure the post-Ofsted action plan places more emphasis on how teachers will improve learning in lessons for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs  ensure the work of the special educational needs leaders is linked more closely with the work of other leaders  increase the time and frequency with which leaders spend coaching, monitoring and holding staff to account for the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress. 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 5307 Direct email : rachel.evans@tribalgroup.com

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with you, the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 phase leaders, the co-chair of the governors’ whole child committee, a group of teachers, and two representatives of the local authority, to discuss the action taken since the last inspection. I met with the headteacher of Belleville Teaching School Alliance, the special educational needs leaders and an external consultant who supports their work. I joined you in making some brief visits to lessons to look at pupils’ work. I evaluated your post-Ofsted action plan and reviewed other relevant documentation. I also spoke with the Chair of the Governing Body before the visit.

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Context

You have made considerable changes since the last inspection. The Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 phase leaders have informally taken on the responsibility of the deputy headteacher who is absent due to illness. The school’s special educational needs department is being lead in the short term by the substantive coordinator with support from a temporary member of staff and an external consultant. You are in the process of formally appointing two temporary deputy headteachers and are planning to temporarily promote two teachers to oversee the leadership of mathematics. An additional teacher has been recruited to teach Year 6 for three days a week, releasing the Key Stage 2 phase leader to focus on leadership responsibilities.

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Main findings

You have responded quickly to tackle the areas for improvement in the last inspection and these are included in the post-Ofsted action plan. The actions in the plan are monitored frequently and evaluated by a Task Group which has met twice since the last inspection to discuss the action plan and assess its impact on improving teaching and pupils’ progress. The Task Group is comprised of various stakeholders to ensure the action plan is evaluated objectively and next steps are agreed. However, although the plan has a focus on improving the availability of assessment information about disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, it does not place sufficient emphasis on how teachers will be supported to improve their learning in lessons.

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Main findings

You are improving how teachers set work for pupils of different abilities. Teachers are helping pupils to respond to their written comments, but this is not being implemented consistently in all classes. Staff from the teaching school have recently started to work intensively with Year 4 teachers to improve their classroom practice, but it is too early at this stage to assess the impact of this support.

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Main findings

Phase leaders have been coached to accurately assess the quality of teaching, by looking at pupils’ work, and evaluating the accuracy of teachers’ assessments. They have created a programme to monitor teaching and coach teachers. However, you have rightly identified that more formal arrangements need to be in place to increase the frequency and time available for phase leaders to do this work. Teachers’ performance management arrangements are now more closely linked to the quality and impact of their teaching.

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Main findings

Pupils’ targets are more challenging and realistic. Phase leaders have developed a new system to track the progress of pupils and pupil groups every half term. However, this work has been unnecessarily duplicated by the leaders of special educational needs. You have recently audited the current systems used to identify patterns of pupils’ behaviour and are using this information to plan future improvements.

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Main findings

Governors have radically changed how they work. They have been trained to understand pupil progress information and are better informed to effectively challenge leaders. They now have two full governing body meetings each term, with one meeting solely focused on the impact of the actions to improve the school so that it will be judged ‘good’ at its next inspection. A formal review of governance is scheduled for early January 2014. In the interim, governors have proactively self- assessed their skills and re-organised their linked roles to match the development needs of the school.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

You are well supported by the local authority, Belleville Teaching School Alliance and external consultants. Their work is coordinated by you and the local authority to ensure the support is integrated and coherent. Since the inspection, the local authority has helped you to develop the skills of phase leaders to lead the improvements recommended in the last inspection. It has completed a teaching review, audited behaviour in the school, and set up the Task Group. The local authority has also helped you make links with an outstanding teacher to share good practice. The teaching school is providing on-going targeted training and support to leaders and teachers to increase the school’s capacity to rapidly improve teaching within the shortest possible time.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Wandsworth.

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