Hanover Primary School

Hanover Primary School Noel Road, London, N1 8BD

p.1

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

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils’ achievement is good. Pupils attain above average standards in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6, which represents good progress from their broadly average starting points.  The quality of teaching is good, with examples of high quality teaching. Teachers are enthusiastic and plan interesting lessons that mainly engage pupils’ imaginations well.  Leaders check the quality of teaching and learning rigorously to ensure that all teachers know their strengths and areas for development.  Parents are very positive about what the school has to offer and many are actively involved in supporting their children’s learning.  Governors, senior leaders and teachers are united in their vision for the school. They are ambitious for their pupils and have worked hard to further improve the previously good teaching and achievement.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress because of the very

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

specific focus on early language development and targeted interventions.  Pupils behave well in and around the school. Their attitudes to learning are consistently positive. Attendance has significantly improved and is above average. Pupils say they feel extremely safe at the school.

p.1

It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers’ expectations and, consequently, the level of challenge for individuals are not always high enough in a small minority of cases.  Pupils do not always have sufficient opportunities to show that they have taken to the points made in teachers’ feedback in marking into account.  There are not enough opportunities for pupils to fully develop their skills in information and communication technology (ICT).

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed parts of 19 lessons, of which six were seen jointly with the headteacher and members of the senior leadership team.  Inspectors evaluated pupils’ work and talked to pupils about their learning.  Inspectors held discussions with parents, staff, members of the senior leadership team and other leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and two other members, and two representatives of the local authority.  Inspectors analysed a range of documents, including the school’s checks on how well it is doing, the school improvement plan, documents relating to safeguarding, policies, information about pupils’ progress, minutes of meetings held by the governing body, and records of behaviour and incidents. They also looked at the school’s website and data dashboard, and records of the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning.  Inspectors examined anonymised documents about the management of staff performance.

p.2

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors took account of the 65 responses to the online Parent View survey, as well as discussions held with parents during the inspection and letters from parents. They reviewed the responses to staff questionnaires.

p.2

Inspection team

Kewal Goel, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Lily Evans Additional Inspector Cheryl Millard Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 Hanover is larger than the average-sized primary school.  It is a one and a half form entry (45 pupils per year group) school, plus nursery (26 children per session, both in the morning and afternoon).  There are two classes in Reception, with 23 pupils in each class. Most other classes have 30 pupils.  Over half of the pupils come from a wide range of ethnic heritages other than White British, including pupils with dual heritage, and those from Turkish, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, Somali and other African backgrounds.  An above average proportion of pupils has a home language other than English.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, from forces families and looked after children) is significantly above average.  The proportion of pupils with special educational needs supported through school action is slightly above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of

p.3

Information about this school

special educational needs is higher than average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards in English and mathematics, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding, by:  ensuring that work is neither too easy or too hard  ensuring that pupils have enough opportunities to show that they have taken note of teachers’ feedback in marking.  Provide more opportunities across the school for pupils to develop their skills in ICT.

p.3

The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and knowledge that are broadly those expected for their age. However, there are wide variations, as some children are below those typical for their age in all areas of learning, including communication, language, number and shape, as well as in social skills.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage because of the enormous focus on language development alongside physical and personal and social development.  Pupils’ work and the school’s assessment data show that pupils make good and often rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics; this includes good progress in grammar, punctuation and spelling. Pupils’ above average standards in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6 prepare them well for their time in secondary education.  The teaching of phonics (letters and sounds they make) is well organised and this ensures that

p.4

The achievement of pupils is good

majority of pupils reach expected levels in the phonics screening check in Year 1.  Good teaching overall enables pupils to build on the foundations laid in the Early Years Foundation Stage and make good progress throughout Key Stages 1 and 2.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve well because of very effective interventions, which are monitored closely and tailored to the needs of individual pupils.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language achieve well because of the early identification of their needs and targeted support.  Pupils enjoy reading and read widely. They have a good understanding of higher order reading skills.  Pupils for whom the school receives pupil premium funding achieve well, often from low starting points, because leaders and governors ensure the money is well spent in meeting their needs. The funding is used to train staff so that they are able to better support these pupils, through

p.4

The achievement of pupils is good

carefully tailored small group work and one-to-one support. They make good progress and the gap in attainment in English and mathematics between these pupils and others in the school is closing. However, at the end of Year 6, they remain approximately two terms behind their classmates.  Pupils from different ethnic backgrounds make similarly good progress.

p.4

The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching across the school, over time, is good because teachers and leaders work together to ensure that pupils from all groups and different starting points make equally good progress.  Planning is mostly well differentiated to meet the needs of different groups of pupils. Teachers have high expectations most of the time. In a small minority of the teaching, challenge is not always appropriate and is sometimes either too high or too low for individual pupils.  Teachers typically aim to deepen pupils’ understanding and knowledge. They question skilfully and target their questions well to probe pupils’ ideas and thoughts. They regularly assess pupils’ learning and help them to extend their understanding of their learning and performance.  There is a high focus on developing pupils’ reading, writing, numeracy, speaking and listening skills. However, there is insufficient focus on developing pupils’ ICT skills.

p.4

The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of writing is highly effective. For example, in a Year 6 lesson, pupils were free to use their imagination whilst simultaneously including the features of diary writing. They used a range of sentence openers and shared their diary beginnings. Pupils evaluated their work saying what they found challenging and what they needed to do to improve.  Pupils are keen to learn and participate in lessons. For example, in a Year 3 lesson, pupils were learning to use persuasive language. When the teacher asked them to write sentences using verbs and adverbs, all pupils wrote a range of excellent sentences. All pupils were able to identify verbs and adverbs in the sentences other pupils had written. Pupils were very keen to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.  Classrooms have a very positive learning environment. Relationships between pupils and between pupils and staff are very good, which lead to pupils’ high interest and engagement.

p.4

The quality of teaching is good

Teachers mostly use assessment well to evaluate learning, plan next steps and set targets for learning.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, planning is well balanced between child-initiated and teacher-initiated activities. Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good because teachers have a good knowledge of children’s needs and plan accordingly.  Marking and feedback are regular, but improvements in pupils’ work as a result are not consistent across the school. There are good opportunities in Years 5 and 6 for self- and peer- assessment which encourage pupils to benefit from reflecting on, and evaluating their work.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The vast majority of pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They are engaged in lessons and motivated to do well at tasks, which usually meet their needs well.  Pupils have a positive work ethic, as shown by the volume of work in books and pupils’ typically good participation in lessons.  Lessons flow smoothly. Low-level disruption is uncommon and none was seen during the inspection. Pupils say disruption in lessons is very rare. In some lessons pupils show real inspiration and enjoyment, for example in music.  There is a very positive ethos around the school. Pupils behave well in classes, during playtime and at lunchtime. Parents who wrote to the inspection team were very positive about the quality of teaching and learning and the care and support provided by the school for their children.  The school has put in place a range of very effective strategies to encourage higher attendance.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

This has resulted in a substantial improvement in attendance, over time, to the current above average levels.  Behaviour is managed consistently well. Pupils respond well to the school’s behaviour management strategies.  Pupils have a good understanding of different forms of bullying including cyber and homophobic bullying. Pupils say bullying is rare, except sometimes on the football pitch, and when it happens it is dealt with swiftly and effectively. The school’s records show that the number of incidents of harassment has varied from year to year, but the number is typically low and the school deals with them effectively.  Pupils know how to keep themselves safe including e-safety. They say that they are extremely safe in the school. Parents and staff are unanimous that the school ensures pupils are safe.

p.5

The leadership and management are good

 All senior leaders, managers and governors have high expectations and are ambitious for the school. They lead the school strategically and have an astute view of how well it performs. They have successfully built a team whose members all contribute equally well towards driving the school in its aspirational vision.  The monitoring of teaching and learning is rigorous and identifies strengths and areas for development for individual teachers, so they know exactly what to do to improve; the school correctly identifies that there are remaining weaknesses in some teaching and knows what needs to be done to address this.  Teachers’ performance is managed well and is very closely linked to professional development. Teachers are given a range of support to ensure they are able to improve their practice, deliver increasingly good outcomes for pupils and meet the ambitious targets they are set.  Equality of opportunity is promoted well. The school’s analysis and tracking of progress of

p.5

The leadership and management are good

individual pupils is very good. It helps teachers to identify pupils who are making expected progress and others who require focused intervention.  The school improvement plan has succinct success criteria; checks on how well the school is doing are accurate and based on clear evidence.  The school has introduced ‘Power of Reading’ to engender a love of reading, and there is a strong focus on extended writing which has raised standards in writing.  The school’s curriculum is topic based and covers a range of subjects. The curriculum and its delivery are mostly planned well, including aspects to broaden pupils’ experiences and develop their knowledge and understanding of the wider world. It capitalises on links across different subjects to ensure that pupils have good opportunities to apply the key skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening and mathematics across their learning. At present the curriculum does not

p.6

The leadership and management are good

effectively enable pupils to fully apply and develop their ICT skills across subjects.  The promotion of spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills and awareness is a great strength of the school. It develops pupils’ curiosity for learning, reflection and use of the imagination. The school offers pupils good opportunities to develop their awareness of, and respect towards, diversity, and their appreciation of music, art, literature and sport.  The school has planned to use the new primary sports funding to strengthen its partnership with the local authority’s school sports coordinator programme, links with the Islington Boat Club and to buy new physical education equipment for playtime. The school has an action plan with clear success criteria to monitor the impact in terms of pupil participation.  The school works well with parents. It has an open door policy. Leaders have been effective in securing ever-growing involvement from parents. Many parents come to the classrooms in the

p.6

The leadership and management are good

morning and after school.  The local authority knows this good school well. It provides appropriate support, as requested by the school, and uses the expertise from the school. For example, the headteacher is a mentor within the local authority.  The school’s safeguarding systems meet all statutory requirements.  The governance of the school:  Governors understand the performance data very well. They use a range of resources to ensure they know how well the school performs in relation to schools locally and nationally. The governing body is well established and governors are very experienced. There is a link governor system to challenge and support the key leaders in the school. Governors systematically question leaders on key aspects of performance, for example planned measures to further close the gap between pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding and others. Governors think strategically about how best to match skills to maximise their effectiveness.

p.6

The leadership and management are good

They are very clear on how various financial resources are spent. They have a good understanding of how additional sports funding is going to be used in the school. They ensure that they access any relevant training to be able to discharge their duties as effectively as possible, including fulfilling their statutory duties. Governors work closely with the headteacher to monitor how effective performance management systems are in improving the quality of teaching and pupil achievement. They regularly check the performance of different groups of pupils and support the headteacher to act decisively where teachers’ performance is not producing acceptable results.

p.6

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

p.7

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.

p.7

School details

Unique reference number 100407 Local authority Islington Inspection number 425600

p.8

School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.8

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 336 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr Howard Revill Headteacher Miss Amanda Reese Date of previous school inspection 25−26 November 2008 Telephone number 020 7689 8949 Fax number 020 7689 8944 Email address Amanda.reese@hanover.islington.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 .

p.8

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.

p.9

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

p.9

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

p.9

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’.

p.9

School details

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

p.9