Livingstone Primary and Nursery School

Livingstone Primary and Nursery School Baring Road, New Barnet, Hertfordshire, EN4 9BU

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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 headteacher has ensured that all staff share her considerable and relentless ambition to improve the school. Governors, leaders and managers have been successful in driving improvements in teaching and pupils’ achievement since the previous inspection.  Pupils’ progress has improved rapidly in reading and mathematics. As a result, their attainment is broadly average by the end of Year 6, which represents good achievement from low starting points.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are making outstanding progress in their listening, language and communication skills because they are taught extremely well.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language are making exceptional progress.  Additional adults make a strong contribution to the good progress of all groups of pupils, including those with special education needs and those eligible for the pupil premium funding.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Teaching has been increasingly effective over time and is responsible for rapid improvements in pupils’ progress.  Teaching in the ‘resource provision’ is good. Pupils on the autistic spectrum are developing good personal and social skills which are preparing them well for their next steps in education.  Pupils’ social, moral, cultural and spiritual development underpins the good attitudes and behaviour of pupils in their lessons and around the school. This is a strength of the school. As a result, pupils say they feel safe.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching, although never less than good, is not yet of consistent high quality to enable pupils to make rapid progress.  Some pupils are not sure if they are making progress or not because teachers’ marking does not match their individual targets.  Writing is not improving as fast as reading or mathematics because a few pupils eligible for free school meals with additional complex needs are not doing well enough in writing.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 12 lessons, all jointly with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and special educational needs coordinator. Inspectors undertook a series of short visits to other lessons across the school, observed an assembly and listened to children read.  Meetings were held with staff and pupils. The lead inspector met with the Chair, Vice Chair and one other member of the Governing Body, as well as a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 26 responses to the online Parent View survey and recent school questionnaires as well as the views of the parents they met. Inspectors also considered the 29 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including national test results and the school’s own information about pupils’ achievement, the school’s self-evaluation, improvement plans, safeguarding policies, and records and documents relating to staff performance.

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Inspection team

Justina Ilochi, Lead inspector Additional inspector Philip Littlejohn Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized, one-form-entry primary school with an additional Reception class.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for certain groups, including children in the care of the local authority and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is almost twice the national average.  About 50% of pupils are from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds, which is much higher than average. There are no groups of significant size in the school.  The proportion of pupils speaking English as an additional language is well above the national average and almost half of them are at an early stage of learning to speak English at the start of Nursery or Reception.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above the national average, as is the proportion supported at school action plus or who have a statement

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Information about this school

of special educational needs.  Since the previous inspection, the school has experienced some changes to its structure and one new deputy headteacher was appointed to job share in September 2013.  The school has ‘resourced provision’ for pupils on the autistic spectrum. Currently, the provision has 26 pupils across the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.  The school meets the government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for the pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding by making sure that:  marking consistently leads to improvements and is matched to the school’s challenging targets for each pupil  teachers make use of effective ways that can help the development of writing skills for pupils eligible for free school meals with additional complex needs.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ achievement is good throughout the school and their progress improves rapidly by the end of Year 6. As a result, by the time they leave, all pupils, including those from the range of ethnic groups, have reached broadly average standards in reading, writing and mathematics. This represents good achievement from their starting points.  Many children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skill levels below what is typical for their age, and a small proportion of them speak little or no English. As a result of high quality teaching, children make remarkable progress from their initial starting points and narrow the gaps in their knowledge and skills when they leave Reception.  Many pupils’ books show good communication, English and mathematics skills across a range of subjects, directly resulting from the consistently good quality teaching the pupils have received over a long period of time. Pupils’ books are well presented; close attention is paid to neat,

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The achievement of pupils is good

legible handwriting and it is evident that all pupils take pride in their work.  Pupils also benefit from regular use of a well-equipped and stimulating library where they can focus with their parents on reading widely and often. Some parents told inspectors that they enjoyed this opportunity to work with their children.  The school’s strategies to accelerate the progress of all pupils throughout Key Stage1 and 2 in mathematics have been effective. For example, the small group teaching for pupils in Year 6 is ensuring that a higher proportion of the most able pupils than previously are in line to reach the higher Level 6 in mathematics. The most able pupils in all other groups, including Year 6, are also working at higher levels in reading and writing because the work is becoming increasingly challenging.  The school supports equal opportunities well. Adults who provide one-to-one tuition and small

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The achievement of pupils is good

group teaching for pupils in need of extra help such as pupils who have special educational needs make a very strong contribution to these pupils’ good progress. They are well directed and briefed by teachers to develop good personal and social skills. Consequently, teaching of pupils with special educational needs throughout the school as well as in the resourced provision is good.  Pupils for whom English is an additional language have made outstanding progress in the last three years. This is because of the help and guidance they get from well-trained and highly effective adults.  The progress of pupils eligible for support from the pupil premium funding is improving and gaps with other pupils are closing rapidly in all year groups for reading, writing and mathematics. In 2013, pupils eligible for free school meals were about half a term behind others in reading, writing and mathematics. However, current school information shows that gaps have closed in

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The achievement of pupils is good

reading and mathematics but not in writing. This is in line with the less rapid improvements in writing compared to reading and mathematics across the school. This is because the progress of the few pupils receiving free school meals who have special educational needs and also speak English as an additional language is not yet good enough. The ways used currently for developing their writing skills are not effective because teachers are not consistently using the information they have to identify and plan appropriate lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers create a positive and welcoming environment which promotes good relationships and high expectations for pupils’ behaviour and achievement. There are effective systems to ensure everyone follows the school rules and, as a result, most pupils are highly absorbed in their learning.  Learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage is exceptional and children’s speaking, listening and communication skills are developing extremely well. For example, children in the Nursery, encouraged by their teacher and other adults, could use such words as ‘extinct’ and ‘walking on the footprint’ to describe their creative work with dinosaurs to inspectors, showing their growing confidence and their extremely well-developed language skills.  Consistently good teaching has brought about the acceleration of pupils’ progress in reading and mathematics over the past three years. This is set to continue, as was confirmed when

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The quality of teaching is good

inspectors looked at pupils’ work in their books.  Where learning is consistently good, which constitutes the vast majority of lessons, teachers display good subject knowledge, ensuring that resources accurately match the abilities of most pupils present. They extend their pupils’ learning experiences and skills through the use of information and communication technology (ICT), especially the use of tablet computers, in order to sustain concentration.  The teaching of reading has improved significantly throughout the school. The phonics (sounds that letters make) check for six-year-olds in 2012 and 2013 demonstrates improving reading skills. Phonics knowledge is taught particularly well at Key Stage 1, and there is a high degree of parent–school cooperation to support children to read widely at home. Pupils in need of extra help with reading benefit from additional support, often provided by parent and governor

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The quality of teaching is good

volunteers, who listen to pupils read in the school library on selected days of the week.  Marking is regular and pupils are provided with helpful guidance on how to improve the quality of their work. For example, pupils’ work seen during this inspection indicated that in Year 6, work is carefully marked to ensure that pupils know their next steps in learning and have time to correct their mistakes. This has led to rapid gains in the confidence of pupils in understanding how well they are doing and how to improve their work. However, in some pupils’ books in other year groups, teachers’ comments did not always link to the challenging targets set by the school or the purpose of the lesson. As a result, some pupils were not clear about their progress or how to improve their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good in lessons and around school. Their attitudes to learning play a significant part in their good achievement. They are eager and motivated to learn.  Pupils demonstrate strong social skills. They get on extremely well together and respond positively to adults. Pupils are taught to help and respect one another and to work well together in groups, and this contributes to their successful learning. For example, lessons observed in the resource provision indicated that pupils were developing social skills rapidly from very poor beginnings because they are taught in small groups by well-trained staff.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say they are happy and feel safe and well cared for at school. They act very responsibly on the playground, where they are well supervised.  Procedures to manage behaviour and tackle discrimination are followed consistently by staff; as

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

a result, incidents of unacceptable behaviour, including bullying, are infrequent. Pupils say that on the rare occasions when bullying does occur it is dealt with swiftly by the school. Pupils have a clear understanding of the risks in life beyond school, including through the use of the internet. There has been no permanent or fixed-term exclusions for the last three years.  Most parents who responded to the online questionnaire ‘Parent View’ and staff responding to the Ofsted questionnaire agree that behaviour is consistently good. Other survey of parents and pupils also confirm this view.  Pupils enjoy school and they treasure those assemblies where their academic achievements, behaviour and other contributions to school life are rewarded and celebrated and, as a result, their attendance is above that seen nationally.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides strong leadership for the school by ensuring that all staff are held to account for the individual targets for improvement set for all pupils in the school. She has ensured that the school has invested well in good systems that help to monitor pupils’ progress. All pupils have individual reading, writing and mathematics challenges to help drive improvements. Consequently, all senior and middle leaders are ambitious and uncompromising in their drive for pupils to achieve as well as they can.  The school’s self-evaluation is accurate and honest in its assessment of its strengths and weaknesses. This has resulted in clear actions which have led to rapid improvement in monitoring staff and pupil achievement. The school has addressed almost all areas identified in its previous inspection report and has the capacity to continue improving further.  The consistently good quality of teaching is supported by an excellent programme of

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The leadership and management are good

professional development which is effective and very supportive. It is based on the identified needs of staff and the needs of newly qualified teachers and enables those at an early stage of their career to experience best practice. The school has encouraged several of its additional adults to train as teachers to provide stability for its pupils. The teachers’ performance cycle ensures that pay and progression are appropriately linked to school expectations which are set in relation to pupils’ progress.  The curriculum provides a wide range of exciting enrichment and cultural opportunities for good quality learning and this is successfully broadened by well-planned themed topics of work that give pupils both national and international experiences. This year pupils in the ‘Culture Club’ are learning about the Caribbean and the Indian sub-continent which they will present at a future assembly.  The school’s ethos is underpinned by good chances for pupils’ moral and spiritual development.

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The leadership and management are good

The school maintains close links with its local community and has regular visits from its local church members as well as visitors from other faiths. Assemblies are used effectively to address moral issues such as ‘honesty’ and pupils demonstrate a positive and confident approach to life as a result of good modelling by adults around them.  The school makes good use of the additional funding it receives for sport by employing sports coaches who have broadened the range of sports available. The school does well in local competitions and has won several trophies. They have planned, with the support of governors, how the impact of this spending can be measured in the future.  Pupil premium funding has been well spent on meeting the needs of identified pupils through an after-school ‘Challenge Club’ that helps pupils to know how to make improvements. In addition, the school employed a part-time teacher to work with identified pupils on higher levels in

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The leadership and management are good

English and mathematics. Consequently, pupils eligible for free school meals are now making as much progress as other pupils in all year groups in reading and mathematics.  The school works in a positive way with the local authority and has always welcomed the useful advice and support it receives.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The work of the governing body has contributed to the good quality of education the school provides. Governors are well trained, committed and informed. They hold leaders to account for all aspects of the school’s performance, including the quality of teaching and how it should be rewarded for improvement in pupils’ achievement. The governing body has developed close links with parents.  Governors know and understand the school’s data and can identify the school’s strengths and weaknesses. In the last three years they have supported the school to tackle all underperformance.  They are involved in maintaining the ethos of the school through themed activities which educate pupils and parents about the diverse cultures in their school community.  Governors manage the resources of the school very effectively. For example, they know the difference the pupil premium funding is making to identified pupils and how it has enabled the

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The leadership and management are good

narrowing of gaps with other pupils.  The governing body fulfils its statutory responsibilities and ensures that all requirements are met and effective in relation to the safeguarding of children.

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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 101289 Local authority Barnet Inspection number 430812

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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 272 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Clive Partridge Headteacher Giovanna Phelan Date of previous school inspection 14–15 May 2012 Telephone number 020 8449 2592 Fax number 020 8447 1277 Email address office@livingstone.barnetmail.net 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

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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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