Three Bridges Primary School

Three Bridges Primary School Melbury Avenue, Norwood Green, Southall, UB2 4HT

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Teaching makes a good impact on pupils’ progress so that they achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils enjoy their lessons very much. They are very highly motivated to work hard because the school makes sure that learning is fun and engages their interest.  Well-trained additional adults make a valuable contribution to pupils’ learning.  The school is improving because senior leaders and governors work closely with staff on agreed developments and have high expectations. They are committed to making sure that the school continues to improve further.  Pupils’ behaviour around the school and in lessons is exceptionally good. They are very friendly, extremely caring and polite. Good manners are valued highly and each week a pupil is nominated by the whole school community for acts of kindness and courtesy.  Pupils develop an exceedingly strong awareness of how to keep themselves safe.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

The school helps pupils to understand very clearly what to do to avoid risks to their safety through workshops, visitors to the school, training and competitions.  Governors are well informed and provide good support and challenge to leaders.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Occasionally pupils are given work that is not at the right level of difficulty.  In a few classes, pupils are not encouraged to respond to teachers’ marking and feedback.  Leaders of year groups are not fully involved in checking the quality of teaching within their areas of responsibility to secure further improvements.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all year groups. They visited 38 teaching sessions, including 11 sessions that inspectors visited together with senior leaders.  Inspectors held discussions with groups of pupils, staff, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors listened to groups of pupils reading. They looked at work in pupils’ books and the school’s information showing pupils’ progress.  They looked at a range of documents provided by the school, including assessment information, minutes of meetings of the governing body, the school’s action plans and the self-evaluation report. Inspectors also looked at records of the monitoring of lessons, and information relating to how teachers’ targets are set and professional development. The school’s website and records relating to safeguarding were also checked.  The inspection team took account of 64 responses to the Ofsted online survey (Parent View) and

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Information about this inspection

the school’s own analysis of a recent survey of parents’ and carers’ views. Inspectors also considered 35 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Madeleine Gerard, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Abigail Misselbrook-Lovejoy Additional Inspector Ramesh Kapadia Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Three Bridges is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is above average. A larger proportion than the national average speak English as an additional language. Few of these pupils are at the earliest stages of learning English.  The proportion of pupils who are supported through school action is similar to the national average. A larger proportion than average are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional government funding for looked after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and the children of service families) is above the national average. There are currently no children of service families at the school.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are taught in two part-time Nursery classes and two Reception classes.  The school organises and manages a breakfast club. The after-school club that uses the school site is not managed by the school and was not part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase rates of pupils’ progress, particularly by making sure that:  work is always at the right level of difficulty  pupils are consistently encouraged to respond to marking and feedback on their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the involvement of leaders of year groups in checking the quality of teaching and secure further improvements within their areas of responsibility.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics from starting points that are typically below those expected for their age. All groups of pupils, including pupils from minority ethnic groups and pupils speaking English as an additional language, achieve well. Achievement is good and not outstanding because there is some variability in the rates of pupils’ progress between classes so that their learning is not always as rapid as it could be.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress because they benefit from support and guidance tailored to their needs, from dedicated teachers and additional adults.  The most able pupils achieve well and make good progress from their starting points. The proportion of pupils attaining particularly highly in reading, writing and mathematics is similar to the national average.  Pupils at the earliest stages of learning English are helped to develop their spoken English

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The achievement of pupils is good

quickly through support from specialist teachers as soon as they start at the school. This helps them to understand new words and develop their knowledge of English vocabulary so that they achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children make good progress from their starting points. By the end of the Reception Year their attainment overall is closer to, although still below, the standards expected for their age. Children develop self-confidence quickly and enjoy learning together in the inside and outdoor spaces because their personal and social development is promoted particularly strongly.  Good progress continues in Key Stage 1. In the phonics (letters and the sounds they make) screening check, a similar proportion of pupils to the national average reached the required standard. By the end of Year 2, pupils have caught up with the standard most pupils achieve

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The achievement of pupils is good

nationally.  The school uses the pupil premium funding effectively to deliver a wide variety of support to close the gaps between pupils known to be eligible and the others, including one-to-one tuition, extra-help in lessons and additional sessions to boost pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. It also enables the school to provide emotional support and extra guidance to pupils who need them to help them learn better. In addition, the funding helps pupils to enjoy educational visits that extend their learning and contributes to the cost of extra-curricular clubs. Consequently, it helps pupils to make similar good progress to that of their peers. This shows the school promotes equality and tackles discrimination effectively.  In national tests for Year 6 pupils who left the school in 2013, provisional results show pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium were over a term ahead of their classmates in

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The achievement of pupils is good

reading and writing, and over two terms ahead in mathematics. Nationally, eligible pupils are over two terms behind in each subject.  Pupils are very enthusiastic about the variety of sports that they do at school in sessions with specialist sports coaches, including tennis, basketball and rugby. The additional sports funding is being used to raise participation in sports, to encourage positive attitudes to keeping physically fit and healthy through lunchtime and after-school clubs, and to arrange competitive team games with other local schools. Together with improvements to the school’s sporting resources, including the addition of an all-weather cricket pitch, these motivate pupils to reach good standards.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is routinely good and some is outstanding. This enables the pupils’ good rates of learning and progress.  Pupils make good progress in developing literacy skills and are very enthusiastic to join in activities, for instance, when they rehearsed their ideas aloud together before tackling tasks in writing. This also helped to promote their listening and speaking skills efficiently.  Very regular reading encourages pupils’ enjoyment of books. Younger pupils build up fluency in phonics and develop confidence in reading unknown words when they read aloud to adults. Older pupils are positive about the choice of books the school makes available to them in classroom libraries and in the main school library. They readily discuss their reading preferences and favourite authors.  Additional adults work closely with class teachers to support pupils’ learning. They work with individual pupils and small groups of selected pupils to fill the gaps in their knowledge. For

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The quality of teaching is good

example, pupils speaking English as an additional language in Key Stage 1 were observed practising their knowledge of phonics with an additional adult. They made good progress when the adult emphasised how to read unfamiliar words by sounding out the letters. They concentrated very hard when the teacher challenged them to write words using the new letter sounds they had been learning.  Pupils made good progress in mathematics when their teachers challenged them effectively. When they were given short time limits to solve problems or answer questions, they set to work very quickly, concentrated hard and were ready to listen again when the time limit was reached. Occasionally, the rate of pupils’ progress diminishes when work is not set at the right level of difficulty so that it is too easy for the most able or too difficult for some of the others.  Marking and feedback on pupils’ work praise their efforts. They show them what they have done

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The quality of teaching is good

well and how their work might be improved in the future. In a few classes, when pupils are not always encouraged to respond to the teacher’s suggestions and comments, they do not gain the full benefit from them.  Tasks are well planned in the Early Years Foundation Stage to build on children’s experiences. For example, children in Reception were discussing how to make pancakes following a pancake- making activity the day before. Children in Nursery and Reception enjoy their learning in the outside spaces because they have plenty of activities to choose in the garden area. Adults also make sure they practise literacy and numeracy skills regularly in the indoor and outdoor spaces so that they build up their knowledge effectively.  Pupils who attend the breakfast club enjoy the healthy menu and the variety of activities they can choose.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding throughout the school. This is a very welcoming, friendly and happy school. Pupils get on extremely well together because the school emphasises the importance of supportive and considerate relationships. As a result, pupils show extremely respectful and kind attitudes and like coming to school very much. Almost all the parents and carers who responded to the online survey confirmed their children are happy at the school and feel safe there.  The school council actively secures improvements to the school based on suggestions made by the pupils. For example, additional after-school modern foreign language learning clubs and more frequent charity fund-raising days have been introduced as a result of their suggestions.  Pupils are exceptionally positive in their approach to learning. They are consistently attentive, concentrate and work very hard. They are very keen to do as well as they can and recognise the

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

importance of academic success in securing financial well-being in their adult lives.  Pupils are exceedingly polite and courteous, and make a major contribution to the calm and purposeful atmosphere around the school. They conduct themselves outstandingly well. When the bell goes at the end of break time, pupils respond immediately because they respect the school’s rules and are extremely eager to meet the expectations that the school has of them. Pupils know what constitutes bullying and what does not. They, and their parents and carers, are confident that bullying occurs only vary rarely, and that when it does occur, for example when a pupil is left out of an activity, it is dealt with by the school highly efficiently, as the school’s records show.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. The school plans a great number of events, activities and visitors to the school to help make sure pupils have an

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

outstanding knowledge of how to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils are taught how to cross the road safely and given clear advice about keeping safe on bonfire night. Older pupils learn to swim, benefit from guidance on how to avoid possible danger near the local canal and learn how to ride bicycles safely. Poster-making competitions challenge pupils to present safety guidance to the whole school community. Together with a very strong emphasis on safe practices when using computers and information technology, all this helps pupils to develop an excellent awareness of risks.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, senior leaders and governing body work successfully together to drive improvement across the school. Their determination to see the school improve further is strong. There is an established culture where expectations of staff and pupils are high within a supportive and caring environment. The results of this are reflected around the school in the interesting displays and tidy classrooms, and in the typically neat and painstaking presentation of pupils’ work. Morale among the staff is also high. In the questionnaire for staff, all those who responded were unreservedly positive about the school.  The school has robust systems for senior leaders to check the quality of teaching. However, leaders of year groups are not as fully involved in helping to check on the quality of teaching within their areas of responsibility in order to secure further improvements.  The school’s development planning identifies appropriate priorities for development because the

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The leadership and management are good

school knows its strengths and what needs to be done to improve it further. For example, enhancements to the way writing is taught have been successfully introduced to raise pupils’ achievement. Support and additional training for staff encourage a consistency in approach to teaching writing throughout the school.  Together with pupils’ improved attendance rates, pupils’ outstanding behaviour and awareness of how to keep themselves safe as well as their good achievement are strengths which demonstrate the school’s capacity to improve further.  Activities including charity fund raising, feeding the school’s chickens, singing and theatrical performances are carefully organised to encourage pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The school works hard to make sure that consistently caring attitudes are encouraged across the school community and that pupils develop an understanding of different

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The leadership and management are good

cultures and faiths from around the world.  The local authority provides light-touch support for this good school.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is effective and knowledgeable. Governors have a good understanding of how well the school is doing and where it can do better. They review information about the progress pupils make and hold the school to account strongly. They attend the school not just for meetings but also to spend time in classrooms. They attend parents’ evenings and other school events as well as contributing to additional activities. Governors know the quality of teaching and how targets are used to secure improvements to teaching quality. They also make sure there is a strong link between teaching quality, pupils’ learning and salary progression. Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements and are regularly scrutinised. The school site is well maintained.

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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 101911 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 440952

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 449 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Susan DeRoeper Headteacher Matthew Burdett Date of previous school inspection 3 March 2011 Telephone number 020 8571 1491 Fax number 020 8574 4914 Email address admin@threebridges.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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