Southfield Primary School

Southfield Road, Bedford Park, London, W4 1BD

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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.  Pupils’ achievement is good. They make good progress from their starting points and by the end of Year 6 have reached standards which are similar to those of other pupils nationally in English and above average in mathematics.  Teaching is good with some that is outstanding. This is because leaders rigorously check how well teachers are doing and the progress pupils make in every year group.  The curriculum is interesting and provides many opportunities for pupils to enjoy their learning. They take part in a wide range of clubs, sporting and musical events.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress because of the focus on early number and language development.  Pupils’ behaviour is good in lessons and around the school. Pupils feel safe in school and have a particularly good understanding of how to stay safe on the internet. Attendance has improved and is now broadly

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

average.  Most parents and carers are positive about the school and say their children learn well. They are given regular opportunities to find out about the work of the school.  Leaders, managers and governors have been effective in improving the quality of teaching and the progress pupils make since the previous inspection. They are well placed to bring about further improvements.  The governing body is highly ambitious for the pupils in the school. Governors bring significant expertise to their role and are able to provide strong support and challenge to leaders.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Teaching overall is not of the highest quality. In some lessons pupils’ progress is held back because teachers do not consistently check up on pupils’ learning in the lesson and then adapt the level of challenge where necessary.  In some lessons, progress is slowed because teachers spend too much time at the beginning of lessons on tasks that are too easy.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 26 lessons, of which seven were joint observations with the headteacher and deputy headteachers.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and examined a range of documentation including the school’s own performance data, records of the monitoring of the quality of teaching, an analysis of the school’s strengths and areas for development, the school’s improvement plan, minutes of the governing body meetings and records relating to attendance, behaviour and safeguarding.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils. Inspectors listened to pupils read and discussed their reading with them.  Pupils’ work was scrutinised to evaluate progress and the quality of marking and feedback provided by teachers.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, deputy headteachers and other leaders, teachers, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  The views of parents and carers were sought at the beginning and end of the school day.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors took account of 113 responses on Parent View, the Ofsted online survey.  The inspectors considered 27 questionnaires completed by members of staff.

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Inspection team

Mirella Lombardo, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Kanwaljit Singh Additional Inspector David Wolfson Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger than average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is average. The proportion of pupils supported through school action is well above average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for support from the pupil premium, which is extra money provided by the government for pupils who are eligible for free school meals, those in public care and those from service families, is above the national average.  Pupils in the school come from a variety of backgrounds. The largest groups are White British, pupils from Any Other White background and African backgrounds. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average.  The school uses the Ealing Primary Centre, an off-site provision for a very small number of pupils.  The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching to outstanding by making sure that teachers:  set tasks at the start of lessons which build quickly on what pupils already know and can do so that time is not wasted and pupils are sufficiently challenged  check up on how well pupils are learning as lessons progress, and adapt their teaching where necessary.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and knowledge that are broadly in line with what is expected for their age. As a result of recent improvements, they now receive good support from adults who plan engaging indoor and outdoor activities so that by the time they leave Reception, they have made good progress from their starting points and now leave with skills of development that are above the levels typically expected for their age.  By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment is similar to that of other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. However, more pupils than seen nationally attain the higher National Curriculum levels in reading and writing.  Pupils in Year 1 performed well above average in the 2013 national phonics screening check. Pupils enjoy reading and teachers plan a range of engaging activities to develop their reading skills as well as working with small groups to provide direct support to pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils of White British, Any Other White background and African origins make better progress than their peers nationally in reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave the school.  Pupils make good progress from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. Test results for Year 6 in 2013 show that their rate of progress in these subjects was well above that of similar pupils nationally and has improved considerably compared to 2012, when progress in reading was lower than that of other pupils nationally.  More-able pupils make good progress. In 2013, more pupils than seen nationally attained the higher National Curriculum levels in mathematics and reading at the end of Key Stage 2.  The school is committed to promoting equal opportunities by making sure that individuals and groups of pupils make good progress. Senior leaders are highly effective in using tracking

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The achievement of pupils is good

systems to check on the progress pupils are making, including the small number of children who are educated off site for part of the week, and they use this information well to identify extra support for individual pupils in class.  Pupils with English as an additional language make better progress than their peers nationally.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make better progress than their peers nationally. This is because they are given extra guidance in class so that they can catch up quickly.  Leaders and governors make sure that the pupil premium funding is used effectively so that pupils who are eligible for this funding make good progress. In tests at the end of Key Stage 2, these pupils do as well as their peers in the school in mathematics and reading. In writing, their attainment is just below that of their peers. However the gap has narrowed in writing from

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The achievement of pupils is good

almost four terms behind in 2012 to two terms behind in 2013.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching across the school is good overall because there are strong systems in place to check on the quality of teaching and the progress pupils make in every class.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, teaching provides good opportunities for pupils to develop their reading, writing and mathematics skills because children are now taught these skills daily in small groups and this focus has led to the improvements in children’s progress.  Teachers provide a range of interesting indoor and outdoor activities in the Nursery and Reception classes to develop speaking and listening, for example children worked on a ‘building site’ and talked about what they were building, and indoors children made masks and pretended to be different characters from a book.  Pupils are given targets to help them improve their work and high quality examples of the standard of writing teachers expect them to achieve, this helps them aim high and achieve well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants provide good individual guidance to pupils and groups of pupils, particularly to disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. For example in a Year 3 class, the teaching assistant supported pupils to describe the type of books they had recently read and how they could use this information to write a book review for a friend.  Pupils are given opportunities to discuss topics with the teacher and other children in the class before they start their writing tasks. This helps them build up their ideas and vocabulary. For example in a Year 6 class, pupils were highly enthusiastic when discussing whether or not animals should be kept in a zoo, using a range of research skills to find out information to support their views.  Marking in books is highly effective. Teachers clearly identify next steps for children in their learning and pupils are given daily opportunities to respond to what the teacher has written.

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The quality of teaching is good

Pupils’ books show that they use the written comments made by their teacher to improve their work.  In some lessons, teachers do not take enough account of what pupils already know and can do. Too much time is spent at the beginning of lessons on tasks which are too easy and repetitive.  In some lessons learning is not as rapid as it could be. Teachers do not regularly check up on pupils’ learning and change their teaching in response to what they find out. As a result, pupils are not sufficiently challenged.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. This is the case in lessons and around the school. Pupils work well together and they spoke to inspectors about ‘learning to learn’ skills teachers taught them, for example, ‘collaboration’. Pupils told inspectors that bullying was rare. However, some pupils said that occasionally it was not clear who they should approach about behaviour incidents which occur at lunchtime.  Pupils settle to work quickly. They do not call out and they listen well in class. They take pride in their work and books are well presented. Most classrooms have interesting displays for pupils to look at.  Pupils are kind and courteous to adults and each other. They enjoy opportunities to take part in activities such as dressing up as a character in a book for World Book Day.  Pupils enjoy coming to school as reflected in the improvements in attendance, which is now at the national average.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Senior leaders have introduced a system for checking the type of behaviour incidents which occur in the school, alerting them to any patterns in the behaviour of any pupil or groups of pupils. This has helped to improve behaviour across the school.  There are good systems for managing behaviour, including the use of raffle tickets for prizes at the end of the week as rewards, which pupils are eager to win.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Regular visitors to the school make sure pupils know about how to keep safe outside school. Pupils are particularly strong in their understanding of keeping safe when using the internet.  The majority of parents and carers who responded to Parent View, the Ofsted online survey, and who spoke to inspectors, said that behaviour in the school is managed well.  The large majority of teachers who responded to the staff questionnaire said that behaviour was

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

managed well; however a small minority said that incidents of poor behaviour were not always dealt with in a consistent way.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides strong leadership and has led good improvements in teaching and the progress pupils make since the previous inspection.  Senior leaders are skilled in ensuring improvements are based on accurate information about pupils’ progress and they have used this information to make sure pupils receive additional support in lessons.  The headteacher has worked hard to ensure phase leaders are now more involved in checking the progress pupils make in lessons and over time. They now regularly check pupils’ work, the quality of teaching and provide support to individual teachers.  The school’s evaluation of how well it is doing is accurate. Leaders have a good understanding of the strengths of the school and what they need to do to improve further.  Performance management is rigorous and there are regular opportunities throughout the year to check on the quality of teaching and the progress pupils make over time, however a small

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The leadership and management are good

minority of teachers who responded to the staff questionnaire, did not feel fully supported by leaders in making improvements.  The promotion of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong and there are good opportunities to develop pupils’ awareness of music and sport, for example, pupils learn to play instruments as part of the school orchestra and sing in the choir.  The curriculum provides pupils with a wide and exciting range of opportunities, for example, learning Japanese and visits to the Houses of Parliament. During the inspection, pupils were involved in ‘book swaps’ and a visiting author to the school provided sessions for all year groups, which they greatly enjoyed. The school offers a range of clubs, for example, orchestra, Arabic and science clubs.  The school has good plans in place to use the new primary school sports funding. Teachers make sure pupils develop a range of skills, for example, specialist coaches from Queen Park

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The leadership and management are good

Rangers Football Club offer lunchtime activities for pupils. As a result there has been an increase in the number of competitions pupils take part in out of school, for example a local basketball tournament.  The local authority provides light touch support to this school. It has worked with the school on supporting leaders new to their role. It uses the school to help other schools with checking the National Curriculum levels of pupils’ work.  The governance of the school:  Governors have high expectations for all pupils in the school and a strong commitment to ensuring that pupils who are at risk of not doing so well are given every opportunity to succeed. They ensure they have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the school and know the school very well, for example in working with senior leaders to better understand how teachers check the standard of pupils’ work. They provide

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The leadership and management are good

highly effective support to the school, drawing on their wide range of expertise in such areas as law, recruitment, marketing and banking and provide highly effective reports for other members of the governing body, for example on attendance. They challenge leaders effectively and have worked with the headteacher in bringing about changes in staffing to improve the quality of teaching. They are very clear about how financial resources are being used, including the use of the pupil premium funding and the primary school sports funding. They make sure they take part in regular training, for example, in the analysis of data, safer recruitment and take part in the local authority training offered to governing bodies. All statutory requirements with regard to safeguarding are securely in place.

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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 101890 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 430819

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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 513 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Bickley Headteacher Simon Prebble Date of previous school inspection 17–18 May 2012 Telephone number 020 8994 6173 Fax number 020 8742 3569 Email address admin@southfield.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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