Belmore Primary Academy

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected 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.  All groups of pupils achieve well. They make consistently good progress in their reading, writing and mathematics to reach broadly average standards by the end of Year 6.  On entry to the academy, children’s knowledge and skills are at levels below those typically found. They make rapid progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage because learning is engaging, well planned and closely checked.  Teaching across the academy is good. Teachers and teaching assistants provide detailed feedback for pupils. They ask thoughtful questions. They help pupils to improve their work.  Pupils behave well in lessons and say that they feel safe. They enjoy coming to school. They cooperate well.  The new headteacher works well with governors and the team of senior leaders. They all have a strong focus on improving teaching and enhancing pupils’ achievement.  Governors are fully involved in the life and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

work of the school. They are ambitious for pupils and are determined to bring about further improvements.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Teachers do not always sufficiently adapt the tasks set for pupils to provide appropriate levels of challenge.  Teachers do not consistently give pupils opportunities to reflect or act upon advice given in marking.  Not all new leaders yet have the skills to check the effectiveness of their areas of responsibility.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 25 lessons, seven of them jointly with the headteacher or other senior leaders. In addition, inspectors listened to a sample of pupils, principally in Year 2, read.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ English and mathematics work.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation relating to safeguarding and the management of target setting for teachers. In addition they reviewed the school’s information about pupils’ attainment and progress and their attendance and behaviour.  Inspectors held discussions with pupils. Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 62 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as the school’s own surveys of parents and carers.  Inspectors also considered the 48 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Narinder Dohel, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Juliette Jackson Additional Inspector Jennifer Bax Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Belmore Primary Academy is sponsored by Barnhill Community High, part of the Barnhill Partnership Trust. The two schools are led by an executive headteacher. The headteacher of the academy was appointed in September 2013.  Belmore Children’s Centre, Nursery and Primary School converted to become Belmore Primary Academy in December 2012. When its predecessor school was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be satisfactory.  The academy is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The pupils come from a wide range of backgrounds. The largest group are of White British heritage. Others come from different minority ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported at school action is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or by a statement of

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Information about this school

special educational needs is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is well above average. This is additional government funding which supports pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or are in local authority care.  There is a breakfast club and an after-school club run by the school.  The academy meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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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 teachers regularly adapt the tasks set for pupils according to their different abilities in order to provide appropriate levels of challenge for all – giving pupils opportunities to reflect on and respond to teachers’ marking of their work.  Develop the skills of new leaders to check the effectiveness of their areas of responsibility.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make consistently good progress in reading and mathematics. Progress in writing, though good, is more variable.  By the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment is broadly average. Preliminary information about the attainment of Year 6 pupils in 2014 indicates that the proportion reaching the higher levels has increased.  Pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 2 in 2014 also shows an improvement in the proportion of pupils reaching the high Level 3 in reading, writing and mathematics.  Work in books provides strong evidence that pupils make consistently good progress in writing and mathematics. Pupils learn to write for a wide range of purposes and to use strategies in making calculations, both of which help them to move on more rapidly in their learning.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) is consistently strong. This has led to a significant increase in the proportion of pupils who attain well in the Year 1 phonics

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The achievement of pupils is good

screening check. Pupils confidently apply what they know about sounds and use this knowledge to read words. In Year 2, they continue to build well on their phonics knowledge to support their reading and writing.  The academy develops pupils’ literacy skills well in Years 3 to 6. Teachers pay close attention to developing pupils’ knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar and to improving their use of vocabulary. This is leading to improving levels of attainment in reading and writing.  Most children start school with knowledge and skills below the levels typically found. From such starting points, children make good progress. In one Reception class, for instance, children demonstrated their understanding of how to draw and read a bar graph. They could explain the information on the graph using appropriate vocabulary such as ‘most popular’ and ‘least popular’.  The most-able pupils make good progress. This is because teachers have high expectations of

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The achievement of pupils is good

these pupils.  The progress made by disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is good. They make similar progress to that of other pupils because teachers and other adults have a good understanding of their needs and provide skilled and sensitive support and encouragement.  The school makes good use of additional government funding. In 2013, the attainment of Year 6 pupils eligible for the pupil premium was three terms behind that of their peers in reading. It was one term behind in writing and four terms behind in mathematics. The school’s information on the progress of eligible pupils in the current Year 6 shows that these pupils have made better progress this year. As a result, there are no significant gaps in the attainment of these pupils when compared with their peers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is good. Teachers use information about pupils’ performance to plan their lessons. They provide good opportunities for pupils to apply their skills in reading, writing and mathematics in other subjects.  Marking is detailed, and consistently helps pupils to understand what they need to do to improve, especially in their writing. However, teachers do not always give pupils opportunities to reflect or act upon advice given in marking.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, adults have an acute understanding of how young children learn. They provide a full range of appropriate activities to develop children’s basic skills and to foster their personal development.  The work of additional adults is impressive. Their careful and patient guidance enables all pupils, but particularly those with special educational needs and those learning English as an additional language, to achieve well. In one lesson, for example, adults supported pupils to use classroom

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The quality of teaching is good

displays and grammar and vocabulary prompts very successfully to produce high-quality writing, and enhanced their confidence to evaluate each others’ work.  Where pupils are falling behind, they are given effective extra help to catch up.  Pupils make slightly slower progress in some lessons. This is because teachers do not adapt the tasks set quickly enough to help pupils move on in their learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils behave well in class and around the school.  Pupils listen attentively to their teachers and show positive attitudes to learning and to other pupils. For example, in a reading lesson, pupils in Year 6 listened very carefully to others’ views and responded thoughtfully to them.  The academy’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils understand how to stay safe. They can explain a range of strategies they have for ensuring their personal safety. They say that adults, especially their teachers, look after them well and care for them.  Pupils are aware of the different forms that bullying may take, including cyber bullying. They say that they learn about the types and effects of bullying through anti-bullying week and in school lessons. They know how to report any incidents and are confident that their teachers will act on such reports.  The results of the online survey and inspectors’ discussions with parents and carers indicate

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

some reservations about pupils’ behaviour and safety. Detailed records are kept of how the school has dealt with and resolved concerns that parents and carers have raised.  Attendance since the school became an academy has been broadly average. The academy is taking concerted action to improve this.  Pupils who attend the breakfast club enjoy the activities available, and get along well with adults and other pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 There is strong teamwork between the new headteacher, other senior leaders and governors. They have cooperated effectively to plan for improvement and to set ambitious targets. As a result, pupils’ achievement across the academy has shown improvement. This demonstrates that the academy has good capacity to improve.  Senior leaders have raised teachers’ expectations about pupils’ achievement. An effective programme of training involving the academy and the secondary school has helped to improve teaching. As a result, the quality of teaching is now good.  Senior leaders have invested time and effort in strategic planning and in arrangements to check the academy’s work. Nevertheless, some leaders are less experienced in holding teachers closely to account and in measuring effectiveness.  Senior leaders have established annual arrangements to set teachers targets for their performance. The targets are linked to pupils’ progress and the objectives in the academy’s

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The leadership and management are good

improvement plan. Where teachers do not meet their targets, leaders help them to improve through timed support plans.  The academy has worked successfully in partnership with the sponsor school and other local schools to develop the quality of teaching and use of assessment, and to share resources.  Those parents and carers who responded to the online survey were largely positive about the academy’s success in helping their children’s academic and personal development. The curriculum provides opportunities for pupils’ academic achievement and their personal development. Subjects such as science and history provide opportunities for pupils to apply their skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils particularly enjoy the trips and extra-curricular clubs. Opportunities such as these contribute well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Leaders make good use of the primary school sports funding. The school has invested in a

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The leadership and management are good

training programme to develop the confidence of staff. The funding also provides an increased range of clubs and competitive sporting opportunities. As a result, pupils’ standards and participation in sport are rising.  The academy is at pains to promote equality of opportunity and to tackle discrimination. This commitment is successfully helping to ensure all pupils make good progress and gaps in attainment between groups are closed.  Leaders focus carefully on all aspects of safeguarding and child protection, which fully meet statutory requirements.  The governance of the school: – Governors are highly committed. They have worked closely with the headteacher to improve the achievement of pupils. They have a secure evidenced based knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They are particularly knowledgeable about how the pupil premium is spent and know that the additional funding is raising the attainment of

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The leadership and management are good

eligible pupils. Leaders provide governors with information about the quality of teaching. Governors are clear that leaders attend to any underperformance. They have an agreed policy to reward good teaching and to tackle any underperformance. They set objectives for the performance of their headteacher and know about the setting of targets for teachers. Governors have undertaken training to help them to understand the implications of nationally produced information on the pupils’ performance. They also receive updates from the headteacher on pupils’ achievement. As a result they have a good understanding of how the academy compares to other schools nationally.

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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 138983 Local authority Hillingdon Inspection number 440073

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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 Academy alternative provision sponsor-led Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 585 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Clive Lawn Headteacher Paul Bateman

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Date of previous school inspection

Telephone number 01895 671950 Fax number 020 8845 9802 Email address belmore@hillingdongrid.org 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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Date of previous school inspection

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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Date of previous school inspection

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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Date of previous school inspection

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 and 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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Date of previous school inspection

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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Date of previous school inspection

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

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