West Hill Primary School

5 Merton Road, Wandsworth, London, SW18 5ST

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher and her senior team lead the school by example. Courtesy, respect and a tireless drive for success are demonstrated throughout the school.  Most pupils make good progress in English and mathematics, and their attainment has risen over recent years.  Teaching is good across the school because teachers work together to interest pupils in their learning. They adjust their teaching to meet the needs of different pupils and give feedback that pupils find useful.  Pupils with additional needs are identified early and they are given support promptly. These pupils also make good progress.  Pupils enjoy school. They feel safe, behave well and have no concerns about any type of bullying or name-calling.  Pupils learn well in all subjects because teachers employ stimulating approaches such as practical activities and trips.  Governors use their wide-ranging skills and knowledge of the school to help the school to

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

improve.  Children joining the school in the Nursery or Reception learn well. They settle in quickly, not least because the school encourages parents and carers to become involved in helping their children to read and write.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In a few lessons, less-confident pupils give up too easily when they find the work difficult. As a result, they make slower progress than they should.  Teachers do not always encourage pupils to use what they have previously learnt when they ask them to speak and write in more detail.  The monitoring of teaching does not pay enough attention to how well pupils are learning, particularly the most-able pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 14 lessons. These included joint observations with the headteacher and senior leaders, and observations of pupils receiving additional support. In addition, the inspection team examined pupils’ work in their books and listened to pupils read.  Meetings were held with a group of pupils, the governing body, senior and middle leaders, and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 20 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), discussions with parents and carers as they brought their children to school, and responses to the staff questionnaires.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at relevant documentation, including policies and improvement plans, and records of staff development, pupils’ achievement, teaching, the curriculum, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Mehar Brar, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 West Hill Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school.  There are many more boys than girls in the school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, for whom the school receives additional funding (the pupil premium), is well above average.  The vast majority of the pupils are of Somali or Asian Pakistani heritage. The remaining pupils are from a range of ethnic backgrounds. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above the national average.  About a quarter of the pupils on the school roll are disabled or have special educational needs. This is much higher than average.  There is a high turnover of pupils joining and leaving the school at different times.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Since the previous inspection, the school has changed from being a one-form entry school to a two-form

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Information about this school

entry school.  The school provides a breakfast club, and after-school care jointly with other local primary schools.  During the inspection, there were very few children in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Nursery children were being introduced into the school a few at a time. Reception children were due to join the school at the beginning of the week after the inspection.  The school governors manage the West Hill Children’s Centre. This was inspected separately in March 2013 and was judged to be outstanding in all areas of its work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding by:  building the confidence of pupils so that they keep working hard even when the work is difficult for them  encouraging pupils to use what they have learnt before to help them speak and write in detail.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the monitoring of teaching focuses more closely on how well pupils are learning, particularly the most-able pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher leads the school by example. The school is characterised by a strong commitment to improving the lives of the children and their families, combined with courtesy and respect. Senior staff share responsibilities and are able leaders.  The school’s leaders check the quality of teaching in the school by watching teachers teach, looking at the quality of pupils’ work and scrutinising assessment records. Occasionally, judgements about the quality of teaching are generous, particularly when checking how well the most-able pupils are learning, and how well some pupils in a class are responding to work that is challenging for them.  Teachers learn from each other and also benefit from additional training and support as required. Some have visited other schools to share what they have learnt and to help other schools to improve. Teachers are held accountable for the progress of their pupils and how well they meet their targets for

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The leadership and management are good

improvement.  Two experienced senior leaders have taken up additional responsibilities at middle leader level. They provide a strong foundation for leadership at this level and provide support for two middle leaders with less experience.  The curriculum is broad and balanced. Pupils can enjoy rich additional experiences such as sports clubs, reading clubs, trips and outdoor learning. It has been suitably updated in the light of recent changes to the National Curriculum. Preparation for changes in assessment have also begun.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is informed by the school’s focus on rights and responsibilities. In preparation for life in modern Britain, pupils learn about the diversity of people’s lives in the United Kingdom and across the world. They learn about art, science and history, and that it is important to care for the environment as well as each other.

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The leadership and management are good

 The primary sport funding has been used to employ inspiring coaches and to provide more choice of sports. More pupils are now taking part in sport and many have used sports to gain the confidence they need to become better learners in other subjects in school. The number of children leading more active, healthy lives continues to increase.  Good support from the local authority helps the school review key aspects of its work, including the accuracy of its assessments.  The school ensures the safety and welfare of pupils, and staff have the training they need. Responsibilities and systems are clearly understood. The school also uses professionals from outside the school and local charities to make sure that when help is needed it is provided promptly and effectively.  The governance of the school:  The governing body uses its wide range of knowledge and relevant skills to hold senior leaders accountable for how well pupils learn and develop in school. Governors are particularly aware of the

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The leadership and management are good

need to keep the school’s priorities in the forefront of their minds. Governors share agreed responsibilities. Visits to the school, reports from the headteacher and links with local and national support organisations ensure that they are well informed about the issues that are important for the school and how well it is performing. As a result, governors have successfully ensured that the school has a clear direction for improvement, that assessments are accurate and rigorous, and that the school promotes understanding and tolerance. Governors know about the quality of teaching and make sure that the pay policy of the school is linked to teacher performance. They track the performance of diferent groups of pupils, including those eligible for the pupil premium funding. Governors manage the finances of the school well and ensure that all their legal responsibilities are carried out, including checking that safeguarding procedures are rigorous and reviewed regularly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils want to learn and generally continue to apply effort throughout their lessons. A few pupils need some supervision to stay focused on their work. Pupils respect their school environment as well as each other. As a result, the behaviour of pupils is good.  The school’s effort to help pupils understand their rights and responsibilities has been useful in developing a caring school. Staff show that it is important to care for others and to apply courtesy and respect, and pupils learn from their behaviour. There are very few incidents of poor behaviour among pupils.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Safety procedures, such as the reporting of visitors to the school office, are always applied tightly. Pupils said that they feel safe and have no concerns about any prejudice-driven behaviour such as name-calling or bullying.  Almost all pupils enjoy school and attendance rates are improving. Attendance during the last term was in

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

line with the average for primary schools. Persistent absence, which in the past has been high in some cases, is now much reduced. All children arrive at school on time. The school manages a breakfast which supports attendance of pupils by providing the opportunity for parents and carers to bring their children to school at times more convenient to them.  The school manages health and safety very well and suitable checks are carried out throughout the school. The school anticipates risks to pupils during any school-led activities and makes sure that the activities are enjoyable and safe. Pupils themselves learn to understand how to keep themselves safe from strangers, other people on the internet and from cars.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching engages most pupils because teachers help pupils to learn well by making learning interesting and by applying a variety of approaches. Established routines help pupils to understand what is expected of them so little time is wasted in lessons. Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, which helps most pupils to work hard.  Teachers generally use information from lessons, tests and tasks to find out how much pupils know and understand, and use this information to adjust their teaching so that pupils continue to be challenged. Their assessments are accurate and suitably moderated by other teachers and advisers from the local authority.  Teachers use questions skilfully to assess pupils’ understanding during lessons. However, on occasion, teachers do not check thoroughly enough what pupils know and understand already. This means that some pupils, particularly the most able, repeat what they have already done and do not, as a

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The quality of teaching is good

consequence, make the progress they should.  After teachers have marked pupils’ books, pupils respond to the feedback, which helps them to continue to improve their work. Pupils also let teachers know how well they learnt in different lessons. This helps teachers adjust their teaching to provide more help or challenge for pupils who need it.  In a few lessons, pupils who lack confidence give up too quickly when they find work difficult. This means that they do not make the progress of which they are capable.

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is good

 Those children who join the school in the Nursery do so with levels of skills and knowledge that are well below those expected for their age, especially in communication, language and literacy. These children make good progress across the Early Years Foundation Stage so that, by the time they enter Year 1, the majority are meeting national expectations.  A significant proportion of children, however, join the school in the Reception class with levels of skills and knowledge well below that expected for their age. These children also make good progress, but because they have more ground to make up in less time, they start Year 1 with their attainment still below expectationsSome of these pupils speak English as an additional language and take time to learn sufficient English to be able to learn well. This is a major factor concealed in the published data which indicates low standards at the end of Year 2. Pupils joining the school at different times in other year groups attain less

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is good

well for similar reasons by the end of Year 6.  Pupils have made good progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave school in Year 6, and their rates of progress have speeded up over the past two years. This improvement has led to almost all pupils making the expected progress from Years 3 to 6, and a larger than average proportion making more than the expected progress during this same time period.  Pupils make particularly good progress in their understanding and application of phonics (the sounds letters make). This is followed up throughout the school by daily reading sessions which develop pupils’ skills and help them to learn effectively in other subjects.  Although pupils have been making increasingly good progress over the past two years, the most-able pupils do not always do as well as they should. This is because there are too few opportunities for them to demonstrate high-quality writing, reading and mathematical skills.

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is good

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, together with pupils who speak English as an additional language, make good progress. This is because their needs are identified early and they receive prompt and effective support from well-trained teaching assistants.  Pupils eligible for the pupil premium make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Overall, their attainment is no different to that of other pupils by the end of Year 6, and higher than the average national attainment of pupils receiving this funding.

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is good

 Children who complete the entire Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress in all areas of their development. This includes children who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs. Those who are only in the Early Years Foundation Stage for one year do much less well.  Teachers help children to practise and develop their language and number skills, and build their confidence. Children are given opportunities to choose how they want to play and learn while they continue to receive help from teachers. Good outdoor play areas contribute to the good learning that takes place.  Two teachers jointly lead the Early Years Foundation Stage. They assess the children early and accurately, involve parents and carers from the beginning in helping their children to learn to read and write, and plan activities so that children can quickly become confident learners.  Children learn safely, and any behaviour that causes concern is dealt with promptly by the teachers. The

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is good

physical and emotional well-being of the children is supported well.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 101024 Local authority Wandsworth Inspection number 449378

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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 324 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Brian Varney Headteacher Julie Dobson Date of previous school inspection 23–24 March 2011 Telephone number 020 8874 5900 Fax number 020 8874 5991 Email address info@westhill.wandsworth.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 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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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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