St Jude and St Paul's CofE Primary School

School report St Jude and St Paul’s CofE Primary School 10 Kingsbury Road, Islington, London N1 4AZ

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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

 Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics throughout their time in school.  By the end of Year 6, their achievement compares favourably with that of all pupils nationally.  The quality of teaching is mostly good because teachers know their pupils well and plan an interesting range of activities to engage pupils.  The interim headteacher has a very clear vision and is working hard to further raise standards.  Senior leaders check the quality of teaching and identify areas of development correctly.  The school provides a very caring atmosphere for learning and all pupils feel included. Pupils say they are safe.  Pupils’ behaviour and safety across the school are good; pupils are keen to come to school and, as a result, attendance is above average.  Senior leaders and governors, along with the diocese, have taken effective actions to strengthen the quality of teaching and raise pupils’

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

achievement.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is good and children are achieving well in all areas of learning.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as their peers in the school and all pupils nationally.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Progress in writing across the school is lower than that in reading and mathematics.  Pupils do not always make the improvements to the work that are required because marking and feedback to pupils are not consistently embedded across the school.  The most able pupils are not always appropriately challenged. This means they are not making rapid progress.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in parts of 10 lessons, two of which were joint observations with the headteacher and one with a member of the senior leadership team. Inspectors undertook a series of short visits to other lessons across the school and listened to a sample of readers from Year 2. They also visited assemblies and observed pupils at breaks and lunchtimes.  Meetings were held with staff and pupils. The lead inspector met with the Chair of the Governing Body, four governors, representatives from the local authority and the London Diocese.  Inspectors took account of 27 responses to the online survey Parent View as well as the views of the parents they met. They also considered the 13 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including national test results and the school’s own information about pupils’ progress. They looked at the school’s own checks on how well it is doing, the

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Information about this inspection

school’s improvement plan, safeguarding policies, records and documents relating to the work of the governing body.  The inspection team scrutinised samples of pupils’ work in English and mathematics, and records relating to behaviour, attendance and punctuality.  The team took account of information on the school’s website and the data dashboard.

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Inspection team

Kewal Goel, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 St Jude and St Paul’s is a small Church of England primary school.  The school has an Early Years Foundation Stage, which is made up of a full-time Reception class. There is one class in each year group from Years 1 to 6.  The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic groups and of those who speak English as an additional language are much higher than average.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above average. This is additional government funding provided to give extra support to disadvantaged pupils.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is about 25 per cent, which is higher than that found in most schools.  In 2014, the school achieved Enhanced Healthy Schools Status and the PE Quality Mark.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards for Year 6, 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: – consistently ensuring that marking and feedback to pupils and their response match the best practice in the school to enable them to make rapid progress – appropriately challenging the most able pupils to accelerate their learning and progress.  Raise standards in writing so that they more closely match those in reading and mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 The interim headteacher has implemented a number of changes across the school. As a result, the quality of teaching has improved. This has had a positive impact on pupils’ achievement. Leadership and management are not outstanding because the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress are variable across the school.  The senior and subject leaders check planning and teaching regularly and accurately identify what needs to improve. They check the effectiveness of teachers’ marking and feedback to pupils and the impact of these on raising achievement. They know that good practice is not yet embedded across the school. Newly qualified teachers and those in the early stage of their career are being well supported in their roles.  The school has put in place effective systems of setting targets for teachers. These are directly linked to the national Teachers’ Standards. Staff training is closely linked to pupils’ progress and the quality of

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The leadership and management are good

teaching. This is helping to improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  The school’s self-check of its strengths and areas for improvement is thorough and accurate. The priorities in the school improvement plan link closely with areas for improvement.  The school follows an approach which uses outdoor learning effectively in all subjects. There is a strong focus on teaching reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and mathematics. Pupils’ personal, social and health education and behaviour are embedded in the subjects taught. The curriculum is enriched through a range of extra-curricular activities and educational visits.  Pupils are given weekly opportunities to reflect on their experiences and respond with interest to new experiences which broaden their understanding. Philosophy underpins the whole-school beliefs and values. The provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development enables pupils to discuss and

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The leadership and management are good

understand feelings and conflicts in order to make good choices. British values are promoted well and pupils understand about life in modern Britain. The school ensures that there is no discrimination and promotes equality of opportunity very well.  The school uses the additional funding for sport well to improve teachers’ confidence in teaching gymnastics and developing pupils’ multiball skills. Staff are now more confident in teaching these sports and the quality of teaching has improved. Pupils’ participation and success in competitive sports have improved.  The school works well with parents. It communicates with them through newsletters, open days, regular phoning and texting, the website, curricular workshops and ‘meet and greet’ sessions by governors. Parents have very positive views about the school.  After the dip in Year 6 results in 2013, the diocese and local authority provided intensive support to the

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The leadership and management are good

school. Now it has decreased the level of support and has planned to reduce this further because of its view of the school’s effectiveness.  The school meets all the statutory requirements in terms of child protection and safeguarding systems.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school: – Governors are new in their role and are becoming more proactive in challenging the senior leadership team. They carried out a skills audit and are trying to recruit new governors with the right skills to strengthen the governing body further. They are passionate about pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching and learning. They know the school’s strengths and areas for improvement well. They have a clear plan to review and update the policies. The governing body holds the interim headteacher to account by checking all his reports and asking questions about the quality of teaching and progress of disadvantaged pupils. Governors check the use and impact of additional funding for sports and disadvantaged pupils closely. Last year, they put in place a policy to ensure that the systems for managing the performance of staff are rigorous and link closely to the quality of teaching and pupils’

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The leadership and management are good

progress. Governors keep themselves up to date by attending training relevant to their roles. They receive the financial information presented to them by the bursar and make decisions about the spending.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ behaviour is good. They are kind, courteous and hardworking. Pupils say that any instances of poor behaviour are dealt with quickly by staff and that their learning in lessons is never compromised.  Most pupils’ attitudes to learning are good and they understand the importance of taking care of each other in making their school a happy and productive place in which to learn. Pupils’ behaviour is not outstanding because a few pupils in some lessons are not fully engaged, slowing their learning.  Pupils are aware of different kinds of bullying such as cyber-bullying and racist bullying. They have complete confidence in staff to deal with the rare instances of bullying and this confidence is well founded.  Teachers use the school’s systems to manage behaviour effectively. Pupils understand the importance of good behaviour. There have been no permanent exclusions during the last academic year and the number

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Behaviour

of fixed term exclusions has fallen.  The school’s records show very few behaviour incidents over the last year. The few that have occurred have been dealt with effectively. There have been no racist incidents recorded during the last academic year.  Staff and parents in their responses commented that behaviour in the school is good.  Attendance is above average. Pupils are punctual to school.  Pupils enjoy taking responsibility and play an active part in fundraising, choosing playground resources and other classroom jobs.  Pupils feel they have a voice because the school has acted on their suggestions. For example, they made a request not to have football every day, which was implemented during the summer term.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  Pupils say they feel very safe everywhere in school. They have a good understanding of how to keep safe, including how to deal with e-safety.  The school has effective systems to ensure all safety requirements, including risk assessments, are met.  The child protection and safeguarding policy is reviewed annually and staff attend child protection training regularly.  All parents and staff who responded to the staff questionnaire and the Parent View questionnaire say that pupils are safe in school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching across the school over time is good. Pupils enjoy their learning because teachers provide interesting and engaging activities. Teachers have good subject knowledge and use a wide range of resources, including information technology, to enhance pupils’ learning. Teachers are enthusiastic and have high expectations.  Teaching is not yet outstanding because in some classes teachers do not check pupils’ progress effectively and adapt their teaching. As a result, the most able pupils are not challenged appropriately, which limits their progress.  Most teachers observe and question pupils skilfully during lessons to extend pupils’ thinking and deepen their understanding and knowledge.  There is clear evidence from books and lessons that literacy and numeracy are being taught across a range of subjects. Pupils are given opportunities to solve problems in mathematics.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) through a range of activities is a strength that

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The quality of teaching is good

promotes children’s good early reading skills in the Reception class.  Almost all pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They are usually interested and engaged. Relationships between pupils and between pupils and staff are very good. Classrooms are attractive and well organised. There is a wide range of displays linked to the learning.  Pupils’ books show that there is a good range of work. It is well presented. There is clear progression and good progress over time.  Additional adults are well deployed. They have a good understanding of pupils’ needs and provide a good level of support and challenge, especially to the less able pupils.  Homework set is linked to the classwork and is marked regularly.  In some classes, teachers write detailed comments for learning in their feedback to pupils. Pupils respond to the feedback, which moves their learning on further. However, this best practice is not yet embedded

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The quality of teaching is good

across the school, hindering the progress some pupils make.

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The achievement of pupils

 Pupils’ achievement is good. Their attainment across the school is rising and by the end of Year 6 it is now well above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Overall, pupils’ progress in Key Stage 2 is good. However, progress in Years 5 and 6 is faster than in Years 3 and 4.  Pupils’ achievement is not outstanding because progress in writing is slower than that in reading and mathematics across the school.  Children join the Reception class with skills and knowledge that are below those typical for their age. During the last academic year, pupils made accelerated progress in all year groups in the school.  As a result of the school’s specific focus on phonics, pupils’ reading has improved. This is illustrated by the numbers reaching the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check. Pupils’ achievement in reading in 2014 was well above national average.  Pupils enjoy reading. They read a range of books and have developed preferences for non-fiction books

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The achievement of pupils

linked to the topics. The school encourages pupils, through reading sessions, to read widely and often. Their reading skills are enhanced by regular teaching sessions.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve well because their needs are identified early and correctly. As a result, they are given effective support, depending upon their needs.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language (including those at an early stage of learning English) and those from different minority ethnic groups make good progress. This is because adults effectively demonstrate language skills to pupils in lessons and through their own speech and writing. A targeted speech therapy programme enhances pupils’ speaking and listening skills further. The school also provides structured teaching of English grammar, punctuation and spelling to develop pupils’ English language skills.  The most able pupils do not make accelerated progress because in some lessons they are not given

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The achievement of pupils

appropriately challenging tasks. Sometimes these pupils are not given work to extend their understanding early enough to ensure rapid progress.  Disadvantaged pupils make good progress from their starting points. The gap between their attainment and that of their peers in the school is closing. The school’s information on pupils’ achievement for 2014 shows that at the end of Year 6, there was no gap between these pupils and their peers in the school and between them and pupils nationally. The school is using the designated funding well to support these pupils. It provides specific extra guidance related to pupils’ individual needs and specialist teaching programmes in English and mathematics.

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The early years provision

 Children come into school with skills and understanding that are below those typical for their age in reading, writing, speaking and listening.  The inside and outside areas are well thought out. This means children learn well in every area of learning. However, the Early Years Foundation Stage is not outstanding because some children are not making rapid progress to meet the demands of Year 1.  Children’s ‘learning journals’ (collections of their work and observations by adults) show that they have taken part in a variety of activities. Children are proud to show the work they choose to save in their journals. Adults in the classroom record children’s progress carefully and use these records well to plan the next steps in their learning.  Children are encouraged to take responsibility for the day-to-day routines in their classroom. They help to tidy up and look after resources. All children play well together, cooperate well with each other and play

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The early years provision

safely. The school has clear systems to ensure children’s safety.  Transition into Reception is planned sensitively and good partnerships are built between home and school. Parents say that their children have settled into school well and that they are making good progress.  Teachers and additional adults support children well and give them opportunities to explore, learn through play and question enthusiastically.  Children with special educational needs are well cared for. Parents commented on this and felt that this is a very caring school.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is well led and managed. The leader regularly checks and evaluates its effectiveness and children’s progress.

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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 100442 Local authority Islington Inspection number 443982

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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 Voluntary Aided Age range of pupils 4−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 199 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Timothy Meaker Headteacher John Hicks Date of previous school inspection 25−26 May 2010 Telephone number 020 7254 5598 Fax number 020 7241 9460 Email address admin@sjsp.islington.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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