Cobourg Primary School

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 school has been through an unsettled period. Senior leaders and governors have shown resilience and fortitude which, together with support from the local authority, have ensured that pupils’ achievement has continued to improve strongly. All of the issues from the last Ofsted inspection have been resolved successfully.  Senior and subject leaders support the headteacher well in improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  The governing body has used the support from the local authority to review and strengthen its procedures in order to accelerate improvements in safeguarding and achievement.  Parents strongly support the work of the school and particularly the care and guidance available for their children.  Pupils behave well and they are keen to learn. Relationships are good because pupils understand the school rules. They feel safe, happy and enjoy coming to school. This is reflected in the improved

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

rate of attendance, which is now above average.  The quality of teaching is good. Teachers use their subject knowledge well and are effectively supported by teaching assistants. Overall, staff morale is high.  Pupils achieve well and make good progress across the school. Outcomes for groups of pupils are analysed precisely to ensure effective extra support is available when required. As a result, attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 is above average.  Children in the Nursery and Reception classes make good progress, particularly in phonics (the sounds that letters make). This is built upon effectively across the school and, as a result, pupils enjoy reading and their achievement in the subject is good.  Pupils are prepared effectively for the next stage of their education and for life in modern democratic Britain. This is because their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well promoted.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The support and challenge, where weaker teaching is identified by senior leaders, are not regular enough to accelerate improvement.  Some more able pupils are not always provided with sufficiently challenging work to ensure the progress of which they are capable.  Marking does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to respond to the guidance from teachers.  Gaps in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school remain in mathematics and reading.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out without notice to the school.  Inspectors observed the teaching in 23 lessons, of which one was a joint observation with the deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with pupils, six governors, the headteacher, deputy headteacher, inclusion manager, English, mathematics, science and computing subject leaders and the acting leader of the Early Years Foundation Stage. An inspector also heard pupils read in Year 2 and Year 6. In addition, a meeting was held with a representative of the local authority and an inspector spoke to the acting Chair of the Governing Body by telephone as she was not in the country at the time of the inspection.  The inspectors observed the school’s work, and looked at a range of information, including data on pupils’ achievement, planning and monitoring documentation used by teachers to check on how well the school is doing, minutes of meetings of the governing body, records of behaviour and attendance, and documents

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Information about this inspection

relating to safeguarding. Pupils’ books were also scrutinised.  An analysis was made of the 109 responses to a survey of parents undertaken by the school during the inspection. The 53 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey were also considered. Thirty three questionnaire responses from staff were analysed.

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Inspection team

Robert Pyner, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Most of the pupils are from minority ethnic groups; this is almost three times the national average. Over one third are from a Black African heritage, with around one tenth each being White British and Black Caribbean.  The majority of pupils have a first language other than English.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils and therefore eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for looked after children and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is greater than the national average, at almost half of the school roll.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is broadly average, but the proportion of pupils with greater learning needs and those supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.

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Information about this school

 A larger-than-average proportion of pupils join or leave the school other than at the usual times.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum levels expected for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school has part-time nursery provision within the Early Years Foundation Stage.  The governing body manages a breakfast club and after-school club on the school site.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching in order to raise achievement and close remaining gaps in attainment between disadvantaged and other pupils by:  ensuring more able pupils are effectively challenged so that their academic achievement improves  improving marking so that there are more opportunities for pupils to respond to guidance from teachers  ensuring that support for weaker teaching identified by senior leaders has robust and regular follow up in order to accelerate improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and her deputy lead the school well. There is strong support for the leadership of the school from parents and staff. Staff morale is high and there is a strong commitment to raising achievement for pupils and providing a wide range of learning opportunities. This has resulted in a strong trend in improvement in the academic outcomes across the school over the last few years.  The school’s self-evaluation is robust and mostly accurate. There are good systems in place to monitor the quality of the school’s work, including the effective analysis of outcomes for individuals, classes, year cohorts and groups. This provides evidence for reviewing the work of teachers and providing challenging targets for performance management. The evaluation of performance includes subject and phase leaders which ensures that interventions to improve learning outcomes are rigorous and effective.  Leaders check the quality of teaching regularly. Teachers are offered good opportunities to develop their

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The leadership and management are good

skills and newly qualified teachers are inducted well. However, although teaching is monitored regularly, there is not a sufficiently robust system to ensure that weaknesses are supported and challenged on a more frequent cycle to promote swift improvement.  There are regular and thorough checks on pupils’ attainment and progress to ensure that all groups of pupils are making progress. Teachers are held to account for how well pupils are making progress and leaders ensure that appropriate support is provided when underachievement is identified. This approach has enabled disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs to achieve well.  The school has made good preparations for the implementation of the new National Curriculum. The development of a related new assessment system is at an early stage of development.  The school’s curriculum is broad and meets the needs of the pupils well. For example, Spanish is taught as

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The leadership and management are good

a significant number of pupils come from families who speak this language. There is a good focus on the development of literacy and numeracy skills in subjects across the curriculum and the pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The inclusion leader for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs has a thorough understanding of the needs of this group and carefully monitors progress, adapting provision to meet needs well. The pupil premium funding is effectively used to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, leading to a narrowing of the gap between this group and other pupils. This reflects the school’s success in promoting equality of opportunity.  The primary school sport funding is used well to promote a wide range of opportunities for pupils, and includes a specific focus on healthy lifestyles. The school has worked hard to improve the quality of provision by using coaches for specific sports and the membership of specific sports networks in the area.

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The leadership and management are good

As a result, pupils’ participation in physical education and sport has increased.  The school engages well with parents and has the confidence and support of most. Parents responding to the Ofsted Parent View on-line questionnaire and the school survey appreciated that their children were happy, safe and made good progress. The school endeavours successfully to help parents support their children through workshops on, for example, reading.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements and help to ensure that children are cared for well.  The local authority has provided effective support to the school. This has focused on specific support for the headteacher regarding some parental complaints and to the governing body, including the brokering of two experienced governors who have joined the governing body since the last full inspection.  The governance of the school:

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The leadership and management are good

 There has been a number of changes to the governing body since the last full inspection. In addition, the Ofsted inspection in June 2014 has enabled governors to focus their efforts effectively. There is now a settled committee structure, with a much stronger focus on safeguarding and standards. The newly appointed acting Chair is an experienced governor and the body as a whole has a good range of people with appropriate skills and understanding of the role. Some governors visit the school regularly and reports from these are shared with the full governing body.  Detailed information on the school’s performance is provided to governors by the headteacher and they evaluate this in detail, with the questions raised noted in the minutes of committee and full governing body meetings. Governors understand the school’s performance, including the quality of teaching, and hold the headteacher to account with some rigour.

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The leadership and management are good

 Systems for managing the performance of staff and rewarding them through the pay scales appropriately are in place and understood by governors.  Governors carry out their duties in relation to the safeguarding of pupils effectively. They have ensured that the recommendations outlined in the most recent inspection have been implemented in full. There is now a safeguarding sub committee to ensure all aspects of this are promoted fully.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. In lessons, pupils show positive attitudes to learning and work together well. They settle quickly in individual and group work and generally show a pride in the presentation in their books. They listen carefully to instructions so that they understand what they have to do. They cooperate well with each other when working together or sharing ideas. They understand that good behaviour helps them to improve their work. However, some pupils can lose concentration when tasks in lessons do not fully challenge them.  Pupils move around the large school building sensibly and safely. Outside, the small playground has a wide range of equipment for the pupils to use, which is well supervised. Pupils understand that the rules for using the equipment are for their safety because they helped to set the guidance through the school council.  Pupils contribute to the work of the school through the school council, specific tasks and helping other

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Behaviour

classes; for example, Year 5 pupils regularly support Year 2 pupils in their reading. Pupils feel that the headteacher and deputy headteacher are always available to help and do listen and respond to any concerns.  Pupils show care and respect for their school. Classrooms, stairs, corridors and the playground are tidy and litter free. In the breakfast and after school clubs, pupils were well behaved and respectful towards the adults and the environment.  The school uses fixed term exclusions rarely and ensures that, on return to school, careful interventions for support are implemented and monitored.  Most of the parents who responded to the Ofsted on-line questionnaire and the school’s survey agree with the findings of this inspection that behaviour is good.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils have a good understanding of the different types of bullying. They report that bullying is rare, although there are a small number of pupils who do not behave as well as they should. Pupils know they can speak to staff if they are unhappy or worried.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations. They know how to ensure they are safe when using the internet. Work on this has been completed with parents also.  The safeguarding issues noted in the last Ofsted inspection relating to the use of CCTV have been resolved. Risk assessments have been established and the cameras re-sited. A safeguarding sub- committee of the governing body reviews all aspects of safety within the school.  Pupils’ attendance has improved over the last year following a focus on this aspect with support from the local authority. Attendance for 2013/14 was above the national average.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching in each key stage is good. Consequently, most pupils, including disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils, make good progress and achieve well. The most able pupils make good progress overall, although in some classes the work is not sufficiently challenging for them to achieve as well as they could.  Teachers capture pupils’ interest in a range of different ways. For example, in a Year 5 class working on the analysis of how a story is structured, pupils were engaged in ‘freeze frame’ drama activities to explore the way the characters in the story could act and feel. The pupils enjoyed this activity, were fully engaged in the task and improved their understanding of how to make a story interesting to the reader.  The relationships between pupils and adults are very good, pupils are respectful and polite. Staff encourage pupils to work cooperatively and to listen to and value each other’s thoughts and contributions.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants work well to support all pupils. They are effective both during whole-class lessons and group work across the school. Teachers and teaching assistants form effective teams which promote good progress in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils of all abilities.  The marking of pupils’ work has been an improvement focus for the school. Teachers’ comments provide clear guidance to pupils on what they have done well and how much effort they have put into their work. However, there is much less evidence of comments which provide pupils with specific challenges which they can complete to improve their understanding.  Parents’ views reflect the findings of this inspection that that their children are well taught and that the homework provided by teachers is appropriate.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils achieve well throughout each key stage. Generally, children start in the Nursery displaying knowledge, skills and understanding which are below that typical for their age. Throughout their time in the Early Years Foundation Stage, children make good progress and are suitably prepared for entry into Key Stage 1.  The good start which pupils have made is built upon in Years 1 and 2. By the end of Key Stage 1, attainment is above average in reading, writing and mathematics. The latest outcomes show an improving trend over time.  Pupils continue to make good progress across Key Stage 2. The latest outcomes for 2014 show further improvement in attainment over the last few years. Pupils’ attainment in mathematics, writing, reading and in the English grammar, punctuation and spelling assessments are all above average. The outcomes for reading and these other key aspects of English were significantly above national figures.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 A real strength of the school is the teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make). This means that pupils progress very well and most attain the expected standard in their understanding of phonics by the end of Year 1. Pupils use this knowledge well across the school and enjoy reading, which accounts for the very good outcomes for reading assessments. They enjoy speaking about books and choose reading as a leisure activity; they read with fluency and expression.  The number of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium funding is above the national average. The gap in attainment between this group and other pupils in the school and nationally has been variable over the last three years, but with a clear upward trend. In the 2014 results in mathematics, disadvantaged pupils were about one term behind other pupils in the school, but in line with this group nationally. For reading, disadvantaged pupils were around half a term behind other pupils in the school

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The achievement of pupils is good

and in line with others nationally. For writing, outcomes are in line with other pupils in the school and nationally.  The most-able pupils generally make good progress. In the most recent assessments, all of the small number of the more-able pupils make the progress they should in reading, writing and mathematics. However, observations of the quality of teaching revealed that the level of challenge for this group in some classes could be greater.  The pupils from minority ethnic groups, including those with a Black African or Black Caribbean heritage, make good progress, in line with all pupils.  Pupils who find learning difficult are identified swiftly and supported by programmes of intervention and extra support. As a result, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs do well and make good progress.

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The early years provision is good

 Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with knowledge, skills and understanding which are below those typical for their age. This is particularly the case for communication and language, personal, social and emotional development and physical development. Children settle well in the spacious and well resourced classrooms. There is an appropriate outdoor learning area which effectively supports learning.  Teachers have secure subject knowledge to support the learning in the Nursery and Reception classes, with clear records of development which are used to plan further learning, but these can be too broad and insufficiently specific. Teachers have a good understanding of the teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) and this is a real strength of the provision. Outcomes for the end of Reception show that children have a strong understanding of phonics which provides a good platform for developing

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The early years provision is good

reading and writing skills further in Year 1.  Children are provided with a range of activities to support their development in all areas of learning. As a result, irrespective of their starting points or individual needs, children make at least good progress, and some better than this, during their time in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The latest outcomes indicate that the proportion of children who have a good level of development by the time they leave Reception is above the national average. Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well promoted.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is being effectively led and managed, as a temporary measure, by a member of the school’s leadership team.

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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 100782 Local authority Southwark Inspection number 452329

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 440 Appropriate authority The governing body Acting Chair Emily MacKenzie Headteacher Jacqui Louis Date of previous school inspection 16–17 May 2012 Telephone number 020 7703 2583 Fax number 020 7708 0756 Email address headteacher@cobourg.southwark.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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