Honilands Primary School

Honilands Primary School Lovell Road, Enfield, EN1 4RE

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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 has built a strong team of leaders. They are ambitious for the pupils and share a vision for the school and how it is to be achieved.  Governors have an acute understanding of the school and question leaders rigorously about achievement and the quality of teaching. They share the headteacher’s vision that the school should be at the heart of the local community.  Improving teaching is central to the work of all leaders. As a result, teaching is good and improving. Teachers new to the school quickly become effective practitioners.  Following a dip in attainment two years ago, action taken has led to the pupils’ achievement once again becoming good.  Children make good progress in the early years in secure, happy and stimulating classes. Staff work closely as a team to ensure that the learning and personal needs of all children are met.  The very strong partnership with parents reflects the school’s aim of helping to make the local

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

community more cohesive and successful.  Staff work relentlessly to identify and break down the many and varied barriers that impede learning and slow progress for significant numbers of pupils.  The school uses its creative approach to the curriculum to interest and engage the pupils and develop enthusiasm in them for learning.  The pupils’ good behaviour in classrooms and around the school makes for a harmonious atmosphere at all times.  Pupils display positive attitudes towards their learning by trying hard in lessons and taking great care over the presentation of their work.  The school takes steps to ensure that the school is a safe haven for everyone. Pupils say they feel safe in school and know there is always someone to confide in if they have a problem.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Progress in writing is not as rapid as in reading and mathematics. This is because pupils do not write in a wide enough range of styles for different audiences. Expectations of writing across subjects are not always high enough.  Teachers in the early years do not have high enough expectations of the children’s writing or provide sufficient opportunities for the children to develop their skills.  Teachers do not always use methods that challenge the more-able pupils, set work that is hard enough or encourages them to try ideas for themselves so that they learn by their mistakes.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 27 lessons, seven of which were visited with senior leaders, and looked at work in pupils’ books from the current academic year.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, school staff, the Chair of the Governing Body and three other governors. A meeting was also held with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 36 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View). They also considered results from a school survey from October 2014 with 230 responses. Inspectors also met informally with a small number of parents at the start of the school day.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own information on pupils’ current progress, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents relating to safeguarding.  Inspectors also took account of the 68 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Martin Beale, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is very large compared with other primary schools. It has grown considerably since its previous inspection and now has three forms of entry.  The proportion of pupils from a wide range of minority ethnic backgrounds is high, with the largest groups being pupils of Other White or Black African heritages.  The proportion of pupils speaking English as an additional language is well above average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for funding through the pupil premium is well above average. This is additional government funding which, in this school, supports pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is high, and rising.  A well-above average proportion of pupils joins or leave part way through their primary education.  The Nursery can cater for 90 children on a part-time basis, although 60 children were on roll at the time of

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Information about this school

the inspection. Children attend the three Reception classes full time.  The school is divided into four ‘families’, each led by an assistant headteacher. One family covers the early years. Each of the other families contain one class from each of Years 1 to 6.  The school runs a wide range of courses for parents through its Parent College.  The neighbouring children’s centre, managed jointly by this and two other schools, was inspected in February 2015 when its overall effectiveness was judged to be good.  The school provides a daily breakfast club. It also hosts a privately-run after-school club, which is inspected separately.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that teachers consistently extend the learning of the most-able pupils by:  using methods that challenge their thinking  setting work that is hard enough and encourages them to try out ideas themselves and have the confidence to learn by their mistakes.  Increase progress in writing by ensuring that:  pupils have more opportunities to write in a wide range of styles and for different audiences  expectations when writing across different subjects are clearly as high as in English  staff in the early years have higher expectations of the children’s writing and provide more effective opportunities for the children to develop their skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has built a strong team of senior and subject leaders. They are committed to doing all they can to raise the achievement of pupils and ensure that they enjoy learning. School leaders have created an atmosphere where staff and pupils can work in harmony based on strong and trusting relationships.  Improving teaching is at the heart of the work of family and subject leaders. They are held closely to account for the achievement of pupils in their areas of responsibility. Each teacher’s performance is carefully checked, including against the progress of pupils in their classes. Targets set are challenging, linked closely to salary progression and their achievement supported by further training.  Local authority engagement has been effective in supporting the school to tackle a dip in achievement two years ago. Considerable guidance and training have been provided in aspects of literacy. This has

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The leadership and management are good

successfully helped to put the school back on track and achievement is rising again.  The school is recognised nationally as a flagship for its successful inclusive approach. Its effective promotion of equality of opportunity and tackling discrimination is based on a sharp understanding of individual needs. The school works closely with outside agencies and links closely with the children’s centre to identify needs early and provide support for pupils and their families. Funding, such as the pupil premium, is very carefully allocated to where it can have the maximum impact on pupil achievement.  Safeguarding arrangements are of the highest priority for staff and governors, and are implemented effectively. Staff know precisely what to do should a concern arise. Very detailed records are maintained of any pupil causing concern and cases are meticulously handled.  The partnership with parents is very strong. It reflects the school’s commitment to its community and

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The leadership and management are good

strengthens parents’ connection with the school. The well attended and much valued college for parents gives them better job prospects through courses on money management and getting ready for work. They also gain greater insight into how to support their children through ‘keeping up with my children’.  The sharp focus on literacy and numeracy is supported well by imaginatively planned topic themes linking subjects where appropriate. The Wednesday afternoon choice of courses for Key Stage 2 pupils in ‘Honilands College’ broadens their horizons very considerably by studying courses in global issues, personal wellbeing, science and technology, media and Communications, and creative arts. Many of these add considerably to the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by studying courses in creative arts, music and media.  The school is justly proud of its approach to helping pupils understand what it is to be British and their

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The leadership and management are good

place in modern Britain. The school hosts debates, such as ‘Should children age 12 have the vote?’, and pupils take an active part in decisions in and around the school. The weekly newspaper club, attended by large numbers of pupils of all ages, encourages them to think about and discuss national and world issues. The rigorous election of school council representatives helps pupils to understand the democratic process.  Sport premium funding is being used well to increase pupil participation in activities in school and to take part in team competitions against other schools. This enhances not only the pupils’ physical fitness but also their understanding of how to work successfully as part of a team.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is well led and continually searching for ways to improve its effectiveness. To this end, governors are piloting an online self-evaluation tool to review their performance and identify where

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The leadership and management are good

they can take further action. They think and plan long-term activities such as looking carefully at the implication of financial projections. Their concern following the dip in achievement in 2013 led to a much closer analysis of assessment data. This has enabled governors to be more rigorous and challenging in their questioning of school leaders and confident that the dip has been reversed. They know teaching is good and regularly question the extent to which teachers are meeting targets set, and if not, what action is being taken. Governors ensure that finances, including linking teachers’ salaries to pupils’ achievement, are in order and recognise the success with which they have deployed additional funding such as the pupil premium.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils show great respect to each other and adults. Pupils from different cultural backgrounds or who join the school later in their education mix well and play happily together. Pupils respect the school environment by keeping it clean and tidy. They say any misbehaviour is dealt with swiftly by staff and does not interrupt their learning.  Pupils listen attentively to their teachers and are keen to answer any questions they pose. Their learning benefits considerably when working collaboratively, whether discussing ideas or undertaking tasks in groups. Pupils represent the views of others, such as on the school council, and choose causes to support through various fundraising events.  The ethos in the school is one where pupils are continually encouraged to reflect on their behaviour and whether it could be better. The team of staff supports individual pupils who fall short of expectations to

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Behaviour

adapt their behaviour successfully and so be included fully in school life.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Parents are very pleased with the way the school cares for their children. The family structure means pupils work and play in a small unit where they feel safe because they are well known. They speak highly of the support they receive, including those who might not be succeeding in school for emotional and social reasons.  Pupils understand the different forms of bullying. Through regular training, they are clear about cyber bullying and how to deal with it. They say the school does not tolerate any derogatory language and tackles any incidents of bullying and racism swiftly and effectively. Their parents agree.  Attendance has fluctuated from year to year. Firm action to tackle a sharp rise in persistent absence last year is successfully returning attendance levels to at least the national average.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers manage the behaviour of pupils well and make their lessons interesting, so classrooms are full of purposeful activity. Teachers demonstrate their secure subject knowledge by using alternative methods if they find pupils are struggling with new ideas. Resources are used well, such as to help pupils understand new concepts in mathematics. Support staff are carefully briefed and deployed to where they can have the greatest impact on learning, either within the classroom or when leading specific programmes of support.  The more effective teachers question pupils and set work that makes them think deeply. This is not consistently the case and on a small number of occasions the most-able pupils are not challenged enough. Teaching does not enable them to explore ideas enough themselves and so have the confidence to learn by their mistakes. This holds back their learning.  The teaching of reading is good and has improved following action taken after a dip in achievement two

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The quality of teaching is good

years ago. Phonics (the sounds letters make) is taught well in the early years and at Key Stage 1. Year 1 pupils now read daily to an adult and a new programme is effectively developing wider reading skills, such as inference at Key Stage 2.  Mathematics is taught well. Teachers are responding well to the additional challenge presented by the new National Curriculum, by focusing sharply on making sure pupils master number skills. The most-able pupils are generally challenged by applying their skills to undertaking complicated problems and open- ended investigations.  School leaders have identified that more needs to be done to improve the teaching of writing. Pupils have the opportunity to plan and undertake extended pieces of writing with a range of styles and for different audiences. Pupils have opportunities to develop their skills across subjects, but teachers do not always make clear that writing should be of the same quality as in literacy lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most teachers use marking to help pupils improve their work. They give clear guidance to which pupils respond by making corrections, improving sections of their writing or checking their understanding in mathematics by completing additional questions. However, where guidance is less effective, pupils do not eliminate mistakes or improve the quality of their work as quickly.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics across the school, from skills generally much lower than those expected for their age on entry. Following a dip in 2013, attainment is rising in all subjects. This is in part because more pupils are working at levels above those expected for their age at all stages. Improvements in writing are not as rapid as in reading and mathematics.  The achievement of later arrivals is good, but whether their attainment reaches national expectations by Year 6 depends on their length of time at the school. Pupils from different minority ethnic backgrounds, including those of Other White or Black African heritages, achieve as well as others.  Year 6 test results fell in in reading in 2013, but rose again in 2014. Results were below average in all subjects in 2014 because relatively few pupils reached Level 5 in each subject. It has also been the case

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The achievement of pupils is good

that few pupils have reached Level 3 at the end of Key Stage 1 in the past.  The pupil premium is used very effectively to ensure that the progress of disadvantaged pupils is at least as good as others. Their attainment is comparable to, or higher than, other pupils in each year group. The gap at Year 6 in 2014 with other pupils nationally amounted to one term in writing and between two and three terms in reading and mathematics. This gap is closing as attainment across the school rises.  The good progress of pupils new to speaking English is because the focus by staff across the school on their language development helps them gain fluency and confidence quickly. Their attainment is generally higher than that of other pupils in their year groups.  The progress made by disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is also good. The early and accurate identification of individual learning difficulties enables staff to deploy resources and

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The achievement of pupils is good

staffing carefully to meet their needs.  Results of the phonics screening check for Year 1 pupils were below average in 2014, but rose considerably from the year before. Evidence shows that this improvement is continuing, with mostly later arrivals or those with significant special needs not reaching required levels.  The small number of most-able pupils makes good progress. Any who reach Level 3 at Key Stage 1 usually reach at least Level 5 by the end of Year 6. The school is now taking additional steps to extend learning so more pupils reach higher levels. As a result, several pupils are working at Level 6 in mathematics.

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The early years provision is good

 Achievement is good in the early years. Consistently good teaching helps children who enter with weaknesses in skills to close gaps or catch up with others. Children make good progress, so that their attainment is rising but still below average by the time they leave Reception. Their number skills are improving in response to action taken to improve teaching in what was a weak area for children last year.  Teaching focuses sharply on each child’s identified needs and particularly their language and social development. Teaching how to relate letters to sounds is enabling children to make plausible attempts at new words and write simple phrases. However, not enough is expected of the children’s writing. Adults do not provide sufficient opportunities to capture the children’s imaginations for use creatively in their writing.  Children behave well and respond quickly to questions and requests from adults. Children feel safe and

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The early years provision is good

secure because they are carefully supervised by adults at all times and have developed trusting relationships. Adults respond well to their needs and help them to engage in activities so they feel they can ask for help whenever required.  Leadership of the early years is good. Leaders are clear about their responsibilities and have successfully secured good progress and rising attainment. They continually reflect on how provision and their teaching can improve in order to raise achievement further. Adults work as a close team and use a variety of strategies to engage the children in learning. The classrooms are bright and welcoming. The outdoor areas link closely to learning inside and provide ample space for children to develop their physical skills.

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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 101998 Local authority Enfield Inspection number 456079

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 656 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ray Barker Headteacher Ralph Silverman Date of previous school inspection 1 December 2011 Telephone number 01992 701012 Fax number 01992 850799 Email address office@honilands.enfield.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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