St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

School report St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Havering Drive, Romford, RM1 4BT

p.1

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

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school is well led by the headteacher and deputy headteacher. They are well supported and challenged by the governing body. They have continued to improve teaching and maintain standards.  All groups of pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics in all year groups. Those pupils who are at the early stages of learning English make exceptional progress.  The gaps in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates in the different year groups are closing quickly.  Teaching is good. Teachers use marking and feedback well to help pupils to move their learning on quickly.  Children in the early years get off to a good start and are well prepared to start Year 1.  Pupils are very caring, friendly and respectful towards each other. They behave well and feel safe in the school.  The school strongly promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development across the

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

curriculum and through the school’s Christian ethos.

p.1

It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always use all adults in lessons to support learning effectively.  Sometimes the questions used by teachers do not always challenge pupils’ thinking, particularly the most able pupils.  Occasionally the work given to the most able is not difficult enough.  The middle leaders are new to their roles; therefore, it is too soon to see the full impact of their work. Inspection report: St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 1–2 July 2015 2 of 9

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes across the school. Some of these were carried out jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Inspectors looked at range of work in all year groups with these senior leaders.  Inspectors held meetings with some staff who have key responsibilities, groups of pupils, members of the governing body and with one representative from the local authority and one representative from the Diocese of Chelmsford.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation including: information on pupils’ attainment and progress; governing body minutes; the monitoring of teaching; and, records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.  Inspectors took account of the 171 responses to the on-line questionnaire, Parent View, and spoke to parents at the start of the second day of the inspection. They also considered 28 responses to the Ofsted questionnaire completed by staff.

p.2

Inspection team

Sharona Semlali, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

p.2

Inspection team

Fatiha Maitland Additional Inspector Inspection report: St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 1–2 July 2015 3 of 9

p.2

Information about this school

 This is a much larger than average-sized primary school.  Since the previous inspection there have been changes to the membership of the senior and middle leadership teams. The headteacher was appointed at the beginning of March 2012. Also, there have been significant changes to the membership of the governing body.  Most pupils are from White British and African backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is below average. This is additional funding the school receives for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or who are looked after.  The early years provision has three full-time Reception classes and a part-time morning and afternoon Nursery class.

p.3

Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school has a breakfast club on site. This is not managed by the school and was not part of this inspection.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to outstanding by ensuring that: – teachers make full use of teaching assistants in lessons to support pupils’ learning – teachers’ questioning helps to challenge pupils’ thinking skills, especially of the most able – the work given to the most able pupils is sufficiently challenging.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the roles of the new middle leaders so they can help to monitor the quality of teaching and learning and fully support in driving improvement in their areas of responsibility. Inspection report: St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 1–2 July 2015 4 of 9

p.3

The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides clear and determined leadership. She is well supported by an accomplished deputy headteacher. They have high ambitions and work hard to make the necessary improvements for the school. As a result, leaders have established a caring and nurturing environment where behaviour flourishes and good teaching ensures that pupils achieve well.  Senior leaders make highly effective use of the wealth of information they have on pupils’ progress to ensure that no one slips through the net. The progress of all groups and individuals is carefully tracked. Support is put in place quickly if pupils are at risk of falling behind. This shows the school’s commitment to making sure that all pupils have an equal opportunity of succeeding. Leaders do not tolerate any form of discrimination.  The systems for monitoring the quality of teaching are rigorous. Teachers have access to high quality

p.4

The leadership and management are good

training that helps them continually to improve their practice. Newly qualified teachers say that they feel well supported.  Middle leaders are very committed to their roles and passionate about their responsibilities. They are fairly new in post and are at the early stages of starting to make improvements. They are not yet fully involved in the monitoring of teaching. Therefore, it is too soon to see the full impact of their work.  After carefully reviewing the spending of the pupil premium, leaders are much better at making effective use of it. Leaders and governors closely monitor the impact of how the funding is spent. They have used it well to close the gaps in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and others in the school.  The primary physical education and sport premium is used well. It has increased the confidence and participation rates of pupils, particularly girls. More pupils take part in a variety of competitive sports.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

These include water polo and basketball. Consequently, the school is winning awards.  The curriculum is tailored well to suit the needs and interests of pupils. It provides a wide range of extra- curricular activities that promote and extend their learning. These include gymnastics, dance and tag rugby. Pupils have plenty of opportunities to learn about the wider world by going on visits, including residential trips. The school celebrates the creative and performing arts widely. The curriculum is effective in promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, pupils are given time to reflect upon social and moral issues.  The school promotes British values well through its Christian values. For example, there is strong mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Pupils are aware of electoral procedures. These are reinforced through school council visits to the Mayor’s office and trips to the Houses of

p.4

The leadership and management are good

Parliament. As a result, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The school works well in fostering positive relationships with parents. For example, there was a good take up at ‘stay and read’ and ‘stay and do maths’ sessions. These are where pupils share their work and teachers show parents how these subjects are taught.  The local authority works closely and effectively with the school. This includes training and completing checks on different aspects of the school’s work.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is effective. The governing body makes up an experienced and committed team. Governors are fully involved in guiding the future direction of the school and in evaluating its performance. They are not solely reliant on the detailed and accurate reports they receive. They seek their own external opinion about the school’s performance as well. They challenge leaders well and hold them to account. Governors regularly visit the school and talk to pupils, staff and consult with parents. They have undertaken a wide range of training. All of this has put them in a powerful position to analyse and discuss the school’s data and know what the quality of teaching is like throughout the school. Governors know how teachers’ performance is managed. They insist that rewards to teachers’ salary are linked to pupils’ outcomes. They clearly know the school’s procedures for tackling any underperformance.

p.4

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are very polite, caring and well mannered. Pupils open doors for each other and for adults. They are very good at making visitors feel welcome. At the time of the inspection, on the hottest day of the year, children in the early years showed their caring attitudes by Inspection report: St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 1–2 July 2015 5 of 9

p.4

Behaviour

getting tissues for others who were hot and sweaty. Pupils’ positive behaviour reflects the Christian values that the school is promoting, such as tolerance and respect.  Low-level disruption is rare and dealt with well when it does occur. Any challenging behaviour displayed by pupils is managed well.  Pupils contribute strongly to the culture of the school through the work of the school council, eco warriors, the worship committee, peer mediators and house captains. Pupils say that these roles are important as they ‘help to reduce the number of conflicts’ and ‘help others to understand the importance of recycling’.  Pupils generally show respect for the school environment. They wear their school uniform proudly.  Staff adopt approaches to improve behaviour through rewards and sanctions effectively. Pupils spoken to believe that the system is fair to everyone.  Parents, staff and pupils say that pupils are well behaved in the school.

p.5

Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. All policies are up to date. Risk assessments are carried out thoroughly. All staff have received recent training on how to protect pupils.  Pupils report that they feel safe at school. Those spoken to say that they have an adult that they can go to if they have a concern. They know that they can speak to pupils who are trained peer mentors who will refer to a teacher if an issue cannot be resolved by them.  Pupils have a good understanding of what is meant by bullying and the different forms it takes. There have been a few incidents of bullying recorded by the school. These have mainly involved name calling. The school’s documentation shows that any incident is dealt with swiftly and appropriately and this is confirmed by discussions with pupils.  Pupils are taught how to keep safe when they ride their bicycles on the road and when using the internet.

p.5

Safety

Pupils who are ‘digital leaders’ are available to remind others about different techniques on how to keep safe when using the internet. These ‘digital leaders’ have produced a few stimulating displays around the school to act as a prompt for other pupils.  Attendance is improving and is above average. This reflects pupils’ enjoyment of coming to school.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching over time is good. Teachers create a good working ethos in the classrooms where there are positive relationships between the adults and pupils.  Mathematics is taught well. Teachers’ good subject knowledge and useful links to other subjects help pupils to understand the purpose of their learning. Pupils are confident in using their calculation skills. Teachers have given pupils the confidence to try out different ways of solving problems in mathematics. Older pupils are strongly encouraged to use and practise their reasoning skills. All of this helps them to make rapid gains in their learning.  Pupils have developed a love of reading. This has been a successful focus for the school. Teachers use high quality stimulating books to enter into philosophical debates around a number of key issues. Those pupils who are at the early stages of reading are confident in using letter sounds to make plausible

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

attempts at new words. Teachers ensure that pupils have regular access to books. Pupils are very keen and eager to use their new library, which was requested by them.  Teachers give pupils plenty of opportunities to write at length in all subjects. Teachers address errors in pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar quickly. As a result, pupils’ writing is generally accurate. Teachers’ marking conforms to the school’s policy. Most of it gives pupils helpful suggestions on how they can improve their work. Pupils are given time to act upon the comments made.  Teaching assistants are well trained by the inclusion leader to support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs in small groups. However, sometimes teachers do not always make effective use of the teaching assistants to support pupils in lessons.  Even though leaders have started to focus on improving teachers’ questioning, it still does not always

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

challenge pupils’ thinking. This is particularly so for the most able pupils.

p.5

The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in all year groups, especially in reading. The 2015 unvalidated results for Year 6 show that the proportion of pupils making good progress is above last year’s national average in Inspection report: St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 1–2 July 2015 6 of 9

p.5

The achievement of pupils is good

reading, writing and mathematics. Attainment has improved significantly and is now above average.  Attainment at the end of Year 2 has had a three-year upward trend. It has been above the national average for the last couple of years.  Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and those who speak English as an additional language make outstanding progress from their different starting points. This is partly due to the fact that those who have very little understanding of English are given essential small-group support. Sometimes they are given extra help before the lesson begins so that they are familiar with some of the key vocabulary to be used. This helps to develop their confidence so that they can take a full part in learning.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress. This is evident from the school’s data and case studies. The leader of this provision keeps close checks on the quality of

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

teaching and learning that takes place in small groups to ensure that pupils’ needs are being met. Regular feedback is given to staff so that the impact of the support given to the different groups of pupils continually improves.  In 2014, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher Level 5 in reading and mathematics was broadly average. It was below average in writing. This has improved in 2015. However, because some of the most able pupils find some of the work easy, this limits their progress.  The school’s data show that the gaps in attainment have narrowed between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates. Where there are any gaps they are closing quickly. Over this academic year, the progress of disadvantaged pupils is accelerating.  There were wide gaps in the 2014 published data between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates and other pupils nationally. In mathematics, disadvantaged pupils were just over three terms behind in

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

mathematics when compared to their classmates and others nationally. In reading, disadvantaged pupils were three-and-a-half terms behind other pupils nationally and just under four terms behind their classmates. In writing, disadvantaged pupils were just under two terms behind their classmates and just over two terms behind others nationally. In writing, they were around two terms behind their classmates and two-and-a-half terms behind others nationally. Disadvantaged pupils made faster rates of progress in reading when compared to all of the other pupils in 2014. However, this was slower in writing and mathematics.

p.6

The early years provision is good

 Children enter the early years with skills and abilities that are typical for their age. They make good progress across all areas of learning. The proportion of children making a good level of development at the end of the Reception classes in 2015 is above the national average for 2014. Disadvantaged children make similar progress to their peers. Disabled children and those who have special educational needs make good progress too because their needs are identified quickly and supported well. The majority of children are well prepared to join Year 1.  Behaviour is good. Children respond quickly to the instructions of staff. They play and share the resources well. Parents spoken to say that they believe that their children are kept safe and secure at all times. During the hot weather, at the time of the inspection, children had easy access to food and water. Staff encourage children to stay healthy and attend well to their needs.

p.6

The early years provision is good

 The quality of teaching is good in the early years. Teachers are effective in getting children to work together in small groups and to share their ideas and findings. For example, during the inspection, children were reasoning and debating about which materials would be attracted to the magnet and why. However, some of the tasks are not always well matched to the ability of the most-able children. This impedes the amount of progress they make. Children are given sufficient opportunities to learn at their own pace. However, on some occasions, teachers in the Reception classes do not use the teaching assistants effectively to make the most of children’s learning.  The leadership of early years is good. The leader has a clear understanding of the strengths of the provision and what needs improving. She supports all staff in ensuring they use observations of children’s learning to help them to plan for their next steps of learning. Parents are involved in children’s learning by

p.6

The early years provision is good

sharing any significant moments of their child’s life. They are fully involved in celebrating their child’s achievements. Inspection report: St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 1–2 July 2015 7 of 9

p.6

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

p.7

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. Inspection report: St Edward's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 1–2 July 2015 8 of 9

p.7

School details

Unique reference number 102328 Local authority Havering Inspection number 448718

p.8

School details

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

p.8

School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 684 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sarah Cansell Headteacher Stephanie Ellner Date of previous school inspection 11–12 November 2009 Telephone number 01708 745971 Fax number 01708 764623 Email address contact@stedwardsva.net 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 .

p.8

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.

p.9

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

p.9

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

p.9

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’.

p.9

School details

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

p.9