Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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James Dawson Winsor Primary School East Ham Manor Way Beckton London E6 5NA

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School

Following my visit to your school on 28 April 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in September 2015. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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School

The school should take further action to:

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School

 further accelerate pupils’ progress in mathematics by sharing the effective practice that is evident in Year 1  update the school’s improvement planning so that it goes beyond this academic year  further develop the quality of teaching in the school’s curriculum beyond English and mathematics.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher and deputy headteachers, middle leaders, the chair of governors and four other governors, a representative from the local authority and parents of pupils currently at the school. The focus of each meeting was to review the impact of actions taken since the last inspection. A range of classes across key stages 1 and 2 were visited to review the quality of learning and teaching. Pupils’ work in books was scrutinised during these visits. Current progress and attainment information was checked for pupils in key stages 1 and 2. The school’s post-Ofsted improvement plan was evaluated.

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Context

Since the last inspection one class teacher has left the school. One class teacher has been appointed, as has a new subject leader for English. A new chair of governors was appointed following the resignation of the previous post holder in October 2015. Three new governors have been appointed, filling the vacancies that existed on the board at the time of the last inspection. Links have been made with two local outstanding schools to support specific aspects of the school’s improvement plan.

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Main findings

You have responded with urgency and tenacity to the recommendations in the section 5 inspection report from September 2015. You have ensured that parents, staff at all levels and governors understand what has to change and how this will be achieved. There is a unifying vision that this school will achieve the very best for each and every child at the school. Excuses about prior attainment are not tolerated as staff focus on improving their practice to quicken the progress of pupils throughout the school. You understand well the school’s strengths and the progress that has been made. However, you are equally unequivocal about what still has to be done.

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Main findings

You have worked very well with parents to promote attendance and punctuality. Parents feel you and your team are listening to the barriers that make them late with their children. You have allowed pupils to arrive earlier in the morning and made staff available to meet with parents to discuss problems and concerns. This is very much appreciated by parents, who feel that issues are dealt with more quickly and are less likely to escalate into a problem. The school’s traffic alert system, which tells parents if there is congestion on the A13 or A406 roads, also helps them plan alternate routes and leave for school earlier. It is clear that lessons start promptly at the beginning of the day and punctuality is expected consistently from all. As a result, punctuality has improved significantly. Attendance has also benefited from these high expectations. It is now just below the national average for 2014/15. Persistent absence has reduced by a half from April 2015, but is still

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Main findings

above the national average. You agree that this is still too high.

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Main findings

You and your senior leadership team are effectively developing subject leaders’ skills. Increasingly they are taking responsibility for leading their areas of responsibility and checking on the impact of their work. Impressively, it is clear that they are a united team of middle leaders who work well and support each other. Subject leaders understand that their work needs to improve the achievements of pupils in their areas of responsibility. They are held to account by senior leaders and governors and are therefore confident in explaining what has been achieved since September 2015.

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Main findings

You have created a shared language to talk about pupils’ progress. Staff understand what good progress looks like and are working to achieve this consistently. This has helped to increase the expectations that teachers have of their pupils. During our visits to several classrooms, it was clear that the pupils’ mathematics work has improved. This was most noteworthy in Year 1, where your mathematics subject leaders have introduced a new way of teaching the subject. This is already significantly improving pupils’ ability to explain their mathematical thinking and their ability to calculate with confidence. As a result, pupils’ progress in mathematics is consistently better in Year 1 than elsewhere in the school. While improvements have been secured in other year groups, they have been slower. You and your subject leaders agree that it is a priority to ensure that all pupils catch up from historical underachievement and achieve what they are capable of. The teaching of

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Main findings

writing is also improving, with teachers actively extending the vocabulary of pupils. Consequently, pupils’ writing is of a much higher quality. However, work in pupils’ books is still not of a consistently high quality across all classes. Effective professional development, including joint teaching, observations and development of subject knowledge, is helping to minimise these inconsistencies.

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Main findings

Pupils’ behaviour has improved since the last inspection. The playground incidents reported at the last inspection are reducing due to staff collectively taking responsibility for behaviour. You and your senior leaders regularly review behaviour incidents, looking for patterns. You use this information to identify potential improvements. Training has been provided for lunchtime supervisors, which is enabling them to head off problems before they develop. A wide range of activities also engage pupils after they have eaten their lunch. The grounds are divided up so that football, tennis, space hoppers, scooter boards, hoops, dance choreography and a disco area keep pupils gainfully occupied. Pupils reported it was a typical lunchtime and that there are fewer problems, and that when issues do occur they are well dealt with. School councillors are proud of helping to improve lunchtimes. One pupil explained, ‘We went to another school and saw that a disco area was

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Main findings

really popular. We introduced that here and lots of people love it.’ The playground was well supervised and pupils played respectfully with one another.

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Main findings

Improvement plans are effective because you have set realistic targets which are linked to the areas that require improvement. You have built in key points to measure progress across this academic year and you have identified ambitious timescales for delivery. The post-Ofsted improvement plan illustrates the tight partnership that has been developed between your senior leaders, subject leaders, teachers, parents, the local authority and local outstanding schools. It is clear how different stakeholders in the plan are contributing to its leadership and evaluation. However, the plan stops at the end of this academic year. You understand that the action plan needs to be extended and updated urgently, taking account of what has been achieved so far. Our visits to classrooms showed that the improvements seen in English and mathematics have not been secured in the wider curriculum. You agree that there is a need to further improve the quality of teaching and learning in

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Main findings

other subjects, such as science, history, geography and religious education.

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Main findings

Governors have taken rapid and effective action to improve their effectiveness. They are each taking responsibility for checking on an area identified for improvement in September 2015. It is clear that governors have a secure understanding of how effective the school currently is. They are visiting regularly to check on the progress being made in improving specific aspects of the school’s work. The day before this monitoring inspection a governor had visited to review the behaviour of pupils. A report was already available to share with the wider governing body. As a result, governors are posing more effective and focused challenge about the behaviour and progress of pupils.

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External support

The school is effectively using the targeted support provided by the local authority and two local outstanding schools. Regular visits are made to support and challenge senior leaders’ work in specific aspects of the improvement plan. The plan is effectively drawn up to ensure that each external individual has precise responsibilities. This is ensuring that external support is well directed and efficiently deployed. Progress meetings are held half termly with the local authority. Leaders and governors are expected to show how the improvement plan is on track to ensure that the school is at least good by September 2017. Teachers and leaders are benefiting from carefully planned opportunities to observe teaching and learning in outstanding schools locally.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Newham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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