Setting

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

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Abdul-Hayee Murshad Bigland Green Primary School Bigland Street Wapping London E1 2ND

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 6 May 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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Primary School

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

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Primary School

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

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Primary School

The school should take further action to:

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Primary School

 identify in the school action plan the intended impact of planned actions on pupil progress and outcomes so that improvements can be monitored accurately  agree how the school’s performance information is presented so that leaders can measure the impact of teaching on better outcomes  ensure the accuracy of the school’s judgements and teachers’ assessments of pupil progress and outcomes.

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Evidence

During the inspection, I met with you, three of your assistant headteachers, your middle leadership team and a representative of the local authority. I also met with five members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body, to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. In addition, I met with a small group of pupils, visited each class and scrutinised pupils’ work. I evaluated a range of documents, including the school’s action plan and the school’s own assessments of pupil performance. A scrutiny of safeguarding arrangements was also undertaken.

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Context

Since the last inspection, 10 members of support staff have been appointed. The governors have also recruited an assistant headteacher, to start from September 2016, with a specific responsibility to oversee the raising of standards for pupil progress and outcomes.

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Main findings

You and other leaders have responded to the last inspection with determination to bring about improvement. Your senior and middle leaders show care, tenacity and focus and have secured a culture where staff are working together to bring about rapid improvements. The governing body supports this ambition. Governors regularly visit the school to make sure that they are informed of the progress being made against the actions identified on the school’s plan. As a result, there have been improvements in assessment and the quality of teaching and learning, as leaders hold teachers to account for following agreed teaching policies. You and your leaders are aware that some inconsistencies remain, for example in the quality of feedback in line with the school’s policy. However, teachers are beginning to share the good practice identified across the school.

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Main findings

The local authority adviser supports your senior leaders to review learning through joint learning walks and coaching. Your senior leaders have been instrumental in leading change to bring about improvements in the quality of teaching and learning across the school. New, regular ‘learning discussions’ and pupil progress meetings between assistant headteachers and the teachers in their phases of responsibility ensure that there is a clearer picture of what is expected. You set up systems for the detailed tracking of each pupil. As a result, staff have higher expectations of what pupils can achieve and there is improving rigour in the accuracy of pupil assessment. This is supporting planning for learning that better matches the needs of pupils. Work in pupils’ books now shows improved rates of progress since the last inspection. However, inconsistencies remain, as the proportion of pupils who are working at the expected standards for their age remain low in some year groups.

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Main findings

You and your staff are clear about how judgements are made about the quality of teaching and learning over time. You do this using book scrutiny, ongoing assessments, formal tests, internal checks on the accuracy of judgements and ‘learning discussions’. However, you are aware of the need to agree consistency in how performance information is presented across each teaching phase. This will provide greater clarity, when reviewing the impact of improvements across the school, on the progress pupils are making and whether they are reaching age- expected outcomes.

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Main findings

Your evaluation of the school’s current performance is enhanced by reviews from the local authority and links with another local ‘outstanding’ provider to check the accuracy of writing judgements. You are aware of the need to ensure that staff have further opportunities to check the reliability of their assessments of pupil progress and outcomes, beyond the school and in a range of subject areas.

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Main findings

Your long-term plans are tackling the areas requiring improvement that were identified at the recent inspection. However, the plans lack sufficient focus on identifying the impact that actions will have for pupils and their outcomes. This limits their effectiveness. You accept that a priority is to incorporate into the school action plan the difference you expect to see each term in pupil progress rates, both expected and accelerated, and their outcomes. This will enable you and your governors to judge the impact of each action and to review them swiftly, ensuring that you are on track to meet the targets you have set for 2016 and 2017.

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External support

Leaders have made very good use of the strong external support provided by the local authority. For example, the local authority head of primary learning and achievement has worked well to support the development of senior leaders, who are now much more effective and taking a fuller role in leading and managing change.

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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 Tower Hamlets. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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