Heathbrook Primary School

Heathbrook Primary School St Rule Street, London SW8 3EH

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 The headteacher, senior leaders, governing body and staff have a shared vision for the type of education they want to provide.  They have created an exceptional environment for pupils and children in the early years to thrive. They have paid particular attention to the outdoor education programme.  Teachers have good subject knowledge, and plan imaginative and engaging activities that utilise this environment.  As a result, many pupils make good progress across the school, especially by the end of key stage 2.  Pupils are known well, feel cared for and safe in this secure and creative school. Parents and the wider community are encouraged to participate in school activities and do so regularly.  The early years provision is good. Staff pay particular attention to children’s emotional development and well-being. The indoor and outdoor areas are rich and creative learning spaces. Children move effortlessly between the

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This is a good school

two.  Pupils are polite and courteous. The ‘BBB’ or ‘Be the Best you can Be’ ethos has had a positive impact on pupils’ behaviour. Their conduct around the site is good. Pupils are tolerant and respectful of each other’s differences.  Attendance has improved dramatically and is now above the national average.  The governing body has an accurate understanding of the strengths of the school. They ask searching questions of senior leaders to ensure that improvements continue to be made.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Some children in the early years, particularly disadvantaged children, do not achieve a good level of development.  A small number of pupils in key stage 1 do not make the same good progress as others at the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Leaders and managers must ensure that:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

interventions in the early years are targeted to make sure that more children catch up with their peers in school and nationally by achieving a good level of development some pupils receive further support so that they can make the same good progress as others at the school.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher and leaders at all levels, including the governing body, have a shared vision for the education they provide. Sat at its heart is the belief that they will create a learning environment where staff can enable ‘dreams through knowing each child’. Consequently, the site has been meticulously planned to provide an extremely rich, interesting and creative environment for the pupils to learn and play in. The wildlife garden, in particular, provides forest school opportunities where pupils can learn about wildlife, grow vegetables and plants, build dens and understand the natural world.  The identified four ‘pillars’ of learning including arts, music, outdoor learning and sport are the foundation for the school’s ethos and the design of the environment and wider curriculum. Consequently, pupils are given a wide range of opportunities across the school to broaden their experiences and try out new

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

things. The school’s commitment to creativity has enabled it to become an associate school for the Southbank Centre and, as a result, pupils are regularly involved in musical and arts events. The school orchestra and choir encourage pupils to participate, and throughout the day music lessons encourage pupils to play instruments, and learn rhythms and melodies.  Primary sports funding is used effectively to ensure that a wide range of sporting opportunities are available throughout the day as part of the curriculum and after school. The school won the London Regional POP Lacrosse Championships and is soon to participate in the national finals. Learning to swim is given a high priority and a range of dance and team sports are provided. Pupils are encouraged to establish healthy lifestyles, through getting active, learning to grow their own food and making good choices about what they eat. School leaders carefully check which pupils participate in activities and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

regularly undertake surveys to ensure that all interests are catered for. The full-time sports coach ensures that pupils are actively encouraged to participate in physical activities throughout the school day.  School leaders have worked tirelessly to encourage parents, carers and the wider community to become involved in the life of the school. Consequently, parents act as volunteer readers with pupils, help tend the wildlife garden at weekends, actively fund-raise and support the school through the Friends of Heathbrook. Parents who responded to the online survey, Parent View, were unanimous in their positive view of the school.  Senior and middle leaders have worked together to secure improvements since the previous inspection report judged the school to require improvement. They have actively and successfully tackled issues such as poor attendance and inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and learning. They have an accurate

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

view of the strengths of the school and a detailed action plan for further improvements.  Middle leaders feel supported and empowered to continue to make improvements in their subject ‘domains’ and year group areas. They are an experienced and stable group, who work well together and with the senior leadership team. They carefully track the progress made by pupils and discuss ‘post data action plans’ with individual teachers. This ensures that interventions are quickly employed to minimise any potential underachievement by pupils and groups of pupils.  School leaders are clear about their responsibility to protect pupils from extremism and radicalisation. Teachers have received appropriate training and are clear about the associated risks and signs to look for. British values are promoted through the democratically elected school council, visits to the Houses of Parliament and the topics taught across the curriculum covering the changes to British society over time

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

and its place within the wider world.  Pupil premium funding is used to provide a range of initiatives that support disadvantaged pupils. These include providing extra support through increased staffing and small-group intervention, harnessing the skills of outside agencies to support particular pupils’ needs and providing enrichment opportunities. While gaps between disadvantaged children and non-disadvantaged children exist in the early years, by the time pupils leave school at the end of Year 6 these gaps have been eradicated.  Leadership of the special educational needs and disability provision is good. Pupils with special educational needs and disability are assessed early and their individual needs identified. External agencies, particularly those providing speech and language support, are commissioned to work with particular children in the early years. Support staff receive specific training to meet individual pupils’

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

needs. Leaders work closely with parents to ease transition into the different stages of school.  Leaders carefully check the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Senior and ‘Domain’ leaders regularly visit lessons, look at pupils’ work and check assessment information on pupils’ progress. Each teacher has set targets linked to pupils’ progress and their own professional development needs. A weekly staff meeting that encourages different subject areas to provide ‘shout outs’ relating to aspects of teaching and learning has proved particularly successful. Teachers share their ideas and expertise during these meetings and a coaching ethos is encouraged.  Leaders have not ensured that all groups of pupils, and children in the early years, make the same good progress. Examples include some disadvantaged children in the early years and a small group of pupils in key stage 1.  The governance of the school

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

The governing body are a stable, committed and knowledgeable group. Since undertaking an external review of governance following the last inspection, they have been reconstituted and reorganised into committees. This ensures that they have a detailed understanding of all aspects of the school’s work, its strengths and what still needs to be improved. Governors are very involved in the life of the school, fully supportive of the ‘journey’ the school has been on and share wholeheartedly the vision and ethos. They have clear processes in place to manage the performance of the headteacher. They ensure the school is financially stable.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The governing body understand their statutory responsibility to keep children and pupils safe. Consequently, the school’s arrangements for safeguarding are detailed, fully meet current requirements and are kept under review. Governors have undergone

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

regular training and check that school staff are also suitably trained. They ensure that record-keeping relating to the suitability of staff to work at the school is accurate and in line with the guidance.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Leaders at all levels have ensured that the quality of teaching and learning has improved since the last inspection, so that more pupils make the progress they are capable of.  Teachers have good subject knowledge. They plan interesting and engaging activities that utilise the rich learning environment. Pupils are encouraged to be creative in their thinking and how they express themselves through music, art and drama. Learning in the outdoor environment is exploited irrespective of the weather. Guided reading and writing are used to model high expectations and talk for writing encouraged.  School leaders have introduced a consistent approach to giving pupils feedback about their work. Pupils understand the system and reflect on the quality of both their own and other pupils’ work. They have pride in the work they produce. Time is given for them to make necessary improvements. For example, during the inspection Year 6 were editing completed diary entries. They focused on improving not just the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

technical accuracy of their writing, but also the style and choice of vocabulary.  The teaching of mathematics is effective, particularly for the most able, who are challenged to attempt complex problem solving and investigations. Subject-specific vocabulary is reinforced to extend pupils’ learning still further.  Teaching assistants are well deployed throughout the school. They work closely with individual pupils and groups of pupils, and actively support in class. Their focus on improving pupils’ oral skills through targeted questioning is particularly notable.  Teachers and teaching assistants ensure pupils learn letters and the sounds they make (phonics) quickly. As a result, Year 1 pupils make rapid progress in learning to read. Pupils across the school are enthusiastic about books and read regularly for pleasure.  However, teachers do not always identify quickly enough the specific learning needs of individual pupils

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

and plan activities to meet their needs. Consequently, some children in the early years and some pupils do not make the progress they are capable of.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  School leaders have created a nurturing and secure environment where all pupils are known well and are kept safe. The curriculum encourages pupils to explore their natural surroundings, fosters positive relationships and encourages them to be curious and creative.  Keeping children safe is seen as a high priority. Five leaders operate as child protection officers, including the headteacher. All staff have received up-to-date training in line with current legislation, including ‘Keeping children safe in education’, issues relating to female genital mutilation (FGM) and child sexual exploitation, domestic violence and e-safety.  Pupils are encouraged to talk about any concerns or worries they might have. ‘Speak Up’ sessions with the pastoral support worker are available for pupils in Years 4 to 6. Pupils say that they feel safe and

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Personal development and welfare

know who to talk to should they have any concerns. They could name potential risks and know how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations. Minor disputes, for instance over the use of the football pitch, are more prevalent than bullying and dealt with quickly by school staff. Pupils know they should be kind and tolerant towards each other and the majority are.  Pupils are given a range of information through assemblies and outside speakers about how they can keep themselves safe. This includes information on e-safety, the dangers of being involved in gangs and keeping themselves safe on the roads. Take-up of cycle training in Years 3 to 6 has been high.  The personal, social, and health education programme covers a range of issues including sex and relationships, and peer pressure. Pupils are encouraged to celebrate differences, and think about different religions and ideals. Year 5, for instance, have just visited a Buddhist Temple.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils around the site is good. They mix well together across year groups and are polite and courteous. They are encouraged to show respect towards each other and value and celebrate differences. The ‘BBB’ principles are understood by all pupils and children in the early years. Pupils are rewarded for adhering to these principles. Incidents of poor behaviour are managed through reflection time and restorative principles, rather than punishments. Break-out areas are used for this purpose.  Attitudes to learning for many pupils are good. Most pupils are keen to do well, respect staff and try hard. This was particularly notable in Year 6, where pupils were still striving to improve their writing, even though they have just taken their end-of-key-stage tests.  Attendance has improved dramatically over time. Leaders have robustly tackled the reasons for poor or sporadic attendance, working closer with families and external agencies. Accurate records are kept of

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Behaviour

pupils’ attendance and leaders regularly analyse the information to ensure that any trends or issues are identified quickly. As a result, attendance is now at least in line with the national average.  Some pupils can lose concentration in class and need extra support to ensure that their attitudes to learning are consistently good.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Attainment at the end of key stage 1 has risen over the past three years from significantly below the national average to be just in line with the average in reading, writing and mathematics. Information provided by the school indicates that the current Year 2 will potentially be below the national average due to the high number of pupils with special educational needs and disability in this year group. However, pupils will have made good progress from starting points and the most able will achieve highly, especially in maths and reading.  The school uses a systematic phonics programme that is well led and systematically applied. Consequently, in 2015, the number of pupils in Year 1 achieving the expected standard in phonics was in line with the national average and looks set to be higher this year.  In 2015, at the end of key stage 2, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was just above the

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Outcomes for pupils are good

national average. All pupils made expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Information provided by the school and work in pupils’ books indicates that the current Year 6 will achieve above the national average this year.  In early years, the percentage of children achieving a good level of development was below the national average across all of the early learning goals. Children arrive in the early years with a broad range of starting points.  The gap between disadvantaged children and non-disadvantaged children achieving a good level of development is wide in early years. However, this gap closes by the end of Year 1 and is indiscernible by the end of key stage 2. In 2015, disadvantaged pupils made similar progress to their peers and above the national average at the end of Year 6. School leaders anticipate that this will be the case again this year.  Pupils with special educational needs and disability in the school make better progress than this group

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Outcomes for pupils are good

nationally at the end of key stage 2. Progress information provided by the special educational needs coordinator indicates that this looks set to continue across the key stage. School leaders are quick to identify those that need extra support. A range of effective interventions are in place to support the accelerated progress of some pupils.  The school has a well-stocked library and a range of other ‘break-out’ reading rooms to encourage a love of reading. Opportunities to read individually, or as a class, are mapped into the school day and pupils are encouraged to read to a range of adults. Reading journals record the dialogue between pupils and adults when they read together. This encourages a shared love of reading and involves parents and carers in the process.  A small number of pupils in key stage 1 do not make the same good progress as others at the school.

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Early years provision is good

 Children enter the early years with a broad range of skills and abilities. Some join with skills below those that are typical for their age, particularly disadvantaged children. Leaders focus on assessing children’s well-being at the start to ensure that they settle quickly into school life.  Children in the early years benefit from a beautiful, creative and rich learning environment. A large number of focused areas have been created across the Nursery, Reception and Year 1 area to encourage children to play, explore, create, be imaginative and understand the natural world. Free flow between the indoor and outdoor areas is seamless. The wildlife garden in particular gives children the opportunity to explore the natural world and articulate their thoughts and questions. During the inspection, children were able to talk about the mini beasts they had found and explain their size, how they moved and their

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Early years provision is good

habitats.  Children know how to keep themselves safe, are quick to respond to instructions and bells calling them to the next activity, and know how to ask for help should they need it. They are kind to each other and enjoy talking and playing together.  Teaching in the early years is good. Staff pay particular attention to children’s emotional development and well-being. They know the children well and share information about their progress regularly with parents and carers. The learning journals, which are now kept electronically, help make this process easily accessible. Nursery and Reception staff work closely together to plan interesting activities to engage the children.  The teaching of phonics in the Reception class is effective.  Safeguarding practice is effective and all staff are well trained. As with other areas of the school, children learn in a secure and enriching environment.  However, not enough children reach a good level of development from their starting points across the

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Early years provision is good

early learning goals, particularly those children who are disadvantaged. Though rising slightly this year, the number of children achieving a good level of development will still be below the national figure.

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School details

Unique reference number 100566 Local authority Lambeth Inspection number 10011904

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 359 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jacqueline Dyer Headteacher Ben Roberts Telephone number 0207 622 4101 Website www.heathbrook.org Email address admin@heathbrook.lambeth.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 11 February 2014

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Information about this school

 Heathbrook Primary School is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  Almost half of the pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is above average. This government funding is used to support pupils who are eligible for free school meals or children looked after by the local authority.  Over two thirds of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. The largest groups are of pupils who are White and Black Caribbean, Black Caribbean, Black African and of ‘any other White’ background.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average at 42.1%.  The proportion of pupils who receive special educational needs support is much higher than the national average.  The proportion of children with a statement of special educational needs or disability, or those with an education, health and care plan is above the national average.  Pupils’ attainment on entry to key stage 2 is below the national average.

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Information about this school

 No pupil attends any alternative provision.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 22 parts of lessons in order to observe teaching, learning and assessment across a range of year groups and subjects. Some observations were carried out jointly with school leaders.  Discussions were held with the chair of the governing body, other governors, the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, groups of pupils and a range of staff. A telephone call with a representative from the local authority also took place.  Inspectors took account of the 108 responses to Parent View and a staff survey.  The inspection team scrutinised a wide range of documentation which included: records relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance; minutes of meetings; and information on the progress made by pupils. Inspectors also analysed the school’s self-evaluation and systems relating to the quality of teaching.  Inspectors reviewed safeguarding records, policies and procedures, including checks done on the

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Inspection team

Helen Matthews, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Sean Flood Ofsted Inspector James Hollinsley Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

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

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