Wood End Primary School

Wood End Academy Vernon Rise, Greenford UB6 0EQ

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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 new headteacher and other school leaders have energetically driven forward improvements since the previous inspection. As a result, all aspects of the school’s work are now good and improving.  Governors are regular visitors to the school. They support leaders in their work to improve the school.  Teaching is good. Teachers, ably supported by teaching assistants, mostly use pupils’ progress information well to plan exciting learning activities that support pupils of all abilities to make good progress.  Current pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Gaps between disadvantaged and other pupils are closing. Pupils who have special educational needs or disability are effectively supported to achieve well.  Pupils behave very well and feel safe in school. They are curious and keen to learn new things. They very much enjoy coming to school and so rates of attendance are consistently above the

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This is a good school

national average.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength and contributes well to their understanding of life in modern Britain.  The curriculum is well developed and helps pupils gain a breadth of knowledge, understanding and skills. Pupils thoroughly enjoy participating in the wide range of formal plus extra-curricular and enrichment activities on offer. These make a very strong contribution to pupils’ personal development.  Pupils leave the school well prepared for secondary school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not enough pupils make rapid progress across the subjects.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are not consistently high enough to ensure that they make rapid progress.  The standard of writing across the subjects is not of the same fine quality that is typically evident in pupils’ English books.  Some middle leaders, new to their role, have not yet sufficiently developed the skills to secure excellent practice in their areas of responsibility.  Governors do not always complete a wide enough range of checks through which they can hold leaders to account for all aspects of the school’s work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching further so that more pupils make rapid progress by: teachers learning from the best practice found in the school that consistently challenges pupils of all abilities to extend their knowledge and deepen their understanding ensuring that pupils write to the same standards and depth in other subjects as they do in English.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by: continuing to develop the skills of new leaders to improve the quality of teaching and to hold colleagues to account for their pupils’ rapid progress governors checking all aspects of the school’s work more rigorously and holding leaders to account for all aspects of their work.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 All leaders are determined to drive forward improvements at a speedy rate. The very positive culture, ethos and ways of working in the school are underpinned by the school’s agreed values of taking responsibility, showing enthusiasm, demonstrating a positive attitude, caring for others and the environment, and being helpful to all. As a result, pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are very positive and they engage extremely well in their learning and all other activities on offer.  The new headteacher and other leaders have the full support of staff in aspiring for continual development and improvement. Morale is high. Typical of the comments made by staff to inspectors were, `the new headteacher has been a breath of fresh air and has brought about a new focus and energy’, and `a great team of staff working to bring out the best in every learner’.  Leaders provide teachers and other staff with quality training and support. They have introduced new and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

effective systems for checking pupils’ progress. The data is used well by teachers and teaching assistants to plan learning that builds on pupils’ prior achievements and by leaders to hold teachers to account for the progress of their pupils. It is also used effectively to identify any pupils not on track to meet their targets and to provide them with additional support. As a result, the quality of teaching is consistently good or better, and pupils of all abilities make good and sometimes rapid progress.  Leadership capacity was enhanced at the start of this academic year when heads of year were given increased leadership time and set higher expectations for the development and monitoring of their year teams. Their work is making a strong contribution to the improved teaching and pupils’ outcomes.  The new special educational needs coordinator has enhanced his effectiveness through a good and appropriate training programme. More recently, he has taken on board the recommendations of a peer

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

review by experienced special educational needs coordinators who examined all aspects of the school’s provision. He has organised training for teachers and for teaching assistants. As a result, current pupils who have special educational needs or disability are now making good progress as their individual needs are increasingly better identified and catered for.  A number of subject leaders are new to their role this year. They have undertaken training in their subject areas and in turn have provided training for their colleagues. They are driven and enthusiastic, and have made a good start in securing good teaching and outcomes in their subjects.  All leaders are ambitious to make all aspects of the school’s work outstanding but not all leaders are experienced and skilled enough to quickly secure this ambition.  The school is a member of a teaching school consortium. There are currently three trainee teachers at

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

the school. They are being mentored and trained well.  The curriculum is well planned to ensure that, in addition to English and mathematics, pupils learn a broad variety of subjects. Typically, they study science three times a week and enjoy carrying out investigations. A competition prize for the best experiment is given to pupils at the end of the annual ‘science week’. Spanish is taught in all year groups and reinforced, for example by teachers and pupils greeting each other in Spanish. Much learning in geography, history, art and music is supported by visits to museums, art, galleries, Kew Gardens and the Thames Explorer activities. Most-able pupils are given additional opportunities to enhance their learning. The most able mathematicians join similar most-able pupils in local schools for advanced mathematical quizzes, and the most able writers join others for instance in workshops delivered by a children’s author. All pupils have opportunities to explore areas of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

personal interest during the half-termly independent learning days. Pupils told inspectors how much they value the chance to research and find out information that they are curious about. Individuals cited examples of finding out about sea life, gravity and what causes heart disease. They thus gain valuable research skills as well as presentation skills as each pupil has to present their work to their classmates.  Leaders ensure that pupils have access to extensive extra-curricular activities before school, at lunchtime and after school. The programmes on offer, together with the formal curriculum, make an extremely strong contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development as well as to their academic success and physical and mental health. The school is the local hub school for the ‘West London Children’s University’, a programme which recognises pupils’ achievements if they undertake a minimum

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

of 30 hours of after-school club or community activities. Many pupils ‘graduate’.  The new deputy headteacher has reviewed and improved the provision of support for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders are now making more effective use of pupil premium funding. As a result, current disadvantaged pupils are closing gaps in attainment between themselves and their peers and other pupils nationally.  The school’s use of the primary physical education and sport premium has increased the quality of teaching physical education and the range of sporting opportunities available to pupils, and has resulted in greater pupil participation in sports and more competitions against other schools.  The governance of the school Members of the governing body regularly visit the school. They visit classrooms and talk to staff and pupils, thus gaining a good understanding of what it is like to be a pupil at the school. Governors are generally well informed about the school’s work through the headteacher’s reports. The

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

curriculum committee meets with other leaders and is briefed on pupils’ performance. Governors are very supportive of school leaders. They have, for example, agreed to the purchase of additional resources to support disadvantaged pupils, as recommended by the deputy headteacher, and have supported and financed a range of training opportunities for teachers and leaders. Governors worked well with the local authority adviser in appointing the new headteacher as well as the deputies. They take important strategic decisions such as in negotiating a land swap with an adjacent school, which is beneficial to both schools. Governors have been over-reliant on school leaders in the past and have not routinely checked all aspects of the school’s processes and procedures with enough rigour. They have not consistently challenged leaders well enough. The governing body has recognised this and has already begun working with an external consultant whom it commissioned to improve governors’ effectiveness.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders ensure that relevant training is undertaken by staff. They also offer safeguarding workshops to parents such as on e-safety and female genital mutilation. There are effective relationships with other agencies and this ensures that pupils are safe and their welfare needs are met.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 There has been a notable improvement in the quality of teaching since the previous inspection. It is now consistently good and improving. As a result, pupils are making good and sometimes rapid progress.  Inspectors observed calm purposeful learning in all classes. Teachers and other adults have very high expectations of behaviour. Teachers use progress data well and in the vast majority of cases prepare work that is well suited to the varying needs of pupils. As a result, pupils engage very well, and are enthusiastic learners.  Typically, teachers give clear explanations so that pupils understand what they need to do to be successful learners. Teachers give incisive feedback to pupils and regularly set them targets for improvement. Resources are well chosen to support pupils’ learning. Teachers and other adults help pupils when they have misconceptions and use questioning well to deepen pupils’ understanding.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The well-targeted support given by teachers and teaching assistants ensure that pupils who have special educational needs or disability learn well and make good progress. Equally, the more challenging work, which is routinely prepared and given to the most able, ensures that they are challenged and helped to meet their potential. On the odd occasion, the level of challenge set is not sharp enough to fully stretch pupils to achieve their very best. This means that some pupils are not making the rapid progress of which they are capable.  The consultant who works with pupils who are learning English as an additional language provides effective support and helps those pupils catch up quickly with their peers.  The teaching of reading has improved. Frequent testing introduced this year gives teachers regular information on pupils’ reading ages and their comprehension skills. This information is used well to inform

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

teaching and also to ensure that all pupils are reading texts that are appropriately challenging for their ability. Through the new library system and class resources, pupils borrow at least three books a week for home reading. This is closely monitored. As a result, rates of progress in reading this year are faster than was the case previously.  Writing is taught well. Leaders have introduced new strategies for the teaching of writing. They have provided effective training for teachers and teaching assistants. As a result, pupils are highly motivated and evidence in English books confirms that pupils have made at least good progress this year. They write at length, correctly applying the spelling, punctuation and grammar skills that they learn. They write for a wide variety of purposes. This standard of writing, however, is not always replicated in pupils’ topic books. This is slowing pupils from making rapid progress. The most able writers attend a lunchtime club

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

with the literacy leader to produce a quality newspaper, thus offering them more challenging tasks.  Mathematics is taught well. New resources and better planning mean that pupils have more opportunities to reason mathematically and solve problems. The new assessment system gives teachers and leaders precise feedback on which particular aspects of mathematics each pupil might be having difficulty with. The results of these regular tests help teachers intervene and quickly address difficulties that any pupil is having. This helps them to catch up quickly. The most able mathematicians attend an after-school club to study even more challenging aspects of mathematics than are covered in their regular classes.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  There is an open and caring culture in the school which means that the staff know individual pupils and their families well. When any adult notices anything that may be untoward with a pupil, they quickly liaise with colleagues as appropriate so that support can be provided.  The welfare officer checks attendance registers daily and gets in touch with parents should a child be absent and the school not informed. She is alert to the possibility of a child being missing in education and promptly reports any concerns to the local authority. The welfare officer also organises holiday time outings for vulnerable pupils and their families.  The new child protection officer liaises closely with his counterpart in the feeder infant school as there are a number of siblings in both schools. He has well-established links with some external agencies, such as

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Personal development and welfare

social workers and educational psychologists. This means he is able to arrange support in a timely fashion as appropriate. He is currently establishing links with the local authority’s designated officer so that he is in an even stronger position to ensure any vulnerable pupil’s welfare and safety.  Pupils learn how to be responsible and caring citizens. Year 4 pupils worked in groups to think about how cooperation is an important life skill. They worked together to produce a list of reasons why cooperation is important in society. Year 6 pupils gained many life skills during enterprise week. The pupils, who had bought products to sell to parents, discussed what they should charge in order to increase profit but in a moral and not greedy way. Annual productions, such as the Year 5 production this year of `The Wind in the Willows’ makes a strong contribution to building confidence, collaboration and many other life skills.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils have many opportunities for taking on responsibilities, such as house captains, prefects, school counsellors and playground leaders. Pupils learn about the democratic process by electing class representatives to the school council. They in turn elect an executive. The council has a strong voice in improving the school. It instigated an ‘art gallery’ in the playground, and during the inspection Year 3 art work, based on Renoir, was on display.  Pupils know how to stay safe in different situations. They are very aware of the dangers of social media and have a good understanding of how to stay safe online.  Pupils are aware of the various forms of bullying and prejudice. The annual anti-bullying week helps pupils understand why bullying is wrong. They say it rarely happens and are quite sure that if it did, it would be dealt with effectively.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils are friendly and polite. Each class has two class ambassadors. When a visitor enters the classroom they immediately come over to introduce themselves and welcome the visitor. They explain what they have learned previously and what they are learning now.  Pupils have extremely positive attitudes to learning. They readily follow their teacher’s instructions and get on with their work without delay. They happily work collaboratively in pairs or groups and gladly help others who might be stuck. These attitudes make a strong contribution to their successful learning. Low- level disruption is rare. On the very odd occasion that it does happen, the teacher quickly reminds them of the school’s values and learning continues.  The atmosphere in this multicultural school is harmonious as all get on well together. Pupils learn to respect difference in beliefs, culture, race and personal lifestyle. There have been no reported racist

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Behaviour

incidents for a long time.  Attendance is above average. Persistent absence and exclusion rates are below average for primary schools.  Pupils take good care in presenting their work neatly and clearly, particularly in their writing and mathematics books. This same standard is not always replicated in their topic work.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Standards reached in the Year 6 tests and teachers’ assessments in 2015 were broadly average. These represented average rates of progress from pupils’ end of key stage 1 tests at their infant school in reading and mathematics. Progress in writing was slower.  Inspection evidence, which included observing learning, talking to pupils about their work, scrutinising work in pupils’ books and analysing progress data confirms that current pupils are making good progress in English, mathematics and a range of other subjects. Some pupils are making rapid progress. This is because leaders have successfully improved the quality of teaching and support.  The current progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils have improved as a result of better support that eligible pupils are receiving this year. School data shows that they too are making good progress from their starting points and gaps are narrower than they were in 2015.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils who have special educational needs or disability, as well as those who are learning English as an additional language, are making good progress as they benefit from well-tailored support.  The overall progress made by the most able pupils in 2014 and 2015 was above that made nationally, although it slowed in writing last year. Most-able pupils continue to achieve well, including in writing currently, because of the better-quality teaching, generally more challenging work set for them in class and other additional enrichment opportunities school leaders create for them to broaden their experiences and deepen their understanding.

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School details

Unique reference number 136737 Local authority Ealing Inspection number 10011880

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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 Junior School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 403 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Derek Goss Headteacher Warner Stainbank Telephone number 020 8422 6175 Website www.woodendacademy.org.uk Email address admin@woodendacademy.org.uk Date of previous inspection 4 June 2014

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Information about this school

 Woodend Academy, a junior school, is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds and most pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium is above that found nationally. The pupil premium is additional government funding to support the learning of those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  A well above average proportion of pupils have special educational needs support. The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is above that found nationally.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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Information about this school

 The school’s website meets requirements.  Since the time of the previous inspection, there have been many changes to the leadership of the school, with many current leaders taking up their positions this academic year. The former deputy headteacher was promoted to headteacher in February 2016. A new deputy headteacher is due to take up post in September 2016. The other deputy headteacher was not able to be present during the inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 16 parts of lessons. Three of these observations were made jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors also listened to pupils read.  Inspectors looked closely at the work in pupils’ books to inform their judgements about their progress, attainment and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.  Inspectors met with three groups of pupils and spoke informally to other pupils in lessons and during breaks and lunchtimes.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, including the chair. The lead inspector spoke on the telephone with an adviser from the local authority.  Inspectors examined a range of documentation such as that relating to pupils’ attainment and progress, information about how teachers’ performance is managed and minutes of governing body meetings. They also looked at records and documentation about pupils’ behaviour and attendance, and the ways in

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Information about this inspection

which the school keeps pupils safe.  Inspectors considered the views of parents gathered from the seven responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and from informal conversations in the playground. Inspectors also took account of the views of 27 members of staff and 18 pupils who responded to the respective inspection questionnaires.

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Inspection team

David Radomsky, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector David Bryant Ofsted Inspector Sheila Cohring 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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