Greenwich House School

106 High Holme Road, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 0HE

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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 Outstanding

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This is a good school

 The attainment of pupils, by the end of key stage 2, is at or above the levels expected for their age.  Pre-school children make good progress and achieve a good level of development as they advance through the early years provision.  The quality of teaching and assessment is consistently good and enables pupils to make at least good progress from their starting points, including in English and mathematics.  Provision for art, music, drama and sports is outstanding. Pupils achieve outstanding standards in physical and creative activities.  Senior leaders have a good understanding of the quality of teaching across the school. They encourage an ethos of continuous self-evaluation and improvement.  Pupils are proud of their school. Their conduct in lessons and around the school is outstanding.  The school provides an extremely safe environment for learning. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and they look after each other very well.

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This is a good school

 The proprietor and senior leaders have ensured that both the curriculum and assessment have continued to improve since the previous inspection.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The quality of teaching and learning is not consistently outstanding. Teachers’ professional development does not provide them with sufficient opportunities to research and learn from good practice.  Teachers do not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to broaden and deepen their ideas and understanding.  The school’s evaluation of pupils’ progress does not provide leaders with sufficient information to make useful comparisons with national standards and expectations.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning to consistently outstanding by extending opportunities for staff to research and learn from best practice within the school and beyond.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that teachers provide opportunities for pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding, and to develop fully their communication skills.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further refine pupils’ progress targets through regular external comparison with national standards and expectations.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The proprietor, who is also the headteacher, and senior leaders have ensured that the school meets the requirements of the independent school standards.  Senior leaders communicate high expectations for pupils’ behaviour and the quality of relationships within the school. As a result, pupils are extremely respectful and demonstrate very positive attitudes towards staff and each other. Pupils enjoy attending school and the staff value their contributions to all aspects of school life.  The headteacher and senior leaders have a good knowledge of individual pupils and of how well they are progressing with their learning. Staff work together continuously to ensure that they challenge each pupil to develop and mature appropriately.  Senior leaders provide strong internal support to ensure that the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievements are at least good. Individual staff members attend external training courses that have a

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

positive impact on important aspects of the school’s development.  Senior leaders, including the headteacher, evaluate the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress effectively. Good teamwork provides opportunities for discussion of practice between leaders and teachers.  Staff state, in their responses to the inspection questionnaire, that they are proud to be members of staff at the school and that the quality of leadership and management is good.  The school curriculum includes a suitable and successful emphasis on the development of pupils’ skills in literacy and numeracy. Pupils also experience an excellent breadth of opportunities to develop skills and expertise across a wide range of sporting, creative and aesthetic activities.  Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. The school is a very friendly community with close relationships in which pupils develop high levels of self-esteem and the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

confidence to take on new challenges.  British values underpin the ethos of the school. Pupils understand diversity within the wider community and demonstrate respect and tolerance for the variety of different faiths and cultural practices that they study in a variety of subjects. During the inspection, older pupils won the sportsmanship award at a rounders tournament, competing against local primary schools.  Pupils are prepared well to move on to secondary schools at the end of Year 6. Comments from receiving schools include references to the relative maturity and confidence of Greenwich House pupils.  Staff maintain a continuous dialogue with parents and carers. Staff are readily available at the start and end of each day to address any concerns. In addition, they provide good opportunities for parents to discuss the progress of their children at termly report meetings.  Parents, in their responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire, provide strong support for the school

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

and express their appreciation for the quality of education provided across the full age-range of the school. The words of one parent exemplifies this: ‘I’m confident that my son is getting a first class education as well as being taught right from wrong and more about the world around him in regards to other cultures and races’.  The governance of the school The proprietor continuously reviews the work of leaders and teachers, including both formal and informal oversight of planning and classroom practice. Senior leaders contribute to the evaluation of the school’s provision and outcomes and their findings are summarised in a self-evaluation document. This includes some helpful analysis of pupils’ achievements against the standards expected for their age. Arrangements are in place for the introduction of a more formalised system of staff appraisal. At present, staff do not have sufficient opportunities to develop their understanding of best practice in teaching and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

learning in either the school or elsewhere. Current governance arrangements do not include a sufficiently rigorous analysis of provision and outcomes against national expectations. There is no regular external challenge to ensure that senior leaders have a sharp and precise awareness of how to move the school from good to outstanding.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff are trained appropriately in safeguarding, and are alert to any forms of abuse or exploitation that may affect the children in their care. Arrangements for the safe recruitment of staff, for premises and fire safety, and for first aid are robust. Staff diligently assess risks and take appropriate action to minimise these in all aspects of the school’s work, including the extensive range of rewarding off-site activities.  Pupils state that they feel safe in school. Staff ensure pupils’ safety by high levels of supervision and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

rigorous attention to their well-being throughout each day.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The good quality of teaching reflects teachers’ strong knowledge of the achievements and learning needs of individual pupils.  Teachers ensure that there is a sufficient level of challenge in tasks and activities, particularly in English and mathematics, to enable each pupil to build appropriately on their previous knowledge and understanding. Pupils often work on the same theme, for example using percentages in mathematics or researching the work of a particular author in English. They work at tasks that are well designed to take account of their previous levels of achievement, and which deepen or extend their knowledge and understanding.  Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and they use well-chosen resources that stimulate and interest pupils. Pupils use their electronic tablets and computers particularly effectively to undertake research and to find good examples or images to illustrate their work. Pupils are confident and skilled in the use of

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

appropriate software and manage their work with considerable independence.  Pupils enjoy reading and they develop confidence and fluency in their reading. During the inspection, pupils in Year 6 were taking part in the Lincolnshire Young People’s Book Award. They enjoyed the books they had read and were preparing effectively to submit a short story to a writing competition. They responded well to the challenge of trying to repeat the success of the competition winner, from this school, last year.  Work in pupils’ books across a range of subjects demonstrates excellent improvements over time in handwriting, clarity of presentation and the development of appropriate grammar and punctuation.  Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and engagement during lessons. They reinforce these expectations through positive praise and well-embedded routines that pupils understand.  Teachers assess pupils’ progress accurately, through regular individual conversations about the work in their

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

books, and by using subject tests. Pupils know the targets towards which they are working and they receive good advice from their teachers about how they may improve their work. There is good evidence in many pupils’ books that they follow the advice given.  Termly reports to parents provide a succinct summary of pupils’ academic progress and personal development. Parents have a good opportunity to discuss the details of assessment and the school’s grading system during termly meetings.  Teachers monitor the work of pupils very effectively during lessons. They intervene at suitable points to help individual pupils or to discuss a new idea or concept with the whole class. They use precise and challenging questions to check pupils’ understanding but do not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to broaden and deepen their ideas and understanding or to develop their communication skills fully, for example, in

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Pupils enjoy attending school and are proud of their achievements. They develop excellent qualities of independence and responsibility that help them to contribute very effectively to their own learning.  During lessons, pupils cooperate extremely well with each other. They respond very positively to opportunities to check each other’s work and they make considerate suggestions about how to improve spelling or grammar in written work.  Pupils feel very secure in school. They develop high levels of self-confidence and willingness to take on new challenges.  Pupils consistently demonstrate respect for others. They learn to listen well and value the views of others. As a result of a range of good opportunities in the curriculum, they develop an extremely positive awareness of the diversity of cultures and lifestyles in the wider community.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils very willingly take on responsibilities as prefects and they represent their class groups in discussions with senior leaders. They demonstrate excellent standards of behaviour, sportsmanship and cooperation when taking part in activities away from the school. They are extremely well prepared for the transition to secondary schools at the end of key stage 2.  Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They understand how to use computers and to access the internet safely because of excellent work completed across the curriculum. The school maintains a continuous and effective dialogue with parents about those aspects of pupils’ safety and well-being that span school and home life.  Pupils understand the seriousness of bullying and the negative impact it can have on the emotional welfare of others. They state that there is no bullying in the school; school records confirm that this is the case.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  The headteacher, senior leaders and staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and the importance of respect for others.  Pupils are highly cooperative and very quick to respond to teachers’ requests and instructions. Teachers use their experience effectively to set the required standards of cooperation and contribution by pupils in lessons. There are no incidents of any type of behaviour having a negative impact on the learning of others.  Behaviour around the school and in external play areas is excellent. Pupils play and talk cooperatively, demonstrating exceptional self-discipline and consideration for others. High levels of supervision ensure pupils’ safety as they move around the building and in the external environment.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding when they take part in a wide range of off-site activities, including visits to historic sites in Louth. They consistently reflect the high standards taught in school through the manner in

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Behaviour

which they address adults, or greet visitors to the school.  Attendance is in line with the national average. There are no unauthorised absences or cases of persistent absenteeism.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils make continuous and consistently good progress across the full age range of the school. They enter the school with levels of attainment that are mostly typical for their age, and maintain or exceed these standards over time.  The good quality of teaching ensures that pupils develop appropriate knowledge and understanding in the wide range of subjects studied.  Pupils read confidently and use their developing reading skills to support their learning in other subjects. Pupils of all ages enjoy reading for pleasure, and they are keen to discuss the content and characters in books that they are currently reading. They read with increasing fluency and expression as they develop their skills.  Pupils make good progress in English and mathematics, at least in line with national expectations with some pupils doing better than that. They develop their skills, knowledge and understanding throughout the school

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Outcomes for pupils are good

well, and at rates appropriate for their age.  The most able pupils make exceptional progress and achieve standards that are well above those expected for their age.  Nationally standardised assessments in English and mathematics in 2015 demonstrate that all pupils at the end of key stage 2 attained or exceeded the expected standard.  Pupils’ breadth of achievement across the wider curriculum is exceptional, including successes in music, drama, expressive arts and a variety of sports. These achievements include the development of confidence to perform in a variety of public events, including the school’s annual music and drama performance, success in a variety of sports competitions, and celebrations at the local church.  The school provides pupils with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable them to succeed in their future secondary education.

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Early years provision is good

 Children enter the pre-school provision with skills that are broadly typical for their age and stage of development. They make good progress, and by the end of the Reception Year achieve a good level of development.  Children’s behaviour is extremely good, particularly when they are engaged in practical, creative and investigative activities. This is strongly evident when children take part in activities outdoors.  The breadth, variety and scope of the provision enables children to achieve good outcomes. They engage strongly in their learning because of high levels of interaction and participation by adults working with them as they learn through play.  Children’s skills progress particularly well in communication, physical development and in socialising with others. They also make strong progress in the arts and the development of their creativity.  Children’s literacy skills flourish because staff use appropriate approaches to enable them to decipher and

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Early years provision is good

blend sounds as they develop their early reading.  Children achieve positive outcomes that prepare them effectively for entry to Year 1, either at this school or elsewhere. Staff develop strong relationships with parents during the children’s time in the early years and the cooperation between staff and parents supports children’s effective transition into full-time education.  The early years provision is well led and managed. Effective teaching and learning, including accurate assessment of their progress, reinforce the good leadership.  The provision meets all the requirements of the early years statutory framework.

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School details

Unique reference number 120743 Inspection number 10012974 DfE registration number 925/6038

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Type of school Primary school School status Independent school Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 73 Number of part time pupils 22 Proprietor Jennifer Brindle Headteacher Jennifer Brindle

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Early years fees

£6,075 £5.40 per hour Telephone number 01507 609252 Website www.greenwichhouseschool.com Email address info@greenwichhouseschool.com Date of previous inspection 14–15 November 2012

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Information about this school

 Greenwich House School is a non-selective independent school in Louth, Lincolnshire. It is located in a large converted house with extensive grounds, including a car park, tennis court, grassed play area and gardens.  There are currently 73 pupils on roll, aged from three to 11 years. This includes 35 children in the early years provision, housed in the pre-school room, and the Reception and Year 1 class. There are three additional classes. These provide for pupils in Years 2 and 3, Years 4 and 5, and Year 6.  Children attending the school live in the town and outlying villages. There are no current pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan or a statement of special educational needs.  There is separately registered childcare provision for children under the age of three. This provision was not part of this inspection and is subject to a separate Ofsted inspection by a childcare inspector. The

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Information about this school

previous inspection of childcare was in June 2014.  The school aims to provide, ‘all the conditions for children to discover the joys of learning… to develop a capacity for logical thinking and to absorb values which will stand them in good stead throughout their lives’.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning, and looked at samples of pupils’ work, across the full age- range of the school.  They met with the proprietor, who is also the headteacher, the director of school development, senior leaders and members of staff with management and teaching responsibilities. They considered 16 responses to questionnaires submitted by members of staff.  The inspectors held a meeting with a group of pupils and spoke informally with a number of other pupils.  They considered 18 responses to Ofsted’s online Parent View questionnaire.  The inspectors scrutinised a number of school policies, procedures and records in order to check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards.

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Inspection team

David Young, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Aileen King 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

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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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