Swaffield School

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

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Mrs Christine Lilley Swaffield Primary School St Ann’s Hill London SW18 2SA

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 June 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in June 2011.

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, alongside your senior leaders and governors, have sustained a very happy school which is focused on pupils’ learning. Pupils, teachers and the vast majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey Parent View, are highly positive about the school and its work. This, in part, is due to your high expectations of pupils’ work and behaviour. Together with staff, you have fostered pupils’ respect, tolerance and good manners. For example, selected pupils attend the ‘Knight School’, where they learn chivalry, courtesy and self-confidence. Pupils consistently demonstrate these values around the school and at breaktime.

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

Staff have worked hard to adapt their planning and teaching to the new expectations of the national curriculum. Pupils’ books and the school’s assessment information show that the most able pupils are suitably challenged and make the same good progress as their peers in school. In particular, you have worked successfully with staff to ensure that the teaching of writing is stronger than at the time of the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

Children in the early years are encouraged, on entry, to talk in full sentences. This helps them develop more quickly their speaking and writing skills. You have made sure that children start to learn phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) sooner than in the past. Children are therefore building their early reading skills more quickly in the early years and throughout key stage 1. By the time of the Year 1 phonics screening check, pupils, regardless of their background or ethnicity, are performing better than their peers nationally. Teachers carefully plan and deliver enrichment activities for the most able pupils. This helps them to develop the sophistication of their writing, for example through the use of more complex vocabulary choices and literary effects, such as metaphors and similes. Pupils regularly write for people beyond the school and for competitions. For example, Year 1 pupils recently wrote letters to a range of people,

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

including the Queen, the Prime Minister and Sir David Attenborough. Pupils are very proud of the written replies they receive and of their participation in a range of national writing competitions.

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

You have ensured that the curriculum is truly broad and balanced. Pupils benefit from a very wide range of enrichments and extra-curricular activities, for example French, Spanish, art and drama clubs. You have worked hard to ensure that disadvantaged pupils, including the most able, participate in these clubs.

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

You are aware that some pupils have gaps in their knowledge or skills that prevent them from exceeding their age-related expectations. Teachers do not systematically identify where these pupils have gaps in their skills or understanding. This prevents some pupils from attaining even more highly in the new national curriculum. This means that some pupils are not currently achieving the very highest standards of attainment by the end of Year 6. Leaders at all levels agree that the monitoring of teaching and pupils’ outcomes could be more sharply focused on the needs of the most able and disadvantaged most able pupils.

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

You have worked with your staff in early years to ensure that the youngest children in the school get off to a flying start in their learning. Staff now quickly identify specific gaps in children’s skills and learning. They use this knowledge to provide focused teaching to help improve children’s attainment. This has had a particularly notable impact on the progress made by boys and disadvantaged children. These children are catching up with their peers in school and are overtaking their peers nationally.

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

Pupils throughout the school are polite, well behaved and respectful to other children and adults. You introduced a new behaviour policy this academic year. Pupils are clear about what is expected of them in terms of attitudes and behaviour. They live up to this consistently well. As a result, exclusions have declined and there have been none in this academic year. One of the most able pupils summed the clear focus on learning across the school. He explained, ‘We come here to learn. Teachers are so helpful, they want us to behave and learn as much as we can. They help us break through barriers we didn’t even know existed and learn more than we ever thought possible.’

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

Since the last inspection, you have continued to ensure that safeguarding is given a high priority across the school. All staff have been trained and understand their responsibilities under the ‘Prevent’ and female genital mutilation duties. They are aware of the key symptoms of different types of abuse and understand how to appropriately raise concerns about individual pupils. Pupils also know how to get support if they have concerns about their safety or welfare. All the necessary checks are made when recruiting new members of staff. These checks are kept in line with current statutory requirements on the single central record.

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Short inspection of Swaffield Primary School

Records show that there are some instances of bullying. Leaders deal with bullying incidents quickly. The vast majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, are confident that their children are happy, well looked after and safe at school. They report, as did pupils during the inspection, that leaders are quick to respond to concerns. As a result, the very great majority of perpetrators do not repeat bullying behaviour.

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Inspection findings

 Senior leaders have ensured that the curriculum is truly broad and balanced. Pupils benefit from a very wide range of enrichment activities. You have worked hard to ensure that disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged, participate in a wide range of clubs. As one parent explained, ‘My son plays a different sport at lunchtime, every day of the week.’ As well as sports provision, there is also the opportunity to take part in French, Spanish, art, drama, music and a wide range of other clubs.  Pupils are making consistently good progress in mathematics. Since the last inspection a greater focus has been placed on ensuring that pupils explain their mathematical thinking. Pupils who find mathematics difficult are benefiting from the use of practical resources. The most able pupils are increasingly being expected to apply their learning in new situations and to justify their calculations.

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Inspection findings

 Science is well taught across the school. Pupils develop a clear ability to plan experiments, think scientifically and draw high-quality conclusions from their work. By the end of Year 6, pupils have a depth of knowledge and skills which ensures that they are well prepared for the secondary science curriculum.  Stimulating music teaching ensures that pupils enjoy singing. Pupils have a good understanding of pitch, tempo and rhythm. Pupils also develop an ability to read music and play instruments. For example, all pupils in Year 4 recently won first prize playing the trumpet together in a musical competition. During the inspection pupils performed for parents. They played a wide repertoire of tunes, including popular music and jazz. Pupils displayed good posture, playing their instruments fluently, with accuracy and expression. This showed these pupils perform well above their age- related expectations in music.

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Inspection findings

 From the early years pupils are introduced to the works of famous artists. For example, during the inspection children in Reception were observed responding to ‘The starry night’ by Vincent Van Gogh. Work in pupils’ sketch books shows they are increasingly able to use a range of media, including pencil, charcoal and paint. Pupils’ finished work is regularly of a high quality. A range of drawings, paintings and sculptures are displayed and celebrated in and around the school.  Leaders recognised that attendance was below the national average for 2015. They rightly renewed their efforts to promote high attendance for all pupils. Where a pupil’s attendance is falling they are quickly identified. Support and intervention are put in place and this is helping to improve attendance. Attendance rates for almost all groups of pupils are now above the national average for attendance.  Pupils have a highly positive view of the school. They appreciate how

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Inspection findings

friendly and welcoming it is. Pupils value the regular educational visits which enrich their understanding of the topics they study.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 teachers systematically identify where the most able pupils have gaps in their skills or understanding that prevent them from attaining even more highly in the new national curriculum  leaders more sharply check the learning of the most able, including those who are disadvantaged, when monitoring the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

I met with you regularly throughout the inspection. I held meetings with other senior leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, five teachers (including a newly qualified teacher), a randomly selected group of the most able pupils from across the school, and the chair and other members of the governing body. I reviewed the single central record in a meeting with the school’s business manager. I looked at and evaluated a range of documentation, including anonymised performance management records, a document summarising the school’s own evaluations of its work and minutes of the governing body meetings that have taken place this year. I toured the school visiting a range of classes, accompanied by the head of early years and you. I observed pupils socialising during morning break. I held a range of informal conversations with pupils and staff.

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