Park Lane Primary School

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

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Enid Lewis Headteacher Park Lane Primary School Park Lane Wembley HA9 7RY

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Short inspection of Park Lane Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 27 September 2016 with Sam Hainey, Her Majesty’s Inspector, 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 October 2011.

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Short inspection of Park Lane Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school has been through a period of significant change since the previous inspection, although many of the governors are the same. You and most of the school’s senior and middle leaders have been very recently appointed and others have joined the school within the last three years. Despite these significant changes, your highly effective leadership has ensured that the school remains on course.

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Short inspection of Park Lane Primary School

The school has dealt effectively with the two areas for improvement from the previous inspection. The first required teachers to provide pupils with information to help them know how to improve their work. Pupils are now provided with clear directions about the next steps in their learning. You and the leadership team have identified that the school’s approaches in this area can be modified further to provide even more detail. You are now working effectively to improve reading comprehension and support pupils to improve their skills in grammar, punctuation and spelling.

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Short inspection of Park Lane Primary School

The second aspect, regarding understanding a wider range of communities in the United Kingdom, has been very effectively tackled. Pupils demonstrate an understanding and awareness of people from different backgrounds, faiths and beliefs. Pupils who spoke to inspectors and displays of pupils’ work around the school show clearly that they understand the diverse backgrounds of people who live in modern Britain. Pupils throughout the school continue to make faster progress than previously. Children in the early years make good progress. A higher proportion than seen nationally finish the Reception Year with good levels of development. This strong progress continues in key stage 1. National assessments in 2016 indicate that pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2 is above average in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Short inspection of Park Lane Primary School

You are pleased with the way the new academic year has started. Pupils have settled into their new classes and routines quickly. Their behaviour is positive and responsive to the direction of staff. Teachers organise their classrooms well and have ensured that there are instructive displays that help pupils to improve their skills in reading, writing and mathematics. However, you agreed with our findings that there are some examples of inconsistencies. A few teachers do not provide feedback to pupils that is in line with the school’s policy. Consequently, these pupils are not able to correct any mistakes.

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Short inspection of Park Lane Primary School

Governors know the school well and provide support and vigorous challenge to senior leaders about pupils’ performance and the quality of teaching. Nonetheless, the governing body has not been rigorous enough in checking that the information the school should provide on its website is accurate and up to date. As a result, parents, inspectors and other agencies were not being provided with the appropriate information in line with the government’s current requirements.

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Short inspection of Park Lane Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. All leaders have received the latest training in how to make sure that children are safe. Records for checking recruitment information are up to date. Leaders and other staff talk knowledgeably about relevant issues, including female genital mutilation, child sexual exploitation and the duty to prevent pupils being drawn into situations that put them at risk of harm.

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Short inspection of Park Lane Primary School

Pupils who responded to the online survey and spoke to inspectors said that they felt safe and were confident that adults would look after them if they were worried or being bullied.

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Inspection findings

 The headteacher and senior and middle leaders know the school’s strengths and what needs to be done to make further improvements. This knowledge has enabled the leadership team to identify clear priorities for improvement. Pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics is checked regularly, enabling teachers to focus on any pupils who are at risk of falling behind.  The governing body supports the school, but governors are not averse to challenging senior leaders about the school’s performance. They pay particular attention to any groups of pupils who may not be making enough progress. Nonetheless, information on the school’s website did not meet government requirements at the time of the inspection. This was because the school’s review of policies and information was not planned to take place soon enough and some were out of date. Some information on the website was not as up to date as the

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Inspection findings

practice in the school. This applied, for example, to the safeguarding policy, information about governors’ responsibilities and business interests, and the school’s assessment of how well the additional government funding for disadvantaged pupils (pupil premium) was spent.  The provisional test results in 2016 for reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 indicate that pupils have made strong progress from low starting points. They suggest that the proportions of pupils attaining the expected standard in writing and mathematics were above average, while in reading the proportion was slightly below average.  Other assessment information indicates that children in the Nursery and Reception classes and pupils in key stage 1 are making good progress in writing and mathematics.  Most-able pupils, those who are disadvantaged and low-attaining pupils make rapid progress throughout the school. The most able disadvantaged pupils are

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Inspection findings

well identified by the school and also make rapid progress. School assessment information and pupils’ work suggest that disadvantaged pupils often make faster progress than their peers.  The standard of reading of the sample of pupils heard by the inspector was in line with standards expected nationally. Lower attaining pupils use their knowledge of phonics well. Many read with expression and confidence.  You and other senior leaders have rightly identified reading as a priority in the school’s plans for improvement. The school has a large proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language. The school helps these pupils to settle in quickly and they are helped to speak English very well. However, the school’s assessment information and senior leaders’ observations suggest that many of the pupils who speak English as an additional language do not understand many of the subtleties in more complex texts. With this in mind, the school plans to

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Inspection findings

give focused support to improve the reading comprehension skills of pupils who speak English as an additional language.  Despite the significant turnover of staff and leaders in the last two years, teaching continues to have many strong features. These include well-organised classrooms, effective behaviour management and displays of information that pupils use successfully to improve their skills in grammar, punctuation, spelling and arithmetic. Pupils respond well and have very positive attitudes to learning.  Inspectors identified a few inconsistent approaches in teaching and assessment. For example, in some classes, pupils’ written presentation is untidy and teachers give patchy feedback. Middle and senior leaders are aware of these issues but have not yet taken any action. You have ensured that staff received key messages about your expectations of the quality of teaching and assessment at the beginning of the school year. However, you agree that senior and middle

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Inspection findings

leaders have not yet taken the swift action required to make sure that time is not lost and pupils’ progress is not hindered by these inconsistencies.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  leaders at all levels move swiftly to intervene when teachers do not consistently provide support and feedback to improve pupils’ reading, grammar, punctuation and spelling in all subjects  the governing body routinely checks that the school meets the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website, so that it provides parents and external agencies with up-to-date and accurate information about the impact of additional funding and relevant details of governors’ roles and duties.

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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 Brent. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

Following my analysis of the available pre-inspection information and discussion with you at the start of the inspection, inspectors formed the following key lines of enquiry for the inspection:  Have leaders and managers ensured that staff have received up-to-date information and training regarding the latest safeguarding guidance from the Secretary of State?  How well do leaders, including the governing body, ensure that the school meets current government requirements for placing information on its website?  How do leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils are making as much progress as they are capable of in reading, writing and mathematics in key stages 1 and 2?

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Information about the inspection

We carried out the following activities to explore these areas during the inspection. We met with you, the deputy headteacher and some of the middle leaders. We also held meetings with a group of staff and members of the governing body, and representatives of the local authority and the local schools’ partnership. Individual pupils read to an inspector. Inspectors spoke with many pupils during lessons and in the playground. We had brief, informal conversations with a sample of parents before school. Information provided by the school was scrutinised, including the school’s safeguarding records, policies and procedures and the single central record of recruitment checks. The school’s assessment of its performance and information about pupils’ progress were reviewed. Inspectors visited lessons in key stages 1 and 2 and looked at pupils’ work. We took into account 32 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, 34 responses to the staff survey and 37 responses to the pupil

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