St Paul's and All Hallows CofE Infant School

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

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Mrs Sharon Easton Headteacher St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School Park Lane London N17 0HH

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Short inspection of St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 14 December 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 July 2013.

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Short inspection of St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

You have ensured that pupils continue to receive a good quality of education since the previous inspection. The areas for improvement from that inspection have been tackled well. Teaching consistently identifies next steps for pupils’ learning and they are now making more progress in mathematics across the school, particularly in problem solving.

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Short inspection of St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

You are the executive headteacher of the infant school and the adjoining junior school. You oversee the day-to-day management of the schools through the work of the heads of school. The head of the infant school took up her post at the start of September 2016. In that short time, she has developed a secure understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and is clear about the next steps for improvement.

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Short inspection of St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

The parents that I met informally at the start of the day were highly complimentary about the school’s work. They were particularly pleased with how all staff kept them in touch with their children’s learning. They spoke about the recent, well-attended workshop which provided them with helpful information about the importance of phonics to support children’s reading and writing. Consequently, parents and children practise phonics at home more regularly leading to a rapid improvement in the results of the phonics checks over the last two years.

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Short inspection of St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

The school’s surrounding area is going through a dramatic change. A significant regeneration project is changing the locality. The regeneration includes Tottenham Hotspur’s football stadium which overlooks the school, the local residential area and roads. You and the governing body have identified a change in the circumstances and backgrounds of some families who send their children to the school. For example, the proportion of pupils who do not stay in the school for the typical amount of time has increased. There is also a higher proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language. At the start of the inspection, we agreed to evaluate how well the school was adapting to the changes in its intake of pupils, particularly regarding the support for pupils who speak English as an additional language.

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Short inspection of St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

During the inspection, the pupils in Year 1 were on a visit to the Natural History Museum.

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Short inspection of St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

This is a strength of the school. You have ensured that the systems, processes, training and awareness of staff and governors are up to date. You are regularly invited to deliver training to other schools. The checks for recruitment are carried out with care and diligence. Governors are equally scrupulous in how they hold the school to account for safeguarding, including the health, safety and welfare of pupils.

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Short inspection of St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

Pupils I spoke to told me they were very happy at school. They feel safe and know who to go to if they are worried.

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Inspection findings

 The head of school supports you effectively in the consistent delivery of a good quality of education. You and the head of school monitor the quality of teaching and report the strengths and weaknesses accurately to the governing body and academy trust.  Governor members of the local management group are effective in asking the right questions about the school’s performance. The academy trust follows up these questions with even more rigour during strategic meetings held by the academy trust.  Other leaders in the school are equally strong and have a clear view about how to carry out their work with pupils, especially those who are vulnerable and require additional support.  In addition to looking at the school’s provision for pupils who speak English as an additional language, we agreed four other lines of enquiry.  The first line of enquiry looked at pupils’ attendance, which has improved. As a

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Inspection findings

result, the proportion of pupils attending school is higher than the national average.  In the past, the proportion of some groups of pupils who were not at school for long periods of time was too high. The family support adviser works closely with families to ensure that parents bring their children to school more regularly. Phone calls are made to chase up any absences and appropriate letters are sent to remind parents of the legal requirements regarding attendance. The current information about the small number of pupils not attending suggests that there have been noticeable improvements.  Pupils are regularly reminded about the importance of attendance and there are rewards for the higher attenders. Pupils are also aware that coming to school regularly is important to their learning; they are keen to learn and enjoy their school life.  The second line of enquiry focused on how much progress children now make in

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Inspection findings

the Nursery and Reception classes. In the past, by the time children completed Reception, the proportion who achieved good levels of development was below the national average. This proportion has rapidly increased over the last three years, to the point where it was above average in 2016.  In the lessons and books seen, children make rapid progress from very low starting points. The early years is very well led and the teachers and teaching assistants work well together as a team. Activities are well planned, both indoors and out. Children have interesting and stimulating opportunities to learn through play; for example, one class had arranged the role play area in the shape of a train while the other class had played in an aeroplane.  Children who speak English as an additional language are provided with effective support. They are writing, reading and speaking English well. Mathematics skills are developed well with good examples of number, space and shape in their

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Inspection findings

workbooks and around the rooms.  Children in the Nursery learn to sing and play together well. Their work in learning journals, known as ‘best books’, suggests strong progress. However, in order to improve progress further we agreed that more support is needed for children and their parents who have recently arrived from different countries.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language in key stage 1 make reasonable progress. The resources in the classrooms and outdoor areas to reflect and value the cultural backgrounds, languages and traditions of new arrivals are underdeveloped.  The third line of enquiry looked at the progress pupils make in key stage 1. The attainment of many of these pupils was below average at the end of Reception. The inspection examined their rates of progress to see if they had made up the previously lost ground. Pupils at the end of Year 2 in 2016 were at least in line

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Inspection findings

with, and often above, national expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. The current groups of pupils are also making strong progress in all subjects.  Leaders at all levels monitor pupils’ work and the quality of teaching well, particularly around the progress of the most able pupils. In books and lessons seen, the work of this group, especially the disadvantaged most able pupils, is at age-related levels. However, they are capable of much more.  During lessons, the most able pupils often do the same work as their peers before being provided with activities that are more challenging and in keeping with their potential. Mathematics is an area where this is very apparent. The most able pupils are answering the teachers’ questions with a secure depth of understanding. However, pupils’ understanding is not built on swiftly enough during the lesson to speed up their progress. This is an area of work that leaders

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Inspection findings

have already identified as requiring further focus during the academic year.  The school does not analyse the progress of the most able pupils as a group with enough precision. Governors are not clear about the progress of this group and agreed that this area requires closer and regular scrutiny to ensure progress is increased.  Pupils who read to me did so with enjoyment and expression. The less able pupils were able to show how well they could use their phonics skills to identify words they were unsure of. The most able pupils read with fluency and an understanding of complex sentences. Pupils also have good levels of knowledge and understanding about punctuation and spelling.  The fourth line of enquiry looked into boys’ attainment in science. The science leader has been monitoring the work of pupils closely and boys, particularly, have responded well to the increased amount of practical, outdoor work. Work is of a

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Inspection findings

more demanding quality and the level of interest from pupils is higher.

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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

 as a priority, the most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are given work at a level that both challenges and matches their needs  the progress of the most able and most able disadvantaged pupils is checked regularly during teaching  the provision for the increasing number of pupils and families who speak English as an additional language is more robust and planned thoroughly.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of trustees, the director of education for the diocese of London, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Haringey. 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, we agreed the following key lines of enquiry for the inspection:

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Information about the inspection

 how effective are leaders’ strategies in reducing the proportion of persistent absentees and sessions missed?  what are the leaders’ strategies for increasing the rates of progress in the early years?  have pupils in key stage 1 made up the lost ground from the previously below-average results at the end of Reception?  what strategies have leaders put in place to support boys’ progress in science?  how do leaders support the pupils who do not attend the school for the expected length of time, many of whom speak English as an additional language? I carried out the following activities to explore these areas during the inspection. I met with you, the head of school and middle leaders. I also met with members of the governing body. I listened to individual pupils read. I met with a group of pupils and spoke to others during lessons and in the playground. I spoke informally with a sample of parents before school. Information provided by the school was

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Information about the inspection

scrutinised, including the school’s safeguarding records, policies and procedures and the single central record of recruitment checks. I reviewed the school’s assessment of its performance and information about pupils’ progress. I visited lessons in Nursery and Reception classes and Year 2. I looked at pupils’ work. I took into account three responses from parents to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.

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