South Harringay Junior School

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

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Ian Scotchbrook Executive headteacher South Harringay Junior School Pemberton Rd London N4 1BA

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Short inspection of South Harringay Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 18 January 2017, 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 November 2012.

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Short inspection of South Harringay Junior School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your effective leadership has been instrumental in creating a culture of high aspirations. You have ensured that staff share these aspirations and work as a cohesive team to ensure that pupils learn and achieve well.

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Short inspection of South Harringay Junior School

Together with senior leaders, you have addressed the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Pupils’ achievement in writing has improved because they have frequent opportunities to develop their writing skills in different curriculum subjects. However, pupils’ progress in their topic work is not as strong. This is because the curriculum does not place sufficient emphasis on helping pupils to develop the range of skills they need to achieve well in all subjects.

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Short inspection of South Harringay Junior School

You are challenging in your evaluation of what the school does well and aspects of the school’s work that need further strengthening. Leaders hold teachers to account for the quality of teaching and its impact on how well pupils learn. They are skilled in supporting staff to help them improve their practice. Staff value this guidance as well as the opportunities they have to observe and learn from each other. This means that the quality of teaching is enabling pupils to achieve well, and leaders are well placed to drive further improvements.

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Short inspection of South Harringay Junior School

Pupils’ behaviour and positive attitudes to learning are a strength of the school. You have ensured that pupils welcome opportunities to learn from their mistakes. As a result, they are keen to challenge themselves and approach their learning with confidence. This contributes well to pupils’ progress in English and mathematics. The governors have an accurate picture of the school’s effectiveness. As a result, they are confident asking challenging questions about what the school could do better. They have a clear vision for how the recent federation with the infant school provides opportunities to strengthen the good standard of education provided.

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Safeguarding is effective

Leaders provide staff with regular safeguarding training. They check that staff are alert to signs that a pupil may be vulnerable to abuse and that any concerns are reported promptly. This includes signs that a pupil may be at risk of female genital mutilation, radicalisation or abuse that occurs online or via a mobile device. Staff are particularly skilled in identifying vulnerable pupils at the earliest possible stage. As a result, leaders are able to provide these pupils with the help they need quickly. This includes support from highly skilled members of school staff or from external agencies such as the local authority’s Early Help service. Leaders have ensured that all staff are suitable to work in the school. This includes volunteers and supply staff. Governors regularly audit the school’s single central record of pre-employment checks to ensure that statutory requirements for staff recruitment are met. Records

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Safeguarding is effective

Pupils are kept safe and feel safe in school. They understand how to keep themselves safe when they use the internet and in a range of different situations. For example, they could explain how taking turns on the playground climbing frame stopped them getting hurt. Pupils say that discriminatory behaviour, including bullying, is rare and that staff deal with it quickly if it occurs. This reflects the school’s own records of discriminatory behaviour. The 24 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, agreed that their child felt happy and safe in school.

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Inspection findings

 For the first line of enquiry, we agreed to look at pupils’ achievement in reading, particularly that of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. I reviewed the provisional assessment information from the 2016 key stage 2 statutory test. This showed that pupils’ progress in reading was above the national average. However, a much lower proportion of pupils achieved the expected standard than was the case nationally. I also identified that, while disadvantaged pupils made good progress overall, too few pupils achieved the expected standard. This was because the progress of disadvantaged pupils with middle and high prior attainment was not as strong as their peers.  In response to these outcomes, leaders have taken effective steps to strengthen the teaching of reading. Visits to lessons showed that staff ask pupils challenging questions that help them think deeply about the texts they read. Teachers also

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Inspection findings

provide pupils with clear guidance to help them decide which of their reading skills will help them answer questions successfully. As a result, the school’s assessment information shows a greater proportion of pupils are on track to achieve the standard expected for their age. This includes pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Teachers help pupils choose books that challenge and interest them. They also encourage pupils to talk about what they read, including whether they would recommend a book to a friend. This approach promotes pupils’ enjoyment of reading and contributes effectively to the development of their reading skills.  My second line of enquiry focused on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils in mathematics. I reviewed the provisional outcomes in the 2016 key stage 2 statutory test. Overall, pupils’ progress in mathematics was significantly above the national average. However, too few disadvantaged pupils achieved the higher

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Inspection findings

standard when compared to other pupils nationally and in the school. This is because their progress was not as rapid as their peers.  The school has made effective use of the pupil premium funding to provide disadvantaged pupils with high-quality mathematics teaching. Staff provide clear explanations and examples, which help pupils learn from their mistakes and move them on to more challenging calculations as soon as they are ready. Pupils appreciate how this helps them make progress. The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, say teachers set challenging work that stretches their thinking. This reflects the standard of work we saw in pupils’ books.  As a result of this effective mathematics teaching, the most able disadvantaged pupils make good progress and achieve the standard of which they are capable. However, you have identified that the school needs to give greater emphasis to

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Inspection findings

accelerating the progress of middle-attaining disadvantaged pupils so that a greater proportion achieve the higher standard by the end of Year 6. Targets for these pupils are now more challenging.  My third line of enquiry explored pupils’ achievement in their topic work. I reviewed whether pupils had sufficient opportunities to acquire the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to make good progress in all curriculum subjects. I also considered how pupils’ learning in different subjects contributed to their progress in writing.  The curriculum does not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to develop subject-specific skills and understanding, particularly in geography and history. As a result, the progress pupils make in their topic work is not consistently strong. This is a reason why the school is not yet outstanding.  Work in pupils’ topic books shows that they have frequent opportunities to

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Inspection findings

practise different styles of writing. Teachers provide pupils with precise guidance so they are clear about which of their writing skills they need to use. While this approach has helped raise standards in writing, it has been at the expense of pupils’ progress in other curriculum subjects.

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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

 pupils make consistently good progress in all curriculum subjects, particularly in geography and history.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body 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

At the start of this inspection, we agreed to prioritise the following areas:

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Information about the inspection

 the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements  the action taken by leaders to accelerate the progress of pupils in reading, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to ensure that a greater proportion achieved the standard expected for their age  the achievement of disadvantaged pupils in mathematics and in particular, whether teachers provided disadvantaged pupils with sufficient challenge to enable them to achieve the higher standard by the end of key stage 2  how well pupils achieve in their topic work including the contribution this makes to pupils’ progress in writing.

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Information about the inspection

I carried out the following activities to explore these areas during the inspection:

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Information about the inspection

 held meetings with you, senior leaders, middle leaders and members of staff. I also met with representatives from the governing body  held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority  visited lessons across the school and scrutinised work in pupils’ books with you and the deputy headteacher  listened to pupils from Year 6 read and spoke to pupils about their learning, their behaviour and their attitudes to reading  considered the 24 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey  scrutinised school documentation including the school’s plans for improvement, assessment information and records related to safeguarding and behaviour.

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