Goose Green Primary School

Goose Green Primary School Tintagel Crescent, East Dulwich, London SE22 8HG

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Inspection dates 31 January–1 February 2017

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Over recent years, standards in reading, writing and mathematics in assessments at the end of Year 6 have declined. Pupils’ outcomes require improvement.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has not ensured that pupils make good progress in Years 1 to 6. Pupils’ learning is reduced when teachers do not identify and correct errors and misunderstandings in pupils’ work. Pupils’ progress slows when teachers’ explanations of key concepts are unclear.  The contribution of middle leaders to driving improvements in their areas of responsibility is limited.  The curriculum does not encourage pupils to develop fluent, readable handwriting and a secure knowledge of grammar and punctuation as they progress through the school.  Pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. Pupils said that incidents of bullying do occur.  Pupils’ conduct requires improvement at informal times, such as lunchtime. The

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has fallen below that of all pupils nationally.  The governing body has not challenged the school’s leaders to improve pupils’ outcomes urgently. Governors have not held the school sufficiently to account over the use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. They have not made sure that differences between the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally diminish swiftly.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The interim headteacher and senior leaders have identified the correct key priorities for development. They take the actions necessary, and secure swift improvements to teaching, outcomes and pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare.  Children, including those who are disadvantaged, make good progress in the early years.  Overall, more pupils reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check compared with the national average.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise pupils’ attainment and increase rates of progress in reading, writing and mathematics, by making sure that: – teachers and teaching assistants develop their subject knowledge, where they have weaknesses – the curriculum develops pupils’ knowledge of grammar, punctuation and handwriting skills securely – pupil premium funding is used effectively to diminish the difference in outcomes between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally.  Improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare by: – reducing incidents of bullying, and ensuring that all staff deal with any bullying equally robustly and effectively – making sure that pupils behave well throughout the day, particularly at lunchtimes – raising pupils’ attendance rates, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Improve the effectiveness of leaders and managers, including governors, by making

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

sure that: – middle leaders play a strong role in driving improvements in their areas of responsibility – governors develop their skills in holding school leaders rigorously to account for the school’s outcomes.  An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.  An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders, managers and governors have not maintained the school’s good overall effectiveness over recent years. Academic standards have declined.  They have not put in place effective strategies to use the pupil premium funding in Years 1 to 6 to diminish the differences between the performance of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally by the end of Year 6.  The curriculum has not focused sufficiently on developing pupils’ basic skills and ensuring that pupils make strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  The curriculum does not help pupils learn grammar and punctuation securely, write clearly and form letters accurately as they progress through the school. Pupils do not develop typically legible and fluent handwriting by the time they start key stage 2.  Leaders’ actions to improve the attendance rates of pupils who frequently miss school have had little impact. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

special educational needs and/or disabilities, in particular, has declined over the last three years.  The role of middle leaders in driving improvements in their areas of responsibility is at an early stage of development.  Current senior leaders have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and where improvement is needed. Working closely together, they have put initiatives into effect swiftly that address the decline in teaching quality and pupils’ outcomes. As a result, the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement are improving.  Through well-selected additional training sessions for staff this year, leaders have successfully raised expectations of what pupils can achieve. Teachers plan work carefully to meet pupils’ needs, and set demanding tasks that deepen pupils’ understanding, particularly in literacy and numeracy. Leaders check regularly that teachers put initiatives into practice, and they measure the impact on driving up pupils’

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

academic outcomes.  Information about the progress pupils make is used more effectively than in the past to identify pupils who need extra support. Leaders have introduced additional sessions for selected pupils in Year 6 that are successfully helping to increase rates of pupils’ progress.  Leaders have made sure that there is an increased focus this year on developing pupils’ basic skills. Pupils practise reading, writing and mathematics very regularly, and standards are rising. Specialist teaching in music and art encourage pupils’ creative development strongly. Pupils’ art work is on display around the school and is of high quality.  Enrichment visits to support pupils’ learning across the curriculum subjects are limited in number. Pupils speak enthusiastically about residential visits to activity centres for pupils in Year 4 and Year 6. Extra-curricular clubs, including football, art, choir and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

steelpans, are popular.  Leaders have successfully secured good provision in early years for the effective teaching of phonics and early reading. As a result, outcomes at the end of the Reception Year have risen year on year and are above national averages.  Additional PE and sports premium funding is used effectively to provide specialist sports teaching for all pupils and to run sporting activities at breaktime.

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Governance of the school

 Over time, members of the governing body have not challenged the school’s leaders sufficiently to maintain the good quality of the school’s work and pupils’ good outcomes and personal development, behaviour and welfare.  Governors have not held leaders sufficiently accountable for the outcomes of all disadvantaged pupils. They have not ensured that the school’s approach to using the pupil premium funding is based on a careful analysis of the barriers to disadvantaged pupils’ learning.  This year, more frequent visits to the school and checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress help governors to develop an informed understanding of the school’s performance.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders have made sure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding at the school. The leadership team has ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Procedures reflect the most up-to-date guidance from the Secretary of State. Staff have good knowledge of the school’s safeguarding systems and processes. Leaders organise annual training and updates. Staff are sensitive to possible warning signs that a pupil may be at risk, including from female genital mutilation, breast ironing or extremist views about right and wrong. Records show staff are quick to report any concerns. Leaders who have specific safeguarding responsibility take swift and appropriate action should the need arise. They work closely with parents and carers and a range of outside agencies to safeguard pupils’ well-being. The school’s records are detailed and of high quality.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching is too variable between classes and subjects in Years 1 to 6 and, as a result, rates of pupils’ progress are uneven.  Teachers’ and teaching assistants’ subject knowledge is not consistently good in Years 1 to 6. Pupils do not understand key mathematical concepts easily, and weaker readers do not develop their knowledge of phonics effectively when explanations of new learning are unclear.  Pupils’ progress is not well supported when teachers miss inaccuracies in pupils’ work. Work in pupils’ books shows that, over time, pupils make the same spelling mistakes and repeat punctuation errors when teachers do not encourage them to correct their work.  Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ handwriting are not routinely demanding. Pupils strive to present their work neatly, but poorly formed letters make their writing unclear.  Pupils are motivated by the choice of tasks that teachers set in reading, writing and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

mathematics. Teachers set tasks of varying degrees of challenge that encourage pupils to concentrate and work hard.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Pupils said that there are instances of bullying, such as name calling or deliberately leaving pupils out of games. Pupils feel safe at school, as the very large majority of parents who responded to the online survey, Parent View, also confirmed. However, pupils have partial confidence in the response of adults because lunchtime staff do not routinely take their concerns as seriously as teaching staff. Pupils have a clear understanding of what constitutes bullying as a result of discussions in assembly and activities during anti-bullying weeks.  Pupils know how to avoid risks in a range of situations. For example, the oldest pupils are aware of risks to their safety outside school, including the misuse of technology, gang membership and the danger of carrying knives.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning are typically positive. They listen carefully in lessons, and

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Personal development and welfare

persevere to complete the tasks teachers set.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Incidents of poor behaviour have increased over recent years. Pupils do not conduct themselves equally well throughout the school day, particularly outside lesson times.  Sometimes pupils argue and fall out at breaktime and need the help of peer mentors and adults to help sort out problems.  Pupils said, and school records show, that the school’s recent efforts to promote high standards of behaviour at breaktime are securing improvement. Changes to breaktime arrangements, including reducing the number of pupils in the playground at the same time, increasing sporting activities and additional indoor games, all successfully help to improve pupils’ self-discipline at informal times.  Pupils’ conduct in classrooms is typically respectful. Disruption to learning is rare.  Attendance rates vary between groups of pupils and are average overall. The proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs

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Behaviour

and/or disabilities who are frequently absent from school are high compared with all pupils nationally.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Pupils’ previously strong progress has declined in reading, writing and mathematics over recent years. The progress of most groups of pupils, including pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, has slowed.  The pupil premium funding has not helped all disadvantaged pupils to make strong progress. Differences in the progress of disadvantaged pupils, from middle starting points in particular, compared with other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics, have increased.  As a result, pupils’ standards at the end of Year 6 have declined. Provisional results in assessments at the end of Year 6 in 2016 suggest that pupils’ attainment was below national averages in reading, writing, mathematics and science. Pupils’ attainment in grammar, punctuation and spelling was also lower than that found nationally.  Pupils’ standards at the end of Year 2 are variable. In 2016, pupils’ attainment was

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

better in reading and mathematics than in writing.  Overall, in the 2016 Year 1 phonics screening check, more pupils reached the expected standards compared with all pupils nationally. However, fewer disadvantaged pupils reached the expected standard compared with other pupils nationally. The least able readers make slow progress in building their knowledge of phonics and early reading skills.  Current work in pupils’ books shows that rates of progress are accelerating. Differences in the progress of groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally, are diminishing this year.  The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils typically make strong progress from their starting points. In 2016, the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils made similar progress to that of other most-able pupils nationally by the end of Year 6. The most able readers are enthusiastic about books and spoke

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

confidently about their reading preferences.

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Early years provision Good

 Children develop confidence and social skills quickly when they join the early years provision. Well-established routines at the start of the day help children to settle quickly to activities and concentrate on the tasks they have selected.  Effective leadership develops strong partnerships with parents. Workshops for parents explain how the school teaches early reading and mathematics and provide useful guidance. Regular opportunities for parents to spend time in the Nursery and Reception classes help to keep them well informed about their children’s progress.  Children are friendly and behave well. They understand the value of turn taking, fairness and helping one another. They share resources readily and use equipment safely, including the climbing wall.  Adults plan a wide variety of engaging activities that capture children’s interest in the inside and outdoor areas. Boys enjoyed exploring mathematical concepts in the outside

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Early years provision Good

area, and used specific mathematics vocabulary accurately in discussions together. Phonics and early reading are taught well in the early years provision. One child explained to an inspector that writing is easy, ‘You listen carefully for all the sounds, then just write them so other people can read it.’  Careful use of the pupil premium funding in the early years has helped to ensure that gaps between the outcomes of disadvantaged children and other children nationally have diminished. In recent years, more children reached a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year compared with national averages. Children, including disadvantaged children, are well prepared for the next stage of their education by the end of the Reception Year.  Adults are not as careful to make sure that the most able children deepen their knowledge and understanding further and exceed the standards expected of them by

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.goosegreenprimaryschool.org/

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School details

Email address office@goosegreenprimaryschool.org

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of specified information on its website, about the curriculum and how parents can find out more about this aspect. Also, details about the average progress that pupils have made in reading, writing and mathematics between key stage 1 and 2 have been omitted.  The school does not comply with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish. The following information has been omitted: – exclusion arrangements – the average progress that pupils have made in reading, writing and mathematics between key stage 1 and 2 – how parents can obtain further information about the curriculum the school is following – details of the school’s pupil premium strategy – the effect of the PE and sport premium on pupils’ PE and sport participation and attainment, and how this will be sustainable – the school’s accessibility plan for disabled pupils

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Information about this school

– the school’s equality objectives – the statement of the school’s values and ethos.  The school converted to academy status in October 2012 as Goose Green Education Trust.  In 2015, the school did not meet the current government floor standards.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is close to the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is average.  There have been a high number of changes in staffing over recent years, including in the senior leadership team. The interim headteacher joined the school in September 2016.  The school organises and manages breakfast and after-school club provision.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors visited teaching sessions across a variety of subject areas in all year groups, from Nursery to Year 6. Visits to classrooms were conducted together with the interim headteacher on the first day of the inspection.  Inspectors held meetings with the interim headteacher, senior and middle leaders. Inspectors spoke to pupils informally in lessons and around the school, and looked at work in pupils’ books. They also met with groups of pupils from Years 3 to 6. Inspectors listened to selected pupils in key stage 1 and Year 6 read.  Inspectors held a meeting with two governors including the chair. They spoke to parents informally in the playground at the start of both days of the inspection.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents provided by the school, including assessment information, the school’s action plans and self-evaluation report. The school’s records relating to safeguarding were also checked.

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Information about this inspection

 There were 118 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View. The inspectors took account of these along with the analysis of the school’s own recent survey of parent views. The inspection considered 21 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Madeleine Gerard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Frances Hawkes 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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 .

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Inspection team

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, 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.gov.uk/ofsted

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