Elfrida Primary School

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

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Mrs Kathryn Wong Executive Headteacher Elfrida Primary School Elfrida Crescent Bellingham London SE6 3EN

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 21 March 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 September 2012.

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are an effective executive headteacher who has a realistic and accurate understanding of the development needs of your school. You are driven in your determination to raise standards and your pupils respond well to this challenge.

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

You and your senior leaders have raised staff expectations of what pupils should be achieving. You have articulated this clearly to all staff and they share this aim.

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

Governors are very knowledgeable and take an active part in learning walks around the school. They ask the right questions to monitor and assess the impact of the school development priorities and they act as a strong support for you in your role as the executive headteacher.

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

Your senior leaders have introduced an effective assessment system to track pupils’ progress against age-related expectations. This is shared with all staff who now have a clearer understanding of the progress that groups of pupils should be making. This is having particular impact on raising the outcomes of the lowest- attaining and the most able pupils. Pupils who do not make sufficient progress are identified quickly and offered additional support. The previous inspection found that middle leaders were not fully involved in the monitoring and evaluation of curriculum areas. It was also reported that pupils did not have enough opportunities to develop their key skills through working independently. You have addressed these priorities and have introduced several suitable schemes so that pupils are much more active in their learning.

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

You have also restructured the leadership team to ensure that all leaders are fully involved in the monitoring of teachers’ planning, the outcomes in pupils’ books and the progress that pupils are making. The leadership team now has a stronger understanding of the impact that your development plans are having in raising standards across the school.

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

You have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of a high quality. Effective checks on the recruitment of staff are fully in place.

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

Systems for initial concerns and referrals are clear and understood by all. The designated safeguarding leader is well known to all staff and there is clear understanding that everyone is responsible for safeguarding. You have provided effective training for all staff and governors on national priorities and this has ensured that staff can identify and respond to potential risks.

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Short inspection of Elfrida Primary School

Parents report that their children feel safe in school and know whom to go to for support. Your effective work on e-safety to help pupils stay safe online has raised pupils’ and parents’ awareness of how to keep safe when using the internet. Pupils are keen to demonstrate their school values of responsibility, resilience and respect to cooperate, collaborate and be confident. One member of the school council reported, ‘My school helps me with my future because it gives me the knowledge and skills that I need.’

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Inspection findings

 We first agreed to explore what actions school leaders had taken to ensure that disadvantaged pupils are helped to make the same progress as other pupils nationally. Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils had been variable in 2016, and this was particularly so for the most able disadvantaged.  You and your senior leaders have responded well to this through completing a detailed analysis of test results to identify the areas in which greater challenge could be given to disadvantaged pupils. As a result, pupils’ progress is now monitored closely through effective assessment procedures that have raised the pitch, challenge and expectations for each year group.  You and your assessment leader have set benchmark targets that pupils must reach by the end of each term to ensure that they make good or better progress. This is tracked rigorously and any pupil not meeting expected progress is identified quickly and offered additional support.

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Inspection findings

 The most able pupils are identified and tracked effectively in teachers’ planning through a ‘learn, excel, achieve and progress’ focus. The progress of the most able pupils is scrutinised carefully against outcomes in their books and agreed progress targets.  Teachers’ higher expectations are having a positive impact on improving pupils’ outcomes. Staff have identified what age-related outcomes look like in writing.  We then agreed to explore what action leaders are taking to ensure that all pupils make good or better progress in reading. You were disappointed with the 2016 key stage 2 reading results. Your team is reflective and you have responded well to this through the changes you have made to the reading curriculum.  You have introduced a wide range of ambitious texts to extend pupils’ reading choices, and teachers’ use of a new scheme is successfully developing pupils’ vocabulary skills. Pupils rehearse their key skills of retrieval, inference and

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Inspection findings

deduction through regular comprehension activities and well-planned guided reading tasks.  Staff teach sounds to decode words well in the early years and at key stage 1. Pupils use a wide range of strategies to support themselves. Children are well prepared for entry into Year 1 and have more opportunities to apply their knowledge of sounds when writing independently.  Pupils’ reading progress is tracked rigorously and intervention programmes are available for less confident readers. The school’s data now shows clear progression in reading across year groups.

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Inspection findings

 Finally, we looked at pupils’ attendance. The most recent data indicated that all groups of pupils have higher absence and persistent absence rates when compared with national figures.  First-day absence calling, letters to parents of pupils whose attendance is below 90%, meetings with the headteacher, home visits with the educational welfare officer and fixed penalty fines have had a positive impact on reducing persistent absence.  A significant number of pupils live in temporary accommodation outside the local community and this does have a negative impact on absence data.  After examining the inspection evidence, I am satisfied that the school has effective systems in place to monitor and improve attendance.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and governors should ensure that:  opportunities are in place for pupils in Reception and Year 1 to apply their knowledge of sounds through independent writing  teachers have a clear understanding of what expected and more than expected outcomes should look like at the end of the year. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lewisham. This letter will also be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I carried out the following activities:

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Information about the inspection

 Meetings with the executive headteacher, senior and middle leaders, governors and a representative from the local authority.  Meetings with the senior administration officer to scrutinise the school’s safeguarding procedures, and the deputy head and federation head of school to look at systems to track pupils’ absences.  Informal meetings with parents in the playground before school.  Senior leaders accompanied me on my visits to the classrooms. I talked to pupils about their learning, looked at their books and listened to a range of pupils read in Year 2 and Year 6.  I reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I also looked at the online surveys completed by staff and pupils.

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