The Jenny Hammond Primary School

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

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Mrs Deborah Gibbon Headteacher The Jenny Hammond Primary School Elsham Road Leytonstone London E11 3JH

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 4 May 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 March 2012.

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. The senior leadership team has been restructured and you have successfully recruited two assistant headteachers. You have been proactive and successful in developing these committed, highly effective leaders. As a result of this, the capacity of the leadership team to continue to improve the school is strong. The school community values your leadership. Parents, staff and pupils have confidence in you. You have a strong but calming influence within the school. As a result of this and the work of other leaders and governors, there is a highly positive climate for learning evident across the school.

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

Governors know the school well. They fulfil their statutory duties and provide strong support to the school. The recent recruitment of new governors has enhanced the collective skill set of governors. This has led to an increased determination to challenge the work of leaders as well as supporting their achievements.

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

Adults have high expectations for pupils in terms of behaviour and outcomes. Pupils are enthusiastic, confident learners. They work hard in lessons and try to do their best. They work well together and learn from each other as well as from the adults they work with. Pupils are friendly, welcoming and keen to talk about their school and their learning. Most parents are positive about the school’s work.

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

You have made progress with the areas identified for improvement at the previous inspection. However, your incisive self-evaluation confirms my view that there is still room for improvement. In particular, leadership of the early years provision needs further strengthening. The quality of teaching across the school has improved since the previous inspection and is continuing to improve. Teachers are reflective and have responded positively to the professional development you have secured for them. As a result, they are developing pupils’ thinking, speaking and collaborative learning skills. Staff are becoming highly skilled at enabling pupils to talk about their learning and about strategies that help them learn best. You recognise that teachers need to develop further their skills at teaching mathematics to ensure that all groups of pupils make the best progress that they can.

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality.

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

You and your staff ensure that keeping children safe lies at the heart of the school’s work. Staff receive training on all aspects of safeguarding, including radicalisation, extremism and female genital mutilation. Adults are vigilant and report any concerns immediately to leaders. Designated safeguarding leads take swift, effective action when staff report concerns about a child. They work well with external agencies and challenge them if responses to referrals are not rapid enough.

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

Pupils benefit from good guidance on how to keep themselves safe online. Leaders respond quickly to any concerns raised regarding cyber bullying or to the downloading of inappropriate material. They seek guidance from the local police force to ensure that older pupils in the school understand the implications of, for example, downloading apps to their mobile telephones. Pupils of all ages contribute to displays around the school which remind them how to keep themselves safe in all situations both at home and at school.

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Short inspection of The Jenny Hammond Primary School

You make sure that all appropriate checks are made on staff who come to work at the school. Governors monitor the records of these checks.

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Inspection findings

 My first focus for the inspection was to review pupils’ progress in mathematics. In 2016, pupils who left the school made good progress in mathematics overall, but their performance was not as strong as in reading and writing.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders and teachers have ensured that staff are planning interesting activities to enthuse pupils about mathematics. As a result, most pupils across the school are making good progress. However, teachers sometimes fail to recognise when tasks are too easy or too difficult for some pupils in the class. When this happens, the least able pupils struggle to complete tasks and the most able pupils complete tasks quickly and have to wait for the next challenge. When teaching is at its strongest, teachers make sure that work is well pitched and that pupils have a range of further challenges to select from when they are ready. Occasionally during lessons, teachers fail to notice when pupils have lost interest and become unfocused on the learning. This has an impact on the progress that pupils make.  Another focus for the inspection was the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils. In 2016, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils who left

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Inspection findings

the school at the end of Year 6 was below the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. In mathematics, the progress these pupils made was also below the national average.  Observations in lessons and work in books show that disadvantaged pupils who are currently in the school are making similar progress to their classmates. You have secured an ‘intervention’ teacher through the use of the pupil premium funding who is having a good impact on pupils’ progress. Disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 are making rapid progress because of the excellent support they receive. You have rightly decided to further develop this intervention work across other year groups in the school.  An additional focus for the inspection was how leaders are supporting teachers in the early years provision to track the progress that children make. Part of this focus was to consider the progress boys are making in reading, writing and

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Inspection findings

speaking. This was because boys’ achievement in these areas of learning was below that seen nationally by all Reception children in 2016.  Reception teachers have created a stimulating learning environment inside the classrooms and in the outdoor learning environment. Both boys and girls enjoy the activities on offer in the outside areas, which reflect and support all areas of learning well. Boys and girls showed equal confidence in talking about their learning. Children’s work in ‘special books’ show that both boys and girls are making good progress from their starting points. Teachers plan activities to interest children when they are engaged in direct teaching of early number, reading and writing skills. Occasionally, in common with teaching throughout the school, Reception staff do not recognise when children are losing focus or when the task is too easy or too difficult.  Leaders responsible for tracking the progress of all children in the Reception

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Inspection findings

classes lack accuracy and clarity in their evaluation. They are rigorous in tracking the progress that individual children make, but are at the earliest stages in analysing the progress of specific groups, such as boys. Leaders of the early years provision also lack confidence in analysing the past achievement of the children in the provision. This limits their ability to support the senior leadership team in identifying school improvement priorities.  A final focus for the inspection was the actions that leaders have taken to improve the rate of persistent absence for pupils who receive support for special educational needs and/or disabilities. In 2016, the rate of persistent absence for this group was well above the national average.  Leaders have an incisive knowledge of individual pupils and their attendance. They work effectively with families to tackle any issues around attendance. Previous high rates of persistent absence were a result of pupils suffering from

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Inspection findings

complex medical issues. The school’s current information about attendance shows that it has improved and the rate of persistent absence has been significantly reduced this year.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and governors should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 teachers use their knowledge of what pupils know and can do in mathematics to provide tasks which consistently challenge the most able pupils and support the least able pupils to make rapid progress  leaders of the early years accurately evaluate children’s outcomes over time in order to improve their provision  leaders of the early years provision rigorously track the progress that different groups of children make, to inform the school’s self-evaluation and action planning.

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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 Waltham Forest. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I had discussions with senior leaders and middle leaders about their school improvement work and safeguarding arrangements. I met with representatives of the governing body. I went on ‘learning walks’ with the two assistant headteachers and the leader of the early years provision. I talked with children and with parents. I scrutinised a range of documents relating to the school’s self-evaluation and to safeguarding. I reviewed the minutes of governing body meetings. The 65 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were reviewed, as were the 21 responses to the staff questionnaire and the 55 responses to the pupil questionnaire. I also met with a representative of the local authority.

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