Setting

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

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D Wright Chatsworth Primary School Heath Road Hounslow TW3 2NW

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School

Following my visit to your school on 19 May 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in June 2016. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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School

The school should take further action to:

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School

 ensure that the chair of governors provides strong leadership to further develop governors’ skills in evaluating the impact of the actions they have taken to support and challenge the work of the school.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with you, six members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority, to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. You took me on a tour of the site and its boundaries and I had the pleasure of meeting your pupils in classrooms, in the playground and as they moved around the building. I reviewed action plans, safeguarding compliance documents, governors’ minutes and records relating to the single central record. We discussed the rigorous response you have made to your 2016 outcomes to ensure that you continue to offer pupils a good standard of education.

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Context

Since the previous inspection, the governing body has been restructured and an external review of governance and of safeguarding has taken place. A new chair is in post and a new committee structure has been introduced.

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Main findings

You have been instrumental in ensuring that effective action has been taken to address the areas for improvement since the previous inspection. Following the inspection, you immediately ensured that a detailed action plan was devised to address the issues regarding the monitoring of site safety, which arose during the inspection. You shared this with governors and were proactive in helping them to understand their role in challenging you and other leaders, to ensure actions that were implemented and had immediate impact.

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Main findings

As a result, checks on the safety of the school site are now rigorous and regular. Premises managers complete daily checklists, which are shared with leaders. Governors monitor these records and you make sure that action is swiftly taken if there is any cause for concern. For example, you quickly cordoned off an area of the field when damage was discovered in the brickwork of an electrical sub-station. This was then dealt with immediately to ensure that the site was safe.

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Main findings

A member of the governing body has specific expertise in carrying out and evaluating risk assessments of site safety. This expertise is used wisely to ensure that governors are now very clear about any potential risks. Governors monitor actions taken to ensure that children are kept safe. You are thorough in ensuring that all statutory risk assessments are in place and you are swift to identify any aspects of school life that require a risk assessment. For example, you have risk assessments in place for the visits of a therapy dog to the school and for the safe use of candles on birthday cakes.

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Main findings

You created very helpful safety compliance lists for governors. This has helped them to challenge and support you better in keeping the site safe and in ensuring that records evidence your work in doing so.

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Main findings

Governors have worked hard to implement effective actions to improve their vigilance and understanding of site safety. However, they are not rigorous enough in evaluating the impact of what they have done. Governors can talk about perceived impact, but this is not evident in their own written evaluations of their action plan. Governors rely too heavily on your advice, guidance and support to fulfil their duties in this respect effectively. They recognise this and are reflective and keen to secure further training and support.

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Main findings

The new committee structure is working well. Site security and safeguarding are high on the agenda and governors are very clear on priorities for the school. Sometimes minutes do not accurately reflect the impact of actions or decisions taken clearly enough, but leaders have taken action to address this. The chair of the governing body at the time of the previous inspection now supports the school as an associate member. The current chair is new to role and is working hard to develop her skills in further strengthening governance.

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Main findings

The single central record of checks made on staff’s suitability to work with children is thorough and complies with current guidance. Since the inspection, governors review the single central record regularly. They have produced very helpful checklists to support them in doing this. Governors are also successfully adopting a ‘check the checkers’ mantra and are determined to leave no stone unturned in order to keep the site safe for your pupils.

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External support

Leaders and governors have benefited from support and advice from the local authority to help them address the issues raised at the previous inspection. The local authority has recently secured a mentor for the new chair of governors, which will help develop her role and that of the governors further. The external review of the governing body led to some positive changes in the structure and processes of governance.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hounslow. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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