Setting

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

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Ian Dickinson Stanley Primary School Strathmore Road Teddington Middlesex TW11 8UH

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School

Following my visit to your school on 23 June 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 December 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

 improve the consistency of teaching to secure sustained progress over time for low-attaining and disadvantaged pupils  strengthen leadership capacity at all levels to ensure accountability and incisive monitoring and evaluation to improve teaching and learning.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher and senior leaders, middle leaders and governors. Discussion also took place with a representative of the local authority. The purpose of these discussions was to understand the action taken since the last inspection. A range of documentation, including monitoring reports and action plans, was analysed. I reviewed assessment data along with pupils’ work from all age groups. Observations of teaching and learning took place across the school alongside senior leaders.

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Main findings

Governors and leaders have tightened their systems for checking that pupils are making the progress they should. Leaders regularly review the achievement of individual pupils and analyse assessment information to set ‘non-negotiable’ actions for teachers to improve pupils’ progress. Teachers have responded well to the training and support they have received to implement ‘maths mastery’ and the teaching of phonics. Younger pupils’ phonic knowledge is improving. Learning in some mathematics lessons is good and teachers take full account of pupils’ needs and provide appropriately challenging work for all, including the highest attainers and those who find the subject difficult.

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Main findings

Leaders have sharpened their focus on the needs of low-attaining and disadvantaged pupils, without this negatively affecting provision for others. Small- group interventions to support low-attaining pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have been carefully mapped out and refined to bring better continuity as pupils move from one year group to the next. This is particularly the case in English.

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Main findings

Leaders follow up swiftly on pupil absence and make good use of external agencies to pursue those who are persistent absentees. Attendance is improving. Leaders have not yet evaluated the impact of some of these initiatives rigorously and therefore do not know with certainty which are having the greatest impact.

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Main findings

Governors provide effective support and challenge to leaders, holding them to account and maintaining a close eye on improvements. They maintain a strong line of communication with parents to check out parents’ views and to involve them and maintain their confidence in the school and the developments taking place.

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Main findings

All these improvements are beginning to have an impact, and there are signs of faster progress made by some pupils through both key stages. Assessments moderated with other schools show improved achievement of pupils in Reception, Year 1 and 2 compared to the national assessments of last year. However, progress is not yet consistent or sustained across all subjects and year groups, and leaders recognise that there is more to do.

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Main findings

Middle leaders are keen and are beginning to take on responsibility for supporting their teams and holding teachers to account. They support colleagues and are beginning to work as a team in implementing policies cohesively across the school. Senior and middle leaders are observing teaching and learning and feeding back to teachers, but their observations have not yet led to consistency in the quality of teaching. Samples of pupils’ work show differences in quality and expectations, for example in pupils’ writing and expectations regarding their presentation of work. Notes made on observations of teaching are not sufficiently focused. They seldom make the connection between what is seen and the work that pupils have produced over time. Therefore, they are not necessarily picking up on specific actions with individual teachers that would help bring a step change in quality and consistency.

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External support

The local authority has provided good challenge and support. Regular guidance and advice to the leadership and training and mentoring for middle leaders have been balanced well with challenge and incisive reviews of progress being made. The local authority has an accurate picture of the school’s strengths and support needs. It is working well to challenge the school and provide governors and leaders with the help it needs. It has a good plan in place to maintain support until the school has sustainable capacity across its leadership team.

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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 Richmond upon Thames. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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