Chennestone Primary School

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

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Mrs Susan Jackson Headteacher Chennestone Primary School Manor Lane Sunbury-on-Thames Surrey TW16 5ED

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 July 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 June 2013.

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have built a strong and capable leadership team, which has enhanced the quality of education provided by the school. As the executive headteacher of two schools, you successfully combine the talents of leaders across both schools to drive improvement. For instance, you effectively deploy teachers with particular strengths and talents to mentor teachers and improve their performance. As a result, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is consistently high.

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

Your leadership is effective. You are ambitious for the school and its pupils and articulate your vision and ethos clearly to the entire school community. The governing body is equally ambitious. Governors are highly skilled and ask challenging questions that hold leaders to account for their actions. For instance, governors recently scrutinised a ‘peer review’ of the school and asked you how you will improve the areas for development identified. Governors have a clear understanding of the effectiveness of the school and the capacity to challenge the few remaining areas of weakness.

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

Pupils revel in the wide variety of activities and the innovative ways of recording their learning. Year 1 pupils enthusiastically described their work on the new wildlife area and how they enjoyed presenting this to their peers. Year 6 pupils’ work to mimic established artists such as Leonardo da Vinci was detailed, high quality and demonstrated their clear understanding of artistic styles and techniques. Staff make excellent use of technology and record pupils’ work using photographs and videos. Pupils value the opportunity to identify and correct mistakes before they commit to paper in mathematics lessons. Parents appreciate the chance to view pupils’ work at home. The exciting and varied curriculum and the opportunity to share work with parents and carers promote the high levels of enthusiasm among pupils.

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

At the last inspection, you were asked to ensure that work was not too easy, especially for the most able pupils. You have taken suitable and successful action to address this area for improvement. Teachers across the school have an accurate understanding of pupils’ skills and levels of understanding. They set work that is at the right level for the most able pupils and offer additional challenge in lessons when needed. In a wide range of subjects, pupils complete work that requires them to research, debate and think deeply. For instance, Year 3 pupils considered ‘how to be happy’, deliberated this in class and wrote high-quality leaflets that offered helpful advice to promote others’ mental health. Standards in subjects across the curriculum are high. However, you rightly recognise that pupils in key stage 2 are making slower progress than those in key stage 1.

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

You and your leaders evaluate the school’s effectiveness accurately. Leaders regularly monitor the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and have a precise understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Nevertheless, leaders’ views of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are not as sharp as they could be. This is because systems to record their observations of teachers’ performance are not as methodical as they could be. Neither are their findings shared routinely with the wider leadership team and governors.

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. You complete statutory checks on all staff before they commence employment. Safer recruitment checks are monitored closely by leaders and governors.

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

Staff at all levels benefit from excellent training, which enables them to identify and report concerns about pupils. Leaders take swift and appropriate action to protect pupils from harm when referrals are received. Records show that, when required, leaders work effectively with a range of external agencies to keep pupils safe and record their actions methodically. Nevertheless, incidents of emerging concerns are not always recorded clearly. As a result, information regarding these pupils cannot be analysed quickly and efficiently should the need arise.

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Short inspection of Chennestone Primary School

Parents receive useful information on how to keep their children safe. For instance, the school website contains helpful links to the NSPCC, including guidance on internet safety and how to report concerns. Parents are kept well informed about how to keep their children safe.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed to look at the effectiveness of safeguarding, the level of challenge for the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils in mathematics, the quality of support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, how well leaders challenge and support teachers to improve and also the breadth and design of the curriculum.  Pupils consistently complete challenging work in mathematics. All pupils, including the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils, solve challenging problems which test and stretch their skills and understanding. Teachers have an accurate knowledge of pupils’ needs and set work at just the right level for them. As a result, the majority of pupils are making strong progress in mathematics. Nevertheless, pupils’ progress in mathematics in key stage 2 is not as rapid as the rates of progress in key stage 1.  The special educational needs coordinator works closely with staff to skilfully

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Inspection findings

identify and support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Close liaison with both parents and external agencies ensures that support for pupils is high quality and effective. Consequently, the majority of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are working in line with, or just below, their peers. This represents excellent progress from these pupils’ starting points.  Teachers receive regular and well-considered feedback from leaders within the school and others in neighbouring schools. Middle leaders have improved the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by working in class to mentor other teachers. Staff receive helpful training to improve their teaching and regularly discuss effective teaching techniques, which they apply effectively in class. As a result, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good.  The curriculum is innovative, broad and interesting. Regular ‘extraordinary days’

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Inspection findings

create a sense of awe and wonder among pupils. For instance, pupils recently worked with a large global software company to experience virtual reality glasses. Pupils gained a greater understanding of computer science and produced lively and interesting writing to explain what they had learned. In science, Year 6 pupils wrote detailed and accurate booklets describing how different species reproduce. The task challenged pupils’ skills and understanding of scientific concepts, writing and art, as demonstrated by their accurate anatomical diagrams.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the progress of pupils in key stage 2 accelerates so that it matches the rapid progress of pupils in key stage 1  systems to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment offer a clear and accurate evaluation of teachers’ performance  systems for logging and reporting emerging concerns about pupils’ welfare are clear and concerns are methodically recorded.

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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 Surrey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you, three governors, including the chair of the governing body, and a representative of the local authority. I analysed a range of school documentation, including information about pupils’ achievement, the school improvement plan and safeguarding checks, policies and procedures. We discussed your own evaluation of the school’s effectiveness. I considered the 57 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and spoke to parents at the beginning of the day. Some parents offered written responses, which I also considered. I analysed the results of the confidential staff and pupil surveys. I met with six pupils from Years 1 to 6 and gathered the views of other pupils throughout the day.

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