Nightingale Primary School

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

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Mrs Abigail Hopper Headteacher Nightingale Primary School Rendlesham Road Hackney London E5 8PH

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 3 October 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 Nightingale Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

You and your leadership team demonstrate drive and determination. You know the pupils well, and are committed to them achieving their best. Since taking up post, you have developed a school development plan which is supporting leaders in improving standards across many aspects of the school. You have high expectations of yourself, staff and pupils, and have established a strong, committed staff team.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

You have put in place a robust system to monitor pupils’ outcomes and ensure that no pupil falls behind in their learning. Leaders observe pupils in class and look at learning in books, before meeting teachers to discuss pupils’ progress. Actions and interventions are well documented and allocated to leading members of the team, who are subsequently held to account for their implementation. This has resulted in improving outcomes for current pupils.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

You and your leaders have dealt effectively with the areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection. The allocation of responsibilities across the leadership team has ensured that middle leaders now have clear accountability for their work. The new phase leaders are effective in supporting the improvement of practice across each phase. You have identified the key challenges for disadvantaged pupils and have ensured that the pupil premium grant is used to address these effectively. You analyse the impact of interventions regularly and adjust them accordingly. As a result , disadvantaged pupils are progressing well with their learning in lessons.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

You and your leadership team have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Recruitment procedures are robust and the link safeguarding governor regularly checks the single central record to ensure that adults are suitable to work with pupils.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

All staff have received recent safeguarding training and are provided with updates regularly. Staff understand their responsibilities with regard to keeping children safe in education, including the ‘Prevent’ duty. They can identify risk in different situations and respond quickly.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

Staff know families very well, which strengthens their ability to keep pupils safe. Records are thorough and well organised. The school’s consistent use of action sheets to follow up on concerns ensures that its response is appropriate and timely.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

Pupils say that they feel safe and can all name an adult they would feel comfortable speaking to if they had a concern. Pupils are knowledgeable about how to keep themselves safe online, and the school provides clear advice to parents. Pupils are taught how to stay safe through the curriculum and in assemblies. All parents surveyed recently by the school, and those who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, say that their children are safe at school.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

The school has worked diligently to improve attendance in the last 12 months and employed highly effective strategies. Attendance, including persistent absence, has improved dramatically and is now in line with the national average.

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Short inspection of Nightingale Primary School

Leaders have created a thoughtful approach to managing behaviour and, as a consequence, the school is a friendly, calm and orderly environment. Pupils say that bullying is rare and dealt with appropriately. One pupil, echoing the views of many, told me that ‘everyone is friendly here’. A high proportion of parents and all staff surveyed believe that behaviour is good and dealt with well.

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Inspection findings

 I began by considering the effectiveness of leaders’ deployment of the pupil premium grant to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils at key stage 1, particularly boys. In 2017, the proportion of pupils who attained the expected and greater depth standard was below the national average.  You and your leaders have improved the teaching of mathematics across the school. A structured, ‘mastery’ approach is enabling pupils to progress well. Disadvantaged pupils are focused and engaged in their learning. The ‘check it’ stickers in pupils’ books enable them to demonstrate that they have mastered a concept. Boys respond well to this approach, they say.  Teachers’ feedback in writing books is effective because it pinpoints clearly what the pupil needs to do next to improve. This approach is enabling all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, to progress well.  You and your leaders have developed a robust approach to monitoring pupils’

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Inspection findings

outcomes. Observations of pupils’ learning and scrutiny of work in books indicate that disadvantaged pupils are making good progress from starting points. We agreed that this is not as strong in some year groups as in others, particularly for lower-achieving boys.  The next focus of the inspection was to evaluate the effectiveness of the governing body in carrying out its statutory duties, particularly with regard to pupil premium pupils and safeguarding. Prior to my arrival at the school, some information on the school’s website was not up to date. As a result, information for parents was not accurate.  The governing body has a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and is committed to raising standards still further.  Governors understand their responsibilities, particularly with regard to pupil premium pupils, and are actively involved in the allocation of the pupil premium

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Inspection findings

grant. They regularly question the impact that expenditure is having on pupils’ outcomes. This information is not always uploaded onto the website in a timely manner.  Since your appointment, you have worked closely with the governing body to improve the effectiveness of its role. Governors have been proactive in seeking additional training from the local authority, and are gaining the necessary knowledge and skills to carry out their roles effectively. They have a good understanding of their responsibilities with regard to keeping pupils safe, and a governor trained in safer recruitment is part of every recruitment panel. The recent implementation of link governors has provided a helpful focus for governors’ monitoring activities. Governors support school leaders well, and minutes from meetings evidence that governors question leaders about their work. Governors are not, however, sufficiently challenging when holding leaders

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Inspection findings

to account for their work.  Finally, I evaluated your actions to improve standards in reading, particularly in key stage 2. In 2017, reading attainment and progress dropped in key stage 2 and were below the national averages.  You and the leadership team share a determination to drive up standards in reading and have put positive actions in place to improve pupils’ skills and outcomes. You have commissioned support from external agencies, including the local authority, to create a bespoke approach, unique to the ethos and context of the school. As a result, there is increasing enthusiasm about reading in the school. Pupils say they value the rich variety of exciting texts that they can read. Recently employed apprentices are successfully modelling to pupils that reading is ‘cool’.  During our learning walk, we observed a highly structured approach to the teaching of reading by all teachers. This approach is enabling pupils to make

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Inspection findings

good progress in lessons. Pupils who start to fall behind are identified quickly and provided with high-quality, small-group interventions. High-quality ‘prompt sheets’ further support pupils’ understanding.  The pupils who read to me demonstrated that they are confident at decoding texts and enjoy talking about what they are reading. Some pupils still lack a common understanding of vocabulary appropriate for their age. You are addressing this by the use of ‘scripts’ to support pupils’ talking, and provide a range of enrichment activities, such as visits to the theatre to embed the importance of literacy and the arts.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and governors should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 they continue to develop a structured approach to the teaching of reading in order to improve pupils’ progress, particularly that of those who are disadvantaged  information available for parents is accurate and up to date.  strategies to improve disadvantaged pupils’ progress are regularly checked so that they have maximum impact, year on year.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, the assistant headteacher, three governors and a representative from the local authority. I went on two ‘learning walks’ with you and scrutinised pupils’ books. I listened to pupils read in Years 2 and 6. I took into consideration seven responses to Parent View, nine staff responses and the parents’ responses collected by the school from a survey in July 2016. I scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school’s plans for improvement, the school’s safeguarding documentation, minutes of governors’ meetings, assessment information on pupils’ progress, and information relating to behaviour and attendance.

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