North Harringay Primary School

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

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Ms Jane Alexander Headteacher North Harringay Primary School Falkland Road London N8 0NU

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 10 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 January 2013.

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Short inspection of North Harringay 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 North Harringay Primary School

Since taking up the post of headteacher in 2014, you have focused on improving the progress that pupils make. As a result, all pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Some pupils make substantial progress and, as a result, many now achieve the national standard in both English and mathematics from low starting points.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

Following the last inspection, you were asked to improve the quality of teaching so that all pupils experience good teaching and are provided with more challenge through the work that is set for them. You have secured these necessary improvements by all leaders focusing on improving the quality of teaching across the school. As a result of this, teaching is now at least good because you invest well in teacher development.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

You have provided teachers with a great deal of training on how to teach the new mathematics and reading curriculums. Teachers benefit from the coaching and advice they receive from leaders. They also profit from the work you do with other schools to share expertise and find more effective ways of teaching pupils so that they can be successful learners. You have created a culture where all teachers are committed to pursuing excellence in their teaching.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

Teachers have good subject knowledge and this enables them to provide the challenge that pupils need, especially those with higher starting points. Teachers ensure that pupils are provided with opportunities to deepen their understanding of a topic and spend time trying to master skills, rather than rushing from topic to topic. This has resulted in more pupils achieving the higher standard in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

You have identified that the school must ensure that teaching across all subjects is as strong as it is in English and mathematics. Your own records show that some teaching across the foundation subjects is strong, but this is not yet consistent across all subjects and all year groups.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

You have created a culture where everybody knows the importance of keeping children safe.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

Leaders are relentless in the actions they take to ensure that the pupils are safe. Your safeguarding procedures are rigorous. All adults in the school know how important it is to make swift and speedy referrals if they have concerns about any pupil. Governors have a very detailed understanding of their role in ensuring that the pupils in their care are safe, and they check this constantly.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

Leaders work hard to ensure that pupils attend school regularly and you have addressed the low attendance of certain groups of pupils. Previously, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who receive free school meals had much lower attendance than their peers. You have used a combination of rewards and sanctions to ensure that the whole community understands the importance of good attendance. As a result, attendance is improving for all pupils.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

Your school provides a warm and nurturing environment where pupils say they ‘love’ to come to learn. Pupils have a well-developed understanding of how to be safe. Their behaviour around school is commendable. At break and lunchtime, pupils benefit from highly organised routines. They eat and play together well. Any silliness is dealt with effectively, so that pupils are always in a calm environment.

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Short inspection of North Harringay Primary School

Pupils understand what to do if they or their friends are having difficulties. They are taught about safety in lessons and are constantly reminded of its importance through assemblies and other events during the year. Pupils have a very thorough understanding of how to be safe inside and outside school. For example, they know how to use computers safely and how to be safe in public places, such as the park.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed to look at the impact that leaders have on the progress pupils make in reading, especially boys and those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This has been a focus for you and your team. You have changed the leadership of teaching, appointing a leader who has transformed the teaching of reading across the school.  Your reading curriculum and the teaching of reading have been developed to encourage an enthusiasm for reading across all year groups. Teachers now use more challenging texts when teaching reading, and reinforce reading skills in all lessons. As a result, all pupils make good progress in reading by the end of Year 6, and many more pupils achieve above the expected standard in national tests.  You have invested in reading resources and pupils benefit from having a wide range of books to choose from in classrooms and the school library. Pupils say

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Inspection findings

that they can always find a book that they are interested in reading. The books pupils choose to read and their understanding of what they have read are carefully monitored by teachers and other adults from the minute they start school. ‘Roaming readers’ and the weekly ‘mystery reader’ in Reception ensure that pupils establish good reading habits early.  Pupils who arrive late to the school or who have fallen behind in their reading benefit from additional interventions inside and outside of the classroom. Phonics catch-up sessions ensure that pupils with low starting points continue to develop an understanding of sounds and letters.  We agreed to look at how leaders are improving outcomes in subjects other than English and mathematics, and the capacity leaders have to secure further improvements in the school. Leaders, including governors, have a thorough understanding of what the school does well and what needs to improve. Your

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Inspection findings

senior leadership team shares your ambition for the school and leaders have been coached well by you and members of the governing body to enhance their repertoire of skills.  Your newly appointed middle leaders are beginning to hold teachers to account for outcomes in humanities, science, modern foreign languages and physical education. Leaders are passionate about their subjects. They have already made some progress in developing teachers’ subject knowledge and have revised the curriculum for their subjects. This has resulted in pupils spending more time learning in these subjects.  Teachers understand the importance of providing pupils with the opportunity to learn in other subjects and pupils’ progress is good. However, further development is needed to ensure that there is rigour in the skills that pupils are developing in subjects other than English and mathematics and in how this is measured.

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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 quality of teaching and assessment in the foundation subjects, including modern foreign languages, humanities, physical education and science, is consistent.

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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 Haringey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I met with you, senior leaders, middle leaders, teachers and governors. I spoke to a representative from the local authority. With members of your leadership team, I visited a range of lessons and had the opportunity to speak to pupils and to see their work. I met with a group of pupils during the day. There were 76 responses to the online questionnaire for parents. I scrutinised a range of documentation, the single central record and other safeguarding procedures and practices.

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