Wood End Park Academy

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

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Ms Surjeet Johra Principal Wood End Park Academy Judge Heath Lane Hayes Middlesex UB3 2PD

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Short inspection of Wood End Park Academy

Following my visit to the school on 28 November 2017 with Sam Nowak, Ofsted Inspector, 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 May 2013.

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Short inspection of Wood End Park Academy

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. You have led the school with great clarity and dedication. Together with a hard-working leadership team, you have the full confidence of pupils and parents alike.

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Short inspection of Wood End Park Academy

You are clearly ambitious for the school. You have an accurate understanding of what the school does well and where the school needs to improve. Senior and subject leaders are effective and support teachers well in classrooms. This has led to pupils making stronger progress in phonics, mathematics and writing. Currently, the school is correctly focused on improving the progress pupils make in reading, particularly their accuracy and their understanding of the meaning of texts. Leaders also know that there is more to do to improve provision in some subjects in the wider curriculum across key stages 1 and 2.

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Short inspection of Wood End Park Academy

Governors are knowledgeable, being routinely involved in the work of the school. They offer you strong strategic support. Working together, you have ensured that pupils gain a secure grasp of the basic skills expected for their age in writing and in mathematics, which is an emerging strength of the school. The work of the local governing body has been well supported by the executive board of trustees, whose members also know the school well.

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Short inspection of Wood End Park Academy

Leaders have made significant improvements to the school since the previous inspection. In particular, there have been notable improvements in teaching. Teachers now give pupils clear guidance on how to make their work better. This is proving very helpful in ensuring that pupils, irrespective of their prior attainment, make good progress. Teachers’ feedback also includes a level of challenge for pupils to extend their learning. This is proving successful, so that now an increasing number of pupils are achieving the higher standard in end-of-key-stage tests, particularly in mathematics and writing. Teaching assistants are effective in supporting pupils’ progress. They encourage pupils, particularly those who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities, not to give up on work they find hard, so helping them to overcome particular difficulties.

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Short inspection of Wood End Park Academy

You, your leadership team and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are complete. All checks on the suitability of staff to work at the school are in place. Clear systems exist for staff to make referrals when concerns arise, and subsequent actions are followed up effectively. Leaders work well with families and external agencies to ensure that pupils receive well-targeted support when required. Staff training, including that related to the ‘Prevent’ duty, is up to date. Staff have a good knowledge of potential concerns within the local area. This increases their vigilance in spotting and reporting concerns about pupils’ well-being.

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Short inspection of Wood End Park Academy

Pupils’ attendance is now good. Leaders acted robustly when they identified that a small group of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities were not attending as well as they should. The school has sought advice from the local authority on ways to help improve their attendance further.

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Short inspection of Wood End Park Academy

Pupils report that they feel safe in school and that bullying is a rare event. Pupils enjoy coming to school and have great confidence that the staff work hard to support their education and well-being. Pupils behave extremely well and have very positive attitudes towards the school. Their contribution to the life of the school is valued by all staff.

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Inspection findings

 For the first line of enquiry, we agreed to look at key stage 2 pupils’ progress in reading. This is because, last year, standards in reading were lower than in writing and mathematics. You have rightly identified this as a priority.  The school has taken several important steps to improve reading. Teachers have received additional training and support from the trust. This has given them greater confidence in teaching reading in the innovative way now used by the school. Leaders have also ensured that high-quality reading resources are available, including to support those reluctant readers who may not have encouragement to read at home.  The school’s approach to the teaching of early reading is now highly effective and pupils in key stage 1 are using decoding strategies enthusiastically as they engage in free reading. In key stage 2, teachers’ practice in both guided reading and reading at the end of the day is strong and enjoyed by the pupils.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils spoke avidly about their favourite authors and are clearly developing a love of reading both in school and at home. The work that you have done to instil this habit should remain a focus so that the improvements continue and so it is reflected in results at the end of key stage 2.  The second line of enquiry was about pupils’ use of computer skills in their lessons. This was an area for improvement identified at the previous inspection.  The school has improved access to computers and digital technology, both in the computer suites and by developing the use of hand-held devices. Two specialist teachers help pupils to develop computing skills which they can then use outside formal computing lessons.  Teachers now receive regular advice as to how to include technology in their classroom subjects and this has led to rapid improvements. During the inspection, for example, pupils worked independently using programming

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Inspection findings

software and then presented their work to the whole class with confidence. Computing skills remain an area of interest for the wider leadership team, including governors.  Finally, we looked at pupils’ progress in subjects other than English and mathematics. This is because, since 2014, the school’s focus has principally been on raising standards in reading, writing and mathematics, but leaders have now turned their attention to the broader curriculum.  The school’s curriculum gives sufficient time for teaching the full range of subjects and the content to be taught is now clearly specified. Subject leaders are working to raise the profile of their subjects. In science, for example, the current emphasis is on pupils’ practical skills. The school is developing more rigorous assessment of subjects beyond English and mathematics, although this is, as yet, at an early stage.  Pupils are gaining an appreciation of artistic and musical skills through the

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Inspection findings

curriculum model which the school has adopted. Some good work was also seen in humanities. As yet, however, progression in these subjects through the school is uncertain. This is particularly so in the development of skills. Work seen in subjects such as history showed greater emphasis on literacy than on subject- specific skills, reflecting uncertainty in the learning objectives. The school’s work therefore needs to continue so pupils’ progress improves to match that in reading, writing and mathematics.

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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 work to improve pupils’ reading continues so that standards reach at least the national average by the end of key stage 2  in subjects across the curriculum, knowledge and skills are taught progressively and in sufficient depth so pupils achieve as well as they do in English and mathematics. I am copying this letter to the chair of the local governing body, the regional schools’ commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hillingdon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, we held several meetings with you. We met with two governors and a representative from the Park Federation Academy Trust. We held informal discussions with parents in the playground and considered written comments made to Ofsted. You and one of your vice-principals accompanied us on visits to classrooms. We talked to pupils about their learning. We looked at pupils’ books and listened to a range of pupils read as they were engaged in their learning. I also evaluated a range of school documentation, including school development plans, safeguarding records and information about current pupils’ achievement and attendance.

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