Central Park Primary School

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

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Mr Darren Williams Headteacher Central Park Primary School Central Park Road London E6 3DW

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Short inspection of Central Park Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 30 January 2018 with Sheila Cohring, 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 July 2013.

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Short inspection of Central Park Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have set high expectations for what pupils can achieve. These expectations are based upon your vision of ‘raising achievement and attainment of all children’. You also seek to ‘instil a lifelong love of learning’ in them. One of the strengths of the school is the pupils’ attitudes to learning. They work hard to support each other. They are polite, resilient and take a pride in their school.

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Short inspection of Central Park Primary School

You provide clear direction for the school’s future improvement. Parents and carers are very supportive of the school. They recognise your teachers are ‘friendly and easy to approach’ to support their children. They state that there is good support for pupils to help them improve their reading. They appreciate that there is a strong focus on safeguarding to keep their children safe. You focus strongly on academic success as well as opportunities for pupils to participate in a range of additional activities.

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Short inspection of Central Park Primary School

You appreciate that you serve a community and have created a learning environment that promotes your core values. Your curriculum meets the needs of all pupils because you are constantly reviewing its effectiveness. You have established an effective senior leadership team. You have created a leadership team that is determined to do the best for all the pupils in the school. Together, you have led the improvements in teaching. You have addressed the aspects for improvement that were identified in the previous inspection and improved the quality of teaching and provision for most-able pupils. You have identified the appropriate priorities to continue to improve the school. Children in the early years make good progress given their starting points and capabilities. Leaders rightly identified that outcomes in reading are less successful than writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. You put in place a full range of

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Short inspection of Central Park Primary School

strategies to support pupils in the classroom and in additional sessions. This includes daily reciprocal reading time in each class in Years 1 to 6; encouraging reading for enjoyment in all subjects; and enabling parents to read with their child at the end of the day to support their reading. Such strategies have been successful in improving progress for all pupils. The quality of teaching and learning continues to be a focus for the leadership team in their drive to ensure that classroom practice is consistently high quality. You recognise that there is still work to do to ensure that all pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make strong progress by the end of Year 6. You agree that attendance is low and too many pupils are persistently absent.

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Short inspection of Central Park Primary School

Governors have a good understanding of the school. They ensure that the composition of the governing body reflects the needs of the community. Their range of skills enables them to support school improvements well. Governors use a range of information effectively to challenge school leaders. They ensure that their regular visits to school enable them to see first-hand the work of school leaders.

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Short inspection of Central Park Primary School

Leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are effective and records are complete. All checks on the suitability of staff to work at the school are in place. Staff and governor training is up to date and this has covered how to spot when pupils may be at risk of radicalisation or female genital mutilation. Staff and governors understand the current guidance. They take this responsibility seriously and are effective at all levels. A culture of vigilance has been established to keep pupils safe. Staff know how to raise any concerns they have about a pupil’s welfare using the comprehensive school system. Leaders work well with families and external agencies to ensure that pupils receive well-targeted support, as required. Your safeguarding team operates well to address any concerns about pupils’ well-being.

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Short inspection of Central Park Primary School

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. The pupils who spoke with inspectors said that they can have friends who are disabled or from different genders and religions. As one pupil said, ‘You know it is discrimination if you do not. We should not discriminate.’ Parents and pupils agree that the school is a safe place to learn.

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Inspection findings

 I looked at the actions leaders are taking to ensure that pupils’ progress and attainment in reading improves. This was because in 2017, progress in reading was low by the end of Year 6. In 2016 and 2017 in key stage 2, attainment was below the national average. Although pupils do well in their phonics screening check at the end of Year 1, their progress in reading is not sustained through the school. The school has recognised this and ensuring that all pupils make good progress in their reading is a priority for leaders.  On our visits to lessons we saw that children in the Nursery Year are encouraged to practise their speaking skills and to talk in full sentences. Language is extended by effective teacher questioning. In the Reception Year children are taught phonics to improve their reading skills. There is great emphasis placed upon speech and language in all planned activities to develop early literacy skills.

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Inspection findings

In Year 1, teachers ensure that all work is well matched to the needs of pupils. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are supported well in these sessions. In key stage 2 pupils use their reading skills well to improve their writing based on quality texts. Year 2 pupils that inspectors heard read are making good progress in their reading. Their knowledge of phonics helps them read unfamiliar words. However, not all pupils understand what they have read. Year 6 pupils are independent readers and use a range of strategies to pronounce less familiar words. They all enjoy their reading and know a range of authors.  Additional strategies to support reading inside and outside the classroom are effective. These have rightly focused upon improving pupils’ comprehension skills so that pupils can read for understanding. Personalised support is provided for identified pupils. This is helping all pupils, especially those who have SEN and/or

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Inspection findings

disabilities, build upon their good understanding of phonics. Attractive classroom displays with inspirational book corners enhance a love of reading. Pupils are encouraged in their love of reading by the stimulating school library. This emphasises ‘reading for fun; reading for knowledge; reading for the future’.  For the second line of enquiry we agreed to look at how the school’s curriculum meets the needs of all pupils, especially those who have SEN and/or disabilities. This was because from 2015 to 2017, the performance of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities was low. Leaders are aware of the need to focus on the progress of these pupils.  The support provided for these pupils has been reviewed to ensure that it is effective. All staff have developed their understanding of SEN and/or disabilities through regular professional development. Pupils’ learning needs are identified early. Most pupils require additional support in their speech and language.

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Inspection findings

Consequently, the school has arranged for a speech and language therapist to support identified pupils weekly. There is good liaison with a range of external agencies. The needs of all pupils have been analysed and the organisation of their learning matched to meet these needs. For example, you have reorganised the groupings for phonics in Year 1 and the additional adult support in classes, particularly in English and mathematics. We saw an example of this where pupils’ understanding of addition and subtraction of fractions was consolidated very effectively in one of the new intervention groups.  Teachers are aware of the needs of all their pupils. They plan together to ensure that the needs of all pupils are met. Evidence from classroom visits shows that all adults are making a difference to the learning of pupils with SEN and/or disabilities. For example, in phonics lessons, adults’ use of stimulating resources

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Inspection findings

met the needs of all pupils. In Year 1, most pupils worked independently when writing sentences including adjectives. In Year 3, additional support, particularly through skilful questioning, enabled pupils to make good progress. However, in some groups, pupils were not sufficiently challenged. Appropriate resources were not always available to support their learning. Where feedback was provided, pupils were more likely to make good progress. We looked at the pupils’ books and we agreed that there are some inconsistencies in the progress made by pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.  Finally, I looked at how leaders’ actions have helped improve attendance and reduce the proportion of persistent absentees. This was because attendance has been below the national average from 2015 to 2017. Leaders acknowledge this. They have identified attendance as a priority in the school improvement plan. Leaders have high expectations and have ensured that strategies are in place for

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Inspection findings

attendance to improve.  Throughout the school there are displays to encourage good attendance. Weekly targets are set for each class. The school regularly celebrates those pupils with full attendance. The school has used additional funding to improve attendance. This includes breakfast clubs, which target specific pupils. The use of pastoral workers, linked to each year group, enables the school to support pupils with low attendance. Their work is followed up by the school’s family support officer. Consequently, there is a greater emphasis on working closely with parents, especially when their children first start school.  The senior leadership team monitor attendance information and ensure that low attendance is followed up. The school analyses its attendance information alongside progress information. However, this analysis is insufficiently detailed to focus on specific groups, especially disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who

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Inspection findings

have SEN and/or disabilities. Although there have been some individual successes, attendance remains below national.

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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

 overall attendance improves and persistent absence reduces for all pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities  pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are challenged consistently well so that they make good progress.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, we carried out the following activities:

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Information about the inspection

 met with the headteacher and senior leaders  held meetings with members of the governing body  met with the school’s improvement partner  listened to pupils read  met with groups of pupils  met with a group of parents  reviewed a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans and information about pupil progress and attendance  scrutinised a range of pupils’ work  reviewed the school’s single central record, pre-employment checks and safeguarding procedures  scrutinised the school’s website  considered 20 responses to Ofsted’s online survey and Parent View  considered 22 responses to the staff survey  visited lessons with members of the leadership team.

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