Archdeacon Cambridge's Church of England Primary School

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

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Miss Fiona Lambe Headteacher Archdeacon Cambridge’s Church of England Primary School The Green Twickenham TW2 5TU

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School

Following my visit to the school on 6 February 2018, 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 February 2014.

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School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Archdeacon Cambridge’s is a happy place in which to learn and work. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the education and care that their children receive. As one parent wrote: ‘Staff work hard to ensure the children’s happiness and foster a true love of learning.’ Speaking of their child’s teacher, another wrote: ‘I can’t express enough how much her knowledge and care has changed our lives.’ A number of parents commented on the strong sense of community within the school. Parents and staff feel confident in the school’s senior leadership. In particular, parents appreciate your visibility and approachability. They feel listened to and report that communication with them has improved since your appointment in September 2017.

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School

Following the previous inspection, leaders were asked to do more to enable parents and carers to find out about their children’s learning and progress. Of the 129 parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire for this inspection, 92% agreed or strongly agreed that they now receive valuable information from the school about their child’s progress. Leaders were also asked to ensure that there was sufficient challenge for, and equal expectations of, all pupils. You have made considerable strides in this area, but recognise that there is more to be done.

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School

Governance is strong at Archdeacon Cambridge’s. Governors know the school very well and are fully committed to working closely with school leaders to continuously improve provision. Carefully matching governors’ skills to their various roles enables them to provide effective challenge and to offer you strong strategic support. Leaders’ and teachers’ work has focused on securing a curriculum which is more relevant to your pupils, in an effort to further interest and motivate them to learn. As a result, pupils talk enthusiastically about their learning. Pupils’ conduct and learning behaviour is exemplary. They collaborate well together. All pupils treat one another, and their teachers, with respect. Written standards of presentation are high throughout the school. It is clear that pupils take pride in their work and are very motivated to earn their pen licences and blue reward tickets.

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School

The proportion of children in the early years achieving a good level of development has increased consistently over the past three years. In 2017 pupils at the end of key stage 2 made above-average progress in reading and mathematics. Progress in writing was average. You have rightly identified that there is a need to improve outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check, particularly for boys. You also recognise that the writing attainment of most able boys should be higher than it is.

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School

School leaders and governors have successfully created and embedded a culture where keeping children safe is the highest priority. One of your first actions on being appointed as headteacher was to commission a very comprehensive external review of safeguarding. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. The school’s safeguarding policy meets statutory requirements. Staff are suitably trained and, as a result, know what to do if they have concerns about a child or colleague, including the headteacher. Where there are serious concerns, appropriate and timely referrals are made to the appropriate agencies. Pupils told me that they are confident in their belief that their teachers will keep them safe, and know whom to speak to if they are worried.

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School

School leaders, including governors, and pupils identified access to the internet and social media as the biggest safeguarding risk to pupils. Mindful of this, you recently arranged for the local authority’s e-safety officer to present a workshop for Year 5 and Year 6 pupils and their parents on how to keep safe online. Feedback from parents was very positive.

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Inspection findings

At the start of the inspection, I met with you and the deputy headteacher to agree three areas of focus.

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Inspection findings

 We agreed to consider initially what measures the school is taking to ensure rigour in the teaching and assessment of phonics, particularly for boys. Prior to the inspection, senior leaders had rightly identified that the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in the Year 1 phonics screening check has been below the national average for the past three years. Although the trend is improving, boys still perform less well than girls.  You have made phonics the first key priority on the school’s development plan.  You arranged for Year 1 teachers to observe phonics provision in an outstanding school. Following the visit, these teachers recognised that they did not routinely allocate sufficient time to the teaching of phonics within the school day. They reorganised the daily timetable so that pupils now benefit from an additional phonics session each day. Teachers report that pupils’ phonic knowledge and

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Inspection findings

skills have progressed more rapidly as a result.  Teachers work closely with local authority advisers and have developed a phonics enrichment programme.  Pupils’ progress in phonics is tracked regularly. Nonetheless, you have yet to ensure that those pupils at risk of falling behind, and in particular boys, have rapid access to the highest-quality intervention.  The second area we agreed to focus on was the writing attainment of the most able boys in key stage 2. You have already identified this as an area for improvement. Though the percentage of boys writing at the expected level at the end of key stage 2 improved in 2017, too few of the most able boys were writing in greater depth.  In an effort to motivate and further engage boys, school leaders have sought and listened to boys’ views about their writing. In response, teachers changed the English curriculum so that it includes far more cross-curricular links to subjects in

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Inspection findings

which boys, in particular, have expressed an interest. Teachers report that boys’ motivation to write has improved as a result.  Prior to teachers providing feedback, pupils now regularly use checklists to self- and peer-assess their writing, helping them to identify areas for improvement.  However, the most able pupils, including boys, focus too much of their time editing and improving their spellings and identifying parts of grammar. This limits the extent to which pupils are developing and deepening their writing skills.  Finally, we agreed to take a closer look at what the school is doing to secure, and sustain, such strong reading results.  Overall, reading is an absolute strength of the school. Leaders and teachers have given careful thought as to how they might develop the English curriculum to engage, motivate and inspire pupils to develop a love of reading and continuously improve their reading skills. Leaders have organised a programme

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Inspection findings

of visiting authors. Most recently, they have purposely chosen young male authors, with the explicit intent of raising levels of engagement among boys.  You have invested in training for teachers to improve and sustain strong reading outcomes. One programme, designed to enhance teachers’ knowledge of high- quality literature and to develop their ability to use it creatively in the classroom, has been particularly successful. Teachers now frequently use multimedia – film, photos, art – to inspire pupils to think more critically.  Leaders have placed high-quality texts at the centre of the curriculum. Detailed termly curriculum overviews, including the specific texts being used, are available to parents on the school’s website. Teachers provide regular reading workshops for parents to teach them how to deepen the dialogue around a text, when reading with their children.

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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

 Year 1 pupils, especially boys, are quickly identified and receive rigorous intervention to boost their phonics knowledge, so that they meet the expected standard by the end of the year  a greater percentage of the most able boys achieve greater depth in their writing at the end of key stage 2.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the diocese of London, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Richmond upon Thames. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection I completed the following activities.

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Information about the inspection

 I met with you and your deputy to agree the focus for the inspection and to discuss the school’s self-evaluation, improvements since the last inspection and plans for future improvement.  Together, we completed three learning walks in the early years foundation stage and key stages 1 and 2. We observed learning in each class (other than in Year 5, as the children were away on a residential trip) and looked at a range of pupils’ work in books.  I met with pupils to talk about their experiences of reading and general school life and to assess how safe they feel.  I held meetings with the chair and vice-chair of the governing body, the local authority school improvement adviser, middle leaders and you in your capacity as designated safeguarding lead.  I looked at a range of written evidence, including the school’s self-evaluation form, the school development plan, the local authority’s review of safeguarding

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Information about the inspection

and the single central record.  I took account of the views of 129 parents, 114 pupils and 29 staff who completed the relevant Ofsted online questionnaires.

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