St Luke's CofE Primary School

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

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Mrs Ann Dwulit Executive Headteacher St Luke’s CofE Primary School Radnor Street London EC1V 3SJ

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Short inspection of St Luke’s CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 20 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 November 2013.

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Short inspection of St Luke’s CofE Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your head of school have worked closely with senior leaders to ensure that the school is a welcoming and happy place. Pupils make good progress, in reading, writing and mathematics. You and your senior leaders have introduced significant changes to the teaching of reading. The pupils with whom I spoke are very proud of the progress they are now making in reading and enjoy the range of books available to them. They explained that the ‘reading road map’ encourages them to read and also challenges them to read a range of books. Leaders have introduced changes to the way phonics is taught, including additional sessions for selected pupils. Assessment information shows this is raising pupils’ achievement in reading. In 2017, outcomes in the phonics screening check were well above the national average.

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Short inspection of St Luke’s CofE Primary School

Pupils like coming to school and are very proud of their school. They particularly like opportunities to discuss and debate issues. One pupil said: ‘I enjoy philosophy lessons because I can debate, give my opinion but know there is no right or wrong answer. It will help us because we can speak up if things aren’t quite right.’ Pupils and parents said that instances of bullying are rare. Pupils said they enjoy playtimes and that other pupils and adults are kind. They explained that adults help sort out any problems. Parents spoke highly about the leadership of the school. One parent said, ‘The school celebrates difference and makes us belong to a special community.’ Parents and children appreciate the many activities available to them. Parents said the coffee morning workshops help them to understand e-safety and how to support their children with reading at home. Parents of pupils who have special educational needs

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Short inspection of St Luke’s CofE Primary School

(SEN) and/or disabilities believe the school successfully adapts the curriculum to meet their children’s needs.

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Short inspection of St Luke’s CofE Primary School

You and your head of school have worked on the areas identified at the time of the previous inspection. You have provided training for teachers so they have improved their teaching and leaders sensitively provide feedback where necessary. Teachers have developed more opportunities for pupils to understand their targets. Pupils know how to improve their writing by using dictionaries, a thesaurus and peer assessment. They know their writing targets and work hard to achieve them. There remain some areas for further development, including challenge for boys and developing children’s communication and language skills in the early years.

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Short inspection of St Luke’s CofE Primary School

You, your senior leaders and staff are very well supported by a committed and reflective governing body. Together with your leadership team, they are highly ambitious for the school. Governors visit the school often and are well informed. You provide governors with detailed information which they carefully scrutinise. They assess the success of the federation with Moreland Community Primary School to ensure that standards are maintained. The diocesan primary adviser and local authority adviser provide challenge and support to the school.

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Short inspection of St Luke’s CofE Primary School

The culture of safeguarding in the school is strong. The head of school, who is the designated safeguarding lead officer, along with leaders, has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements and records are of a high quality. Staff and governors receive annual training and regular updates about current safeguarding practice. All staff know how to recognise warning signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm and how to report their concerns. Records are comprehensive and show swift action is taken should the need arise. The head of school’s knowledge of families and pupils ensures that pupils are safe and well supported. Leaders with specific safeguarding responsibilities work closely with outside agencies to safeguard pupils’ well-being.

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Short inspection of St Luke’s CofE Primary School

Pupils’ safety is of paramount importance to all. Pupils report they feel safe in school and parents agree that they are safe. Pupils have a good understanding and knowledge of issues such as e-safety and speak confidently about the school’s safeguarding team. They think school assemblies and class lessons on safeguarding help them recognise any dangers. Risk assessments are thorough and ensure that visits to places outside the school are safe and measures are in place to protect pupils from harm.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed the first line of enquiry would focus on leaders’ actions to improve standards in communication and language for all children in Nursery and Reception. In 2017, assessments show that children made stronger progress in reading, writing and number than in this area. You and your leadership team have introduced changes to the teaching in early years. The teaching of traditional tales captures the children’s imagination and they enjoy listening to the stories, retelling them and acting them out.  Some children in Nursery listen carefully and respond appropriately to questions when engaged in other activities. For example, they were fully involved in rolling out and making play dough shapes but were able to talk about their shapes confidently. After listening to the story of ‘The three little pigs’, a group of children were able to retell and act out the story. In the Reception class, children were

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Inspection findings

retelling the story of ‘The enormous turnip’ using a story map. They could repeat the refrain, ‘They pulled and they pulled but the turnip would not budge.’  Children are able to identify the main characters in stories but are not always expected to answer in sentences. At times, when children use the incorrect gender, they are not corrected. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are well supported with visual resources so they can take part fully in lessons. Children are developing their understanding of language and using well-known refrains. Their vocabulary and understanding of new words is growing but there is more work to do in this area.  The second line of enquiry focused on the support and challenge for boys in key stage 2. Leaders have analysed the progress and attainment of boys in Year 6 2017 assessments. You, your leaders and governors have rightly prioritised improving boys’ skills, knowledge and understanding to enable them to reach the higher

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Inspection findings

standards.  Teachers accurately assess boys’ progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers plan work in these areas that is typically demanding for boys’ abilities. Boys especially enjoy science and carrying out scientific investigations. Their science books show they are able to reason, explain and evaluate their results. These books show progress and many boys are working at the higher standard. Boys spoke enthusiastically about the ‘dreamcatcher’ assemblies which inspire them to have high aspirations. They explained that different people are invited into school to tell them about their jobs or university placements. One Year 5 boy said: ‘If you want to do a job, people come into school as role models and tell us what we need to learn.’  Boys in different classes speak confidently about their work and can explain their targets. They know how to improve their writing and mathematics and are proud of

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Inspection findings

their work. Boys work hard and are focused on their tasks. They are able to share ideas and work together. This was evident in a Year 6 class where pupils were writing scripts based on the ‘Just so’ stories. They enjoyed the challenge of preparing the script, acting it out and recording their short play on a tablet computer. They were able to edit and improve their script. Boys’ writing in the wider curriculum is not as good as in their literacy books. Handwriting and presentation in some subjects are poor. Feedback to boys in some classes does not challenge them to improve their work, in line with the school’s policy.  The final key line of enquiry focused on the challenge in reading and writing for most-able disadvantaged pupils. In 2017, the attainment of disadvantaged children in the Reception class and pupils in Year 2 was below the national average and their peers. Another reason for this to be considered was because information on

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Inspection findings

the school website regarding the pupil premium funding was out of date. However, this was immediately rectified.  Leaders have put in place a number of measures to enable disadvantaged pupils to reach the higher standards in reading and writing. A focus on developing pupils’ vocabulary through books is improving their reading and writing. Pupils are able to edit their writing by choosing more imaginative language. Teachers use assessment information to plan work that is typically demanding of pupils’ abilities. In a phonics session in Year 1, a group of most-able disadvantaged pupils were observed listening carefully to the teaching assistant and spelling words, such as elephant and dolphin, correctly using their knowledge of sounds and letters.  Leaders are using additional funding appropriately to enable pupils to have extra support when needed. This extra support is tailored to the needs of the pupils.

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Inspection findings

Leaders invite disadvantaged pupils to attend breakfast club to ensure that they attend school every day. Leaders closely monitor the work of disadvantaged pupils to ensure that all pupils are making good progress and that the most able are supported to reach the higher standards.

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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

 boys’ writing in all subjects is as good as it is in English, applying the skills they have learned across the curriculum  children in the early years have consistently effective opportunities to expand their vocabulary and knowledge of new words.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection I held meetings with you, the head of school and the senior leadership team, four governors, the local authority adviser and the diocesan primary adviser. I conducted a telephone meeting with the chair of the governing body. I evaluated the work in pupils’ books with a group of subject leaders. I visited classes from Nursery to Year 6 with senior leaders, to observe teaching and look at pupils’ work. I spoke to pupils in lessons and around the school. I also met with a group of pupils from the school council and the head boy and girl and considered the 36 pupil questionnaire responses. I also reviewed the 18 staff responses to the questionnaire. Records about keeping pupils safe and pupils’ attendance were evaluated. I met with a group of parents and considered the 24 responses submitted on Parent View.

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