Norwegian School in London

The Norwegian School in London 28 Arterberry Road, Wimbledon, London SW20 8AH

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Inspection dates 27 February – 1 March 2018

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The new headteacher, supported well by staff and governors, has tackled previous weaknesses with rigour. Leaders have ensured that the school has improved and continues to do so.  Teaching, learning and assessment are good. Because they are well taught, pupils make good progress and achieve well. However, teaching does not always challenge the most able pupils to achieve as well as they should.  Parents and carers are highly complimentary about all aspects of the school’s work.  The wide range of subjects on offer successfully blends British values with the Norwegian curriculum. Through participation in outdoor pursuits and visits to places of interest across London and beyond, pupils are helped to build their confidence and to achieve well. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well.  Pupils feel safe and secure in school and their behaviour is good. Some pupils, however, are

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

over-reliant on adults to guide their learning.  Staff benefit from the many opportunities to discuss ideas and improve their teaching. However, the programme of coaching for individual teachers is not fully developed.  Governance is effective. Governors have a good grasp of the school’s work and know what needs to be improved. They oversee the effective arrangements for the appraisal of staff.  Currently, staff and governors are not provided with regular summaries of pupils’ progress in all subjects and so do not have a full picture of the school’s performance.  The headteacher, senior staff and governors have ensured that all the independent school standards are met.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve leadership and management by ensuring that: – the school’s development programme for teachers is fully implemented – information about pupils’ progress in all subjects is available to staff and governors, so that improvements can be made swiftly as required.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that: – work is well matched to pupils’ abilities and provides suitable challenge, particularly for the most able – pupils become less reliant on adults to support their learning.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher, staff and governors have improved the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes since the last inspection. Together, they have established a culture of high expectations and ensured that the school’s values of ‘respect, responsibility and patience’ are at the heart of everything it does. As a result, the school continues to improve, and leaders and governors have ensured that all the independent standards are met.  Since his arrival in August 2017, the new headteacher has strengthened the school’s management systems. These include introducing a new system for checking the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress, placing a stronger emphasis on developing teaching strategies that are more effective. These activities and the refined staff appraisal arrangements are having a beneficial effect on the quality of the teaching,  The Norwegian national curriculum successfully balances academic subjects with

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

physical, technological, creative and physical activities. Pupils can study up to five languages, and just over one in five attend an instrumental music lesson each week. The school is located close to Wimbledon Common and pupils regularly participate in a range of outdoor learning activities there. These activities strongly promote their practical skills, happiness and well-being by enabling them to connect with the natural world.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through the curriculum as well as through visits to places of interest. These outings, together with the residential visit to a different European city each year, help to promote pupils’ understanding of how people from different cultures and backgrounds contribute to life in modern Britain. Trips, visits and after-school pursuits, such as chess, kayaking and yoga, further enrich pupils’ experience. The outings often make

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

use of London as a place for learning.  Staff ensure that British values are fundamental to everyday life in school. Every opportunity is taken to reinforce these values so that respect and tolerance are extended to everyone, including those whose characteristics are protected in law. The school’s motto, ‘Optimum duo mundi’ (‘The best of both worlds’), is exemplified in the seamless blending of the Norwegian curriculum with imparting knowledge of British values. Pupils receive effective careers guidance that helps them make informed decisions about future career options.  Parents are highly complimentary about the new headteacher and the school’s work. All of those who offered their views would recommend the school to another parent.  Teachers work well together, are supportive of each other and are enthusiastic to see further improvements in school. For example, in their weekly training sessions,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

staff identified from the school’s new data that pupils were not making sufficient progress in their writing of conclusions. Staff used this information to reflect on current teaching and to devise new strategies to improve pupils’ writing skills. The school’s data and scrutiny of books show that pupils’ writing of conclusions has improved.  Nevertheless, leaders acknowledge that work is still needed to implement fully the coaching programme for staff. This is to ensure that teaching is of a consistently high quality in all areas of the school.  The school’s new assessment system is still in the early stages of implementation. This has meant that staff and governors have not been provided with summary information about pupils’ outcomes across all subjects. As a result, they cannot check the school’s performance fully.

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Governance

 Governors bring to their role a range of professional expertise and experience. They work effectively with the headteacher to oversee the work of the school.  Since the previous inspection, leaders have strengthened arrangements for the appraisal of staff. Governors have a good understanding of these arrangements and are actively involved in ensuring that the process is fair and transparent.  At governors’ meetings, staff give presentations about the effectiveness of their work regularly. This enables governors to learn about and understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses so that they are able to challenge leaders and hold them to account. However, they do not receive regular summaries of pupils’ progress in all subjects and so do not have a full picture of the school’s performance.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The headteacher, together with staff and governors, has established a strong culture of safeguarding and vigilance, giving the safety of pupils the highest priority.  The school’s comprehensive and effective safeguarding policy reflects the Secretary of State’s most recent guidance, ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (September 2016) and ‘Working together to safeguard children’ (February 2018). It contains helpful references to, and contact details for, a range of partnerships, including parents and the local authority’s safeguarding officers. The policy is published on the school’s website.  The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are suitable and fit for their purpose. The school provides a safe and caring environment in which pupils feel safe and are comfortable about sharing their concerns with adults. The curriculum

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Safeguarding

supports pupils in their learning about risks and how to stay safe in different situations.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Pupils make good progress because they are well taught. Teachers plan interesting activities that motivate pupils to achieve well. Warm and caring relationships contribute strongly to pupils’ ability to become successful learners.  In mathematics, basic skills of number and mental calculation are taught well and consolidated regularly. Teachers make good use of practical resources to allow pupils to grasp patterns and relationships in number. This was seen, for example, when younger pupils were completing their two-digit number bonds. Pupils are developing effectively their abilities to think mathematically and to conjecture and reason when problem-solving.  Pupils write with enthusiasm and imagination, often because their writing is linked to the text or topic they are studying. Older pupils wrote creatively to produce their own presentations about a character from ‘A tale of two cities’ by Charles Dickens. In

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

addition, pupils researched helpful background information about the French Revolution. This enabled them to anchor their thinking firmly in the times that Dickens was describing in order to gain a more vivid understanding of the text.  Staff work closely together to ensure that activities are enjoyable and motivating for pupils across all areas of learning. For example, as part of their preparations for their forthcoming visit to Longleat Safari Park, pupils were using modern technologies to find out all they could about the hippopotamus. As a result of the teachers’ effective questioning, pupils were able to work out and pronounce the name of the hippopotamus in English, Norwegian, German and Latin. They also found out about where the animal originally came from and about its diet.  For pupils who require additional support in their learning, provision is effective. Teachers match tasks and resources to pupils’ needs. As a result, pupils make good progress and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

are able to overcome barriers to learning.  Pupils make good progress. However, teachers do not always provide the most able pupils with challenging enough activities to enable them to make the most rapid progress possible.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  All pupils contribute to the running of the school and are responsible for the care of resources and the environment. They make helpful suggestions to improve the school. For example, the refurbishment of the shower and changing facilities, funded by parents, was as a result of pupils’ comments.  Pupils show respect and care for each other. They value their classmates’ opinions and work happily and cooperatively in class. These strong team skills ensure that pupils feel valued and self-confident and encourage them to become actively involved in their studies.  Pupils regularly take part in outdoor pursuits and sporting activities. These experiences make a strong contribution to their well-being, their physical and emotional development and their understanding of the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Fresh fruit is available each breaktime and pupils develop their own

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Personal development and welfare

skills for preparing healthy and nutritious meals in their cooking classes.  Pupils have a good understanding of the different types of bullying, including that which is racist or homophobic. Those who spoke to inspectors reported that bullying is extremely rare and, if it does occur, that it is dealt with swiftly.  Pupils reported that they know how to keep themselves safe in a range of different situations. They know how to use the internet and social media safely and how to travel safely to and from school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils conduct themselves well inside classrooms and around the school. They are polite, courteous and display good manners. Breaks and lunchtimes are harmonious occasions, when pupils socialise well together. During the inspection, they thoroughly enjoyed the stimulating outside space, playing in the snow  Pupils enjoy school and attend regularly. When they do miss school, it is often because they need to attend medical appointments back home in Norway.  Pupils enjoy very positive relationships, both between themselves and staff and with each other. They very much value the very tight-knit school community where ‘everyone knows each other’. Nevertheless, because staff are so caring and supportive, sometimes pupils are too quick to seek help and guidance to support their learning.  The school’s information shows that pupils who attend offsite training attend regularly,

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils enter the school with skills and aptitudes that are broadly typical for their age. By the time they leave, most are achieving standards that are above expectations for their ages in a range of subjects.  Pupils make good progress overall in academic, physical, technological, creative and linguistic subjects, even though many join the school at times other than the normal ones. They achieve particularly well in creative subjects and sport. Participation in these subjects helps them to become confident and resilient as they ensure that projects are successfully completed.  Pupils develop the ability to read a range of texts, initially at a slower rate than other pupils of the same age nationally. This is because all pupils are studying English as a second language and about half are from bilingual families. However, once they start to read, pupils make strong progress and quickly become fluent readers. Similarly, the

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Outcomes for pupils Good

longer pupils remain in the school, the more confident they become in structuring longer and more detailed pieces of writing. They develop good communication skills and are able to read a range of texts with fluency and feeling.  Scrutiny of pupils’ work and observation of learning in mathematics confirm that pupils make good progress. Teachers aim to develop pupils’ confidence and resilience to help them overcome new or difficult challenges. Pupils use portable modern technologies well to record their solutions to investigations. In science, older pupils conduct extensive research into such topics as the nervous system, acquiring a range of skills as they learn to draw conclusions from their findings.  Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, with around half proceeding to other international schools in London, while the remainder return to Norway to continue their studies.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Although the most able pupils make good progress, sometimes the work they are set does not challenge them to reach their full potential.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Proprietor The Norwegian School in London Ltd

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School details

Email address mail@norwegianschool.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24–26 November 2015

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Information about this school

 The Norwegian School in London is an independent school that was established in 1981 for Norwegian expatriate pupils who are temporarily residing in London. Originally, the school was registered for pupils aged from three to 16. However, in August 2014, the Norwegian Kindergarten in London registered itself separately from the main school to educate children between the ages of three and five years and did not form part of this inspection.  The school is registered for up to 130 boys and girls aged six to 16 and currently there are 73 pupils on the roll. Pupils are taught in four mixed-aged classes.  Very few pupils have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.  The school is non-denominational and follows the Norwegian national curriculum. Almost all pupils speak English as an additional language and around half are from bilingual families.  Many pupils enter and leave the school at different times throughout the year.

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Information about this school

 The school aims to ‘offer a positive and secure learning environment where pupils flourish to become responsible and independent learners.’  The school is a registered charity with a board of six governors.  Off-site training is made available for pupils to extend their learning experiences. The school offers the following activities: – swimming at Wimbledon Leisure Centre, Latimer Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 1EW – badminton and squash at Wimbledon Racquets and Fitness Club, Cranbrook Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 4HD – street dancing at Dance Bites, Christchurch Hall, 2A Cottenham Park Road, Wimbledon, London SW20 0RZ – kayaking at Wimbledon Park Watersport and Outdoor Centre, Home Park Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 7HX – tennis at West Side Tennis Club, Woodhayes Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 4RF.  The headteacher joined the school in August 2017.

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Information about this inspection

 This full standard inspection took place with one day’s notice.  The inspectors observed teaching and learning across all year groups and subjects, all jointly with senior staff. They spoke to pupils informally throughout the inspection.  There were 44 responses to Parent View and 20 text comments. Inspectors considered the school’s analysis of its own survey of the views of pupils and parents. Inspectors also considered the 14 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors held discussions with the senior and middle leaders, staff and parents. The lead inspector spoke with the chair of governors by telephone.  Inspectors reviewed key documents and policies, including those related to safeguarding, to check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards. They scrutinised pupils’ books and the school’s information about pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Inspection team

David Scott, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Clementina Aina Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Parent View You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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