Victory Primary School

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

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Mrs Makeda Williams-Pinnock Headteacher Victory Primary School Elba Place Rodney Road London SE17 1PT

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 20 March 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 October 2013.

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Together with your deputy head teacher and governors, you have created a welcoming, friendly and calm environment. Your focused and motivated leadership is strongly supported by all adults in the school. Parents are very positive about the school and its focus on pupils’ well-being and safety.

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

You have addressed the development points from your last inspection. Achievement in mathematics is a clear strength of the school. Pupils make significant progress in mathematics, resulting in a greater proportion leaving the school above national standards. Pupils are learning to edit and improve their writing and they speak confidently about their targets for improvement. This good practice has been extended and pupils have opportunities to develop speaking and writing across subjects. School monitoring records show improved and consistently strong teaching; my visits to classrooms support this view. Teaching has improved and most is now consistently good or better.

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

Pupils are cared for well in a safe and positive learning environment. The school provides strong support for the more vulnerable pupils. Pupils are eager to learn and behave well in lessons and around the school. They are polite and well mannered. Pupils say that all staff care and help them if they are worried about anything. They enjoy school trips and the wider curriculum, especially music and art. Typically, pupils said, ‘teachers and the headteacher make learning fun by giving us challenges’. The pupils spoke confidently about improving their work and the strategies that the teachers use to help them. Year 6 pupils said that they want to go onto university as the trip to Cambridge University has inspired them to work hard. They say that bullying is rare but if it occurs the staff deal with it well and resolve any problems.

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

The curriculum is organised well to offer pupils learning opportunities across all subjects. Pupils learn about fundamental British values, different faiths and religions. There are displays around the school to motivate pupils, for example photos of world leaders with inspirational quotations. Links are made between history and life in today’s world. The topic on the rainforest required pupils to compare and contrast different geographical regions. Pupils say that trips to different places of worship, the British Museum and school journeys make learning interesting and fun.

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

The governing body has a clear understanding of its leadership role within the school. Governors visit the school frequently and attend meetings regularly. They receive appropriate training and provide strong support and challenge. They contribute effectively to the school community and are focused on school improvement and achieving the best outcomes for all pupils.

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

The local authority senior advisor provides effective support and challenge and visits the school regularly. She knows the strengths of the school and areas for improvement. The leadership team work closely with the advisor to ensure good outcomes for pupils.

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

The culture of safeguarding in the school is strong. The headteacher and deputy headteacher as the designated safeguarding lead officers have 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 that swift action is taken should the need arise. The leadership team’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.

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Short inspection of Victory Primary School

Pupils’ safety is of paramount importance and all staff are vigilant in their safeguarding duties. Pupils report that they feel safe at school. They speak confidently about keeping themselves safe on the internet and can explain what they should do if they are worried. They are able to explain the challenges of coming to school because of the road closures and regeneration work around the school. They said that road safety talks, assemblies and class lessons give them a good knowledge of how to keep safe.

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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 reading and writing. Not enough pupils made the progress required to meet the national standards in reading in 2017. Leaders and governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and where improvement is needed. Leaders have rightly focused on improving reading and writing skills throughout the school.  You and your leadership team have introduced changes to the teaching of reading. You have reviewed the books used in the school so pupils have a range of books to engage their interest, including popular fiction, well-known tales and non-fiction books. Guided reading sessions are taught every morning to support pupils’ comprehension and develop their vocabulary. Support for the high number of pupils who speak English as an additional language is focused on improving knowledge of

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Inspection findings

vocabulary and improving reading skills. At Victory School, you have prioritised the early teaching of phonics. You have ensured that staff receive targeted training so the teaching of phonics is strong across the curriculum.  Pupils enjoy reading and are able to identify how vocabulary choices engage the reader. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 are able to identify the characters, plot and setting. However, they say that they find it difficult to understand the implied meaning within some texts. Pupils in key stage 1 are able to read words using their knowledge of phonics. However, the two children who read to the inspector are not as confident in retelling or predicting what may happen in stories. Pupils’ vocabulary and understanding of new words is growing but there is more work to do in this area.  Writing across the school has improved and pupils’ overall progress in 2017 was above national averages. Leaders have initiated many strategies to support writing

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Inspection findings

across the curriculum. Pupils enjoy ‘talk for writing’ because they say that it helps them organise their ideas before they write. Pupils, especially those in Years 5 and 6, know how to improve their written work. Pupils attempt to use a range of punctuation and grammar to make their writing interesting. Pupils’ vocabulary choices are not always appropriate to their writing. Consequently, their writing does not always make sense. Inaccuracies in spelling are not addressed frequently enough to allow pupils to become more accurate.  The second line of enquiry considered how leaders identified and supported pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. The percentage of pupils in the school who receive support is double the national average. These pupils do not make as good progress as other pupils nationally.  Leaders have identified a range of issues that have an impact on pupils’ learning

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Inspection findings

and progress. They are aware of the social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that pupils experience. A well-considered programme of support and intervention is in place to address barriers to learning. Leaders regularly review and evaluate the effectiveness of support and the progress of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. There are strong links with external agencies that provide support for pupils when appropriate to their needs.  Current school information shows that reading progress for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is being accelerated considerably. The school knows the needs of the pupils but is not sharp enough in analysing the barriers to learning across the curriculum.  The final line of enquiry focused on the effectiveness of leaders’ actions in improving attendance and reducing persistent absence. The attendance for all groups is improving and attendance at present is above the national average.

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Inspection findings

Persistent absence has been reduced considerably. The school employs a family liaison officer who works closely with families to ensure good attendance. The school uses the services of the local authority education welfare department to ensure that all pupils attend school regularly. Home-school agreements, signed at the start of the school year, remind parents of their responsibilities about attendance. Class reward systems encourage pupils to come to school. Assemblies and class lessons remind pupils that coming to school each day helps them to learn. The school’s actions have been very effective in this area and, as a result, current figures are broadly in line with attendance nationally.

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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

 pupils have opportunities to understand and use well-chosen vocabulary to improve the composition and effect of their writing  inaccuracies in spelling are addressed to improve pupils’ writing.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the acting chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Southwark. 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 deputy headteacher, two subject leaders, two governors and the local authority senior advisor. I evaluated the work in pupils’ books with you and the deputy headteacher. 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. I spoke informally to parents. I took account of the three parent responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, and the four staff responses. I scrutinised documentation on the school’s website, the school’s self-evaluation documents and current performance information about pupils’ progress. Records about keeping pupils safe and pupils’ attendance were evaluated.

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