Greenside Primary School

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

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Ms Karen Bastick-Styles Executive Headteacher Greenside Primary School Westville Road Hammersmith London W12 9PT

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Short inspection of Greenside Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 27 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in October 2014.

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Short inspection of Greenside Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Greenside Primary School

You, your senior team, staff and governors seek to provide a nurturing yet challenging environment which allows pupils to thrive. You have used a model of experiential learning, which allows pupils to learn through experience. This cleverly links different aspects of the curriculum together, giving pupils a rich and varied learning experience.

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Short inspection of Greenside Primary School

Parents, carers, pupils and staff are happy with, and in, the school. Pupils are proud of their learning community and genuinely enjoy the experience of learning. They are articulate, polite and kind, and understand the world around them and the challenges faced by young people today. The use of technology and media is a strength of the school. Pupils capture the ethos of the school in the films they produce themselves. Governors, senior leaders and colleagues within the multi-academy trust are clear about the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. A culture of positive challenge is provided by the governing body, which supports and holds the senior team to account. As a result of your comprehensive monitoring, you have rightly focused on developing the teaching of reasoning skills within mathematics. The positive impact of this work can be seen in lessons and in outcomes in the early years. However, there is still some work to do to improve outcomes for some

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Short inspection of Greenside Primary School

groups of pupils in mathematics at key stage 2. Leaders need to continue to address this. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Greenside Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Leaders and governors understand their statutory responsibilities to keep children safe and see this as a high priority. All staff employment checks have been completed and referrals to external agencies are appropriate and timely. All staff understand the guidance given in ‘Keeping children safe in education’.

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Short inspection of Greenside Primary School

Online safety is a particular focus and school leaders work with parents and pupils on this issue. Pupils debated and discussed the idea of online safety in their board meetings with senior leaders. These discussions were followed up in lessons on e- safety, which focus on teaching all pupils how to stay safe online. Regular training sessions are held for parents to ensure that they are aware of age-appropriate internet use and how to keep their children safe online.

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Inspection findings

 Firstly, I investigated how the school has achieved such high standards in reading and what leaders are doing to sustain this. I did this because test results in reading have consistently been above the national average for the last three years.  Teachers are highly trained and use a range of strategies to inspire and enthuse pupils’ reading in lessons. Pupils in the early years foundation stage gain an excellent basis of understanding of phonics, upon which further learning can be built. Pupils love reading and explore their love of literature across different lessons in the school. Additional initiatives such as ‘The Great Greenside Readathon’ ensure that all pupils are engaged in reading. These strategies are embedded in the culture of the school and are clearly sustainable over time. Teaching is focused on the needs of pupils and allows all pupils to make rapid progress from their starting points.

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Inspection findings

 I next investigated whether the school is effective in improving the attendance of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities and reducing the number of pupils who are persistently absent. I did this because the overall attendance for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities was lower than the national average in 2015 and 2016 and an above-average proportion of pupils are persistently absent.  Leaders analyse attendance information thoroughly and effectively and use a variety of strategies to support the attendance of all pupils. School leaders know which pupils attend school less regularly, and have identified effective ways to encourage better attendance. Staff work closely with some families to give them extra support and advice. These strategies are all having an impact and current attendance figures of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and rates of persistent absence are in line with national averages.

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Inspection findings

 Finally, I investigated what the school is doing to raise standards in mathematics in key stage 2. In particular, I looked at the achievement of girls, pupils with lower starting points and those pupils who have an education, health and care plan or statement of special educational needs. The 2017 results show that these groups of pupils did not make as much progress as their peers.  I found that, through their own analysis of test results and lesson monitoring, senior leaders and governors have a good grasp of how the quality of teaching of mathematics needs to improve. They have a clear strategy for improvement, which is being implemented in lessons. Pupils are more confident applying their mathematical knowledge through problem-solving and explaining their reasoning. Even so, pupils are not consistently challenged to work at a greater depth. Where there is insufficient attention to detail in lessons, teachers do not dispel pupils’

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Inspection findings

misconceptions. For example, some pupils use decimal points, mathematical units and terminology incorrectly. Therefore, school leaders need to ensure that these areas are addressed to deepen the understanding of pupils in mathematics at key stage 2.

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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

 teachers’ attention to detail in mathematics lessons means that misconceptions are recognised and dispelled  there is an increased level of challenge in mathematics lessons so that even more pupils can achieve greater depth.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the chair of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hammersmith and Fulham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with school leaders, teachers and staff. I spoke to the chair of the governing body of the school and the lead governor from the federation. I also met with the regional director and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust. I scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s evaluation of its performance, information on the attendance of current pupils and the register of the checks made on staff. I spoke to pupils and listened to them read. I visited lessons across the school and looked at pupils’ work in these lessons and over time. I evaluated the views of the 35 parents who completed Parent View, the online questionnaire, and of the six staff who completed the staff questionnaire.

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