Camden Primary PRU

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

p.1

Ms Bavaani Nanthabalan Executive Headteacher Camden Primary PRU Robson House 74 Stanhope Street London NW1 3JX

p.1

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

Following my visit to the school on 15 May 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 school was judged to be good in March 2015.

p.1

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Senior leaders have been effective in providing a safe and purposeful environment for learning, and they ensure that staff understand and respond to the needs of their vulnerable pupils very well.

p.1

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

The school is a calm and orderly environment and is set within premises that are fit for purpose and welcoming. The clear strategic planning and action by school leaders, the experienced management committee and the local authority, have resulted in a cohesive and coordinated educational experience both for pupils and their families.

p.1

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

The school knows its strengths and areas for development very well and has solid plans for continued improvement in the future. These include developing your curriculum offer still further, and refining the way that you share progress information with parents and the management committee so that it is presented in a more straightforward way. Some issues with the quality of teaching since the last inspection were quickly identified and have been soundly dealt with. The effective monitoring, training and development of staff by school leaders means that the school has capacity to improve still further.

p.1

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

Pupils at the school behave very well, and any negative behaviour is dealt with quickly and appropriately by well-trained staff. Pupils say that they like the adults who work with them, and they enjoy taking part in the fun activities that the school provides, including swimming, equine therapy and a range of other sporting and physical activities. They also value the time that they spend with their allocated mentors, focusing on their own personal goals and targets, and getting helpful guidance.

p.1

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

The school’s own surveys of parents show a high level of satisfaction with the school. This was confirmed by parents, who told inspectors that the school had helped to improve their children’s mental health and well-being as well as their academic abilities.

p.2

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

Staff at the school are highly committed and work very hard. This is demonstrated in the attractive and welcoming classes, high-quality resources, and evidence of interesting and engaging work and activities.

p.2

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

Safeguarding is a strength of the school.

p.2

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

Leaders have ensured a strong and effective multi-disciplinary approach to protecting the very vulnerable pupils at the school. As a result, all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Record-keeping is of a high standard and shows that the school works effectively with other agencies, including the local authority, to provide timely support to pupils and their families. The experienced and effective management committee has a clear oversight of safeguarding at the school.

p.2

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

Systems at the school for tracking concerns and actions are highly organised. These systems are used well by all staff, and the importance of keeping careful records is thoroughly understood by teachers and teams. Staff know how to report concerns, and demonstrate a high degree of vigilance.

p.2

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

All staff at the school know their pupils’ complex needs very well. Learning is often personalised and, as a starting point, builds on what the pupils are interested in. Pupils say that they feel safe and that they like coming to school.

p.2

Short inspection of Camden Primary PRU

The school has a positive approach to managing behaviour, and this is well understood by all staff and parents. Pupils are treated with respect and dignity by school staff and, as a result, develop warm and trusting relationships with the adults who support them.

p.2

Inspection findings

 First, we agreed to look at how leaders at all levels, including the management committee, know that pupils are making at least good progress at the school. This is because, since the last inspection, the school has changed its approach to measuring and reporting on progress, and there have been some changes in leadership and governance. School leaders agreed that this would be a good area to focus on, as it had been an important area of development at the school.  We found that the school has very detailed systems to identify what they want to measure and track. The school measures improvements in a range of ways, including pupils’ emotional resilience and behaviour as well as their academic progress. These systems are detailed and are understood by school staff. However, they could be further improved by making them more accessible to parents and carers so that they can see how well their children are doing at the

p.2

Inspection findings

school. Summary information would also help members of the management committee hold school leaders to account more effectively.  Although the school tracks improvements in pupils’ behaviour well, it does not always analyse other key information, such as the causes of behaviour, people present, the locations or times of day. Consequently, leaders do not gain vital information about patterns and triggers for behaviour, or further insights into whether certain interventions are working or not.  The work that the inspection team saw in pupils’ books was generally of a high standard, particularly in English and mathematics. The work is suited to the needs of individual pupils and shows that they are making good progress over time, often from very low starting points.  The evidence for progress in the wider curriculum is less well developed. You have identified that this needs to be addressed to ensure that there is a fuller

p.3

Inspection findings

picture of how well pupils are improving in all areas of learning and development.  School leaders have developed a system of regular pupil-progress meetings, which often include multi-agency partners. These have proved effective in ensuring teams work together in removing barriers to learning.  The school has used the pupil premium funding in a number of interesting and innovative ways, including support for family activities and greater access to music tuition. However, the school does not always have a clear enough view of why it has invested in these strategies and what the impact has been.  Next, we agreed with the management team to look at how well the school’s curriculum prepares pupils for the next stage of their education. This was because the school had chosen to focus on reviewing the curriculum in its own plans for improvement.  The curriculum for English, mathematics and science prepares current pupils well

p.3

Inspection findings

for their future destinations. It has a close link to the national curriculum and, for most children, is further adapted and personalised to meet the wide range of needs at the school. Learning is enhanced by many interesting opportunities, such as science week, local sporting tournaments for boys and girls, a primary careers conference and a whole-campus exhibition each year.  The school has made an effective start on reviewing its wider offer beyond the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. This is helping leaders pinpoint how pupils can be supported to make links between areas of learning. This work needs to continue at pace so that pupils benefit from consistently high- quality teaching in all areas. This review should also bring a greater emphasis to the effective way in which pupils are currently supported to develop their personal, social and emotional skills.  Leaders have developed effective transition arrangements for pupils at the end of

p.3

Inspection findings

Year 6. This programme of activities includes useful visits to their new schools, and supports pupils to be as ready as possible for the next stage of their education.  The final key line of enquiry was attendance. This is because attendance had declined slightly since 2016 and inspectors wanted to check that there had been continued vigilance to ensure pupils attend school as often as possible.  Leaders and the management committee have continued to ensure that the school works effectively with parents and carers to encourage good attendance. The management committee is very well informed, and it understands and interprets key concerns in attendance well. The school’s data shows fluctuations in attendance, but this reflects the small numbers of pupils in the various cohorts rather than significant lapses in attendance.  The multi-disciplinary approach to managing attendance is a key strength of the

p.3

Inspection findings

school, which ensures that there is support as well as challenge for families, which often continues during school closure periods. Parents who were interviewed said that the school would ‘bend over backwards’ to support pupils and families.

p.4

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.4

Next steps for the school

 the curriculum and assessment framework is further developed so that it better meets the varying range of needs of pupils at the school  there is a more formalised analysis of patterns and triggers in behaviour so that the school knows which interventions are the most effective  there is a clearer analysis of the impact of the use of the pupil premium on outcomes.

p.4

Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the management committee and the director of children’s services for Camden. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.4

Information about the inspection

Inspectors met with you, your two heads of school and your joint designated safeguarding lead. We had conversations and meetings with parents, the chair of your management committee and other committee members. Inspectors visited all classrooms, accompanied either by you or one of your heads of school. During those visits, we talked to a wide range of pupils and staff and, together with leaders, looked at pupils’ work to evaluate their learning over time. Inspectors held separate meetings with pupils to hear their views. A range of documentation was evaluated, including the school’s self-evaluation, plans for improvement, behaviour and attendance information, results from your own parent survey, safeguarding records, and information about pupils’ progress. We also considered responses to the staff survey. There were no responses to Ofsted’s survey for pupils, and too few responses to Ofsted’s parents’ survey to be considered.

p.5