Three Bridges Primary School

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

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Mr Jeremy Hannay Headteacher Three Bridges Primary School Melbury Avenue Norwood Green Southall Middlesex UB2 4HT

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Short inspection of Three Bridges Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 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 the school was judged to be good in March 2014.

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Short inspection of Three Bridges Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Three Bridges Primary School

Leaders have addressed the areas for improvement from the previous inspection. Staff now set work for pupils that is at the right level of difficulty. Our learning walks illustrated that, from the earliest age, pupils engage actively in challenging learning. They readily develop resilience for learning by taking risks and being prepared to make mistakes. Your work in developing leaders has included them systematically checking pupils’ work across year groups.

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Short inspection of Three Bridges Primary School

You have established a happy school where pupils and staff thrive on learning and being curious, together. During the inspection, pupils spoke about how much they value their teachers and appreciate everything about the school. The school’s five core values – family, joy, adventure, integrity and humility – were in evidence when we watched pupils and adults working and learning together. The notion of the school being a family came across strongly when I spoke with parents and carers, pupils, staff and governors. As one parent put it: ‘This is a real family community and I feel happy with everything here.’ Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Three Bridges Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. School leaders, including those responsible for governance, have ensured that staff know and understand the roles they have in safeguarding pupils’ welfare. There is a transparent recruitment process that includes systematic checks on staff, which are then recorded on the single central register. Staff and governors receive relevant and up-to-date training on all aspects of safeguarding, including female genital mutilation, the ‘Prevent’ duty and children missing in education. Referrals to external agencies are timely, and records show that there is a rigorous approach to following up every case. Leaders know each family well, and work very closely with them to ensure pupils’ safety.

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Short inspection of Three Bridges Primary School

Pupils told me that they feel safe. They have a very secure understanding of how to stay safe, for example, online. Pupils are clear that they would always tell someone if they thought something was suspicious. Parents are highly positive in their responses about safety and know that their children are well cared for at school.

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Inspection findings

 We agreed that the first line of enquiry would focus on safeguarding and, in particular, the well-being of pupils who are frequently absent from school. This is because in recent years there has been a high percentage of pupils who have been persistently absent from school.  Leaders have introduced new procedures for dealing with absence. For example, you now meet in person with individual families about improving their children’s attendance. Leaders do not authorise absence for families taking holidays during term-time and the school has appointed an attendance officer to work closely with parents. The school closely tracks attendance and can quickly identify trends among particular groups of pupils.  Improved communication between school and home, with individual messages sent to parents, has been well received. Parents I spoke with welcomed personalised messages and were very clear about the school’s high expectations

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Inspection findings

for attendance. The actions to improve attendance are beginning to make a positive difference.  Our second line of enquiry considered reading in key stage 2. In 2017, the progress of girls and the overall attainment of all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, were below the national averages in reading.  Inspection evidence shows that pupils build well on the reading skills that they acquire in earlier years. Pupils can respond to a range of literature, and are able to reflect and make meaningful inferences. They show a deep understanding of complex texts and can empathise with characters. Pupils are enthusiastic about reading. They read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts, which is helping to develop their reading skills extremely well.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders have put in place effective measures to improve pupils’ progress in reading. This is having a positive impact, particularly for girls, disadvantaged pupils and middle-attaining pupils. However, these strategies to improve reading need to be embedded across the school so that pupils can make consistently strong progress in reading.  We looked next at how well teaching across key stage 1 supports pupils, in particular disadvantaged pupils and girls, to reach greater depth in mathematics. In 2017, these groups of pupils did not do as well as their peers.  Children in early years develop strong numeracy skills. Leaders have implemented a new approach to teaching numeracy daily in key stage 1. The consistent approach to mathematics builds, over time, for pupils to reach high standards. Work in pupils’ books shows that pupils have made marked progress since the start of the year. Pupils are appropriately challenged to develop their

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Inspection findings

skills and understanding further.  We specifically looked at the progress of girls and disadvantaged pupils, and were able to see that they make strong progress in mathematics. Pupils use language particularly well to gain a deeper understanding. For example, two pupils were very keen to come and read aloud to me their explanation for the number problem they were solving. They were proud of their learning, and it was evident that their use of mathematical language was helping them to gain confidence.  Finally, we considered how well subjects across the curriculum contribute to pupils’ progress in writing across key stage 2. Pupils’ achievement in writing has been strong for the majority of groups for the past three years.  Staff set very high expectations for reading, writing and mathematics from when a child joins the school. Pupils take pride in their writing. Writing in the early years is strong, and is a sound basis for children’s future learning.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils have many opportunities to write purposefully, as part of their day-to-day learning. For example, pupils’ writing in science showed them making use of the figurative language they had learned in English. There is a cohesive approach to learning across subjects, where all pupils focus on their writing skills. Overall, we saw strong achievement in writing across different subjects in key stage 2.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they:

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Next steps for the school

 embed further improvements in reading across key stage 2 to sustain the progress that has been made this year.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Ealing. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I held meetings with school leaders and the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. I made joint visits to lessons with you. I held formal discussions with groups of pupils, as well as talking to pupils in the playground. I heard children read. I took account of 29 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including free-text comments. A range of the school’s documentation was considered, including information about pupils’ achievement, the school improvement plan and the school’s self-evaluation. I read the recent local authority review and reviewed safeguarding checks, policies and procedures, and information about attendance and exclusions.

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