Bnos Beis Yaakov Primary School

Bnos Beis Yaakov Primary School Kingsbury Synagogue, Kingsbury Green, London NW9 8XR

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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 headteacher provides calm, stable leadership. Together with governors and leaders, he has been effective in improving the school since the previous inspection. As a result, the school offers a good standard of education.  Leaders and governors have ensured that all the independent school standards are met.  Leaders have ensured that effective safeguarding arrangements are in place and are understood and used by all staff. Pupils are kept safe and very well cared for.  The school is a vibrant, caring and outward- facing community. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted very well. Pupils are confident young British citizens and are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The school’s curriculum is well balanced between Kodesh (Jewish) and Chol (secular) studies. However, in mathematics there are few opportunities to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills.  Teaching, learning and assessment are good.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Staff care deeply about pupils and have high expectations.  Effective strategies are used to improve teaching, but the expertise of individual staff is not shared as well as it might be.  Pupils achieve well and make strong progress across a wide range of subjects.  Pupils have high aspirations for their future. They find learning fun. They behave well and know the difference between right and wrong.  Children thrive in the early years provision, which gives an excellent start to school life. Strong, reflective teaching in a nurturing environment ensures that children achieve well.  Most parents and carers are very positive about the work of the school. Some rightly feel that they would like to know more about how their children achieve in relation to other pupils nationally.  The growth of the school has not been accompanied by the creation of a wider, established leadership team.

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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?

 Strengthen leadership and management by : – building further capacity within the leadership team to support the headteacher in moving the school to outstanding – ensuring that reports to parents help them to understand how well their children are doing in relation to national outcomes for all pupils.  Enhance teaching, learning and assessment and improve achievement further by : – ensuring that practitioners share their expertise and specialisms in different subjects in order to learn from each other and further improve their teaching skills – strengthening teachers’ skills and confidence in teaching problem solving and reasoning within the mathematics curriculum.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Leaders and governors have ensured that all the independent school standards are met.  The headteacher has had a strong, stabilising impact on the school and holds together a leadership team consisting mainly of part-time staff and consultants. He is respected by pupils, staff and the wider community. Together with the part-time head of the Chol curriculum, governors and other leaders, he has effectively addressed the areas for improvement identified during the previous inspection. As a result, the school now provides a good standard of education, and pupils across all phases of the school are achieving well.  The headteacher has high expectations of staff and is aspirational for pupils. He and the head of the Chol curriculum have a clear and accurate understanding of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school. They work effectively together to ensure a good balance between the Kodesh and Chol curriculum. Leaders’ approach to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

the Kodesh curriculum is innovative. It includes art teaching, which helps pupils produce the beautiful work displayed throughout the school. Pupils enjoy specialist physical education lessons in all year groups. In key stage 1, they receive specialist music lessons.  The curriculum prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils enjoy topics which focus on British institutions such as parliament and the Royal Family. Pupils benefit from a range of trips, such as visiting the Houses of Parliament and HMS Belfast. The Kodesh and Chol curriculum promote British values very well. For example, drama performances give pupils the opportunity to role-play characters from a range of backgrounds and contexts; this helps to develop their understanding of different people, values and cultures.  Pupils benefit from a range of topics which help them to explore and learn about different people in British society, and to respect and tolerate any differences. Pupils value and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

support people who have disabilities, both within and beyond the school community.  Leaders have had a strong impact on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment over the past year. Leaders have provided mentoring and support for staff to improve and fine-tune their teaching skills, as well as opportunities for professional development. They have worked collaboratively with schools within and beyond the Jewish community. They have welcomed support from the local authority to help secure improvements in the early years provision.  Leaders have developed robust systems to track pupils’ progress and attainment. As a result, leaders have an increasingly accurate picture of pupils’ achievement across the school, which they can compare with national averages for all pupils.  Leaders have worked effectively together to sharpen their evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas for development. As a result, school improvement plan priorities are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

accurate and appropriate.  Provision for the pupils who leaders identify as having special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is well led and managed. As a result, pupils targeted for support receive additional help or therapy to ensure that they make progress in line with their peers.  The headteacher has identified that an area for development is pupils’ general understanding of those religions and faiths that are different from their own. Resources to help him and the staff improve this aspect of the curriculum have been acquired.  Parents receive comprehensive and regular newsletters from the school, which give them relevant information about individual classes and events. Parents also receive regular updates on their children’s achievement. However, parents said that they would like more information to help them understand how well their children are doing in relation to pupils nationally. Leaders have accepted these views and are developing a new system to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

ensure that parents receive this information.

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Governance

 There have been recent changes to the structure of the governing body, and the newly constituted governing body is a strength of the school. Governors have an incisive knowledge of the challenges facing the school and work tirelessly to secure funding, staff and leadership to move the school forward.  The chair of the governing body leads the governors with great commitment. He is determined to improve the life chances of the pupils in the community and has high aspirations for pupils, which are shared by leaders and staff.  The governors have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and provide appropriate challenge to secure further improvement.  Governors ensure that all their statutory duties with regard to safeguarding are met.  Governors recognise that further leadership capacity needs to be secured in order to assist the headteacher in strengthening provision. Governors understand the value of

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Governance

securing qualified teacher status for the excellent practitioners who are very close to achieving this qualification. This will help with the recruitment challenges which the school continues to face.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The school has a suitable and up-to-date safeguarding policy, which is available to parents. Staff and governors have received all relevant and up-to-date safeguarding training. Referral systems are understood by all and used consistently.  Parents expressed confidence in the school’s capacity to keep pupils safe.  Appropriate checks ensure that staff recruited are suitable to work with children. Robust systems are in place for checking visitors to the school and ensuring that they are supervised on site.  The school site is safe and secure. Leaders assess and manage risks effectively, both in school and when pupils are out in the community.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Teaching is underpinned by warm, caring relationships between adults and learners. Teachers are confident and skilled in teaching both the Chol and the Kodesh curriculum. They give particular emphasis to the development of pupils’ understanding through high-quality talk. As a result, pupils make good progress across a wide range of subjects.  Staff have implemented the school’s assessment systems well. As a result, teaching ensures that tasks match the needs of learners. Books show that all groups, including the most able pupils, make strong progress across subjects, including English, mathematics and science.  A key strength of teaching in all year groups is the emphasis given to applying English literacy skills across both aspects of the curriculum. Because of this, pupils write confidently and successfully for a range of purposes and audiences. The sharp focus

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

given to handwriting ensures that work is presented well. Pupils read fluently to support learning in lessons and they also read for pleasure.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) is effective in building on foundations from the early years. Pupils use phonics skills well both for reading and writing.  Pupils benefit greatly from high-quality voluntary teaching provided on a regular basis. For example, a literacy specialist inspires pupils to achieve high outcomes in reading, writing, speaking and listening. During a poetry session in Year 2, pupils read poetry with gusto. The teacher’s skilful questioning developed pupils’ comprehension skills and empathetic thinking. Pupils were challenged to justify their answers to questions, which helped them to think deeply and explain their reasoning.  Pupils are taught art through the Kodesh curriculum. Teachers are innovative in selecting

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

tasks which help pupils to explore aspects of their faith while creating beautiful pieces of art, which can be seen displayed around the school.  Pupils enjoy the specialist physical education lessons, which also support school staff to develop their skills in teaching this aspect of the curriculum. Pupils in key stage 1 enjoy specialist music teaching, and all pupils sing regularly and confidently. As a result of good drama teaching, Year 6 pupils’ performance of a moral tale was of a high standard and very entertaining.  Leaders use the school’s effective assessment system well to support teachers in the identification of pupils who need additional support to catch up. These pupils make good progress from their starting points. So, too, do pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, because of the effective support they receive.  Individual members of staff demonstrate a range of skills and specialisms, which they

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

deploy to engage and enthuse pupils. These include approaches to the teaching of science, art and drama, for example. Leaders agree that this excellent practice could be shared more widely among the staff to improve outcomes further across the school.  Teachers have successfully implemented a mathematics programme, which gives structure and progression to the mathematics curriculum. Pupils’ books show that they are making good progress in arithmetic. However, opportunities for pupils to develop problem-solving and reasoning skills are more limited, and teachers are less confident in teaching this aspect of mathematics.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Safeguarding is effective and underpins all aspects of the school’s work. Parents and pupils express confidence in the school’s work to keep children safe. Pupils are extremely well cared for in school and said that they always know who they can go to in school if they are worried about anything.  Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe in school and benefit from input from external specialists who help them feel safe in the local community. They have an awareness of bullying and are confident that any such behaviour would be tackled swiftly by staff at school.  The school is a nurturing community. There is a strong sense of family and belonging. Pupils are friendly and welcoming. They have a wonderful sense of humour and are fun to be with. Adults provide excellent role models for pupils. They are kind, considerate and

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Personal development and welfare

fair. They develop a strong sense of right and wrong in pupils, who understand why rules are important in society.  Pupils enjoy learning and have positive, confident attitudes to their work and their lives. They talked animatedly about their aspirations for their future careers.  The school community is outward facing and inclusive. Pupils raise money for charities to benefit people beyond their own community. They visit elderly and disabled people and have links with schools beyond the Jewish community. During drama performances, pupils take on the roles of people who are different from themselves and show that they are tolerant and respectful of those differences.  Pupils understand and respect the fact that there are faiths and beliefs which are different from their own Jewish faith.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ behaviour is good.  Pupils attend school regularly. Attendance is in line with the national average.  Pupils’ conduct in classrooms and around the school is very good.  Pupils play happily together. Older pupils look after the younger children; they encourage them to play, help to fix their toys and encourage them to join in fun activities. Pupils care about each other and show a strong sense of responsibility.  Bullying is extremely rare. Any minor incidents between pupils are dealt with swiftly and effectively by staff.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils make good progress across a broad range of subjects because teaching meets their needs.  Pupils in Year 6 are well prepared for the next stage of their education and look forward to their next steps in learning at the secondary schools and high schools they will attend.  Pupils in all year groups make strong progress in writing. The majority of pupils are writing at or above standards which are typical for their age.  Pupils make good progress in reading. They read widely and often across all subjects in the curriculum.  Pupils’ progress in mathematics is good overall, but their problem-solving and reasoning skills have not been as well developed as other aspects of the mathematics curriculum.  The school’s own assessment information suggests that the proportion of current pupils working at or above the expected standard for their age at the end of key stage 1 and 2 is above last year’s national average. Inspection evidence supports this information.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 The most able pupils across the school make strong, sustained progress, particularly in writing. Some samples of writing reviewed during the inspection were of an exceptionally high quality.  Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points.  Key stage 1 pupils build on the knowledge of phonics acquired in the early years. A small proportion of pupils, working at or below the age-related expectations in phonics, are targeted for additional support.

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Early years provision Good

 The school meets the independent school standards in relation to its early years provision.  The early years setting is a delightful place for young learners to be. There is a real sense of awe and wonder in both the Nursery and the Reception class. Staff have high expectations of what young children can achieve. As a result, children make good progress from their various starting points, some of which are below those typical for their age.  Leaders have supported the development of the early years well since the time of the previous inspection. They have made improvements to the outdoor area. More crucially, they have recruited practitioners who are reflective and committed to improving their skills. Staff have responded positively to support from leaders and to the professional development they have received from the local authority. As a result, they are confident, skilful practitioners who meet the needs of the children they teach.

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Early years provision Good

 Staff ensure that all areas of learning are planned for creatively. Children are interested in the activities and learning spaces which are set up inside and outside the classrooms. They thrive emotionally and socially because of the high-quality interactions they have with adults. Staff challenge their thinking with skilful questions and help children to think deeply about what they are learning.  Staff track children’s progress in all areas of learning. Parents are able to see their child’s achievement captured in pictures and notes made by the practitioners.  Children in the early years make particular progress in phonics and early writing. Practitioners make learning fun. For example, children ‘taught’ a puppet to say her sounds correctly. They then painted large letters to reinforce the relationship between the sounds and the letters.  In the current Reception class, children are confidently writing at length and making

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Early years provision Good

plausible attempts at words, using their developing knowledge of letters and sounds. As a result, the most able writers are producing work which is above the standard seen typically for their age.  Children are happy and safe in the early years provision. They confidently seek help and support from adults when they need it. Parents expressed trust in the adults who work with their children and feel constantly reassured by staff that their children are happy and achieving well.  The school’s assessment shows that the proportion of pupils who are on track to achieve a good overall level of development at the end of the Reception Year is broadly in line with last year’s national average. Children’s work, their ‘learning journeys’ and their individual assessment profiles show that they have made good progress across the year.

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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 Bnos Beis Yaakov Primary School Ltd

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School details

Email address admin@bnosbeisyaakov.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 21−23 October 2014

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Information about this school

 Bnos Beis Yaakov is a faith school for Orthodox Jewish girls between the ages of three and 11.  The early years provision consists of one Nursery and one Reception class.  The school shares a site with Kingsbury Synagogue in North West London. Following a material change inspection in 2016, the school expanded and added additional classrooms for key stage 2 pupils. The outdoor area has also been developed since the time of the previous inspection.  There are 117 pupils on roll. There are no pupils with an education, health and care plan or statement of special educational needs. There is a small proportion of pupils who the school identify as needing additional support.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in all classes at least twice. Observations of learning within the Kodesh curriculum were undertaken with the headteacher and observations were also undertaken with the head of the Chol curriculum.  Inspectors met with the chair of the governing body.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils to discuss their learning and their views on the school.  Leaders met with inspectors to discuss their roles and the impact of their work.  Inspectors talked to pupils in lessons, during lunchtime and as they moved around the building.  Inspectors watched a dress rehearsal performance of the Year 6 production.  Inspectors examined a range of school documents, including information on pupils’ progress across the school, improvement plans, curriculum plans and checks on the quality of teaching. They examined school records relating to safeguarding and behaviour.  Inspectors scrutinised a large sample of books to see what progress pupils make across a

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Information about this inspection

range of subjects.  Inspectors took account of the 37 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and of information gathered from discussions with parents during the inspection. Inspectors also took account of the 12 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Ruth Dollner, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Alison Moore 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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