Salisbury Primary School

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

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Ms Andrea Choppy Headteacher Salisbury Primary School 495 High Street North Manor Park London E12 6TH

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 12 September 2018 with Nick Hitchen, Her Majesty’s Inspector, 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 November 2014.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, senior leaders and governors have ensured that outcomes for pupils have continued to improve overall since the previous inspection. Pupils achieve well and make good progress. They leave the school with standards in reading, writing and mathematics which are above the national average.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

You are resilient, strong and determined in your leadership role. You have successfully tackled issues of teacher recruitment and retention and have secured senior leadership to support you in moving the school forward. As a result, pupils achieve well. They are respectful, friendly and tolerant and value the inclusive school community which they benefit from.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

You have high expectations of staff and pupils. Together with governors you are resolute in your drive to improve the school further. You draw well on support from the local authority and from your partnership with local schools. Most parents who shared their views with inspectors were positive about the work of the school.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

You have been successful in responding to the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection while recognising that, within the context of a changing workforce, there are still challenges to face in ensuring that teaching leads to consistently good progress for all pupils. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

There is a strong culture of safeguarding at Salisbury Primary School. Pupils express confidence in their safety at school. They also feel assured that they can tell staff at school about anything that might make them feel unsure outside school such as cyber bullying. Pupils show awareness of all forms of bullying and they say that any rare incidents of bullying are dealt with effectively by the school.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

Pupils’ attitudes to people and families who are different to their own are respectful, tolerant and positive. They show a great deal of maturity and respect when discussing equality issues.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

Staff understand the school’s system for reporting concerns and use it consistently to safeguard children. They receive appropriate training and can speak with confidence about the latest guidance documents and about risks such as female genital mutilation.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

Designated safeguarding leaders have an in-depth knowledge of pupils who are vulnerable to risk or need child protection. They show a great deal of compassion and care when dealing with pupils and their families. They work cohesively with outside agencies to get the very best support for the families in their community as they can. Record-keeping is thorough. Leaders decided wisely to adopt an electronic system which has proved to be effective and secure.

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Short inspection of Salisbury Primary School

Governors perform their statutory safeguarding duties rigorously and effectively. They receive appropriate training and are highly reflective in ensuring that they keep their skills and knowledge up to date. They keep a careful check on the suitability of staff who are recruited to work at the school.

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Inspection findings

 Our first agreed focus for the inspection was to look at the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. In addition, we agreed to focus on how effectively governors challenge and support leaders in relation to the spending of the pupil premium funding.  Any differences in the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally have diminished since the previous inspection. Disadvantaged pupils who are currently in the school are making similar progress to their classmates. Any slight variability in pupils’ progress is because of some remaining variability in the quality of teaching.  Leaders have used pupil premium funding precisely and creatively to support disadvantaged pupils. They evaluate the impact of their spending well and report this to governors. Leaders and governors think creatively and devise ways to ensure that they keep a careful track of the progress that all pupils make. For

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Inspection findings

example, they have given a sharp focus recently to the lowest-attaining 20% of pupils. The impact of this has led them to focus more specifically on the highest- attaining 20% of pupils. They acknowledge that disadvantaged pupils may fall within both these groups and are seeking ways to enhance teaching further, so that all pupils are helped to make consistently strong progress.  Our next focus for the inspection was to consider how leaders have supported teachers to build on pupils’ strong achievement in 2017. At the end of 2017, a higher proportion of children leaving the Reception class achieved a good overall level of development than was seen nationally. Pupils leaving key stage 1 and those leaving Year 6 to transfer to secondary school achieved higher standards than seen nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check

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Inspection findings

was above the national average.  Provisional information about pupils’ outcomes in 2018 shows that this good achievement has been sustained and pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, continue to do well at the end of every key stage.  Over time, leaders have supported teachers well to improve their skills and to therefore improve outcomes for pupils. Leaders recognise that there is still more to do to ensure that teaching leads to consistently good progress for all pupils. This is a challenge, given the barriers of staff turnover. It is a challenge which governors and leaders at all levels are rising to.  Leaders acknowledge that occasionally their expectations about good teaching and learning are not exemplified in lessons. For example, staff are committed to the school’s policy of ensuring that they give pupils talk time during lessons to allow them to discuss and think about key questions with partners. Sometimes,

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Inspection findings

teachers give pupils insufficient time to think about and talk about the question they have posed before drawing all pupils back together. Occasionally, staff do not take full account of what pupils have thought or said to pitch their teaching point precisely. When this is the case, it has an impact on the progress pupils make, particularly in writing. Occasionally, tasks which are set for the most able pupils do not help them build on their writing skills effectively. Similarly, tasks set to help the least able pupils’ writing sometimes give them limited opportunities to practise the aspects of writing which they are struggling with. Leaders have clear plans in place to share best practice and develop teachers’ skills in teaching writing further.  Our final agreed focus for the inspection was to consider how well the curriculum reflects the school values. The school vision statement refers to a curriculum that

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Inspection findings

‘celebrates the cultural diversity reflected in our school community’ and is a ‘broad and balanced curriculum’.  Inspection evidence showed that pupils enjoy learning across a range of subjects and themes. Pupils benefit from a good range of opportunities to broaden their knowledge and skills both within and beyond the school day. Every pupil plays a musical instrument, and many participate in sports activities. The school team were proud to come second in a cricket competition at Lords. The curriculum supports teachers in making meaningful connections by writing in a range of forms for different purposes and audiences within a range of subjects. Pupils refer to their writing targets when they are engaged with historical writing. This helps them to understand how their writing skills apply in any context.  During the inspection, pupils talked enthusiastically about knowledge acquired in the recent past and were proud to talk about displays and share their knowledge

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Inspection findings

of Newton and other topics with inspectors. During the inspection, key stage 2 pupils created beautiful clay pots under the careful and skilful direction of their teacher. Pupils demonstrate that the school curriculum celebrates cultural diversity. More to the point, pupils are taught to celebrate diversity in all its forms. This is something that leaders and governors are rightly proud of.  Leaders are passionate about creating a curriculum which meets their pupils’ needs. Pupils take part in a knowledge ‘harvest’ at the start of every topic which helps teachers to build on their prior learning. Leaders recognise that their curriculum plans in some subjects would benefit from further review. This is to ensure that knowledge and skills are more carefully built upon as pupils revisit themes and topics as they move through the school. This reflects leaders’ appropriate priority of enhancing pupils’ progress across the full range of subjects

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they support teachers to help all pupils make consistently strong progress, by:  consistently and effectively building on the knowledge pupils have as they move through the school  setting pupils writing tasks which support their specific needs  sharing good practice within and between year groups.

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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 Newham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

Inspectors met with you, governors and senior leaders. I spoke with a representative of the local authority. Inspectors visited classrooms with you and other leaders to observe and talk to pupils about their learning. We reviewed samples of pupils’ books and assessment information to evaluate pupils’ outcomes over time. A range of safeguarding documentation was reviewed. I considered the 16 responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire, Parent View, and the 35 Reponses to the staff questionnaire. I also considered the feedback from parents which inspectors gathered during the inspection.

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