St Saviour's Church of England Primary School

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

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Ms Kerry Munden Headteacher St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School Verulam Avenue Walthamstow London E17 8ER

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 19 September 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 predecessor school was judged to be good in 2013.

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England 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 short 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 be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

You and your staff have created an ethos where it is the norm to leave no stone unturned and to ensure that every child gets a high-quality education. The school’s seven values, including forgiveness, tenacity and respect, provide a strong foundation for this work. High-quality displays capture the ways in which pupils exemplify these values in their behaviour and attitudes. For example, pupils’ artwork shows that they have reflected carefully on what it means to respect other cultures and value different perspectives. Pupils said that these values make the school a ‘special place to be’, and encourage them to be considerate of their peers.

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

Since you joined the school a year ago, you have worked with governors to identify the key priorities to ensure further improvement. Governors are very aware of the benefits of working closely with other schools. You have developed effective relationships with schools in the multi-academy trust and St Mary’s Teaching School Alliance. The quality of pupils’ work reflects the high expectations you place on both staff and pupils.

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

You and your leaders have implemented a thorough system for checking on the quality of teaching and how well pupils are learning. This has helped to establish consistently high-quality teaching and learning throughout the school. The information you collect is analysed to check that teaching is having a positive impact on pupils’ progress. Staff lead training for their colleagues to share their expertise, and this creates a sense of collective responsibility for leading the school forward. Subject leaders have made significant improvements in key areas, including mathematics, English, the creative curriculum and early years. As a result, pupils make exceptional progress across the school.

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

Behaviour in lessons is exceptionally calm and purposeful. Pupils demonstrate excellent attitudes to learning and an eagerness for acquiring knowledge and deepening their understanding. This was seen during the inspection in literacy, mathematics and in the creative curriculum, which comprises most other subjects.

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

Pupils appreciate and enjoy the family ethos of their small school. They value highly the support provided to them by every member of the school staff, and the range of opportunities open to them. Their conduct is exemplary.

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

Leaders have developed an effective culture for safeguarding pupils. The child protection policy is comprehensive and includes reference to the latest guidance on issues of public concern. Staff receive appropriate training at frequent intervals and are clear about their statutory responsibilities for keeping children safe. Training includes specific reference to the importance of vigilance for signs of abuse, as well as identification of the threats posed by extremism.

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Short inspection of St Saviour’s Church of England Primary School

Where pupils require higher levels of support from external agencies, leaders tenaciously pursue the progress of agreed actions. The single central record is comprehensive, compliant and securely maintained, and safer recruitment practice is robust. The governing body includes a governor with experience of safeguarding, who conducts regular visits to the school and closely scrutinises the quality of record keeping. Where necessary, the school uses support from specialist professionals, including educational psychologists and counsellors.

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Inspection findings

 For the first line of enquiry, I focused on pupils’ fluency in reading in key stages 1 and 2. In 2017, the proportion of pupils that achieved greater depth in reading at key stage 1 was broadly average, and for key stage 2 it was below average.  Outcomes for reading in 2018 are stronger than they were in 2017. For example, the proportion of pupils that achieved the higher standard by the end of Year 6 was above average. Boys, girls and disadvantaged pupils all made very strong progress in relation to their starting points. The school has made significant investment in the development of high-quality resources to encourage pupils to read. The well-stocked and thoughtfully designed school library is very well used by pupils. The lunchtime story clubs for pupils in key stages 1 and 2 are very well attended. The curriculum for reading has been well planned, and there are challenging texts for all year groups. As a result, most pupils in St Saviour’s

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Inspection findings

swiftly become fluent and competent readers.  The second line of enquiry focused on how well pupils in key stage 2 are challenged and supported to achieve greater depth or the higher standard in writing and mathematics. No girls achieved the higher standard in mathematics by the end of Year 6 in 2017. Increasing the proportion of strong writers in key stage 2 has been one of the school’s key areas for improvement.  Pupils’ attainment and progress in writing and mathematics were above average in 2017 and 2018. Leaders have placed significant emphasis on developing pupils’ writing skills across the curriculum. They have developed a well-focused plan for improving pupils’ skills and resilience in writing. Leaders are clear about the skills and knowledge required to write at greater depth and have incorporated these into their plans. Teachers’ confidence in identifying opportunities for pupils to write at various points during the school day has grown. Pupils confidently use a

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Inspection findings

range of tools to support their writing, including word banks, dictionaries and working walls. Pupils value the opportunities to edit and refine their work. Leaders recognise the need to build on this good work and ensure that plans are fully embedded.  Excellent leadership of mathematics has successfully embedded challenge into lessons for pupils from their different starting points. The school’s learning strategy of ‘check it, think it, master it’ is understood by pupils, and used very effectively in lessons. We saw pupils working on ‘think it’ problems and moving on to ‘master it’ challenges with appropriate support. Pupils make very strong progress in mathematics, and many, including girls, in Year 6 are on track to achieve the higher standard. Scrutiny of pupils’ work in other subjects, for instance science, indicates that pupils do not get sufficient opportunities to practise their mathematical skills across the curriculum.

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Inspection findings

 Thirdly, we looked at the success of the wider curriculum in promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The school’s historic outcomes in English, mathematics and science are consistently strong in both key stages. I wanted to test the school’s evaluation of its impact in the wider curriculum.  By the end of Reception, the proportion of children exceeding the early learning goal for personal, social and emotional development is consistently above average. Outdoor learning has been given much attention across the school and is an integral part of the curriculum. In this context, pupils get rich opportunities to put into practice the school’s seven values, for example, serenity and tenacity. In lessons, teachers ask thought-provoking questions to elicit pupils’ deeper thinking about key issues. Pupils are very curious and enjoy making connections between different areas of learning. This is supported by the excellent work seen

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Inspection findings

in pupils’ ‘afternoon books’, in which they often reflect on the wider implications of what they are learning.  My fourth and final line of enquiry focused on the effectiveness of the governing body in holding leaders to account. The federated governing body has been in existence since 2011, and came under the umbrella of the multi-academy trust in April 2017.  The trust has a clear and ambitious strategic plan, which is used skilfully by the governing body to set its own annual improvement priorities. Self-evaluation is detailed and thorough, drawing on the evidence from regular monitoring and external reviews. Governors have a range of skills and experience and take their responsibilities very seriously. Such skills help the governing body to discharge its duties in, for example, finance. Governors analyse the detailed information about pupils’ achievement. They know the school well and challenge you strongly.

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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

 pupils have greater opportunities to apply their mathematical skills across the curriculum  staff build on the good work done to improve pupils’ writing skills across the school so that a larger proportion achieve greater depth.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the director of education for the Diocese of Chelmsford, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for London Borough of Waltham Forest. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you and your leadership team to discuss the impact of leaders’ work to maintain the good quality of education. I held meetings with members of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the Genesis Education Trust, who is also the executive headteacher of your school. I talked informally to pupils about their experiences of school. I visited classrooms together with senior leaders, and looked at samples of pupils’ work. I had a telephone conversation with your school improvement adviser, and met with the literacy, mathematics and early years leaders.

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Information about the inspection

I reviewed a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school’s current performance, their plans for further improvement and information on pupils’ current progress. I considered a number of policy documents and records, including those related to safeguarding. The views of parents were considered through the 18 responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire (Parent View), including written comments. I also considered the 17 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff.

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