Fawood Children’s Centre

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

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Ms Jackie Marsh Executive Headteacher Fawood Children’s Centre 35 Fawood Avenue London NW10 8RF

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Short inspection of Fawood Children’s Centre

Following my visit to the school on 11 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 school was judged to be good in October 2014.

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Short inspection of Fawood Children’s Centre

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 Fawood Children’s Centre

You, your leaders and the governing body know the school extremely well. You have accurately identified areas for further development through robust self- evaluation and have put actions in place to address these effectively. You have ensured that recently appointed leaders have been well supported to quickly develop a strong knowledge of the school’s ethos and practices. However, sometimes the school’s polices do not document all the strong practice that exists within the school.

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Short inspection of Fawood Children’s Centre

You have successfully addressed areas for development from the previous inspection and ensured that the school continues to improve over time. Parents and carers are very positive about the school. They appreciate its welcoming environment and the time that practitioners take to develop a deep understanding of children in their care. As a result, relationships between parents and carers, staff and children are extremely strong. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Fawood Children’s Centre

You have established a strong culture of safeguarding in the school so that children are safe. Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding procedures are fit for purpose. Staff know the correct procedures to follow if they have a concern about a child. They receive regular training to ensure that their knowledge and practice is up to date. Staff ensure that the environment is safe through regular checks for potential hazards. Leaders and governors ensure that recruitment processes are robust and the single central record of staff suitability checks meets requirements.

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Short inspection of Fawood Children’s Centre

You and your staff know families extremely well and are committed to supporting families to ensure the best outcomes for all children. All parents I spoke to said that the school is a safe place and they appreciate the tight controls in place for all visitors in order to protect their children. Children feel confident in their environment and are happy to take risks.

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Inspection findings

 For the first line of enquiry, we agreed to look at how effectively you and your leaders engage and involve parents in their children’s learning to ensure that children make at least good progress from their starting points. We chose this because family involvement and engagement are a key aspect of your school vision. This is also an area of focus in your pupil premium funding report.  You and your leaders are committed to ensuring that parents are actively involved in their children’s learning. Parents told me that they appreciate the welcoming atmosphere and well-established links between the children’s centre and the school. Parents said that the workshops and training you provide, such as the recent home reading project, has improved the quality of interaction that they have with their children at home. Graduation events for parents, for example, provide additional credit to those who complete training and instil an

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Inspection findings

ethos of learning for all.  You and your leaders have designed a highly structured and thoughtful settling-in process for children who are new to the school. Key practitioners from the setting make home visits before children start. They take note of children’s activities and interests during these home visits and make sure these are displayed in the classroom on the child’s arrival. This strengthens the link between home and school very effectively. Parents told me how pleased they were with their children’s progress. The school has systems in place to ensure that parents’ views about the school are collected at regular intervals. However, you recognise that parents would benefit from a wider range of ways to contribute evidence of how their child is progressing at home.  Children settle very quickly into their new environment. They are happy and confident learners who seek adults when needed but are also happy to play

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Inspection findings

independently for sustained periods. Children who start school with skills that are below the expected standard for their age make considerable progress from their starting points, with the majority reaching the typical development for their age by the end of the year.  For the second line of enquiry I evaluated how leaders’ focus on speech and language has improved outcomes in this area. This is a priority in your school improvement plan and the development of children’s oral skills was identified as an area for improvement at the previous inspection.  You and your leaders have used careful analysis of children’s development on entry to precisely identify aspects of speech and language that are typically in need of development. The recent interventions that have been implemented are enabling children to make strong progress in this area. Parents told me how they had seen particular improvements in their children’s confidence and speech.

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Inspection findings

 You ensure that the expertise and resources in the autism spectrum disorder provision are being used effectively to further support language development in the main school. Teachers told me that they appreciate the additional training that they have had in alternative visual communication approaches and these are being used consistently across the school to support children’s understanding. Displays in the setting further support these approaches and ensure consistent practice.  Children develop strong relationships with practitioners and adults model language very well for children. Consequently, children develop a wide vocabulary and are keen to engage in conversation. This builds their confidence. This is supplemented by approaches such as ‘word of the week’ to ensure that children are regularly introduced to new language. As a result, children who enter the school with poor speaking and understanding skills make sustained progress

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Inspection findings

and a high proportion leave with development typical for their age.  For the final key line of enquiry, I evaluated how effectively you and your leaders use the early years pupil premium funding to ensure that children with low starting points make strong progress so that they are working at the typical development stage for their age on transition to Reception. We chose this because it was an identified priority in your 2017 pupil premium report.  There is a strong commitment from all practitioners to ensure that children who enter with below-typical development for a child of their age leave with the same ability as those not eligible for the funding. You ensure that practitioners know all children well through home visits, strong engagement with families and learning about children’s individual interests and abilities.  Together with governors, you evaluate the impact of pupil premium funding rigorously. Funding has been used to provide high-quality additional teaching

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Inspection findings

support and to broaden children’s experiences, such as a recent visit to the theatre. This approach has significantly improved children’s progress across all areas of learning, but particularly in their speaking and understanding skills.  A high proportion of children who are eligible for the pupil premium enter the school with knowledge and skills that are below those typical for their age. As a result of your actions, they make strong progress over time and a very high proportion leave with development typical for their age.

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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

 parents are provided with a range of opportunities to contribute to the school’s systems for collecting evidence of children’s learning and progress  school policies consistently reflect all the strong practice in the school.

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

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I held meetings with you, the deputy headteacher, other school leaders, practitioners and office staff. I met with parents informally as they arrived, and in a small group. I met with the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and I also met with the local authority school improvement adviser. I visited all rooms with senior leaders, spoke to children and observed activities in the rooms and learning spaces. I scrutinised a range of documents, including those related to self-evaluation and planning, the school’s assessment information, children’s learning journals and safeguarding policies and procedures.

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