Oxford Gardens Primary School

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

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Sarah Cooper Headteacher Oxford Gardens Primary School Oxford Gardens London W10 6NF

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 26 March 2019, 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 December 2014.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens 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 Oxford Gardens Primary School

You have led the school through difficult circumstances. The Grenfell Tower fire had a significant impact on the school community. Leaders feel privileged to have been able to support the community through the aftermath of the fire.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

The fire meant that families were forced to move out of the area. The school supported these families to keep their children at this school. Nonetheless, absence did increase following the fire. By ensuring that the school remained open, leaders helped the families maintain some normality in the aftermath.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

Leaders are dynamic, and know your school. You promote inclusion and invest in parental engagement. You understand that the school will not improve further without positive relationships with parents and carers. You and the leadership team have made progress in improving pupils’ attendance and by engaging parents in reading with their children at home. Recently, parents were issued with a handwritten invitation from their child to attend a Parent Reading Workshop. The take-up was high, in part as a result of this personalised approach.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

Teachers have high expectations, including to extend pupils’ vocabulary. For example, pupils were successfully taught how to use the word ‘predict’ in their science investigations. Disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 demonstrated the depth of their knowledge when asked to describe the witches in ‘Macbeth’. They called on their prior learning to describe the persecution and folklore surrounding witches. Year 6 pupils have recently won a local reading competition and will be representing the school at a national event.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

Leaders researched the barriers to learning that pupils face at the school. The introduction of the growth mindset programme has promoted the characteristics pupils need to improve their resilience. From the early years onwards, children are encouraged to be independent. In lessons, they use electronic devices confidently to explore different topics. For example, children act as detectives to find out about aliens. This range of activities also enables children to improve their fine and gross motor skills.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

Governors have a wide range of skills. They use them to challenge and support school leaders. They understand the pupils’ needs and the barriers to their learning. Governors understand the local community and changes in the local demographic. The school roll is falling because fewer children are entering the early years. You and your leaders, including governors, are aware of the issue.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

The areas identified for improvement at the previous inspection have been successfully addressed. The progress of children in the early years is checked accurately, and leaders use this information to tailor their curriculum offer. Adults in lessons use targeted questioning to assess pupils’ understanding; they act on this and support pupils, as required. In pupils’ books, progress in writing was seen. For example, handwriting shows consistent improvement.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Safeguarding documents are well managed, and senior leaders and governors check records frequently. Leaders and governors are trained in safer recruitment and ensure that only suitable adults have contact with pupils at the school.

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Short inspection of Oxford Gardens Primary School

Pupils told me that they feel safe at school. They told me that adults make sure they are safe at breaktimes and when on school trips. They understand the need to stay safe online, and know what the school does to keep them safe. In lessons, pupils learn procedures to follow if they are concerned about internet content.

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Inspection findings

 At our initial meeting, we agreed four lines of enquiry. The first was based on the school’s support for its pupils and local community, prior to and since the Grenfell Tower fire. This was agreed because the fire had a significant impact on the lives of pupils at the school.  Your leaders understand that before pupils are ready to learn, they routinely need a certain level of social and emotional stability. Therefore, leaders, prior to the Grenfell Tower fire, had in place measures to support pupils and their families, including counselling sessions and welfare support. In the aftermath of the fire, because of the support available and already in place, leaders were able to mobilise experts to help families.  Immediately following the Grenfell Tower fire, the school galvanised the wider school community. Leaders appreciated that, for its pupils and families, the school was a place of safety and support and needed to remain open. The local

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Inspection findings

authority responded quickly to ensure that leaders were equipped to provide the support needed by the school community. Longer-term milestones are considered as positives. For example, ‘six months stronger’ reflects how the local community has moved on and how much stronger it is since the tragedy. Leaders continue to support families who are without permanent homes.  The second line of enquiry was based on outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in reading at key stage 2. This was agreed because, recently, this group made less progress than in their other core subjects.  You recognised the inconsistencies in outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in reading and established a working party that includes a cross section of staff. This resulted in a shared approach to improve reading outcomes. The group researched successful approaches for reading at similar schools, locally and nationally. As a result, middle leaders have implemented changes to the teaching

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Inspection findings

of reading. This has led to alterations to the school timetable so as to increase pupils’ exposure to reading. New guided reading texts are more relevant and interesting to pupils. Local authors address pupils, and engage them in new and richer texts. Training for teachers reflects the group’s findings, and practice is now consistent across the school.  Pupils in key stage 1 learn well because leaders have the highest expectations for them. They understand genres of writing. Pupils can explain the differences between fiction, including poems, and non-fiction, such as newspaper articles. Pupils learn about the world through a rich range of reading activities. In lessons, pupils learn about the differences between sea water and tap water, for example.  Pupils’ progress in reading is improving for all groups. When listening to readers, disadvantaged pupils read to the same standard as their peers. Reading diaries

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Inspection findings

have raised the profile of reading. Pupils and parents are encouraged to complete these diaries and monitor improvements in pupils’ reading. When pupils find it difficult to read at home, teachers and support staff take on that role so that pupils do not miss out. Through carefully targeted support, disadvantaged pupils perform as well as their peers.  The third line of enquiry centred on outcomes in the early years. This was identified because attainment in the early years has shown consistent improvement.  In the well-resourced indoor and outdoor areas, children choose activities that mostly contain numeracy and literacy elements. In Reception classes, children used clocks to relate their daily routines to the time of day, thus learning about the chronology of their lives. Work in books shows progress towards academic targets. Children make progress in recognising three-dimensional shapes, and were able to classify cubes and spheres.

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Inspection findings

 Our final line of enquiry centred on pupils’ attendance. This was selected because recent attendance rates have been below national levels.  Leaders appreciate that high attendance is vital. The work of learning mentors has had positive outcomes, including improvements in attendance and a reduction in fixed-term exclusions. Staff escort some pupils to school from their homes, hence, attendance for a number of pupils has improved. Recently, overall attendance has improved, but is not yet in line with the national rate.

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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

 the emphasis on parental engagement continues to have a positive impact on pupils’ attendance.

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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 Kensington and Chelsea. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I looked at a range of pupils’ work, together with leaders. You accompanied me on visits to classes, where we observed teaching and learning, spoke with pupils and looked at their work. I examined a range of documentation relating to safeguarding, including the single central register. I scrutinised Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Parent View (16 responses), and associated commentary (12 comments), as well as responses to the staff survey (27 responses) and pupil survey (42 responses). I spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day and had a meeting with the chair of governors. I examined the school’s website, and reviewed information about pupils’ progress, attainment and attendance. I also considered the school’s evaluation of how well it is doing, its improvement priorities and assessment information for current pupils.

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