Drew Primary School

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

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Mrs Emma Peltier Executive Headteacher Drew Primary School Wythes Road Silvertown London E16 2DP

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 10 July 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in December 2012.

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Short inspection of Drew 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 Drew Primary School

There is much to celebrate about this school, not least the way in which the entire school community has embraced its aspirational motto, ‘Learning today for tomorrow’s world’. Drew Primary School has improved in leaps and bounds under your dynamic leadership. The multi-academy trust, governors, staff and pupils value your drive and ambition. You have created a school culture based on the highest aspirations for what staff and pupils can achieve. Governors use their knowledge and expertise to good effect and have a positive impact on school improvement. They support and challenge leaders by asking pertinent questions about teaching, learning and pupils’ progress.

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

Leaders at all levels are aware of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Senior leaders, governors and trustees are united by a common purpose. All work together to implement whole-school strategies for improvement. Nearly all staff who responded to the survey agreed that they feel proud to work at the school. They also agreed that leaders do all they can to ensure that the school has a motivated, well-respected and effective workforce. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum is broad, exciting and taught to a high standard. Specialist teachers for music, modern foreign languages and sport set high expectations for these subjects. The leaders of English and mathematics have an accurate understanding of their subjects and the areas which require further improvement. They speak knowledgeably about what they are doing to address weaknesses they have identified. They evaluate fully the impact their actions are

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

having on the quality of teaching and learning and on improving pupils’ outcomes in their subjects. As leaders acknowledge, pupils have insufficient opportunities to extend their writing skills across the curriculum.

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

Pupils thrive in the very positive environment created by teachers and leaders. The school’s focus on developing pupils’ love of learning, strengthening their resilience and showing kindness to others is seen in all aspects of its work. Across year groups and subjects, pupils appreciate that learning might be hard, but it is also worthwhile and enriching. They are stimulated by the challenging topics they study. Pupils are also enthused by additional opportunities provided by the school. These are carefully planned so that they link closely with the topics studied in class, providing extra insights and bringing the subject matter to life.

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

Across the school, teachers and teaching assistants have high expectations for what pupils can achieve. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are making strong progress towards the targets in their individual plans. The previous inspection identified that teachers should plan lessons which consistently challenge all pupils, particularly the most able, so that more pupils reach the higher national expectations. In 2017 and 2018, the proportion of Year 6 pupils reaching expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics exceeded those found nationally. Your accurate self-evaluation has identified that increasing the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard remains a priority.

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

Leaders work closely with families to encourage and establish strong attendance. Attendance is also good because pupils want to come to school to learn. Nearly all parents who completed Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, said that they would recommend the school to other parents. One parent, summing up the views of many, said, ‘I am very happy with my children’s progress at this school and I recommend it to parents at every opportunity I get. They do not only teach them well, but also provide appropriate resources for parents to also help their children continue the learning cycle at home.’

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

The designated safeguarding lead has clear oversight of the systems and processes in place to protect children. She coordinates a wider team which understands its roles and responsibilities well. All members of the wider safeguarding team have received enhanced training, reflecting their responsibilities, and they communicate frequently to discuss any concerns that arise. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

The school carries out the required checks on adults who work or volunteer in the school. Training is carried out regularly, including on the ‘Prevent’ duty. Staff I spoke to knew exactly what to do if they had worries about a pupil. The school has clear systems to record concerns. All staff listen to and act on any concerns, doing the right things to safeguard children, drawing on advice from social services.

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

Pupils told me that they feel safe in school. Pupils are clear about what they should do if they have any concerns in school. They know they will be listened to by staff and that appropriate action will be taken. Your focus on empowering pupils to be responsible for their own behaviour and to consider how they will respond to the behaviour of others is effective. The pupils who spoke to me confirmed this.

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Short inspection of Drew Primary School

Trustees, through their scheme of delegation, often check that the school’s safeguarding procedures are appropriate. Trustees’ and governors’ overview of the school’s safeguarding procedures and practice is very effective.

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Inspection findings

 During this inspection, I reviewed the progress of children in the early years. This is because the number of children achieving good levels of development in 2018 was slightly below the national averages. Children’s skills on entry to the school vary considerably. Some children are ready to take on new challenges of learning, but others have not developed the language or social skills typical for their age.  Teaching in the early years uses both the indoor and outdoor spaces well to engage children in interesting and challenging activities. Children in the early years work well together in groups and also independently. Leaders have developed the curriculum so that children work together on projects to broaden their vocabulary and knowledge of the world. This is contributing to an increase in the number of children achieving good levels of development by the time they leave the Reception classes, as seen in the 2019 outcomes.

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Inspection findings

 Second, I reviewed the teaching of reading in key stage 1. This was because the standards achieved by Year 2 pupils in 2018 were not as strong in reading as they were in writing and mathematics.  Leaders recognised that there needed to be a greater focus on developing pupils’ higher-order reading skills, such as making inferences and deductions from reading a text. You have rightly reviewed your teaching strategies and introduced new ways of developing pupils’ understanding. As well as concentrating on the development of pupils’ fluency in reading, you have worked effectively to motivate pupils so that they want to read. This has been done, for example, by ensuring that the curriculum includes more real-life experiences such as educational visits. These new approaches, alongside the closer monitoring of pupils’ progress in reading, have resulted in a significant increase in the number of children achieving in line with age-related expectations in reading in 2019.

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Inspection findings

 Third, I reviewed the progress made by boys in writing by the end of Year 6. In 2018, a lower proportion of boys than girls achieved the higher standard in writing, while boys attained as well as girls in reading and mathematics.  The school has responded effectively to this and introduced a literacy and language programme. This encourages boys to write, for example about local and national issues which they are able to relate to. In addition, you have regular meetings with teachers to address support plans for boys who are underachieving, and this has resulted in better-focused support for them. This is contributing well to the progress boys are making in their writing.  Finally, I looked at the progress made by the most able disadvantaged pupils across the school. This was because published assessment information for outcomes in key stages 1 and 2 in 2018 had indicated that these pupils’ progress

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Inspection findings

in reading, writing and mathematics was below that of other pupils nationally.  I observed the most able disadvantaged pupils participating in class discussion and engaging in their learning. The work in books showed that they are as keen as their peers to act on the advice of their teachers and improve their work. In addition, you have also introduced one-to-one meetings between these pupils and their teachers to identify and respond to any barriers to learning. The school’s data shows that gaps in achievement between disadvantaged and non- disadvantaged pupils are closing.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  pupils are expected to use and apply their writing skills across subjects more often  pupils are given more opportunities for reasoning and to solve word problems in mathematics.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the local governing body and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, 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

I carried out the following activities during the inspection: a scrutiny of the single central record, recruitment checks and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection, including the school’s safeguarding policy and other policies relating to governance, pupils’ behaviour and attendance; meetings with the executive headteacher, other senior leaders, the chief executive officer of the multi- academy trust, the vice-chair of the local governing body and one other governor; a review of the school’s self-evaluation documents and improvement plans; observations of learning across the school, and a scrutiny of work in pupils’ writing, mathematics and wider curriculum books; observations of pupils in a range of situations, including at break and lunchtime; and conversations with a group of pupils, and with pupils in lessons, in the playground and in the dining hall. I took into account six parental responses to the free-text facility in Parent View, 27

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Information about the inspection

responses to the pupil questionnaire and 26 responses to the staff survey.

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