Southwood Primary School

Southwood Primary School Keppel Road, Dagenham, Essex RM9 5LT

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 By the end of key stage 2, pupils’ progress in reading and mathematics is not yet strong enough. Pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2 has been below the national average for the last two years.  Opportunities for lower-ability children in the Reception Year to write independently are inconsistent. Staff in the early years do not monitor children’s mathematical skills consistently well.  Lower-attaining pupils in key stage 2 are not supported well enough and do not receive sufficient challenge in their learning.  Teaching is too variable and, at times, planned activities do not match pupils’ learning needs. Opportunities to develop pupils’ problem- solving and reasoning skills are inconsistent.  Pupils are not always well supported to choose reading books that support their fluency and confidence in reading.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The proportion of children who achieve a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year is in line with the national average.  Phonics is taught well. Most pupils meet the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check.  Attainment is rising in key stage 1 and is above the national figure for reading and mathematics.  Pupils who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan make good progress from their individual starting points.  Leaders, including governors, know their school well and have identified the areas requiring urgent improvement.  Parents and carers, as well as pupils, report that they have strong confidence in the headteacher and the senior leadership team.  The additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is spent wisely and current pupils are making improved progress.  Leaders’ commitment to pupils’ social and emotional well-being is a key strength of the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ outcomes and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that: – lower-attaining children in the Reception Year have greater opportunities to write independently – children’s mathematical skills are monitored carefully in the Reception Year to ensure strong progress over time – all pupils have greater opportunities to rehearse and apply number skills in all year groups – mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills are taught consistently well – pupils’ reading choices are skilfully guided to ensure confidence and fluency at the appropriate level.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that: – assessment information is understood by all staff and used appropriately to match activities to the learning needs of pupils – progress made by the lower-attaining pupils improves and is monitored rigorously – variability in teaching is reduced and expectations are raised to improve pupils’

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Parents, staff and governors report high levels of confidence in the leadership of the headteacher and the senior leadership team.  Senior leaders, including governors, have a realistic understanding of school self- evaluation and understand the need for urgent action to raise standards of attainment in key stage 2.  The formal partnership of local schools to which the school belongs offers strong capacity to reduce variability in the quality of teaching and to improve pupils’ outcomes.  Senior leaders have identified the key areas for school development. However, monitoring and evaluation procedures require greater rigour to include all areas of the curriculum.  Leaders have introduced new assessment procedures to raise expectations and improve pupils’ outcomes. This assessment information is not always shared with all leaders to ensure that lower-attaining pupils are challenged and supported across key

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

stage 2.  Leaders have reviewed the reading, writing and mathematics curriculum to ensure that there is a clear sequence in the skills and knowledge being taught across year groups. Changes are relatively new and will take time to become established. However, some improvements are already being seen in pupils’ outcomes for mathematics at the end of key stage 2.  Pupils have regular opportunities to develop scientific enquiry skills and they are confident when discussing their predictions and findings. Pupils demonstrate an improving scientific knowledge and clear progress is evident between year groups.  Leaders have introduced a wider curriculum that has clear structure to develop a wide range of knowledge and skills across subjects. Links have been made between reading and humanities, and specialist teaching in music, physical education and Spanish has improved the quality of learning.  The additional funding the school receives to support disadvantaged pupils is being

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

spent wisely. Current disadvantaged pupils are making improved progress due to a wide range of additional support that is available.  The school’s commitment to pastoral support and pupils’ well-being is having a strong impact on meeting the needs of vulnerable families. The provision for social and emotional well-being is a key strength of the school.  Leaders have been successful in raising expectations and improving outcomes for children in the early years and key stage 1. Leaders are committed to building on these improvements in key stage 2.

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Governance of the school

 Governors are knowledgeable and know their school well through regular visits.  Governors understand the need for urgency in school improvement. They present effective challenge and ask the right questions to hold leaders to account.  The curriculum and finance committees have strong oversight. Governors have asked for improved reporting from school leaders to track the progress of groups of pupils from their starting points.  Governors ensure that the additional pupil premium and sport development funding is spent wisely.  Governors check leaders’ actions well through effective performance management procedures. They fulfil all their statutory responsibilities.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  All staff have received training and regular updates on keeping children safe. Staff are aware of the potential risks to pupils and they are vigilant in reporting concerns to the safeguarding team.  The designated safeguarding lead works closely with the local authority to make referrals when necessary. These are followed through effectively and the school’s records and ongoing monitoring procedures are rigorous.  Leaders have a sharp focus on pupils’ well-being. A wide range of therapeutic support is in place, including play therapy, nurture groups and sensory integration. This emphasis on pupils’ social, emotional and mental health has a positive effect on pupils’ behaviour, boosts their confidence and builds their self-esteem.  The school’s home-school support worker develops strong parental partnerships and works with vulnerable families to signpost them to local support services.

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Safeguarding

 School leaders have worked with local police and community officers to deliver workshops and assemblies on the dangers of gangs, knife crime and drugs in the local community. This has raised pupils’ awareness of the potential risks in the community and the need to stay safe outside school.  Safer recruitment employment checks on staff are thorough and are recorded clearly on the school’s single central record.  All risk assessments are detailed and ensure that all on-site activities and off-site educational visits are safe.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching is improving, particularly in key stage 1, but it is still too variable across the school. Where learning is strong, teachers’ questioning is effective and planned activities are well matched to pupils’ needs.  Assessment information is not used consistently across key stage 2 to guide future learning. Planned activities sometimes lack challenge and are often too easy. Misconceptions in pupils’ learning are not always identified and addressed well enough.  Teaching assistants provide effective support for lower-attaining pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in the additional interventions delivered outside of the classrooms.  Improvements in teaching have enabled disadvantaged pupils across the school to make improved progress. A wide range of therapeutic support is in place to meet their learning needs and to support their confidence, self-esteem and well-being.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Phonics is taught well and pupils are increasingly confident when using their knowledge of sounds to support their reading. Pupils’ outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 1 show strong improvement and pupils score highly in the Year 1 phonics screening check.  Pupils enjoy learning a modern foreign language and Spanish is taught well. Pupils show high levels of enthusiasm and are increasingly confident in their use of spoken Spanish.  Opportunities for pupils to rehearse and recall number skills, particularly in key stage 2, are inconsistent. This impacts on pupils’ confidence and fluency and results in marked inconsistencies in reasoning and problem-solving between classes.  Writing opportunities across the wider curriculum in key stage 2 are underdeveloped. Teachers do not always guide pupils’ reading choices well enough to develop pupils’ fluency and understanding. Sometimes, reading materials are not sufficiently

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

challenging for pupils.  Leaders recognise that vocabulary is of fundamental importance to reading and writing development. A clear focus on the comprehension skills of retrieval, inference and deduction has been introduced to support pupils’ understanding of text. Vocabulary, spelling and grammar are taught systematically across year groups to enable urgent and rapid improvement for all pupils.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils report that they feel safe in school and are well cared for. Pupils know who to approach for help and feel that they are listened to and their views are acted upon.  Parents report that their children enjoy coming to school and relationships between staff and children are warm, supportive and positive.  Pupils are proud of their school and are fully engaged in their learning. They take care in the presentation of their work to ensure that it is of their neatest standard. Pupils are very keen to please their teachers and are easily motivated.  Leaders show a strong commitment to pupils’ well-being. Play therapy, nurture rooms and well-being groups support pupils’ social, emotional and mental health, behaviour regulation, confidence and self-esteem.  The school’s parent support adviser, alongside the social inclusion team, has developed

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Personal development and welfare

strong relationships with families. This has developed trust and has had a strong impact on reducing the levels of absence and fixed-term exclusions.  Pupils are aware of healthy eating choices and the need to exercise to stay fit. Leaders use the additional sport funding wisely to provide additional sporting activities for all pupils.  Pupils respect differences and show consideration to the views and feelings of others. Assemblies and displays reflect the rich cultural diversity of the local community.  The school’s core values of ‘dream, believe, achieve, nurture and experience’ motivate and inspire pupils to become ambitious about their futures. The school’s ethos is warm, affirming and inclusive.  Pupils are motivated and inspired by the school’s commitment to the 50 experiences that each pupil will experience, for example a residential visit to Wales, a visit to the theatre and regular visits to museums and galleries. Creativity is further celebrated

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Personal development and welfare

through classroom partnerships with national and local providers, such as The Tate Modern and Bow Arts.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive and classrooms are calm and purposeful.  Pupils are polite and courteous to each other and incidents of name-calling, swearing and bullying are rare. Pupils reported that any concerns are dealt with appropriately.  Supervision at breaktime and lunchtime is effective and first-aid records show that accidents are dealt with sensitively. All risk assessments are in place to ensure that on- site play activities are safe for pupils.  Parents reported that senior leaders work closely with families when rare incidents of poor behaviour occur. Leaders make themselves available to meet with parents and to support pupils’ emotional well-being. The nurture room is available at playtimes for any pupils who are feeling vulnerable or in need of a quiet space.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 In 2018, progress made by pupils in reading across key stage 2 was well below average and in the lowest 10% of schools nationally. Progress in mathematics was significantly below the national average and in the lowest 20% of schools nationally. Progress in writing was average.  In 2018, the progress made by disadvantaged pupils was significantly below average.  Standards at the end of key stage 2 have been below the national averages for the last two years. The proportions of pupils that achieved the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics are well below the national averages.  Planned activities in the wider curriculum sometimes lack challenge and outcomes in pupils’ books show wide variability between classes and year groups. Opportunities are missed for pupils to apply their key skills in English and mathematics across the curriculum.  Lower-attaining pupils in key stage 2 do not make sufficient progress.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Pupils who have an EHC plan are taught effectively and are well supported by teaching assistants. These pupils make good progress from their individual starting points.  Pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 1 is improving. Outcomes in reading and mathematics at the expected standard are above the national averages and in line with the national average for writing.  The proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check is in line with the national average.

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Early years provision Good

 From their low on-entry starting points, children make good progress throughout the early years. The proportion of children attaining the expected standard at the end of the Reception Year is in line with the national average.  Good teaching in the early years enables children to make rapid progress in early reading, early writing and number. However, opportunities for children, particularly lower-attaining children, to rehearse and apply their phonics sounds within independent writing are inconsistent.  Phonics is taught well and children make strong progress in their reading, using their knowledge of initial sounds well. Children are able to blend two- and three-letter sounds to segment and decode unfamiliar words.  Children are eager to learn and listen enthusiastically to stories being read to them. Teachers use strong questioning skills to encourage children to develop their vocabulary, for example through speaking and listening activities. Children speak

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Early years provision Good

confidently about characters, descriptions and the sequence of events within stories.  Children are confident in writing about much-loved stories and will increasingly use initial sounds, blends and whole sentences in their writing. Most-able children write with confidence and increasing stamina to produce longer pieces of work.  Children behave well in the Nursery and Reception classes. Classroom environments, both indoors and outdoors, are attractive and safe places in which to learn. Children have access to large apparatus to extend their physical skills. Children are encouraged to share and to take turns, and all activities are well supported by all staff, who support children’s language skills as they play.  Children’s progress is tracked through ‘learning journals’. However, the progress of children’s mathematical development is not monitored with the same rigour as that of early reading and early writing. Opportunities for children to apply their number skills in

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Early years provision Good

mathematical tasks to reinforce and extend their learning are not always effective.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address headteacher@southwood.bardaglea.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11–12 November 2015

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The school has a greater proportion of disadvantaged pupils than the national average.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is broadly in line with the national average.  There is a breakfast club and after-school provision that are managed by the school.  The school is part of a formal partnership of eight local maintained schools.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited classrooms to observe learning and to speak with pupils about their work.  Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ books from each year group to assess pupils’ progress.  The lead inspector met with the headteacher to discuss school self-evaluation and school development planning.  A wide range of documentation was scrutinised. This included the school’s self- evaluation, school development plans, assessment information, risk assessments and medical records.  An inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and the headteacher to discuss safeguarding procedures. An inspector viewed the school’s single central record of employment checks on staff.  Leaders met with inspectors to discuss the impact of their work on school improvement.  Inspectors heard pupils read and talked to pupils to seek their views on the school.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes.

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Information about this inspection

 A meeting was held with the chair of governors and five other governors. The lead inspector also had a telephone conversation with the school improvement adviser.  Inspectors spoke with parents informally at the beginning of the day and took into account the 59 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors considered the 60 replies to Ofsted’s free-text service and the 30 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Tom Canning, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sahreen Siddiqui Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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