The Greville Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Greville Primary School Stonny Croft, Bramley Way, Ashtead, Surrey KT21 1SH

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Outcome

The Greville Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to school and rise to meet adults’ high expectations. Pupils brim with excitement about the many different activities that happen in a school day. They enjoy learning because teachers make it fun. There is something to interest everyone. For example, pupils care for the school chickens, enjoy their fencing club and learn first aid skills.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave very well. They listen carefully to their teachers and each other. Classrooms are calm places and pupils work hard. Pupils understand the school’s values of ‘inspire, nurture, achieve’ and adhere to these impressively. Pupils say that bullying is extremely rare, and that staff always help them with any worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. Staff know pupils very well. High levels of care and support allow pupils to flourish, including those who have had difficult experiences elsewhere. There is a strong sense of community across the school, with staff and parents working together as part of the ‘The Greville family’ for the benefit of all pupils. They have raised money for the new all-weather pitch and extra seating in the school hall, to enrich pupils’ physical activity and ensure that visitors are comfortably accommodated at the school’s many musical events.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders, staff and governors have high ambitions for all pupils to achieve well and enjoy school. They are determined that learning should be fun and memorable, so provide pupils with a broad and interesting curriculum. Overall, standards are high and published results are above national averages. Staff work in newly formed teams. They are now starting to consider how lessons in subjects other than English and mathematics are planned. This is to ensure that pupils’ learning is sensibly sequenced. Leaders recognise they need to check the impact of recent changes to the curriculum, so any necessary actions can be picked up swiftly. 15–16 October 2019

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Leaders make sure that reading is a top priority. Leaders have acted quickly following the dip in the 2019 national reading tests at the end of key stage 2. They have implemented appropriate initiatives to improve the teaching of reading.

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Staff have been well trained in the newly introduced teaching programme for phonics (letters and the sounds they represent). They show a growing confidence when teaching reading to the youngest pupils. Across all classes, teachers skilfully select texts to develop pupils’ love of reading. This approach also improves pupils’ vocabulary and comprehension skills. The well-stocked infant and junior libraries provide pupils with access to books by a wide range of different authors. Pupils listen with rapt attention to the stories that teachers read them at the end of the school day.

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The curriculum is not limited to academic subjects. Pupils are busy. Their learning is brought alive by exciting trips. They enjoy a vast number of wide-ranging activities that take place during and after the school day. These clubs are made available to everyone, for example pupils learn a musical instrument or sing in the two school choirs. A significant number of pupils participate in many sporting competitions and clubs such as hockey, cricket and gymnastics. The carefully planned residential trips across key stage 2 develop pupils’ confidence and resilience. The many opportunities on offer mean that pupils are well equipped, both socially and academically, as they move on to the next stage of their education.

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Leaders hold the same high ambitions for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders ensure that support staff and teachers are well trained so that this group of pupils receive the right academic and emotional support to help them learn successfully.

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Children in early years are settled and happy. They understand the rules, respond confidently to routines and play well together. They listen to stories and successfully start to learn to read, write and learn mathematics. Staff plan some interesting activities to engage children’s interests. However, the way staff speak with the children during activities does not always help them to learn. Leaders are putting in place appropriate support to strengthen this aspect of the school’s provision further.

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Leaders and governors act with great integrity and want the very best for every pupil. Staff, including those new to the profession, feel well supported by leaders and are proud to work at the school. One member of staff, echoing the views of many, commented that ‘The Greville is a supportive, creative, inspiring and exciting place to work.’ Parents are overwhelmingly positive about their children’s school experience. Many single out the headteacher and senior leaders for praise, saying that their children ‘always look forward to finding out what each day will bring’.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff are up to date with their safeguarding knowledge. Staff are alert for signs that may mean a pupil is worried. They know how to report any concerns they 15–16 October 2019

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may have. Leaders follow these up promptly and tenaciously. This ensures that pupils and their families get the support they need.

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Leaders carefully carry out all pre-employment checks. They make sure that the very high number of volunteers who come into the school undergo the required checks.

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Leaders are not complacent about safeguarding matters and check that their practice is maintained at the highest level by sensibly commissioning external audits.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Children’s learning in early years is not routinely extended. Staff in early years should check children’s understanding and use well-considered questions and activities to better develop children’s learning.  Pupils’ learning in the foundation subjects is not coherently sequenced to enable pupils to know and remember their learning. Teachers should ensure that curriculum plans for these subjects contain the knowledge that pupils should know, and consider the order in which they should learn it.  Having made some substantial recent changes, leaders are not yet checking the impact of these to the teaching of foundation subjects across the school. They should check that pupils understand and remember their learning so that any actions needed to secure the intended improvement can be quickly followed up.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged The Greville Primary School to be good on 20–21 September 2010.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 15–16 October 2019

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 15–16 October 2019

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 March 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school. The school has expanded since the last inspection. There are two classes in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. There are four classes in each of the other year groups.  The proportion of pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is below the national average.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders and subject leaders.  Inspectors began the evaluation of the quality of education by looking in detail at the teaching of reading, mathematics and history. Inspectors discussed curriculum design with leaders, carried out lesson visits, scrutinised pupils work and spoke to pupils and teachers from lessons visited.  The effectiveness of safeguarding was considered. The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and his deputy. The school’s single central record was reviewed. 15–16 October 2019

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 The lead inspector met with three governors including the chair of governors.  The lead inspector held a telephone call with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors considered the views of 58 members of staff who responded to Ofsted’s online staff survey as well as one letter from a member of staff. The lead inspector met formally with a group of teaching and support staff during the inspection.  Inspectors took account of the 252 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey including 252 free-text responses. Inspectors also took account of a letter from a parent.  Inspectors took account of the 136 responses of Ofsted’s online pupil survey and met with groups of pupils during the inspection to gather their views.

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Inspection team

Frances Nation, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda Appleby Ofsted Inspector 15–16 October 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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