Crawford Primary School

Inspection of Crawford Primary School Crawford Road, London SE5 9NF

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding 3–4 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school community, including pupils, parents, carers and staff, told us that there is something ‘special’ about Crawford. Pupils are very positive about their learning, particularly in subjects such as history, geography and writing. We saw that pupils come into school with a sense of purpose so that lessons start promptly. Children settle well when they join the early years, which provides them with a safe and positive start to their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

It was clear to us that adults have high expectations of pupils’ conduct and achievement. Pupils have high expectations of themselves and their peers. Pupils show tremendous respect and tolerance for each other in lessons and around the school. They told us that teachers help them to reflect on their behaviour. Staff, pupils and governors are extremely positive about the house points system. They explained that it brings a shared sense of teamwork to the school community. Pupils are proud of their school uniform. They take responsibility for behaving exceptionally well because they do not want to let their team down.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils insisted that bullying is rare because they all follow the rules. Older pupils are trained to help deal with disagreements and sort out any problems between friends. Pupils were confident that the school’s rules and values support them to be safe and happy and do the right thing. They trust their teachers to help and protect them.

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better?

All leaders, including governors, are ambitious for pupils and have been highly effective at designing what pupils should learn. Subject planning is well developed across key stages 1 and 2 and provides pupils with a range of experiences that broaden their horizons. Subjects such as history and geography are exceptionally well planned and well taught. Consequently, all pupils are interested in their learning and remember a lot of relevant knowledge from the topics they have studied. For example, when pupils in Year 5 learn about the plague, they are able to build on the knowledge they gained in Year 2 about The Great Fire of London. Planning is not quite as thorough across subjects in the early years. For example, activities and resources do not consistently reflect topics as well as they could.

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better?

Leaders introduced a new approach to teaching mathematics. These changes have resulted in pupils achieving well in Years 1, 2 and 3. However, older pupils have not learned mathematics in the same way. Consequently, some pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 have gaps in their mathematical knowledge. In most cases, teachers correctly identify when pupils need more support and provide appropriate extra help. However, a few pupils find work too hard because they do not have the underlying knowledge and skills needed to tackle it.

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better?

Leaders and staff focus on teaching children to read right from the start of the Nursery Year. Staff model correct pronunciation and give children different ways to 3–4 October 2019

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remember the essential skills they need in order to read. Leaders have successfully established a love of reading throughout the school. Visits to the library are met with pupils’ whoops of delight. Older pupils talk confidently about the books they are reading, what types of books they prefer and why reading is such an important life skill.

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Pupils in all year groups have extremely positive attitudes to learning. Lessons run very smoothly. Pupils show resilience in their learning and recognise that this helps them to improve because they do not give up.

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We heard about the impressive range of enrichment activities. Leaders ensure that these are accessed equally by all pupils. Pupils thrive on the opportunities they get for personal development. For example, on a recent ‘democracy day’ pupils voted for one of their peers to become ‘prime minister’. Along with an elected ‘member of parliament’ from each class, the prime minister accompanied school leaders to see what learning was like and where improvements could be made.

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Leaders, including governors, are fully committed to providing excellent learning opportunities for all, including those who join the school part way through their primary education. However, a few pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve less well than they could because work is not adjusted for them precisely enough.

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Leaders are exceptionally mindful of staff workload. Staff have nothing but praise for the way leaders consider their well-being. They describe working here as feeling like part of one big family, with pupils at the heart of it.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There are strong systems in place for keeping pupils safe. For example, the administration of first aid and the provision for pupils with medical needs are very well organised. Checks on the suitability of adults who work at or visit the school are thorough. Leaders ensure that training is relevant and regular. Staff have a high level of awareness of what to do if they have any concerns. It was clear to us that a culture of vigilance for pupils’ safety and well-being is well established throughout the school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The mathematics curriculum is exceptionally strong in key stage 1. To strengthen it further in Years 4, 5 and 6, leaders must continue to support teachers to identify and bridge gaps in pupils’ prior learning.  The vast majority of pupils learn well. However, there are a few pupils with SEND 3–4 October 2019

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who do not do as well as they could. This is because the curriculum is not always sufficiently refined to meet their needs optimally. Leaders need to continue to hone staff’s expertise to ensure that targets, resources and other support for these pupils are always highly appropriate.  Leaders need to continue to refine planning across the early years so that activities and resources fully reflect topics.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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.

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How can I feed back my views?

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

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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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. 3–4 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110491 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair Charles Asher and Alexandra Cambouris (Co-chairs) Headteacher Haley Foxworthy (Acting headteacher) Laleh Laverick and Susan Holt (Executive headteachers) Website www.gipsyhillfederation.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12–13 March 2013

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Gipsy Hill Federation of schools.  There have been several changes in leadership since the previous inspection.  Far more pupils join the school at times other than the beginning of Reception Year than is the case nationally. A number of these pupils are at the very early stages of learning English.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

 We held meetings with leaders at all levels, pupils, governors, a representative of the local authority and a wide range of staff. We also spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day.  As part of this inspection, we did deep dives in these subjects: reading, writing, mathematics, history and geography. For each of these subjects, we had 3–4 October 2019

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discussions with subject leaders, visited lessons, met with pupils to talk about their learning, and looked at the work pupils have produced in their books. We listened to pupils read.  We looked at a range of documents related to safeguarding and child protection, talked to pupils to gain their perspective on safety, and spoke to a range of staff to check their knowledge and understanding of the school’s safeguarding procedures.  We looked at written records of behaviour issues and attendance figures and spoke to pupils, staff, governors and parents about behaviour.

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Inspection team

Jeanie Jovanova, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lando Du Plooy Ofsted Inspector 3–4 October 2019

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