Olga Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Olga Primary School Lanfranc Road, Bow, London E3 5DN

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 November 2021

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Outcome

Olga Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and confident. They enjoy school, behave well and work hard. This is because staff have high expectations of them, and routines are clear. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and respectful. Pupils understand the importance of emotional health and talking about their feelings. This makes pupils feel safe at school and they trust adults to sort out any problems that might occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school and enjoy representing it in the local community. For example, the choir has performed at the O2 and for the Roman Road Trust. Pupils have visited different local places of worship and have planted daffodils in Victoria Park. Pupils understand the importance of physical health. They explain how they enjoy managing the ‘edible playground’ and using the produce they have grown to cook school lunch.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum has been designed to help pupils learn important knowledge and vocabulary. Pupils do this successfully in most subjects and produce work of a good quality. However, there are areas where this is less well developed. As a result, pupils do not always practise important ideas or learn key vocabulary, so they struggle to learn more difficult ideas later on.

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

Pupils enjoy reading and being read to. They talk confidently about different authors and their books. Leaders are ambitious for pupils to develop as accurate and motivated readers. In Nursery and Reception, children are taught early sounds and develop their vocabulary quickly. This helps them learn to read more difficult sounds and words. Pupils read fluently because phonics is well taught, and they are given sufficient time to practise their reading. Pupils who struggle to read are helped to catch up by staff who have been well trained to support them. The books these pupils read are well matched to the sounds they have learned. This means they read with growing confidence and fluency. 17 and 18 November 2021

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The curriculum matches the scope and content of the national curriculum. In all subjects, leaders have identified the important knowledge they want pupils to learn. The curriculum in most subjects has been organised so that pupils return to and practise learning these important aspects. This helps them to manage more difficult work later. For example, in mathematics, pupils calculate equivalent fractions because they have learned and understood the concept of factors and multiples. Similarly, pupils understand how to move and pass when playing hockey because they have practised this before.

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However, some subject plans do not make clear the steps needed to help pupils learn and remember key knowledge. As a result, pupils do not always return to and practise the right things. This makes it difficult for them to remember what they need when tackling more difficult learning. For example, in physical education (PE), pupils struggle to combine basic dance skills into a performance because these were not embedded.

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Staff expect pupils to develop as confident speakers. The curriculum has been designed to include the words pupils should learn and remember in each subject. For example, older pupils can solve problems because their mathematical language has been well developed. This starts in the Nursery where, for example, children learn the describe the position of different objects. Similarly, in science, pupils can explain ideas about evolution because they have learned vocabulary to describe animals, climates and habitats. However, staff use of vocabulary is not entirely consistent. This means some pupils in a small number of subjects develop misconceptions or do not develop as wide a range of vocabulary.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified quickly. They are supported to benefit from a full curriculum by recognising and communicating what they need with increasing independence. Many do this effectively, accessing the support they need to learn. This helps them to interact positively with the curriculum and their peers.

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Pupils behave sensibly in lessons. They engage positively with their learning and with each other. Pupils understand what bullying is and feel confident to talk to adults about it if it should occur. They are confident that staff would help resolve any issues.

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Pupils benefit from attending after-school activities that develop and extend their interests in sport, music, science, gardening and debating. Pupils enjoy taking on extra responsibilities such as being members of the school council or sports coaches. Pupils understand the importance and value of diversity through the books they read and the curriculum they learn.

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Staff enjoy working at Olga. They feel well supported to develop in their professional roles. They feel their workload is well managed and that their ideas and views are taken on board by school leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff understand their role in reporting concerns about pupils’ safety. Leaders act on these concerns promptly. This means pupils receive the support they need from the school and 17 and 18 November 2021

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other professionals. The curriculum helps pupils understand how to stay safe. For example, pupils have participated in workshops about the risks of knife crime and gang affiliation. They have also learned about appropriate language to use when talking to or about others. This means that pupils are confident about how to keep themselves safe, including when online. Almost all parents who completed the online survey agree their children are kept safe at school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have designed a curriculum that identifies the knowledge and vocabulary pupils should learn. However, not all subject plans make clear the steps needed to help pupils learn effectively. As a result, pupils sometimes struggle with more complex ideas. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum in all subjects is broken down into clear steps. They should also ensure that key knowledge and skills are embedded in pupils’ memories before more complex tasks are attempted.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 are the school and you are 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. 17 and 18 November 2021

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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. 17 and 18 November 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10204478 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 and 2 December 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Olga Primary School is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  Since the previous inspection, there have been changes to the leadership of the school.  The school is part-way through an expansion programme.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspector completed deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and PE. To do this, he met with subject leaders, had discussions with staff and pupils, visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work. The inspector also considered leaders’ plans and pupils’ work in history and science.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ priorities for improvement. 17 and 18 November 2021

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 The inspectors met with four governors, including the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. He also spoke with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising records and through discussions with staff and pupils.  The views of pupils, parents and staff, as gathered through discussions and Ofsted’s surveys, were considered.

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Inspection team

Nick Turvey, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector 17 and 18 November 2021

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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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