The Crescent Primary School

Inspection of The Crescent Primary School The Crescent, Croydon, Surrey CR0 2HN

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 3 and 4 November 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe in this school. They value the relationships they have with adults. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are generally positive. The school has an inclusive and respectful culture, with a strong community feel. Staff encourage the celebration of diversity and difference. This is reflected, for example, in the books that pupils read.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have introduced new strategies to improve behaviour. Because of this, staff and pupils say that behaviour is better in classrooms and around the school. Pupils are clear about the rules and think they are fairly used. Leaders create a nurturing environment. Staff provide support for those who need it. Pupils appreciate this support. They feel that bullying is almost always dealt with well. It is not tolerated by teachers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils. However, this is not always enacted by teachers. Pupils enjoy their learning, but they sometimes cannot clearly remember what they have recently been taught. Pupils say that they have a chance to express their viewpoints in lessons and are respectfully listened to. Leaders have created opportunities for praise and reward and a clear culture of reading. The class that wins the ‘reading cup’ in the weekly assembly have rewards, for example an ‘own clothes’ day.

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better?

Leaders have made early reading a priority. Teachers are confident in teaching phonics. Routines are well established in the classroom. Pupils read books which match the sounds they have learned. Interventions are in place to help pupils catch up if they need it. Careful planning in phonics helps the smooth transition from early years to the rest of the school. Many pupils we spoke to enthusiastically discussed the books they were reading for pleasure.

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better?

Academy trust curriculum templates have been adopted and adapted by the school. These plans are generally well-sequenced and cover national curriculum ambitions. However, implementation of these plans has only just started, and the impact is yet to be seen in a number of subjects. Some subject leaders are unaware of the most important information they want pupils to know. Key knowledge has not always been emphasised over time and some pupils do not always remember what they have learned. For example, Year 4 pupils could not explain the chronological context of the year 79AD when discussing the destruction of Pompeii. Furthermore, pupils do not always finish their work and so do not remember key information. For instance, in science pupils do not remember how particles in solids, liquids and gasses would be different.

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better?

Leaders have, this term, introduced a new approach to assessment. The knowledge that pupils are expected to learn is organised into a document for each subject. This 3 and 4 November 2021

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is not yet being used effectively in all classrooms. Pupils are uncertain about the documents’ purpose.

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Leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities can access the same curriculum as their peers. Teachers monitor and track pupils carefully, providing additional intervention and support for those who need it. They have introduced strategies to help pupils understand how they are feeling in lessons. This is helping pupils to learn more effectively.

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Personal, social and health education is well planned from reception to the end of key stage 2. For example, understanding of diversity and community is built on year by year. Pupils receive a range of opportunities and experiences beyond the classroom. The school identifies experiences they want pupils to have by specific ages. These include experiencing the theatre, learning to cook a healthy meal and visiting a famous landmark in London.

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Learning in the early years is well planned and gives pupils the knowledge they need to succeed. Additional plans are in place to help pupils catch-up on missed learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, teachers are focusing on effective use of scissors for cutting. However, learning links between the early years and later years are not always made clear. In most subjects, early years is not part of the curriculum planning. Not all middle leaders are aware of the links their subjects have to the early years curriculum.

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Leaders understand what they need to do to adapt planning, develop teaching and improve pupils’ understanding. Guidance is being provided to the high number of new staff, including middle leaders. However, it is too early to see the full impact of this. In particular, monitoring of individual subject areas by middle leaders is underdeveloped. Good use is being made of the extensive support from the trust. This includes monitoring, curriculum resources and support from trust lead teachers. Governors understand their role and have a clear understanding of school priorities. Staff and pupils recognise that behaviour has significantly improved. This means that teachers can teach without disruption. Leaders and staff engage well together. They respond effectively to concerns about workload. Staff feel they can ask for help if they need it.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders know their pupils well and are aware of their contextual safeguarding needs. Clear systems are in place to identify any concerns. Staff are confident and clear about how to report these concerns; they are vigilant to the needs of the children.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have provided mental health support and they look at this as part of their curriculum. The school uses different agencies to support the needs of pupils. They 3 and 4 November 2021

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have invested in workshops to support pupils and have employed a family liaison officer to work with families.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Long-term curriculum plans are in place but many of these are very new or recently introduced. Because of this, pupils are not always confident in recalling what they have learned. While some subject leaders have clearly identified the key knowledge needed, this is not the case in all subjects. Classroom teachers need clarity about this knowledge in all curriculum areas. Pupils’ learning needs to consolidate and build on this over time.  Early years provision is a strength of the school. However, leaders have not explicitly linked learning from the early years to the rest of the key stages in all subjects. Not all middle leaders can discuss connections in their subject areas with the early years. This means that there is a disconnect in curriculum planning across the school. Leaders need to formalise the connections through key knowledge and vocabulary between early years and the rest of the school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Too much variability in teaching is impacting on what pupils know and remember. While monitoring routines are well established at a senior level, this is not consistently the case with middle leadership. This is an important priority, to ensure that the implementation of all curriculum plans is effective.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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.

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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 and 4 November 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200586 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.thecrescentprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19 September 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has had two new headteachers since the last inspection.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the headteacher and members of the senior leadership team. The regional director of the trust, the chief executive officer of the trust, a range of trust leaders and the ex-chair of governors and a parent governor.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science, art and history. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, 3 and 4 November 2021

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looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects.  Inspectors checked the school’s single central record, met with the designated safeguarding lead and looked at relevant documentation. Inspectors also spoke with staff and pupils.  Inspectors looked at responses on the pupils’ survey, the survey for staff and the free-text responses on Parent View.

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Inspection team

Sophie Healey-Welch, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Stephen Hall Ofsted Inspector Simon Jackson Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 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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