Freezywater St George's CofE VA Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Freezywater St George’s CofE VA Primary School Hertford Road, Enfield EN3 6NR

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Outcome

Freezywater St George’s CofE VA Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well cared for in this friendly and welcoming school. Leaders and staff share a vision to inspire pupils with a love of learning. An ambitious curriculum, shared values and pastoral care are at the heart of the school’s work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school is positive. Music is played outdoors at breaktimes. It can be heard across the playground. Pupils said that this helps them to feel happy and relaxed. Pupils said that bullying rarely happens because they learn to treat others as they would like to be treated. If it does happen, staff deal with it swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They feel that the school knows every child well and provides for their individual needs. Parents appreciate the school’s inclusive approach.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff and governors have high expectations of how well all pupils can achieve. Pupils contributed to choosing the school’s vison statement and associated bible verse: ‘But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.’ Pupils like it because it helps them to aim high. Pupils love the wide range of visits and local trips they can go on.

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

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils. They are particularly effective at ensuring the curriculum meets the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have planned a broad and balanced curriculum. In most subjects, the curriculum is clearly sequenced to build pupils’ knowledge and skills over time. However, in a few subjects the order in which subject content is planned sometimes results in too much information being covered. When this happens, pupils become overloaded with too much new or disconnected subject content. This affects how well pupils remember what they have been taught. Leaders use assessment well to identify and address any gaps in pupils’ learning. 12 and 13 July 2022

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Pupils develop their skills and knowledge over time. For example, in art, children in the early years learn how to mix colours such as pink and purple. As they move through the school, pupils become increasingly confident in their art knowledge. Pupils in Year 6 used their prior learning about colour to help them interpret paintings and drawings by Cezanne and Picasso. Computing is not as well developed as other subjects. Opportunities for learning in this subject are sometimes missed. Leaders have started to address this.

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The curriculum is well thought out in the early years. In each area of learning, leaders and staff are clear about what children need to learn. Staff help children to understand the world and history, such as by making timelines and talking about the seasons of the year. In mathematics, children build on their knowledge of number bonds up to 10 by counting the number of goals they had scored during outdoor ball games.

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Staff ensure that pupils with SEND learn the same full range of subjects as all other pupils. They adapt work to meet pupils’ needs. Staff are particularly skilled in supporting pupils’ communication and language skills. Parents said how much they value the great care and support given to their children.

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Leaders make reading a key priority. All staff have been trained to deliver the phonics programme consistently well. Pupils who struggle with reading receive extra support to help them catch up quickly. Leaders’ commitment to reading helps pupils gain the necessary knowledge and skills to become fluent and confident readers. Teachers read a wide range of texts to pupils. Pupils talked positively about how they use their reading skills in different subjects, such as history and science.

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Teachers organise a wide range of interesting educational visits. Pupils talked with enthusiasm about the trips they have done to find out about the history and development of their local area. Music has a high profile here. Pupils develop and celebrate their talents, for example in singing, learning to read music and playing instruments. Pupils compete in sports competitions, such as athletics and football, with other schools. Pupils are eager to learn and do well. Lessons are rarely disrupted.

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Staff said that workload is well managed by leaders. Governors give leaders the support and challenge they need to keep developing the school’s work.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that the required pre-employment checks are carried out to ensure the suitability of staff. Leaders ensure that staff receive regular training and updates. They review regularly the school’s safeguarding policies and practices. Staff are confident to report issues when pupils may be at risk of harm. Leaders work well with families and external agencies when serious issues affect pupils’ welfare. Governors are well informed about school’s contextual safeguarding concerns. 12 and 13 July 2022

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In assemblies and through the school’s personal, social, health and economic education curriculum, pupils learn how to stay safe when online. Leaders organise workshops and talks from external agencies about the risks pupils might encounter in their everyday lives.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have put in place an ambitious curriculum in most subjects. They check that this is taught effectively. However, in some areas the curriculum is overloaded with content. This affects how well pupils learn and remember what they are taught. Leaders need to refine further the essential content in some foundation subjects so that pupils learn and remember even more.  The computing curriculum is underdeveloped. Pupils’ understanding in this subject is inconsistent. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum programme for computing is strengthened so that pupils have more effective opportunities to build their knowledge and skills securely over time.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2013.

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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 . 12 and 13 July 2022

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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. 12 and 13 July 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10212445 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 7 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Freezywater St George’s Church of England Voluntary Aided School is a one-form entry school in the London Borough of Enfield.  The headteacher was appointed in January 2018.  The school’s most recent section 48 inspection took place in June 2019.  The school makes use of one registered alternative provider.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and subject leaders. The inspector met with governors, including the chair of the governing body, and spoke with a representative of the local authority and a representative of the diocese.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at 12 and 13 July 2022

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curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. He heard pupils read and observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects such as art and design, music and computing.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at playtimes and listened to what pupils had to say about their school.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation related to safeguarding. The inspector scrutinised the records the school keeps in relation to safeguarding and welfare. The inspector looked at the single central record of pre-employment checks and at records of staff training. He spoke with staff, governors and pupils to understand the school’s culture of safeguarding.  The inspector reviewed the responses submitted by parents to Ofsted Parent View,

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including free-text responses. The inspector reviewed the responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Sean Flood, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 12 and 13 July 2022

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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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