Tudor Primary School

Inspection of Tudor Primary School Queen’s Road, Finchley, London N3 2AG

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Inspection dates: 28 February and 1 March 2023

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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 28 February and 1 March 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and kept safe. This is because they know that teachers are there to help them. Pupils also know that they are listened to by leaders and staff. They appreciate the support available for their well-being, and the opportunities to talk through any worries they may have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils typically behave well. This is because there are clear routines and expectations in place that are consistently applied by the staff team. Bullying happens rarely. Any incidents that do arise are dealt with swiftly. Pupils know who to report any concerns to and trust that adults will help them should they need it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in the early years benefit from a secure start. The well-considered curriculum provides them with a secure base of knowledge to build from. From Year 1 onwards, pupils generally follow an appropriate curriculum. Teachers do not consistently check pupils’ understanding of what they have learned. This means pupils’ errors and misunderstandings are not identified and corrected, and so can persist over time.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have opportunities to become leaders through taking on responsibilities, for example, being elected as school councillors or prefects. Pupils take these roles seriously.

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better?

Leaders have prioritised the development of early reading since the last inspection. A new phonics programme has been introduced and staff have been trained to ensure that it is delivered effectively. Pupils practise reading regularly with books that are closely matched to the sounds that they have learned. This ensures that pupils develop into accurate and fluent readers. Weaker readers are identified swiftly, and appropriate additional help is put in place to help them to catch up.

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better?

The curriculum in the early years identifies the essential knowledge and skills that children need to secure so that they are well prepared for Year 1. Teachers focus on this and check carefully what children have learned. This ensures that any gaps or misconceptions are identified and addressed quickly. As a result, children secure their understanding across the different areas of learning. For example, in mathematics, children in Reception practise counting using different resources. These opportunities help them to understand the different ways that numbers can be made. This supports them to add larger numbers later on.

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better?

The curriculum for pupils in Years 1 to 6 matches the scope and ambition of what is expected nationally. Important ideas that pupils need to learn and remember have been identified. These have been logically sequenced so that pupils revisit 28 February and 1 March 2023

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previous learning and embed key concepts over time. However, in some subjects, this work has been completed very recently. It has not had time to make a positive impact on how well pupils learn.

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Assessment is not used well enough to ensure that teaching builds effectively on what pupils know or can do. While teachers check pupils’ understanding of what they have learned in reading and mathematics, this is not the case in other subjects. This means pupils’ errors and misunderstandings are not identified and corrected, and so can persist over time. As a result, pupils have gaps in their understanding and struggle with more complex ideas in these subjects.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly. Staff make appropriate adaptations to tasks and activities to ensure that these pupils access the same curriculum as their peers. However, the weaknesses in assessment mean that pupils with SEND are not consistently helped to learn and remember the most important knowledge.

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Pupils behave well and demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning. A calm, purposeful atmosphere is evident in most lessons and when pupils are moving around the school. This is because routines are well established. Leaders have effective systems in place for ensuring that pupils attend school regularly.

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Pupils’ broader development is well considered. The ‘Tudor Way’ drives the inclusive ethos of the school. The motto ‘Be kind, be brave, take pride and work hard’ underpins pupils’ learning about respect, resilience, and strength of character. Pupils are encouraged to take on responsibility, including in the local community. For example, they have been involved in litter picking.

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Leaders and those responsible for governance have not sufficiently checked the impact of the school’s curriculum. A number of subject leaders are new to their role. Their expertise is still developing, and currently, they do not have sufficient knowledge and skills to check the quality of the subjects that they lead across the school. As a result, leaders at all levels do not have a fully accurate view of the school’s effectiveness. This means priorities are not sufficiently focused on improving the most significant areas of weakness swiftly enough.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the support that they receive from leaders to manage their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding is a high priority. Staff and governors understand their statutory responsibilities because they have been well trained. 28 February and 1 March 2023

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Concerns are swifty identified and reported. Leaders act on any referrals that they receive, working effectively with external agencies to make sure that pupils and their families get the help that they need.

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The curriculum has been designed to help pupils to understand how to stay safe, including when online. For example, pupils are supported to understand the risks associated with extremist views. Additional workshops aim to help parents and carers to mitigate these risks outside of school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In several subjects, teachers do not check carefully what pupils have learned and remembered. This means that errors and misconceptions are missed and persist over time. Leaders must ensure that teachers check pupils’ understanding and address any aspects that pupils are finding difficult. This will help pupils to secure the important things they need to learn, tackle more demanding learning and be better prepared for the next stage of their learning.  Leaders and those responsible for governance do not have a fully accurate view of the school’s effectiveness. This means that priorities for improvement are not sufficiently well focused. Leaders must ensure that they check the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ learning. They must also ensure that subject leaders have sufficient knowledge and skills to evaluate and secure improvements in the areas for which they are responsible, particularly in ensuring that the curriculum supports all pupils to learn and remember more.

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How can I feed back my views?

You can use to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school, 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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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. 28 February and 1 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10255304 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Simon Jebreel (Executive headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29 and 30 January 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  The school forms part of the Squires Lane Federation with one other local primary school. The executive headteacher leads both schools in the federation.  The school runs a breakfast club and offers an after-school club at the other school in the federation.  The head of school was appointed in January 2023.  Leaders make use of one registered alternative education provider.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the executive headteacher, head of school, deputy headteacher and members of staff. 28 February and 1 March 2023

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 Discussions were held with five members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. Inspectors also met a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, geography, music, and science. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with subject leaders, discussed the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work.  The inspectors also considered the curriculum in other subjects. Early mathematics was considered in the Nursery and Reception classes.  The inspectors looked at a range of documents, including leaders’ priorities for improvement.  The inspectors reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising records and through discussions with leaders, staff and pupils.  The views of pupils, parents and staff were gathered through both discussions

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and through their responses to Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Samantha Ingram, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris Harrison Ofsted Inspector 28 February and 1 March 2023

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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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