Greenway Primary and Nursery School

Inspection of a good school: Greenway Primary and Nursery School Crossways, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire HP4 3NH

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Outcome

Greenway Primary and Nursery School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Greenway Primary and Nursery School is a happy, nurturing school. Pupils are polite and respectful. Their learning is important to them. They work hard to achieve their best. All pupils, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are fully included in school life. They have trusting relationships with staff. They say that some of the best things about school are their teachers and their friends. Pupils enjoy being part of the school council and being buddies to Reception children.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that it is okay to be different and say that they would welcome anyone into their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well because teachers have high expectations. Classrooms are welcoming and energetic places for pupils to learn. Pupils are positive about their learning. During breaks and lunchtimes, pupils play together well. They understand what bullying is and how adults will help if it happens.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are very positive about the school. Many comment that their children thrive and are happy in school. One parent, typical of many, said: ‘Staff have high standards for the children but retain a nurturing style, helping them to build their confidence as they learn.’

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

Leaders know their community well. They make sure that they get to know their families and work with external agencies to find out all they can about the pupils who attend the school. This has enabled leaders to plan a curriculum with a clear focus on the needs of their pupils. Leaders make sure that they meet pupils’ social and emotional needs first and foremost. This starts from the moment they enter school. In early years, children 21 and 22 March 2023

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settle quickly. Across the school, behaviour in and outside of lessons is good. Pupils listen attentively and participate well in their learning. As a result, pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

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Adults are skilled at teaching phonics. In Reception, children apply their phonics knowledge to their writing well. Many can form letters correctly, and some are beginning to write sentences accurately. Adults continually check the sounds that pupils do not know. Pupils who fall behind receive precise support so that they catch up quickly. Leaders promote a love of reading. They provide a wide range of high-quality texts that pupils enjoy. Pupils are enthusiastic and fluent readers. They can talk about their favourite authors and how they use reading strategies to make connections and to explain what they are reading.

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Pupils are helped to develop self-confidence in all areas of the curriculum. In art, for example, leaders identified that pupils lacked confidence and only understood art as ‘being good at drawing’. The curriculum now ensures that all pupils learn a range of skills and techniques and explore a wide range of materials and tools that they build on over time. Pupils can now make informed decisions about which techniques and materials to use. Pupils see themselves as artists and produce artwork of which they are rightly proud.

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Pupils know that making a mistake is part of their learning. Teachers anticipate pupils’ misconceptions and help them build on their prior knowledge. As a result, pupils attempt tasks willingly and confidently across all subjects. In most subjects, teachers plan lessons and activities that build well on what pupils already know and can do. Leaders are still developing the curriculum in a few subjects. Their plans in these subjects are less detailed. Teachers are less consistent in ensuring that pupils build securely on their prior learning and can remember important knowledge in these subjects.

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Pupils with SEND follow the full curriculum. Teachers adapt activities so that pupils with SEND receive precise support and make strong progress against their individual targets. Pupils with SEND develop positive relationships with the adults they work with. This helps them to learn well.

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Staff put pupils’ well-being at the centre of all they do. The curriculum ensures that pupils develop as well-rounded individuals. Pupils know how to stay safe online and learn how to recognise risks. Pupils take part, and achieve well, in a wide range of sporting events. Pupils have high aspirations about what they want to do in the future. Pupils visit different places of worship and know that everyone is equal and should be treated the same.

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Staff feel well supported by leaders and are proud to work at the school. Leaders and governors have an accurate view of their school and the actions needed to ensure further improvement.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 and 22 March 2023

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Leaders have developed strong relationships with a wide range of external agencies and specialists to make sure that the most vulnerable pupils and families get the right help quickly.

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Staff and governors know the potential safeguarding risks to pupils in their local community. They know the signs that indicate a pupil may be at risk of harm and how to report concerns promptly. Leaders record and review all information carefully so that they can support pupils effectively where needed.

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Leaders carry out all the necessary employment and safeguarding checks on staff and visitors to the school thoroughly.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some curriculum subjects, plans do not help teachers to link pupils’ prior learning explicitly with new learning. This means that some pupils cannot readily recall important knowledge from previous years. Leaders should continue to develop their curriculum in these subjects to the same high standard of others so that teaching links pupils’ prior learning more precisely to the new learning. This will help pupils to know more and remember more 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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually, this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good on 20 June to 15 November 2017.

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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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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. 21 and 22 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10255198 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Elizabeth O’Reilly

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 June and 15 November 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, the number of pupils on roll has decreased, and the school has become a one-form entry school in 2014. This was due to a town-wide reorganisation in 2013 from a three-tier to a two-tier educational system.

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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, senior leaders and spoke with staff and children.  The inspector held a meeting with three members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  The inspector had a phone conversation with a representative from the local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these areas of learning: early reading, art and mathematics. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with leaders, 21 and 22 March 2023

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looked at pupils’ work and spoke with pupils about their work. The inspector visited lessons in reading and mathematics.  A range of documentation was reviewed, including leaders’ school development plans, curriculum plans, the school’s single central record of pre-employment checks on staff, school policies and minutes of governor meetings.  To gather the views of parents, an inspector spoke with several parents at the end of day two of the inspection. The inspector also took account of the 137 responses, including 90 free-text responses, to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey. The inspector also considered a letter from a parent.  The inspector also considered the 28 responses to Ofsted’s online survey for school staff and 83 responses to the Ofsted pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Cindy Impey, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 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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