Nelson Primary School

Inspection of Nelson Primary School Nelson Road, Whitton, Twickenham TW2 7BU

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 September 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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Overall effectiveness Good

The head of this school is Sian Ward. This school is part of Latchmere Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Anna Steels, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Raghu Venkatesam. Anna Steels is also the executive headteacher who is responsible for this school and Latchmere School. 19 and 20 September 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are rightly proud of their school and describe it as kind and welcoming. They typically behave well, and bullying is rare. Pupils are safe here because adults take good care of them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), follow an ambitious curriculum that matches the scope of what is expected nationally. Pupils work hard and produce work of a good quality in different subjects. Assessment is not used consistently to check what pupils know, and this limits the depth of some pupils’ learning. Pupils are, however, typically well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils access a range of enrichment activities, such as cooking, sewing, golf, taekwondo, girls’ football and tag rugby. Pupils are encouraged to contribute to the wider school community through taking on roles such as school librarians and eco- representatives.

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better?

The curriculum is well designed. In each subject, leaders have set out precisely what they want pupils to learn and when. This is sequenced so that pupils build their knowledge securely over time. For example, in physical education, children in early years begin developing their gross motor skills by practising hitting a ball. Pupils build on this knowledge as they move through the school, learning to strike different objects, such as shuttlecocks. This supports older pupils to serve accurately in different sports. Similarly, in mathematics, younger pupils learn to add and subtract one-digit and two-digit numbers to 20. This helps them when they come to larger numbers later on and to apply their knowledge of the order of operations to carry out multi-step calculations accurately.

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better?

While assessment is used to check what pupils have understood, there are some inconsistencies in how effectively this is done. As a result, errors and misconceptions persist in some pupils’ knowledge.

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better?

Reading is prioritised at the school. All pupils read each day. This helps them to develop their confidence and fluency. Staff have been well trained to implement the agreed phonics programme with precision. Pupils who are not keeping up with their peers are swiftly identified and supported to catch up. This helps pupils to read with increasing accuracy, fluency and confidence.

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better?

Pupils with SEND are well supported. Leaders work effectively with external agencies to identify pupils who need further support. Advice and guidance are provided for staff to help them to adapt tasks, enabling pupils to access the same curriculum as their peers. The school’s emotional well-being team provides important support for pupils, including during their transition into the school. 19 and 20 September 2023

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Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Bullying is rare. Pupils know who to speak to if they have concerns and trust that adults will respond. Pupils’ attendance is high. This is because leaders have effective systems in place to ensure that pupils attend regularly and on time.

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Pupils’ wider personal development is carefully considered. The curriculum is well designed to support pupils’ understanding of important concepts such as democracy. The school helps pupils put this into practice with votes for ‘Crew Captains’ and school librarians. Pupils are encouraged to contribute to their wider community in Whitton. For example, they serve through the ‘food to market’ project and the annual autumn food bank collection.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel well supported by leaders to manage their workload, and they feel that their well-being is prioritised. Staff feel able to ask for support if they need it. Governors and trustees know the school well and have an accurate picture of the school’s strengths and areas for further development. They have worked closely with leaders to introduce a number of new systems and processes. Some of these are not fully embedded and are not consistently applied by staff or fully understood by pupils, parents and carers.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Assessment is not used consistently to check what pupils have learned. As a result, errors and misconceptions persist in some pupils’ work. This means they are not consistently secure in the concepts they need to tackle more complex ideas later on. The trust should ensure that pupils’ understanding is routinely checked and any errors or misconceptions are acted upon.  Some of the newly introduced policies and systems are not fully embedded. This means there are inconsistencies in practice and in some pupils’ and parents’ understanding of what is expected. The trust should ensure that these policies and systems are consistently implemented and communicated fully to pupils and parents.

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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. 19 and 20 September 2023

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 19 and 20 September 2023

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CEO of the trust

Dates of previous inspection 5 and 6 November 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is sponsored by the Latchmere Academy Trust. Members of the multi- academy trust board have responsibility for governance of the school.  The school provides a breakfast club.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 19 and 20 September 2023

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 The inspectors met with a range of senior and subject leaders from the school and Latchmere Academy Trust. The lead inspector also met with those responsible for governance, including the chair of the trust board, other trustees and members of the local governing body.  Inspectors also spoke with the local authority school improvement partner and an advisor commissioned by the trust.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, history, art, physical education and mathematics. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work.  The inspectors also considered the curriculum in other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record of pre-employment checks; took account of the views of leaders,

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staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation provided by leaders, including their priorities for improvement.  The inspectors considered the views of parents, pupils and staff through discussions and their responses to Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Matea Marcinko, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Gary Rawlings His Majesty’s Inspector 19 and 20 September 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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