North Primary School

Inspection of a good school: North Primary School Meadow Road, Southall UB1 2JE

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 September 2023

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Outcome

North Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their learning and appreciate the supportive environment at North Primary School. Pupils behave well; they feel safe and are kept safe. For example, pupils make regular use of the ‘listening post’. This allows them to raise any worries they might have and provides them with the opportunity to speak with the school therapist. They know that adults take any concerns they raise seriously.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils to succeed. Pupils learn a broad and interesting curriculum. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are typically well supported to develop a depth of knowledge in different subjects. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take part in a range of enrichment opportunities. They enjoy visits, including to Kew Gardens and the British Museum, that support their learning in the classroom. Pupils take part in a range of additional activities, such as fencing, gymnastics, athletics and choir. Pupils are enthusiastic about these experiences, and they are keen to share with the inspector how they created a water wheel as part of the science club.

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

The curriculum is ambitious and well organised. The most important knowledge pupils need to know and remember has been identified and well sequenced from early years onwards. This helps pupils to deepen their learning over time. For example, in physical education, pupils practise throwing and catching larger balls. Older pupils build on this when learning about different passes, such as the ‘W’ grip in rugby and chest and bounce passes. Similarly, in mathematics, children in Reception practise counting in different steps. This supports older pupils in securing their understanding of multiplication tables. This knowledge is then applied when going on to solve more complex mathematical problems, such as working with factors and multiples. 19 and 20 September 2023

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In many subjects, teachers check pupils’ understanding of what they have learned and identify and address any misconceptions they may have. However, the approach to assessment in some other subjects is at an earlier stage of design. In these instances, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding as consistently. As a result, some pupils do not develop a secure body of knowledge in these subjects.

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Leaders encourage pupils to develop a love of reading. For example, they have identified 23 books for each year group to read over the course of the year. Pupils have regular opportunities to read and be read to. Staff have received appropriate training to implement the school’s chosen phonics programme with fidelity. Leaders ensure that additional support is provided to all pupils who need it. Pupils practise reading books that match the sounds they know. This means that pupils learn to read with increasing confidence and fluency.

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Behaviour is calm and orderly. Pupils are respectful of each other. They appreciate the certificates they receive when they model the school’s values of ‘imagine, believe and achieve’. Leaders have established appropriate routines to help ensure that pupils attend well.

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Pupils enjoy the range of leadership opportunities provided. For example, play leaders help younger pupils at break and lunchtime. Junior leaders help contribute to decisions in the school, such as the colour of the new toilets or interviewing potential staff. Pupils learn about different religions and visit places of worship. They learn how to keep themselves safe, including when online.

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Staff feel that their workload and well-being are typically well considered.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The school has established a culture of safeguarding, and pupils are kept safe. Staff have received appropriate training and know how to identify and report any concerns they may have. Swift action is taken in seeking advice and guidance from external agencies to ensure pupils and their families receive the help they need.

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Safeguarding

However, some aspects relating to the administration of safer recruitment have not been overseen carefully enough by those responsible for leadership, including governance. The school has not made sure that staff with responsibility for carrying out these checks have the knowledge needed to fulfil their roles effectively. Because of this, at the time of the inspection, the school had insufficient oversight about which statutory safer recruitment checks had been completed.

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Safeguarding

In addition, the school had not consistently followed guidance in relation to sharing relevant information with the local authority when a pupil of compulsory school age is removed from the admissions register. This increases the risk of pupils going missing in education. These administrative issues were resolved before the end of the inspection. 19 and 20 September 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Although the culture of safeguarding means that pupils are kept safe, in a few instances, the administration of safeguarding arrangements lacks appropriate rigour and oversight. This means that the school has missed gaps in some of the procedures for keeping pupils safe in relation to the single central record and arrangements for reporting pupils leaving the school roll. The school needs to ensure that those responsible for carrying out and overseeing the administration of safeguarding understand and fulfil their roles effectively. The school should establish suitably rigorous and systematic arrangements for checking that administrative processes fully support its work to maintain a culture of safeguarding.  The approach to assessment in some subjects is at an earlier stage of design. In these instances, pupils’ learning is not checked as consistently. This means that some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge that persist over time. The school must ensure that

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

staff use assessment across the curriculum effectively to identify and correct any misconceptions in pupils’ understanding.

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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 in May 2018.

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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. 19 and 20 September 2023

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 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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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 1 and 2 May 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school runs its own breakfast club provision.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and members of staff. They also spoke with a representative of the local authority and met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and physical education. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, visited 19 and 20 September 2023

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a sample of lessons, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work.  The curriculum in other subjects was considered.  The inspector looked at a range of documents, including leaders’ self-evaluation and priorities for improvement.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, 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 views of pupils, parents and staff were considered through discussions and their responses to Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Sophie Healey-Welch, lead inspector 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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