Greenslade Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Greenslade Primary School Erindale, Plumstead Common, London SE18 2QQ

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Outcome

Greenslade Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend their school. Parents and carers value its community feel and many described the way that staff go ‘above and beyond’. Younger and older pupils enjoy playing alongside each other at breaktimes. Pupils feel safe and happy in school, and they appreciate the way that adults take time to listen and help them when necessary. Pupils said that bullying is not a problem and that any rare occurrences are quickly sorted out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for what pupils can achieve, and these ambitions are mostly realised. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective support to learn the curriculum alongside their peers. Teaching supports pupils to learn the planned curriculum and, and as result, achieve well overall.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn a wide range of subjects, supplemented by a well-planned programme of enrichment. They broaden what they have learned in class through visits to galleries, museums and concert halls across London. They are taught to respect differences and value the unique qualities of everyone in the school community and beyond.

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

The school has created a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils. It enables them to learn essential knowledge, ideas and vocabulary successfully. In most subjects, the school has identified the key information that pupils need to learn and developed a challenging and well-sequenced curriculum. In mathematics, for example, children in the early years enjoy dancing with long ribbons and follow adult suggestions to ‘turn all the way round to make a circle’. Older pupils build on this knowledge when they are learning about angles and how a whole turn is equal to 360 degrees.

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

The curriculum includes opportunities for pupils to broaden their knowledge and experiences over time. In music, for example, younger pupils are taught to listen out for the ‘pulse’ in a song and clap along to it. Older pupils are challenged to tap drumsticks to a steady pulse while others play out different rhythms on instruments. This requires deep 23 and 24 April 2024

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concentration and helps pupils to become more proficient in listening to each other as they make music together. Many pupils further develop their musical expression through rehearsing and performing as members of the school’s guitar and recorder groups.

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Teachers use assessment well to check what pupils know and can do across the curriculum. Pupils appreciate the way that teachers patiently guide them so they can make improvements in their work and correct any mistakes straight away. As a result, gaps in knowledge and misconceptions are addressed quickly.

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The school identifies pupils with SEND swiftly. Staff work very closely with pupils with SEND and their families to understand each pupil’s individual needs. Teaching staff know how to get the best from pupils with SEND and ensure that they learn the curriculum. For example, pupils who may find it difficult to read a mathematics problem, and remember all the steps, are given help to break everything down into smaller parts. As a result of such approaches, they learn the same mathematical knowledge as their classmates.

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The school prioritises learning to read. Staff promote a love of reading through sharing a variety of well-chosen books: some broaden pupils’ knowledge of the world and others appeal to their existing interests. Staff who teach the phonics programme are generally well trained. However, in a few instances, staff do not follow the intended school-wide routines when they pronounce sounds or help pupils to practise blending sounds together to say and read words. On these occasions, as a result, support to build pupils’ reading fluency and confidence is uneven.

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The school is an orderly place and pupils behave sensibly around the building and in class. There are some occasions when a few pupils call out their answers before waiting for their turn, or talk over each other. However, pupils are generally able to focus on their learning. Positive routines for behaviour are established in the early years, where children learn to listen to each other and to share the most popular resources fairly, for example by using sand timers. The school teaches pupils how to talk about their feelings and to say if they feel unsure or unsafe at any time. Pupils are taught how to stay safe online and out in the community.

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Attendance rates at the school are above national figures. The school quickly identifies pupils who are not attending school regularly. Leaders work sensitively and effectively with families to improve pupils’ attendance.

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The school’s high-quality provision to support pupils’ broader development is made available to everyone. For example, leaders ensure that all pupils who wish to go on the Year 6 residential trip are able to do so. Opportunities for pupils to perform and be part of the choir contribute to the richness of wider school life.

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Staff appreciate the ways that leaders are considerate of their workload and help to make it more manageable.

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The governing body provides appropriate support and challenge so that the school continues to improve. 23 and 24 April 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 While the school ensures that pupils develop their reading well, there is some variation in staff’s knowledge of teaching phonics. Occasionally, this reduces the quality and precision of the support given to some pupils in building their reading fluency and confidence. The school needs to ensure that all staff develop the expertise to promote pupils’ reading development and address gaps in phonics knowledge, so that pupils can catch up quickly and become fluent and confident readers.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2015.

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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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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 23 and 24 April 2024

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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). 23 and 24 April 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 27 February 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  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 his evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other senior leaders. He met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors, and also met the school improvement partner.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and music. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons and spoke to teachers. He spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also considered the curriculum in other subjects. 23 and 24 April 2024

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 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 inspector spoke to a range of staff members and considered the views of parents who made responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Julian Grenier, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 23 and 24 April 2024

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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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