Oak Farm Primary School

Inspection of Oak Farm Primary School Windsor Avenue, Hillingdon, Uxbridge UB10 9PD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

This school was last inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 16 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between graded inspections under section 5 of the Act. Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last graded inspection. 5 and 6 June 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has faced some significant challenges over the last few years with changes of leadership, high numbers of staff leaving the school and a lack of professional development. This has disrupted pupils’ learning across most year groups. However, the new headteacher has evaluated the school’s current position accurately. Action plans are already being enacted and priorities for development are clear. Staff are committed to driving improvements and the school is beginning to work well with parents and carers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

High expectations for pupils’ behaviour and conduct are not embedded across the school. Most pupils are respectful and work hard during lessons, but some disrupt learning, choose not to take part in activities or lack motivation. Staff do not routinely use a consistent approach to address poor behaviour.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A range of clubs is on offer and the school is increasing the enrichment opportunities provided to pupils. Pupils participate in charity events and have some understanding of British values. At present, there are limited leadership opportunities to enable pupils to experience responsibility.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe and attend school well. There are reported incidents of bullying, teasing and immature behaviour, but pupils do respect difference and feel all are welcome in the school. The school is taking action to address poor behaviour more robustly and this is beginning to have a positive impact.

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better?

Following a difficult period of change, the school is now reviewing and developing its curriculum. This new curriculum sets out a broad range of subjects in sufficient depth to match the national curriculum. The precise knowledge that pupils need to know is still being identified in some subjects, with leaders beginning to sequence the curriculum so that it builds on previous knowledge. There is clear ambition for what pupils should learn, starting from Nursery, but pupils are not yet receiving this curriculum in the classroom. Likewise, starting points for the curriculum are not always clearly defined.

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better?

Many pupils achieve well in mathematics and English by the time they reach the end of Year 6. However, many pupils do not receive a rich curriculum in other subjects. This is especially evident for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The ambition for what pupils with SEND can achieve is not consistently high. Some do not benefit from being fully included in lessons or having the adaptions they need in order to access the curriculum. This leads to gaps in their knowledge.

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better?

The school is making reading a priority and is increasing the range of high-quality texts studied. The phonics programme is set out and sequenced in a logical way to build knowledge gradually and securely. However, some staff have not had sufficient 5 and 6 June 2024

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training in how to deliver the programme effectively and there is some variation in how quickly pupils progress. Pupils take home books which match the sounds practised in class, but their progress is not carefully checked. Oversight of early reading is not strong and those pupils who need extra support are sometimes not identified quickly. Additional time and support provided to weaker readers is variable in quality. These pupils, particularly those with SEND, are not learning how to read fluently or quickly, and therefore they struggle to access the full curriculum.

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Teachers do not have consistently strong subject expertise and have not received up-to-date professional development to ensure that pupils benefit from high-quality teaching. Sometimes, it is not clear what pupils are expected to learn from activities. Similarly, teachers do not routinely check pupils’ understanding or ensure that learning is embedded through practice and revisiting key concepts. In the early years, while activities are meaningful and well resourced, children are sometimes not directed to them. Their learning is not routinely monitored and they do not learn the skills intended by staff. In some subjects, pupils do not demonstrate a love of learning and are not able to recall key knowledge. Where this is stronger, however, pupils take an active role in their learning, and benefit from adult modelling and clear explanations.

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The school is in the process of developing a new behaviour policy, but it is not yet applied consistently and fairly. However, leaders have addressed immediate concerns, and this is having a positive impact on conduct around the school. Pupils are generally respectful and polite. In the early years, children play cooperatively and staff build their emotional and social skills. The school has been successful in ensuring that pupils attend school regularly and punctuality is improving. Bullying and unkind comments still happen from time to time, however. Pupils are kept safe at school, and do feel they have a member of staff they can go to if worried, but leaders have identified that there is more work to be done here.

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The school’s offer to promote pupils’ wider development is expanding. There is a range of clubs on offer, particularly in sport and languages. Pupils take part in swimming lessons and some enrichment opportunities such as history workshops and visits to Kew Gardens. Pupils are excited about the new school council and the opportunity to take on more leadership roles. Leaders are consulting parents and pupils about changes being made across the school, and this is creating a sense of community. Pupils understand how to stay safe, including online. The school delivers a secure personal, social, health and economic education curriculum and has begun to promote citizenship and charity work.

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Leaders and staff are working together to improve the school. Senior leaders are mindful of staff well-being and workload and are implementing changes strategically and meaningfully. Leaders and governors recognise the need for additional professional development in the school and further support for those teachers who are at an early point in their career. Governors fulfil their statutory requirements and now need to both support and hold leaders to account in the interests of pupils’ education. Staff are dedicated to improvement and building ambition. 5 and 6 June 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum in some subjects is not sequenced well enough to build sufficiently on pupils’ prior knowledge. This means pupils’ learning is not organised in a way that helps them develop and deepen their understanding. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum in these subjects is structured in a way that helps pupils to revisit and embed their knowledge.  Pupils with SEND are not consistently receiving an ambitious or high-quality education. This means that their experience of the curriculum is sometimes limited and they do not make sufficient progress. The school should ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are met and that they have full access to the curriculum.  Expectations and approaches to behaviour management are not yet commonly understood or clearly communicated. This means pupils do not understand what is required of them and there is low level disruption in class that impacts on

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

learning. Leaders should ensure that expectations for pupils’ conduct are consistently understood and that pupils consistently adopt a responsible and respectful attitude to each other and their learning.  The school has not provided professional development for staff which enables them to lead on aspects of the school’s work or deliver a high-quality education. Leadership at all levels needs to be developed and professional development put in place to ensure that teachers and support staff have both the subject and pedagogical knowledge needed to fulfil their roles.  Leaders’ work to support weaker readers and prioritise reading in the school is inconsistent. Those pupils who are struggling to read are not routinely identified and given the right support to become fluent readers. This means they struggle to access the curriculum. Leaders should systematically identify these pupils and put meaningful interventions in place to ensure that pupils learn to read quickly

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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.

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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. 5 and 6 June 2024

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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). 5 and 6 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 27 March 2008 under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 In September 2021, Oak Farm Infant School and Oak Farm Junior School amalgamated. The infant school had previously been judged as outstanding in 2008, and the junior school judged as requiring improvement in February 2020.  The headteacher was appointed in April 2024.  The school runs its own breakfast club and uses an external provider to provide an after-school club.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school is an associate member of the Vanguard Learning Trust.

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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. 5 and 6 June 2024

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 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.  The inspectors met with senior leaders, governors, some teachers and support staff.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, physical education, science and history. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Other subjects were also considered as part of this inspection.  The inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for school improvement.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single

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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 inspectors took account of the views of pupils, parents and staff, as gathered through discussions and Ofsted’s surveys.  Inspectors checked the school’s policies and records, including those related to behaviour and pupils’ wider development.  Inspectors held meetings with staff and spoke with pupils during social times. They observed pupils’ behaviour across the school, including as they arrived and left school.

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Inspection team

Sarah Saunders, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Harvey Webb Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 June 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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