Sulivan Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Sulivan Primary School Peterborough Road, Fulham, London, SW6 3BN

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Outcome

Sulivan Primary School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Wendy Aldridge. This school is part of United Learning, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Sir Jon Coles, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Richard Greenhalgh.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are eager to take on new challenges at this small and happy school. Parents and carers value the community ethos and say that staff are highly dedicated. Parents are encouraged to support their child’s learning through a wide range of workshops, assemblies and reading sessions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Since the last inspection the school has joined the United Learning trust and some aspects of the curriculum are still developing. The school is ambitious for pupils’ learning and there is a clear plan to address areas of relative weakness. Staff are supportive of the changes and say they are proud to work here.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They are taught the conventions of courtesy and good manners and demonstrate excellent conduct on school trips and visits to the local area. There are many outdoor spaces to explore in the school grounds. Pupils of all ages benefit from a weekly garden lesson. Pupils enjoy taking part in the junior orchestra and there are regular opportunities to practice performing in front of their peers. Some older pupils, such as the digital leaders, develop strong leadership skills by supporting teachers with lessons and helping to deliver assemblies.

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

The school, with the support of an experienced governing body, has managed the transition over to the trust well. Staff value the opportunities to take part in the trust’s professional networks and the training and support available. Leaders have been highly successful in developing a positive and collaborative work culture. They carefully consider 12 and 13 June 2024

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how changes impact on staff workload and take staff wellbeing into account in the decisions they make.

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The curriculum is carefully sequenced and reflects the breadth and scope of what is expected nationally. Curriculum thinking begins in the early years where children learn the knowledge and skills they need to prepare them for future learning. For example, in the Nursery Year, children first learn the basic instructions for moving toys and objects. In Reception Year, children learn to programme the movements of robotic cars. This helps lay the foundations for learning about coding further up the school. In Year 6, pupils use their knowledge to design their own computer game.

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In many subjects, the curriculum is in the early stages of implementation. Leaders continue to review and refine the curriculum in these subjects. In recent years, published outcomes in writing at the end of Year 6 have been below national expectations. Leaders, including those in the trust, have rightly prioritised this area and there is a clear plan of action with ambitious targets to address this issue.

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The school supports pupils with a wide range of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including some pupils with complex needs. Staff take great care to check that these pupils have the support they need to access the curriculum. In lessons, there are many opportunities for pupils to practise what they have learnt. In reading and mathematics, the school has thought carefully about how they measure pupils’ progress. However, they have not thought as deeply about how they check progress in some other subjects. This means that staff are not able to identify gaps in pupils’ learning with the same precision.

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The programme for teaching phonics is well-established. Staff receive ongoing training and the programme is delivered with precision and consistency. Staff help pupils to sound and blend familiar and unfamiliar words so that they become confident and fluent readers. Pupils have daily practice in reading books that match the sounds they are learning. Pupils who struggle with reading and those with SEND, make good progress from their starting points. Class texts are carefully chosen to build pupils’ vocabulary. Pupils look forward to their whole class reading, including poetry and non-fiction texts.

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Pupils typically behave well and treat each other with respect. Any disruption to learning in lessons is quickly dealt with. Pupils are confident to report concerns and know that issues will be addressed promptly and fairly. Pupils are taught how to be a good citizen and the impact their positive behaviour can have on others. For example, through performances for senior members of the local community, pupils experience the joy they bring to them. The curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education develops pupils’ confidence to talk about their emotions and to take positive action to support their mental health. Older pupils learn key facts about personal safety to help prepare them for secondary school.

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Leaders continue to prioritise attendance and as a result of their determination, are starting to see improvements. Recent changes to staffing mean that families are getting the support they need to ensure that pupils attend well. 12 and 13 June 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Published outcomes in writing do not match those achieved nationally or in other subjects in this school. While appropriate actions have been taken, the impact of these actions is not yet evident. Leaders, and those responsible for governance, should ensure that actions are carefully monitored to ensure that they have the impact that leaders aspire to, particularly for pupils who are disadvantaged.  Systems for checking whether pupils are learning the intended curriculum are not applied consistently. This means that leaders are not clear whether pupils are making progress in some subjects. Leaders should focus on refining the assessment system so that staff can accurately identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge across subjects.

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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 January 2019.

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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. 12 and 13 June 2024

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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). 12 and 13 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The Board of Trustees

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29 January 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of United Learning, a multi-academy trust.  The school joined the trust in September 2022.  The school does not make use of any alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector carried out this ungraded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.  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 carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, computing. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, 12 and 13 June 2024

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visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  The inspector met with school leaders, members of the local governing body and a representative of the trust.  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 considered responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for parents, staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Polly Haste, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 12 and 13 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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