Buttercup Primary School

Inspection of Buttercup Primary School 181 Cannon Street Road, London E1 2LX

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides effective support to the many pupils who join the school part way through the academic year. Pupil mental health ambassadors act as ‘buddies’ to welcome new pupils and help them settle into school life and feel included. Pupils enthusiastically take on responsibilities to help the school and each other. Pupils lead the school’s ‘calm club’ at breaktimes so pupils have a quiet and safe space to think and reflect if they need it. Pupils behave respectfully. They are safe and feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school cares about pupils and their future. It places high importance on broadening pupils’ horizons and promotes high aspirations for the future. The school uses wide ranging educational visits to provide experiences that it believes pupils may not encounter in their everyday lives. For example, visits to prominent universities, museums, and a residential stay for pupils in Years 5 and 6. The school ensures that all pupils have equal access to these experiences.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils’ achievement. In subjects such as English and mathematics pupils achieve well. However, pupils do not achieve equally well across the breadth of the curriculum.

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better?

Pupils study a range of subjects in line with those in the national curriculum. The school curriculum documents include appropriate subject content. The curriculum sets out suitable knowledge and skills for pupils to learn and remember to prepare them for future learning. In English and mathematics in Years 1 to 6 and in early years, the school ensures that the curriculum is implemented appropriately. Teaching checks that pupils remember important information. Pupils are taught to use appropriate mathematical terminology, which they use confidently. The school uses this information to adjust teaching and resources. This ensures that pupils revisit and recall previous content frequently. In the early years, children build up knowledge and skills securely that prepare them well for the next stage of their education in Year 1.

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better?

The school spots quickly if pupils may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with SEND receive appropriate help and support to learn alongside their peers. As a result, pupils connect prior learning to current content confidently.

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better?

However, in most other subjects in Years 1 to 6, the curriculum is not delivered as effectively. The school has not ensured that staff have the wider subject expertise needed to make important information explicitly clear. Pupils’ recall of what they have learned in the wider curriculum is not checked as routinely. In these subjects, the school does not enable pupils to build as securely on previous knowledge and make connections between different ideas. As a result, pupils in Years 1 to 6 develop gaps and misconceptions in their learning, which go unaddressed. This means that 3 to 5 December 2024 in many subjects, pupils do not develop the depth of learning that they gain in English and mathematics.

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better?

The school prioritises reading. In the early years, children regularly listen to stories and are encouraged to join in with conversations that develop their communication and language. Pupils at the early stages of learning to read receive phonics teaching daily. The school checks the letter sounds that pupils know, including those who join part way through their primary education, and provides support to help weaker readers to catch up with their peers. Pupils read books matched closely to their knowledge of phonics. The school provides advice and information to parents and carers on how to support their children’s reading at home. As a result, pupils learn to be confident and fluent readers.

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better?

The school makes expectations about behaviour and attendance explicitly clear. In the early years, children are taught to listen carefully and respond to instructions considerately. The school addresses any occasional low-level disruption effectively. As a result, throughout the school pupils’ learning proceeds without interruption. Pupils attend school regularly and on time. The school notices quickly when concerns about pupils’ absence arise. It takes appropriate action to ensure it improves.

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better?

The school provides extensive opportunities to support pupils’ personal development. The curriculum for personal, social, health education (PSHE) is appropriate and well sequenced. The school links the teachings of the Islamic curriculum with important fundamental values of respect and equality. These themes are revisited and reinforced regularly. Pupils learn about a range of cultures and traditions that are different to their own. They are taught important information about healthy age-appropriate relationships. The school invites external speakers, such as representatives of the police and fire service, to encourage pupils to keep themselves safe in arrange of contexts.

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better?

The proprietor ensures there is appropriate support and challenge in place. A board of internal and external leaders provide effective support and oversight. This ensures that the school complies with Schedule 10 of the Equalities Act 2010 and that the independent school standards (‘the standards’) are met consistently. The proprietor and board engage with staff regularly and effectively to make sure staff workload is manageable. However, the school has not ensured that staff are as well supported to teach the wider curriculum as effectively as they do in English and mathematics. As a result, the quality of education is variable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 3 to 5 December 2024

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 The school has not ensured that staff are well prepared to teach the full breadth of the curriculum. As a result, the curriculum is not implemented equally well in all subjects. The school needs to ensure that staff have the knowledge and expertise they need to implement the full curriculum effectively and in the way that leaders intend.  The school has not put in place a consistent approach to assessment. This means that in the wider curriculum, gaps in pupils’ knowledge and misconceptions are not identified or addressed. The school needs to ensure that teaching checks pupils’ recall of previous learning and that any gaps or misconceptions are addressed 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. 3 to 5 December 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 138564 DfE registration number 211/6003

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School details

Inspection number 10342081 Type of school Other independent School

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School details

Email address info@buttercupprimary.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 4 to 6 July 2017 3 to 5 December 2024

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Information about this school

 This is an independent primary school for boys and girls. The school has an Islamic ethos. Pupils learn a secular curriculum and Islamic studies.  The school is located at 181 Cannon Street Road, London, E1 2LX.  Since the previous inspection, one of the proprietors has left the school. Rena Begum is now the sole proprietor.  The proprietor is the headteacher and proprietor of three schools. The schools are Buttercup Primary, Evergreen Primary and Oak Tree Primary. The schools make up the Gardens of Jannah Trust.  The school’s previous inspections were conducted by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). The ISI carried out a full inspection in November 2021 and an additional inspection in May 2023. Both inspections checked the school’s compliance with ‘the standards’. The inspections found that the school met ‘the standards’.  This is the first standard inspection Ofsted has carried out since the school ceased

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Information about this school

to be member of the ISS.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the ‘the standards’. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the proprietor and senior leaders of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and PSHE. For the deep dives, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects. 3 to 5 December 2024  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: 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

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Information about this inspection

culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors reviewed documents and toured the premises to check the school’s compliance with ‘the standards’.

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Inspection team

Andrea Bedeau, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Lisa Strong His Majesty’s Inspector 3 to 5 December 2024 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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