Fryent Primary School

Inspection of Fryent Primary School Church Lane, Kingsbury, London NW9 8JD

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Inspection dates: 11 and 12 February 2025

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 11 and 12 February 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this school. They warmly welcome those who arrive throughout the year. Pupils feel and are kept safe. Relationships between the school and their families are supportive and respectful. Pupils are confident to share any worries they may have and know that any concerns will be addressed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils typically behave well and engage positively. Expectations are high and consistently applied. This starts in early years, where children learn to take turns, share and work together. Pupils enjoy being invited to the ‘VIP lunch’ when they have demonstrated the school’s values of creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum is typically ambitious. However, it is at an early stage of implementation and not taught consistently well. This means that pupils, including some withe special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not achieve as well as they should, including in national assessments.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy activities designed to develop their talents and interests in art, sport and music. Pupils benefit from opportunities to visit places of worship and complete a residential trip to Wales. For pupils who may choose not to attend these events, local alternatives are provided, for example rock climbing or kayaking. Pupils develop a sense of responsibility through fundraising for chosen charities. They take on roles such as becoming members of the school council.

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

Following a period of change, leaders and governors have accurately identified the improvements that are needed to help pupils learn and achieve well. In most subjects, the curriculum has been updated so that it fully aligns with the breadth and ambition of what is expected nationally.

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

The knowledge pupils need to learn has been identified. It is well sequenced so that pupils practise and embed important ideas. For example, in mathematics, children in early years count forwards and backwards in different steps. Pupils build on this when learning to multiply and calculate fractions. Similarly, in religious education (RE), pupils learn about religious leaders, before learning about how people demonstrate their faith through prayer, worship and pilgrimage.

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

Important aspects of the early years curriculum, such as children’s language development and mathematical understanding, are less clearly defined and sequenced. This limits the rigour in developing, for example, children’s vocabulary and communication.

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

In some subjects, the curriculum is delivered effectively and helps pupils achieve well. However, this is not consistent. Teaching does not routinely build on what pupils already know. Checks on learning are not used well enough to identify and correct misconceptions, so these persist in pupils’ understanding. There are times where learning activities provided do not match the ambition of the intended curriculum. As a result, 11 and 12 February 2025

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pupils do not consistently develop the depth of knowledge and understanding they need to achieve well. Leaders have rightly prioritised ensuring that the curriculum is delivered with precision. They have set appropriate actions to address these weaknesses.

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The importance of reading is promoted through author visits, book fairs and competitions. Pupils enjoy reading and being read to. In the Nursery, children join in enthusiastically with familiar rhymes, stories and songs. Pupils talk confidently about their favourite authors. Staff have been trained to deliver the school’s chosen phonics and reading programmes. However, sounds are not modelled with consistent precision. Although checks are made to identify pupils who need additional support, the information gathered is not used consistently well. Pupils are sometimes moved on before they have secured the knowledge they need. This limits their fluency, confidence and readiness to learn more complex sounds.

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Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly. The school works closely with external specialists to secure helpful advice. Pupils who attend the additional resource provision receive a strong education. The curriculum is designed carefully and supports pupils to achieve well. Staff in the provision deliver the curriculum with expert precision. They help pupils to develop as confident and independent individuals, who can manage their feelings and emotions. However, adaptations for some pupils with SEND who attend mainstream classes, do not consistently help them access the intended curriculum. Similarly, some teaching does not build on what pupils have already learned. This hampers opportunities for these pupils to learn and remember the curriculum.

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Pupils try hard and take pride in their work. They move around the school sensibly and are welcoming to visitors. The school has improved the structure of playtimes. Pupils value these changes. Effective systems for managing attendance have resulted in an improvement in the number of pupils that attend school regularly and on time.

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The offer for personal development helps pupils to understand how to keep physically and emotionally healthy. Pupils develop their understanding of challenging discrimination and celebrating diversity through, for example, learning about different faiths. The opportunities provided support pupils who attend the additional resource provision to learn life skills, such as shopping, first aid and fire safety. There is strong provision for supporting pupils’ well-being, including working with specialists to help pupils manage their transition to secondary school.

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Staff, including those at the start of their careers, feel well supported to manage their workload and well-being. They value the opportunities they have to develop professionally.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 11 and 12 February 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum, including in aspects of reading and mathematics, is not implemented consistently well. As a result, pupils, including some who have recently arrived or have SEND, do not routinely develop the knowledge and understanding they need to achieve well, including in national assessments. The school should ensure that staff implement the curriculum in the way it has been designed. This includes ensuring staff have sufficient knowledge and understanding to choose activities that match the ambition of the curriculum and make effective use of assessment to identify and address any misconceptions.  The adaptations made for pupils who are lower attaining, have recently arrived or have SEND in mainstream classes, are not consistently well chosen. As a result, these pupils are sometimes not supported to access the intended curriculum. The school should ensure that any adaptations help pupils build on what they already know and can do

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

and are closely aligned to their needs and the intended curriculum outcomes.  The curriculum for early years does not provide sufficient clarification about important aspects of learning, including children’s early language and mathematics. As a result, children are not typically well supported to develop the knowledge and skills they need to access the curriculum. The school should ensure that the curriculum provides sufficient clarity about what children should learn and when. The school should ensure that staff gain the knowledge and support they need to maximise high-quality interactions with children across different areas of learning.

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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 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). 11 and 12 February 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Michelle Ginty (interim executive headteacher) Website www.fryent.brent.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 February 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The interim executive headteacher took up her role in September 2023. She has responsibility for leading another local primary school.  The school has an additional resource provision for pupils registered at the school with autism. There are currently 43 pupils attending the provision.  The school currently makes use of one registered alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 11 and 12 February 2025

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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 this into account in their evaluation of the school.

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, computing and RE. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work. Inspectors also considered the curriculum in some other subjects.

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 Discussions were held with the senior and subject leaders and a range of staff. Inspectors met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body. A meeting was held with a representative of the local authority.

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 Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for improvement.

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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 culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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 The views of pupils, parents and staff were gathered through discussions as well as considering their responses to Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Nick Turvey, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Rutinderjit Mahil-Pooni Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Alex Hayes Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 February 2025

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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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