Acton Gardens Primary School

Inspection of Acton Gardens Primary School Osborne Road, Acton, London W3 8SJ

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

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Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 20 and 21 May 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has a clear vision centred on helping its pupils to ‘learn together for the future’. It has high expectations for all pupils and staff. Children from the Nursery receive a strong start in building their foundations in learning, communication and social skills. In Reception, children build on these skills, increasing their ability to read, write, and learn mathematics well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a revised curriculum, which has raised aspirations for what pupils should know and be able to do. Teachers ensure that the curriculum is implemented well. Pupils build their knowledge securely across the curriculum and use what they know with increasing fluency. Consequently, pupils achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and are happy. They generally attend well. The school’s expectations of routines and behaviours are clear and reinforced from the early years onwards. This means that, overall, pupils behave well. They show positive attitudes and commitment to their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school places a strong emphasis on personal development, fostering confidence, respect and resilience in its pupils. They enjoy participating in various clubs, including dance, knitting, cookery, yoga and table tennis clubs. Pupils also take pride in representing the school, in roles such as school council members, play leaders and eco representatives.

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

The school ensures that the curriculum is ambitious and thoughtfully organised. It makes sure that pupils build on and apply what they have learned before. For example, in mathematics, children in Nursery learn to count and recognise numbers up to five. By Year 2, pupils read, use and understand numbers up to 100 with fluency.

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

The school prioritises reading across all year groups. From the Reception Year onwards, children are well supported to develop and apply phonics knowledge to read and write words. The school provides targeted and timely support for those who need extra help with learning to read. This includes those who are falling behind and those who join the school with limited experience of learning phonics.

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

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified appropriately. The school ensures that these pupils’ needs are supported effectively, utilising expertise and resources. The school also ensures that adaptations are made to teaching to help pupils with SEND to learn the curriculum well.

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

Teachers possess strong subject knowledge. They explain concepts clearly and use a variety of suitable activities to develop and enhance learning. This includes helping pupils to confidently make connections to prior learning and apply their understanding. For example, when studying abstract art in Year 4, pupils draw on what they have previously learned about mixing and creating different colours. 20 and 21 May 2025

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The school has focused sharply on improving the quality of education, particularly to secure better achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. However, across subjects, there is variability in how effectively staff identify and address pupils’ misconceptions or when they have difficulty understanding subject content. This can lead to gaps in pupils’ knowledge, and so, occasionally, misconceptions remain uncorrected. Historically, this has affected pupils’ achievements, as reflected in the low published outcomes at the end of Year 6 in 2024.

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The school has introduced revised, improved approaches to behaviour management. These reflect its high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Pupils have strong attitudes to learning and often support each other, especially in Years 1 to 4. In a few instances, the school’s expectations are not fully established and followed. Although action is taken by the school, these approaches are not consistently addressed by staff and followed by all pupils.

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The personal, social, health and economic education programme is well constructed. The topics are taught in a way that enables pupils to recall and build on their learning. For example, pupils can recall the dangers of drugs, alcohol and smoking. Educational visits, for example to the London Transport Museum or meeting an author, also enhance the school’s provision for pupils’ personal development.

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The school has managed the amalgamation of the infant and junior schools well, helping staff and pupils to feel part of one community. The school is currently working on strengthening its partnership with parents. It is focused on ensuring that they have full confidence in different aspects of the school’s work.

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The school has a secure understanding of its strengths and areas for improvement. It takes decisive actions to address and strengthen aspects that could be better. The governing body is proactive in supporting and challenging the school in its actions to make sure that these are having a positive impact on pupils’ education.

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The school aims to ensure a balanced approach to implementing changes to minimise additional work for staff. The majority of staff members are positive about the school’s approach to workload, including approaches to assessment.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teaching does not address misconceptions in pupils’ learning effectively. Consequently, pupils develop gaps in their knowledge which persist. When this 20 and 21 May 2025

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happens, it hinders how well they learn overall. The school should ensure that teaching identifies and rectifies pupils’ misconceptions.  The school’s new approaches to behaviour management are not consistently implemented. Consequently, there are occasions where some pupils do not meet the school’s high expectations. The school should ensure its behaviour management approaches are consistently followed and applied, and that, when needed, pupils receive the necessary guidance and support to improve their behaviour.

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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). 20 and 21 May 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Peter Bainbridge

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 15 and 16 September 2021, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Two schools were amalgamated together from Berrymede Junior School and Berrymede Infant School in September 2022, to form Acton Gardens Primary School.  The school uses one alternative provision.  The current headteacher started in September 2023. The current deputy headteacher and assistant headteachers joined in April 2024.  The proportion of pupils who leave or join midway through the academic year is high.

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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 the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 20 and 21 May 2025

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 Inspectors spoke to the members of the senior leadership team, including the headteacher, deputy and assistant headteachers. The lead inspector held meetings with the governors and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, geography, mathematics, physical education and science. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning, and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  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.  The inspectors took account of responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View,

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including free-text comments. The inspectors also considered the responses of pupils and staff to Ofsted’s online surveys.  The inspectors spoke with groups of pupils during lessons and social times.

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Inspection team

Ray Lau, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Helen Lockey Ofsted Inspector 20 and 21 May 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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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