Downshall Primary School

Downshall Primary School

Address: Meads Lane, Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, IG3 8UG Unique reference number (URN): 149520

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Strong standard

The changes leaders have made to the curriculum and to teaching enable pupils to develop a deep understanding of the subjects they study. Pupils produce work of high quality. They talk confidently about what they have learned and remember important knowledge over time. By the end of the Reception Year, children are prepared for Year 1, including achieving above national averages in the phonics screening test. By the end of Year 6, pupils achieve above national averages for combined reading, writing and mathematics, and they achieve well across the wider curriculum. As a result, pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils who face barriers to learning, including those who are disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make significant progress from their starting points. Leaders’ work to strengthen provision for these pupils has led to year-on-year improvement and helps them to achieve increasingly well over time.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The curriculum is broad and ambitious. It is carefully designed to ensure that pupils practise and embed important knowledge. For example, pupils in the early years use words and illustrations to make sense of texts and answer simple questions about what they have read. As they move through the school, they learn to explore ideas beyond the literal, drawing deeper meaning and making more sophisticated inferences.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

The curriculum is taught very well. Staff have excellent subject knowledge. They understand pupils’ starting points, and they are skilled at adapting their teaching and resources to support pupils. The curriculum prioritises pupils securing important English and mathematical knowledge. The systematic and skilful approach to early reading helps pupils gain the skills they need quickly. Staff are well trained and model sounds with precision. The books pupils read are well matched to the sounds they know. This helps them to read with increasing accuracy, fluency and confidence. Pupils who struggle to read are well supported to catch up.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders have a detailed understanding of the strengths and areas that need further refining in terms of the curriculum and teaching. For example, leaders have focused on developing pupils’ speaking through regular partner talk. This has a positive impact on pupils' ability to articulate their thinking clearly and explain their ideas.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Downshall Primary has undergone several strategic changes to meet the evolving needs of its community. It makes decisions that are in the best interests of all pupils. For example, leaders work closely with the trust to offer bespoke provision for the growing numbers of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This results in pupils with SEND receiving the specialist support they need to regulate their emotions, engage in learning and improve their wellbeing. Leaders are quick to address where improvement is needed. This includes their ongoing work to ensure further precision around checking the impact of support for pupils with SEND, making adjustments as needed.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have made rapid improvements to the curriculum and the quality of teaching. Consequently, they have developed an aspirational curriculum. Leaders ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills they need to support pupils effectively through the embedded culture of professional learning. Staff value their professional development and take ownership of it. The trust strengthens this work by sharing best practice and the latest research linked to the school’s priorities. Together, this leads to highly positive outcomes for pupils by the end of Year 6.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Governors ensure that the school’s ambitious vision for all pupils is clear and understood by staff, parents, carers and pupils. They know their roles and responsibilities well and have a secure understanding of the school’s unique context, including the challenges around attendance and school readiness in the early years. Leaders prioritise staff workload and wellbeing in their decision ‑ making, and staff feel highly valued as a result.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The school has developed a coherent, successful and appropriate programme for pupils' personal development. Pupils demonstrate a mature, nuanced understanding of concepts such as gender equality and consent, drawing confidently on secure and detailed knowledge from the personal, social, health and economic curriculum. Pupils make thoughtful connections to real-life situations and show a well-developed sense of fairness, respect and responsibility. The personal development programme is an entitlement for all, and pupils benefit hugely from this enriching offer.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders’ actions ensure that pupils who face barriers to learning or wellbeing develop a commendable level of respect and appreciation for their elders. The school's intergenerational provision, which is run with external agencies, is a key factor in this work. Through working with older people in the local community, pupils are supported to develop social skills such as empathy and listening to others. Pupils build positive relationships with older pupils from a local secondary school, who take part in the shared activities. This further enriches pupils’ experiences, offering real ‑ world opportunities to build confidence, teamwork and resilience. As a result of this programme, pupils who were previously at risk of disengagement now flourish academically, socially and personally.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities, as well as educational visits and residential trips. This includes the opportunity to take part in a global learning project and to appreciate the richness and beauty of another culture. Pupils were keen to talk about their experiences of a trip to Mexico City, for example, where they taught the local schoolchildren how to play cricket and learned traditional skills such as making tacos. These shared experiences helped pupils to develop confidence, broaden their perspectives and build meaningful connections with others.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders promote regular attendance and work proactively with families to remove barriers that prevent pupils from coming to school. They act quickly when concerns arise and provide timely support where it is needed. Recent initiatives to celebrate 100% attendance have contributed to an improving picture. Most pupils now attend well and there is a noticeable reduction in persistent absence. However, a small number of pupils, including some who are disadvantaged, do not attend as regularly as they could.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils are warmly welcomed into a calm and orderly environment at the start of each day. Staff set high expectations for behaviour and model these consistently. Pupils are polite, respectful and considerate towards others. In lessons, they listen attentively, follow instructions and demonstrate highly positive attitudes to learning. Older pupils act as positive role models for younger children. During playtimes, pupils play cooperatively and treat one another kindly. Bullying or any form of discrimination is very rare and is dealt with swiftly and effectively if it occurs. Pupils know they can get effective support from the ‘Nurture Room’, where pupils know they can seek help, regulate their emotions and talk to trusted adults.

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Early years Expected standard

Children often begin the early years with limited spoken language and make a positive start to their education. This is because the curriculum is carefully sequenced and prioritises early reading, communication and developing independence. Children learn important social skills, such as listening carefully, taking turns and sharing with others. By the end of Reception, they communicate with increasing confidence and are well prepared for the demands of Year 1.

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Early years Expected standard

Children complete their learning activities sensibly and independently. Staff design purposeful tasks to develop different areas of learning. For example, at the start of the day, children focus on activities designed to develop their gross and fine motor skills and letter and number formation. Staff create opportunities for children to hear and use new vocabulary. Sometimes, these interactions are not used to deepen or extend children’s language as effectively as they could. As a result, some children do not yet apply new vocabulary with confidence.

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Early years Expected standard

Children are attentive in phonics lessons. They get plenty of practice to develop their early reading skills with books at the right level. Most children learn to read fluently. The school works well with parents and carers to help them support their children's learning.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) has increased in recent years. Leaders have responded promptly to this growing need and have developed effective provision for pupils with SEND. Leaders continue to work on monitoring the progress of these pupils to understand more clearly which support strategies are effective and where these need to be refined.

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Inclusion Expected standard

There are clear systems for identifying pupils’ needs quickly and accurately when they join the school. Leaders focus on early identification, working closely with pre ‑ school providers and parents and carers before children start in the early years to ensure that support is in place from the outset.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff receive purposeful training on how to support pupils with SEND. Consequently, pupils with SEND benefit from carefully considered support plans that help them to work towards goals in appropriate steps. For some pupils, leaders have developed a more bespoke offer. This provides tailored support to help some pupils to manage their behaviour and for others to develop their early communication skills. Leaders work closely with external agencies to shape the support they put in place. The trust also provides additional expertise and enrichment opportunities that help pupils access further specialist support.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders ensure that funding for disadvantaged pupils is used effectively to provide additional help where it is most needed. They recognise the importance of building pupils’ cultural capital so that they can develop the knowledge, confidence and experiences needed to thrive beyond the classroom. Leaders actively encourage pupils who may face barriers to take part in clubs and wider opportunities, which has begun to strengthen the social and emotional wellbeing of some pupils.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Downshall Primary School is a warm and nurturing community that celebrates the many traditions and backgrounds of its pupils. Leaders promote a culture in which differences are valued and pupils unite around shared expectations, removing barriers so that every child can access rich learning opportunities.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils know that leaders hold high expectations and are ambitious for them, and pupils rise to these expectations. They experience a high-quality education that prepares them well for the next stage of their learning. Staff notice any challenges or barriers promptly, and leaders act swiftly to remove these so that pupils thrive both academically and personally.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils benefit from an ambitious curriculum that reflects the school’s multicultural context and meets individual needs. They take part in a wide range of enrichment and extra- curricular activities that raise aspirations and broaden their experiences, including poetry retreats, workshops and curriculum-linked visits. All pupils are encouraged to take on leadership roles and make a positive contribution to their school and local community. They show a real sense of responsibility and care for others. A distinctive feature of the school is its intergenerational project. This brings together pupils, particularly those with high levels of special educational needs and/or disabilities or other vulnerabilities, and older adults who may be isolated, vulnerable or living with dementia. Through shared activities such as art, cooking and storytelling, pupils develop deep social and moral awareness, empathy,

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

emotional literacy and improved communication and behaviour. Many pupils join the school part-way through the year or key stage, and some arrive with gaps in their education. Given the high number of pupils who speak English as an additional language, leaders rightly prioritise vocabulary development. Staff identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge quickly and address them effectively. As a result, pupils achieve well.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that new strategies to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are monitored closely and skilfully adjusted, using the information they gather with precision, so that barriers to learning are further reduced. Leaders should ensure that interactions with children in the early years consistently promote language development. They should ensure that staff have the expertise to take every opportunity to develop children’s communication skills. Leaders should continue to improve attendance by increasing the regular attendance of key groups and raising overall attendance across the school.

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About this inspection

This school is part of New Vision Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Shahed Ahmed, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Quintin Peppiatt.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and other senior leaders during the inspection. They also met with members of the local governing body.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with pupils, staff, parents and carers. They considered the responses to Ofsted’s surveys.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Team inspectors:

Rebekah Iiyambo, Ofsted Inspector Sophie Powell, Ofsted Inspector Joanna Franklin, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 80% 75% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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national average

2023/24 (final) 56% 46% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2023/24 (final) 70% 58% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 6.1% 5.5% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 17.7% 14.6% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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