Chalgrove Primary School

Chalgrove Primary School

Address: Chalgrove Gardens, Finchley, London, N3 3PL Unique reference number (URN): 101309

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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

Pupils learn to read with accuracy. Staff identify any gaps in phonics knowledge promptly and provide effective support, so pupils catch up with their peers. The school has a high- quality mathematics curriculum, and recent improvements to develop pupils' quick recall of their times tables have enabled them to apply number facts with increasing confidence. As a result, pupils achieve above national averages in almost all areas at the end of key stage 2 over time. This ensures that they are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged progress well from their starting points. Staff tailor support carefully, helping pupils achieve academically, personally and socially. As a result, these pupils are well equipped for the next steps in their learning with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils achieve well across the broader curriculum. Over time and in different subjects, they secure a depth of knowledge and understandings that prepares them well for the next stage of their education.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders evaluate absence information diligently and respond quickly when there is a concern. Weekly incentives, such as the ‘Otis Bear’ awarded to the class with the best punctuality, and certificates for improved attendance, reinforce the school's high expectations and celebrate pupils' success. As a result, attendance, including that of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, is above the national average.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Pupils enjoy coming to school. The learning environment, inside and out, is warm and nurturing. This helps pupils to thrive, including in the outdoor areas, where rich, natural spaces give them daily opportunities to connect with nature. Pupils, parents and carers report that behaviour is very positive. Pupils feel listened to because leaders act swiftly and effectively to deal with any concerns. Bullying is very rare, and when it does occur it is dealt with quickly and appropriately. Pupils describe school as a place where they feel safe, valued and cared for. Relationships between staff and pupils, as well between pupils and their peers, are warm and respectful.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders act quickly to support pupils who may need additional help to manage their emotions. Carefully considered plans help to ensure that these pupils settle and rise to their teachers' high expectations.

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Early years Strong standard

The curriculum is fully aligned with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), covering all 7 areas of learning and meeting statutory requirements. The curriculum identifies the important foundations children should secure in their spoken and written language, in reading and in mathematics. The curriculum offers ample opportunity for children to practise and embed this knowledge with greater fluency and confidence. Staff are highly trained to develop children's foundational knowledge. They present new learning clearly and take time to check what children know, understand and can do. The learning environment is well designed. It aligns closely with the curriculum and makes learning engaging and appealing.

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Early years Strong standard

Staff identify children’s needs accurately and at an early stage. A carefully considered transition from Reception into Year 1, coupled with effective partnership with parents, carers and external agencies, results in well ‑ targeted support. This includes specialist and individualised provision to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities access learning and make appropriate progress. Staff adapt provision thoughtfully and provide additional support where needed. Some children access the ‘willow room’, where they receive additional support to help them build language, confidence and independence.

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Early years Strong standard

Staff and children build secure, positive relationships. There are consistently high expectations of learning and behaviour. Children understand these expectations and respond to them confidently, which prepares them well for learning in Year 1 and beyond.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff know pupils and understand their different needs and starting points extremely well. This is because established systems are used to assess pupils’ initial or emerging needs promptly and put the right support in place without delay. Parents and carers value the care and attention their children receive. This is because leaders and staff consistently enhance opportunities for disadvantaged pupils, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and pupils who may face other barriers to their learning. For example, when pupils who are at the earliest stages of learning English join the school, staff provide a 'buddy' and appropriate support to help them acquire language and settle quickly.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Across the school, staff are highly trained and well supported to meet a diverse range of needs. Pupils receive tailored, high-quality support that enables them to thrive academically, socially and emotionally. The recently developed specialist resource provision, 'Forest Lodge', supports pupils whose primary need is autism. Staff skilfully help these pupils learn through a carefully adapted curriculum and targeted interventions that build essential life skills, such as using public transport, understanding road safety and visiting a supermarket. Pupils in this provision also access mainstream classes across the week. This integrated approach is proving highly successful in developing pupils' confidence, independence and friendship groups.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders ensure that additional funding is well deployed so that pupils have any additional needs met, as well as being well supported to access and benefit from everything the school has to offer.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders and governors have a deep understanding of the school’s community and pupils’ needs. They ensure that disadvantaged pupils, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and others who face barriers to learning are supported to succeed. Published outcomes over the last three years have been above national averages in almost all areas. Where performance has been less positive, leaders have acted decisively, using targeted actions and support to secure improvement.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders make sure staff benefit from high ‑ quality professional learning, including research ‑ informed training. Staff value the opportunities to progress in their careers. The school has a strong track record of developing and retaining staff, including educational support staff training to be qualified teachers. Leaders take staff wellbeing and workload into careful consideration. Most staff are highly positive about the school, especially with regard to pupils’ behaviour, safety and the support pupils receive. A small number of staff hold more mixed views about how workload and wellbeing are managed.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have worked closely with the local authority to open a highly effective specialist resource provision for pupils with SEND. Schools in the local area visit the provision, and leaders are equally outward facing. They share their expertise with other settings, strengthening inclusive practice beyond their own school.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Governors provide thorough oversight of the school’s work, including safeguarding arrangements. They gather a wide range of meaningful information about the school’s priorities, enabling them to offer appropriate challenge and support and to ensure that improvements are sustained over time. They understand and fulfil their statutory duties well.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The personal development programme is well considered and is rooted in the school’s values. These values shape assemblies and wider school activities. For example, all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), take part in an annual poetry recital. During this event, a visiting poet gives feedback to pupils about their intonation, expression and clarity. This experience teaches pupils to step forward with confidence, respond positively to challenge and demonstrate the school’s value of ‘courage’.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The curriculum develops skills for the future and helps prepare pupils for the next stage of learning and life beyond school. For example, pupils understand what constitutes a healthy and respectful relationship. They understand consent and how to act in situations where they may feel unsure or uncomfortable, including when online. Pupils develop a secure understanding of British values, such as democracy, through voting in elections for members of the school council.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils' voice affects real change in the school. For example, the school council identified that pupils wanted a wider range of clubs. They carried out a poll with their classes and, as a result, new activities such as coding and theatre have been introduced. These opportunities, alongside gardening and dance, help pupils to nurture their talents and interests.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders carefully consider how pupils with SEND learn about themselves and those around them. For example, equine therapy is used to help pupils to read body language. This has led to pupils being better equipped to understand social cues and manage interactions with greater confidence. Leaders are committed to ensuring that disadvantaged pupils have full access to wider experiences. This includes the broad range of visits that underpin the

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Expected standard

curriculum such as a recent visit to a museum that helped Year 5 pupils to understand how aircraft work.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The curriculum is broad and ambitious. It has been deliberately designed to allow pupils to revisit, practise and secure knowledge. The curriculum builds pupils' knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics incrementally from early years. This ensures that pupils have the foundations they need to access other subjects successfully. The curriculum beyond English and mathematics is equally well considered, building on what pupils know and can do. For example, in history, younger pupils learn that the past can be shown in different ways and begin to talk about whether these versions are accurate. This understanding helps older pupils to compare historical sources, think about why accounts differ, and decide which evidence is most reliable.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders ensure that staff have the training, expertise and subject knowledge necessary to teach the curriculum. Adaptations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other pupils who may face barriers to their learning are effective. This means that pupils, including those with SEND, learn the same curriculum as their peers, wherever this is possible. There is, however, some variability in how well the curriculum is taught. For example, checks on pupils’ learning are not consistent. This means pupils' errors and misconceptions are sometimes missed and not addressed swiftly. This can limit the depth of understanding some pupils secure. Similarly, the quality of pupil talk varies. This is because there are different expectations across the school about the precision with which pupils should rehearse or articulate their thinking.

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

Chalgrove Primary School is a small, welcoming and highly inclusive community where pupils live out the school's ethos of 'if you believe, you can achieve'. Pupils readily talk about their hopes and ambitions. They feel safe because they know staff will listen to them and act swiftly if they share any concerns. Bullying is very rare. Pupils know that staff address any incidences swiftly should they occur.

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

Pupils learn an ambitious, broad curriculum that nurtures curiosity, creativity and independence. Outdoor learning is a distinct strength. The external environment functions as an extension of the classroom. The school's gardening club is hugely popular and has inspired further outdoor spaces in the 'willow' room and across year groups. These carefully designed areas promote creativity, communication and emotional regulation while also supporting pupils’ physical and mental wellbeing.

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

Pupils speak enthusiastically about their learning. The curriculum is well sequenced, enabling pupils to build knowledge and skills securely over time. They develop confidence in reading, writing and mathematics as well as in other curriculum areas. By the time they leave the school, pupils achieve above ‑ average outcomes in national tests. Disadvantaged pupils make secure progress because leaders work deliberately to reduce any barriers to learning and/or wellbeing that pupils might face. As a result, children in early years and pupils across the school are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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

A rich programme of additional activities such as dance festivals, debating competitions and ‘Chalgrove’s Got Talent’ enhances the curriculum and creates memorable experiences. Pupils contribute positively to the school community, whether through roles on the school council, tending the garden or enjoying time in the local forest. Staff ensure that all pupils access these enriching opportunities, especially those who need additional support.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that teaching is consistently of a high quality. This includes checking that assessment is used well to understand what pupils know and remember, and then addressing any errors and misconceptions in a timely way. Leaders should also ensure that there are consistent expectations of pupils’ spoken language through structured opportunities to practise and demonstrate high ‑ quality talk.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Fiona Bulmer.

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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 HMI.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders and staff during the inspection. They also held meetings with members of the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority.

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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 currently uses no alternative provision.

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Team inspectors:

Andrea Bedeau, His Majesty's Inspector David Wilson, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 7 July 2026

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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 6 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 needs support 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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What does this mean?

The type of Special Educational Needs provision provided at the school (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

2022/23 (final) 72% 73% 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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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

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

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average

2022/23 (final) 70% 60% Close to average

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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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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

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

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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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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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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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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) 4.9% 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) 11.8% 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

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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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