Malmesbury Primary School

Age group Published Reference no. Malmesbury Primary School

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Unique Reference Number 134160 LEA Tower Hamlets

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Inspection number 274838 Inspection dates 23 - 24 June 2005 Reporting inspector Marianne Harris

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Inspection deemed to have been carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 according to section 12(3) of the same act.

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Type of School Primary School address School category Community Age range of pupils 3 - 11 Coborn Street London E3 2AB Gender of pupils Mixed Telephone number 020 8980 4299 Number on roll 578 Fax number 020 8980 1102 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair of governors Mr Simon Bartley Date of previous inspection No previous inspection Headteacher Mrs Joanne Clensy

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3 - 11 July 2005 274838 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was a pilot of the new arrangements for inspection announced by Ofsted in consultation paper of February 2004. It was carried out with the support and co-operation of Malmesbury Primary School and of the local education authority.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

Malmesbury is a large, newly amalgamated, primary school in a deprived but culturally diverse area of inner London. The number of pupils who are eligible for free school meals is well above average and the proportion that are learning English as an additional language is very high. About a quarter of the pupils have special educational needs, and a small number of these receive support in specialist units for some of the time.

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Key for inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness of the school

The school judges itself to be satisfactory with good capacity to improve, and inspectors agree. The headteacher and senior leaders, with the support of the governing body, have achieved much in the two years since the amalgamation, most notably tackling inappropriate and sometimes violent behaviour. This firm stand has led to pupils’ personal development being promoted well. Children in the Foundation Stage get off to a good start and make good progress. Many are likely to reach the expected goals for children’s learning by the time they enter Year 1. The headteacher has put in place effective strategies to improve teaching and raise standards. The results of these strategies can be seen in Year 6, where pupils have made great strides in improving their writing. However, they have yet to be introduced across the school. Where teaching has been weak, support has been put in place and good practice has been

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Overall effectiveness of the school

shared. The school’s monitoring shows a sharp rise in the quality of teaching. The views and concerns of pupils are taken seriously and they feel justly proud of the part they play in the life of the school. Staff acknowledge that there is still much to do to drive up standards and their own self-evaluation is robust and precise. There is a clear, shared vision for the future and a collective desire to improve. All of this indicates that the school’s capacity to improve is good. It currently provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that the successful strategies that have been used to raise standards in Years 5 and 6 are introduced across the school. • Continue to take a firm stand against unacceptable behaviour.

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Achievement and standards

Children enter the nursery with standards that are below what is typical. By the end of Year 2, the 2004 national test results were below the national picture but when set against their starting points pupils of all abilities made good progress and achieved well. Much emphasis is put on developing speaking and listening skills and this has had a positive impact on the standards pupils reach in their writing.

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Achievement and standards

However, progress has been slower for pupils in Years 3 to 6 who have been more affected by aspects of the school that, at the time of the amalgamation, were not as secure as they are now. The 2004 national test results were below average but showed that pupils made reasonable progress and achieved satisfactorily, given their low starting point. Pupils currently in Year 6 have made steady progress overall, although they have made phenomenal strides in improving their writing. There is now a secure system in place that tracks the progress each pupil makes and identifies those who are not making good enough progress.

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Achievement and standards

Pupils of all abilities, including those with special educational needs, and those for whom English is not their first language, make satisfactory progress overall. They are well supported and have access to programmes that help them achieve soundly. The school’s evaluation of standards provides a good basis for raising pupils’ achievements.

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Personal development and well-being

The school judges that pupils’ personal development and well-being are satisfactory overall. However, inspectors judge these aspects to good. This is because each child is treated as a special individual and is encouraged to become a fulfilled and mature member of the school community. The caring ethos promotes children’s moral and social sense well. They are crystal clear about rewards and sanctions. Their cultural development is embedded in the life of this school which is geared to recognising and celebrating the multicultural diversity of its pupils.

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Personal development and well-being

Behaviour has improved dramatically this year. The once very high number of exclusions has fallen as a result of the support for the tiny minority who misbehave. Attendance has risen, reflecting children’s growing enjoyment of school. They have positive attitudes. Support staff playing a valuable role in building their self-esteem.

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Personal development and well-being

Adults have worked hard to create a climate in which children feel safe, secure, and free from bullying and harassment. Any incidents are dealt with firmly. The lively, active School Council was instrumental in bringing about improvements to playground life, including challenging the governing body so that the unsafe wall was repaired. It briefs subject leaders about likes and dislikes, such as a desire to introduce rap music into singing assemblies. The satisfactory progress children make in literacy, numeracy and information communication technology (ICT) and through the many support groups that boost children’s self-confidence, steadily equips them with skills for the future.

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Teaching and learning

Teaching and learning are satisfactory. This confirms the school’s evaluation of its teaching. Teachers’ planning is good and in some subjects firmly based on the outcome of recently completed assessments, ensuring that tasks are pitched at the right level for every pupil. Teachers plan to make learning fun. The use of new resources, such as Interactive Whiteboards, holds pupils’ attention well. High expectations of pupils’ behaviour are evident in all classrooms. Teachers and teaching assistants are now adept at creating a learning environment where pupils are encouraged to think for themselves and work together to meet the challenges they are being given. The best marking is giving pupils clear pointers about what needs to be done to reach higher standards. However, the quality is not consistent in all classes. Where targets have been introduced, such as Big Writing in English, they are used very effectively to drive up standards because pupils know what they have

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Teaching and learning

to do to improve their work. The new systems for assessing how well pupils are doing quickly identifies where there are gaps in learning. However, these processes are not yet firmly established in all subjects or in all year groups so that all pupils can make good progress.

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Curriculum and other activities

The school provides a soundly balanced and well-planned curriculum. The variety of its curricular activities, both in and out of school, enriches the curriculum well. Pupils speak very enthusiastically about all of the opportunities they get to make learning more interesting. Themed weeks, such as the current one on Refugees, provide pupils with experiences they may not be afforded during normal lessons. Pupils are developing their self-confidence and independence as they decide, through the School Council, which activities they would like to see in their school.

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Curriculum and other activities

Out of school clubs and activities are successful in developing a wide range of interests and enjoyment. Pupils’ skills are extended well through a variety of activities, such as sports, music and technology. There is a good range of visits and visitors into school and this makes school life more interesting for all of the pupils.

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Care, guidance and support

Care is satisfactory overall. The school’s caring ethos values all children. Child protection procedures are robust with staff regularly updated, especially those newly appointed. Strategies to promote good behaviour are consistently applied, so that children feel safe and secure.

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Care, guidance and support

Recently developed systems to track and monitor children’s progress identify those needing help but do not highlight differences in the achievement of specific groups such as between boys or girls. Good work has been done with Year 6 pupils in setting their own targets for writing but marking is inconsistent across classes.

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Care, guidance and support

Teaching assistants and learning mentors support vulnerable children well. There are many activities, including the Friendship Club to promote social skills and Talk Time for individual counselling. Children who speak English as an additional language receive a good level of assistance, especially when at an early stage of learning English.

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Leadership and management

Since the school was amalgamated the headteacher and senior staff have focussed on establishing a team of high quality, where everyone plays a part in moving the school forward and achieving appropriately identified priorities. The headteacher’s leadership is good. The deputy heads, senior staff and governors provide good support. New staff have been carefully selected for their specific expertise and the school makes good use of their skills to support learning. One of the key roles of the senior management team is to support these teachers who are new to the school and they do this effectively. However, all of the systems and procedures that have been put in place are very new and are not yet applied consistently across the school. This explains why leadership and management are satisfactory overall rather than good.

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Leadership and management

The opinions of parents and pupils are valued and acted upon, and regular reviews are carried out to gather the views of all those involved in the school. There are good links with a range of other schools and organisations, all of which help promote an improving quality of education.

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Leadership and management

The school’s self-evaluation is rigorous and precise. All of the available information is being used effectively to plan for the future. Governors bring a good range of skills to the school and are not timid when challenging senior staff over the performance of the pupils. The school is well placed to continue its recent improvements and develop them further.

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Grade: 3

procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about HMI-led Ofsted inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate.

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3

How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners’ well-being?

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3

The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 The effectiveness of the school’s self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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How well do learners achieve? 3

The standards reached by learners 3 How well learners’ make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners

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3

How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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2

The extent of learners’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

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2

The behaviour of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community.

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2

How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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3

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education

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3

How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self- review

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2

How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can

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3

How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money

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3

The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities

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2

The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily. Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise. Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse. Yes Learners are educated about sexual health. Yes The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe.

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements. Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place. Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism. Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them. Yes

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships. Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them. Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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being

There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills. Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams. Yes Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in Key Stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form. NA Education for all learners aged 14-19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy. NA

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Annex B

Malmesbury Primary School Coborn Street London E3 2AB

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Annex B

Thank you so much for welcoming us into your school and telling us everything we needed to know. We enjoyed our time with you and would now like to tell you what we found out about your school.

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Annex B

We think that behaviour must have improved a great deal. One of you told us that it used to be “chaos” but that it was much better now, and many of you agreed with that. We certainly thought that you all behaved well while we were in school, especially in the playground now that you have your new equipment. We think that you must carry on behaving well so that your school can be a calm place where you can all learn.

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Annex B

What good progress all of you in Year 6 have made in improving your writing. We were very impressed that you knew what to do to make it even better. Your enthusiasm bowled us over. Now your teachers plan to give you all a chance to improve your work by telling you exactly what you have to do in each subject. Make sure you listen carefully and take note of what they say. Then you will do so well that you will all make really good progress in your learning.

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Annex B

Finally, we would like to thank you once again for all your help. We wish you well in the future and hope that we can come and visit you again.

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Annex B

Marianne Harris Lead inspector Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 www.ofsted.gov.uk

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