St Mark's Church of England Primary School

St Mark's Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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100619 Unique Reference Number Lambeth Local Authority 276350 Inspection number 30 November °1 December 2005 Inspection dates Kekshan Salaria HMI Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary Type of school Voluntary aided School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Reverend Robert de Berry Chair Miss Julaine Hedman Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection Harleyford Road School address London SE11 5SL

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02077351467 Telephone number 00 Fax number

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4 °11 Age group 30 November °1 December 2005 Inspection dates 276350 Inspection number .

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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 Education Act 2005, 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 carried out by two of Her Majesty's Inspectors and one additional inspector.

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Description of the school

St Mark's CE Primary School is situated in Kennington, South East London. The immediate area from which the school draws a majority of its pupils is one of high socio-economic disadvantage. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is almost double the national average. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic heritages is very high. A third of the pupils have a learning difficulty or disability. Attainment on entry to the school is variable but is generally below national expectations. Currently there are two temporary teachers employed at the school. The Headteacher and governors have found it difficult to recruit suitably qualified and experienced staff. The school is a grade 2 listed building which presents some constraints on educational provision.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 7 Inspection Report: St Mark's Church of England Primary School, 30 November °1 December 2005

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What the school should do to improve further

* Provide greater challenge for more able pupils * Improve the balance of time given to all subjects * Improve teaching so that it is consistently good and provide regular opportunities for pupils to improve their speaking and listening skills * Improve outdoor provision for the reception class

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Grade:

The quality of teaching and learning are satisfactory. The best teaching is to be seen in Key Stage 2 where the majority of teaching and learning are good. Such teaching is characterised by tasks which are well matched to pupils' needs, a brisk pace, and a clear focus so that pupils know what they have to learn. Teachers manage pupils' behaviour skilfully and relationships between pupils and staff are good. Teaching assistants provide the pupils with good support. Teachers use interactive white boards confidently to motivate and engage pupils. The school assesses and analyses pupils' progress and their test results carefully. This information is used promptly to put intervention teaching programmes in place, which speed up the progress of pupils who might be at risk of underachieving.Where teaching is satisfactory there are aspects of weakness. These include where pupils do not make the progress of which they are capable

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Grade:

because teachers give them work that is too easy. Sometimes, too few pupils have opportunities to discuss their work and to improve their speaking and listening skills. Planning does not always identify clearly how particular groups of pupils are to be supported to learn as much as possible. The teaching of more able pupils needs to be more challenging so they achieve consistently high standards across all subjects, particularly, at Key Stage 1. In almost all lessons pupils have a positive attitude to their work, and behaviour is good.Senior staff have a thorough understanding of how to use assessment data. For example, there are appropriate procedures for assessing and tracking pupil's progress and for using performance data to set appropriate targets for individual pupils.

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Grade:

The curriculum is satisfactory and covers the full range of subjects. Activities which enrich the curriculum, such as visits to places of interest and talks by visitors, are built into teachers' planning. Good use is made of opportunities such as working with a local artist and with local organisations.The curriculum in the Reception class is also satisfactory; however the lack of outdoor facilities, coupled with the small size of the classroom restricts the learning opportunities across all areas. This does not allow for the free flow of indoor/outdoor activities which 4 of 7 Inspection Report: St Mark's Church of England Primary School, 30 November °1 December 2005 encourage pupils to develop independence in choosing from a range of structured activities.The school is developing the curriculum to make it more interesting and relevant with stronger links between the subjects. This approach is intended to capture pupils' interest and encourage them

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Grade:

to use their literacy and numeracy skills in a range of different contexts and for a variety of purposes. A good example was seen where the novel Carrie's War and work on literacy was linked to previous work on the Second World War.Support for pupils with learning difficulties is well planned to make sure that they make good progress. The provision for pupils for whom English is an additional language is good. However, the balance of the curriculum is not as good as it could be. Too much time is spent on literacy and numeracy and not enough time is available to cover other subjects fully. The school provides a satisfactory range of well-attended out-of-school activities that successfully promotes pupils' development of information and communication technology (ICT) skills and their participation in sports, music and art and craft.

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Grade:

Inspectors agree with parents that the school provides good care, guidance and support for their children. The school site is safe and very welcoming and there are good procedures in place for child protection. Pupils learn about healthy living and are made aware of the dangers of misusing drugs. Relationships throughout the school are very good and pupils have confidence in their teachers and other school staff.Some pupils are aware of targets for raising their own standards and are enthusiastic about knowing what they are aiming to achieve. However, this is not consistent throughout the school. The needs of pupils new to the school, those with learning difficulties and those who speak English as an additional language are very quickly assessed. Appropriate support is organised by the school using outside agencies when this is required.

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Grade:

5 of 7 Inspection Report: St Mark's Church of England Primary School, 30 November °1 December 2005 .

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Grade:

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 7 Inspection Report: St Mark's Church of England Primary School, 30 November °1 December 2005

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for making us feel so welcome when we came to visit your school. We enjoyed talking to you about your work and sharing lunch with you. I am writing this letter to tell you what we found out about your school. These are the things we liked about your school:* You like school because you feel safe and well cared for* Your behaviour is good and you make visitors to your school feel very welcome* You take care to make sure that you help and support each other* You make healthy choices about food and exercise* Your head teacher leads the school effectively and makes sure that everyone learns well together.We have asked your school to improve a few things to make it even better. These things are: * To help you develop better speaking and listening skills.* The teachers already provide you with some good lessons, but they need to make sure that these occur more often across all subjects and with all classes* For your teachers to make sure they teach you all you need to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

know in all subjects * Your school should improve the outdoor area for the reception class. 7 of 7 Inspection Report: St Mark's Church of England Primary School, 30 November °1 December 2005

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