Comber Grove School

100783 Unique Reference Number Southwark Local Authority 276385 Inspection number 22 °23 November 2005 Inspection dates Mary Summers 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 Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Dr Timothy Ward Chair Mr M Kent Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection Comber Grove School address Camberwell London SE5 0LQ

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02077034168 Telephone number 02072771308 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 22 °23 November 2005 Inspection dates 276385 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 a team of three additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

Comber Grove is a very popular school for children aged three to eleven years. It caters for 349 pupils who come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. More than half are Black African or Caribbean and about a quarter are from white British families. Nearly six per cent are in the early stages of learning English as an additional language. Most children come from the housing estates surrounding the school. The number of pupils entitled to free school meals is higher than average. There are fewer pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities than are found in most schools.

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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: Comber Grove School, 22 °23 November 2005

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What the school should do to improve further

* As a matter of urgency, provide clear information and training for staff on child protection procedures* Ensure that teachers plan the use of information and communication technology(ICT) into lessons in other subjects and assess children's progress in the development of their ICT skills* Ensure that all co-ordinators are focused on raising standards in their subjects through clear action planning and effective use of data analysis.

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Grade:

The school judges teaching to be good and the inspection team agrees with this assessment. Teachers manage their classes well which helps to ensure that everyone has opportunities to learn. Children understand and respect the well-established class routines. They feel secure, know what is expected of them and respond well to stimulating teaching.From the youngest classes onwards, teachers work hard to develop children's basic skills in literacy and numeracy. In the Foundation Stage this is largely through stimulating play that also develops social skills well. In Years 1 to 6 teachers make sure that these skills are used widely in subjects such as science, history and geography. This helps pupils to make good progress and gives them a good foundation for the next stage of their education. Teachers plan well for ICT lessons but opportunities are missed for pupils to use these skills in other subjects. Teachers mark work

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Grade:

regularly and the best marking also gives pupils good guidance on how to improve their standard of work. Throughout the school, teachers quickly identify learning difficulties or special talents and provide extra support or challenge. These pupils respond well and make good progress.

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Grade:

The curriculum is good and pupils enjoy the interesting work they do in lessons. The under fives and reception classes are lively and stimulating places which help the youngest children to learn to work and play together well. The new outdoor area in the Nursery is providing valuable opportunities for children to develop in all areas of their learning. Subject co-ordinators ensure that all elements of the National Curriculum are covered and that teachers have enough resources for their subjects. The strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy has not been at the expense of creative subjects. The provision of a computer suite means that pupils have many more opportunities to develop ICT skills. However, they do not yet routinely use their ICT skills to support their learning in other subjects.The curriculum is greatly enriched by the outstanding extra-curricular activities, particularly in music and sport, as well as by the good range of visits

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Grade:

to places of interest and visitors to the school. Pupils are involved in helping to make 4 of 7 Inspection Report: Comber Grove School, 22 °23 November 2005 improvements in the school. The school council has been very active in developing a healthy eating policy and improving school meals which are now of a very high standard.

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Grade:

The school provides a satisfactory level of care, guidance and support for the pupils. Good support is given to children with learning difficulties and disabilities and those for whom English is an additional language and this helps them make rapid progress. New children are welcomed and quickly feel at home and ready to learn. The school site is secure and children are well supervised in the playgrounds, helping them feel safe and happy. Adults show high levels of care and concern for children but have not received recent training in child protection procedures and are therefore not always aware of how to act if an incident occurs.Children's progress is monitored and teachers use the information well, especially in English and mathematics, to prepare work at the correct levels for children of different abilities. Progress in the development of their ICT skills is not tracked, however, and this makes it difficult for teachers to plan the

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Grade:

5 of 7 Inspection Report: Comber Grove School, 22 °23 November 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: Comber Grove School, 22 °23 November 2005

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for welcoming us to your school last week and thank you especially to all those children who spent time talking with us, and telling us their views and ideas. I am pleased to tell you that we agree that your school is a good school. We were especially pleased with these things:* Your headteacher and deputy headteacher really do a great job in organising the school and looking after you.* You reach excellent standards in art and music and you do really well in PE, history and other subjects.* You behave well, work hard and listen carefully to your teachers. This helps you succeed at school. * Your teachers give you interesting work in lessons.* They organise some excellent activities outside the normal school day to make learning exciting and enjoyable.* You are learning how to keep safe and healthy - we were really impressed by the good quality of your school dinners and that many of you take part in

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

regular sport. We have asked the teachers who are responsible for individual subjects to use information from your test results to plan work for all of you. This will improve your skills, knowledge and understanding even more. We know that you are learning to use computers in the ICT suite but we would like to see you using them more to help your work in other subjects.Once again, thank you for telling us about your school. We hope that you will continue to work hard and do well in the future. 7 of 7 Inspection Report: Comber Grove School, 22 °23 November 2005

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