St George's CofE Primary School

St George's CofE Primary School Inspection report

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101044 Unique Reference Number Wandsworth Local Authority 276447 Inspection number 7 °8 February 2006 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 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Reverend G M Vevers Chair Ms Janet Hilary Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection Corunna Road School address Battersea London SW8 4JS

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02076221870 Telephone number 02074989683 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 7 °8 February 2006 Inspection dates 276447 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

St George's CE Primary School is situated in the heart of a large local authority estate in Battersea. The immediate area from which the school draws the majority of its pupils is one of high socio-economic disadvantage. Almost half of the pupils are entitled to receive free school meals. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic heritages is very high. Approximately 22 languages are spoken in the school. A quarter of the pupils have a learning difficulty or disability. Pupils join the school with very low levels of attainment. The headteacher has been in post for three years. The governing body has found it difficult to recruit suitably qualified and experienced staff.

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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 George's CofE Primary School, 7 °8 February 2006

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What the school should do to improve further

* Provide greater challenge for more able pupils so that they make progress in line with their capability.* Raise standards in English, mathematics and science by ensuring that teaching is consistently good across the school and includes regular planned opportunities for pupils to develop language skills.* Involve pupils in the target setting process so they understand what they have to do to make progress.

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Grade:

The quality of teaching and learning by the new staff team is good and is beginning to accelerate pupils' progress. Teachers successfully engage their pupils by planning interesting activities that motivate them to work hard. They give clear explanations, demonstrate effectively and encourage pupils to solve problems through the use of skilled questioning. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities learn well as a result of carefully planned and effectively implemented individual programmes. Learning support assistants are deployed well and contribute significantly to the pupils' learning. In almost all lessons pupils have a positive attitude to their work and behaviour is good.Where teaching is satisfactory there are aspects of weakness. These include lessons where pupils do not make sufficient progress due to a lack of challenge, particularly for the more able pupils. There are also too few opportunities for pupils to discuss their work

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Grade:

and to practise the use of language.The school has significantly improved the quality of provision in the Foundation Stage so that there are ample opportunities for children to become independent learners through imaginative or creative play. As a result, children enjoy their learning and make good progress.Teachers use a good range of methods to check and assess their pupils' progress and much of this is recorded systematically. Senior staff have a thorough understanding of how to use assessment data and there are good procedures for assessing and tracking pupils' progress.

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Grade:

The school provides a broad and interesting curriculum. The nursery and reception classes are stimulating environments which encourage younger pupils to learn well. A suitable emphasis is placed on the development of basic skills in literacy and numeracy and there are sufficient opportunities to practise these across the curriculum. However, planning for the development of speaking and listening could be strengthened. Provision for ICT has improved since the last inspection and there are well planned opportunities for pupils to use their ICT skills across the curriculum. Links are being developed effectively between subjects to enhance pupils' learning 4 of 7 Inspection Report: St George's CofE Primary School, 7 °8 February 2006 and understanding.There is good provision for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. The support of teaching assistants and booster classes helps them to successfully access the

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Grade:

curriculum. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language is satisfactory.Regular use of well chosen visits and visitors broadens pupils' learning experiences. The school offers a good range of extra-curricular clubs which are well supported. Significant improvements have been made to the accommodation creating more spaces and a pleasant, stimulating learning environment. However some classrooms and the hall are still quite cramped.

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Grade:

Pupils receive good care, support and guidance. Staff are highly committed to pupils' well being and safety. They work hard to raise pupils' self esteem and help them become more effective learners. Pupils' academic and personal development is monitored effectively so that their needs are suitably met. Their progress is tracked with increasing rigour to check whether they make sufficient gains in their learning and whether academic targets are being achieved. However, pupils are not sufficiently involved in the setting and evaluation of their targets.Pupils value highly the safe and caring atmosphere of the school and know that instances of misbehaviour are dealt with fairly. Vulnerable children are closely monitored and supported. Such pupils respond very well to the support they receive from all staff, including the learning mentor. The school works well with outside agencies to ensure that pupils with specific learning

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Grade:

and personal difficulties receive the best support. The school monitors pupils' attendance effectively and works closely with the education welfare officer when attendance is a cause for concern. Health and safety procedures are very good and all requirements for child protection are met.

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Grade:

5 of 7 Inspection Report: St George's CofE Primary School, 7 °8 February 2006 .

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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 George's CofE Primary School, 7 °8 February 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for the thoughtful ways you made us feel so welcome when we came to visit your school. We enjoyed talking to you about your work and sharing lunch with you and your teachers. Everyone was very friendly and made it easy for us to do our job. 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 feel that the school is a friendly and safe place. Many of you enjoy coming to school and participating in the activities which the school offers.* 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. We want your teachers to make sure you are involved in setting your targets and understand what you have

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

to do to achieve them. We have asked your teachers to give some of you more challenging work.We hope that you carry on enjoying school, work hard and do well in the future. 7 of 7 Inspection Report: St George's CofE Primary School, 7 °8 February 2006

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