Byron Court Primary School

Inspection Report Byron Court Primary School

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101497 Unique Reference Number Brent LEA LEA 276524 Inspection number 3 July 2006 to 4 July 2006 Inspection dates Philip Littlejohn AI Reporting inspector

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

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Spencer Road School address Primary Type of school Wembley Community School category HA0 3SF 5 to 11 Age range of pupils 02089042785 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0208 9082447 Fax number 545 Number on roll Mr John Fitzpatrick Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr T L Jones Headteacher 17 January 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 276524 3 July 2006 - 5 to 11 4 July 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Byron Court is a large primary school. Pupils' attainment on entry to the school is below average. Culturally the school is very diverse, with many recently arrived immigrants. Many pupils are at an early stage of speaking English. Pupils come from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is lower than the national average as is the percentage entitled to free school meals. Pupil mobility is higher than the national average. There has been a high level of staff mobility during the last two years.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Byron Court Primary School, 3 July 2006 to 4 July 2006

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Grade: 2

Byron Court Primary is a good school. By the end of Year 6 pupils have reached above average standards and made good progress. The inspection team agrees with the school that it provides a good education for its pupils. Despite a period of high pupil and staff mobility the school has effectively raised standards and achievement. This is the result of the headteacher and senior managers recruiting and deploying high quality teachers. Teaching and learning are good overall and in the most successful lessons pupils are given appropriate challenges that are well matched to their abilities. The school currently makes insufficient use of staff development and the sharing of good practice to bring all teaching up to the standard of the best. Qualities and standards in the Foundation Stage are satisfactory, although the curriculum requires improvement, particularly planning and outdoor provision. The school overall provides

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Grade: 2

a good curriculum that is enriched by outstanding provision for music, sports and physical education. Pupils enjoy learning very much and are keen to participate in all aspects of school life. However, they and their parents express a concern over the poor condition of the library, canteen and toilet facilities. Pupils including those with learning difficulties and disabilities, make good progress because of the good teaching and support they receive. However there is sometimes too little support for those pupils identified at an early stage of English language acquisition. The school offers satisfactory value for money. As the result of the school improving its standards despite a period of high staff mobility, its capacity for further improvement is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Increase the use of staff development and the sharing of best practice to bring all teaching up to the standard of the very best. • Sharpen the focus on improving the Foundation Stage curriculum through better planning and the development of outdoor provision. • Strengthen support for those pupils identified at an early stage of English language acquisition • Improve library, canteen and toilet facilities in order to raise pupil enjoyment of school and address parental concerns.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good overall. In Year 6, it is outstanding as the result of consistently high quality teaching there. Pupils enter the school with standards that are below those expected for their age. Despite a period of high staff and pupil mobility, standards have risen so that by Year 6 pupils gain standards that are above average in English and science and significantly above average in mathematics. The school has accurate data for tracking pupil progress from Year 1 to Year 6.Teachers set and pupils meet challenging targets that are well understood by pupils and ensure an accurate match of work to their needs. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities make good 2 Inspection Report: Byron Court Primary School, 3 July 2006 to 4 July 2006 progress as a result of the high level of expertise in the support they receive. However, there is a need to strengthen the support for those pupils at the early stages of English

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Grade: 2

language acquisition. These pupils are able to make good progress when there are sufficient teaching assistants or teachers with the necessary skills to support them. Those pupils identified as the most able are provided with effective challenges and opportunities so that they too make good progress.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy school and readily join in school activities and events in the wider community. Their attendance is good. Pupils understand the value of rules and observe them, even when not being directly supervised, with the result that they behave very well in classes and around the school. This contributes to the good achievement shown by most pupils. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They acquire a good understanding of different faiths, cultures and lifestyles and insist there is no racism or bullying in school. They learn that it is important to keep safe and healthy. They learn to co-operate and work as a team particularly through the extensive programme of activities, clubs, events and community initiatives that the school supports such as links with a senior citizen's luncheon club. As a result they leave the school as mature

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Grade: 2

and sensible pupils, well adjusted for their next stage of learning.

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Grade: 2

The overall quality of teaching and learning is good, resulting in good achievement; however the quality is inconsistent with outstanding teaching, particularly in Year 6, where there is very high teacher expectation, strong subject knowledge and excellent relationships with pupils. In an outstanding Year 2 lesson a pupil was heard to say 'I can see a pattern in those numbers. I wonder what comes next?' This demonstrated that pupils possessed curiosity and a love for learning. In the most effective lessons teachers are enthusiastic and make use of a wide range of strategies to ensure that pupils make good progress. They demonstrate good subject knowledge, set high expectations and make learning interesting for pupils of all abilities. They also provide opportunities for pupils to take responsibility for their learning and evaluate what they have learnt. In less effective lessons the assessment of pupils' learning is not accurate enough with

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Grade: 2

the result that challenges are not set at a level appropriate for all pupils. The teaching in the Foundation Stage does not provide sufficient opportunities for children to choose activities and take some responsibility for their own learning. 3 Inspection Report: Byron Court Primary School, 3 July 2006 to 4 July 2006

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good overall and covers a wide range of activities and experiences. It is planned well to meet all pupils' needs. Good provision is made for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. However pupils who are at an early stage of acquiring English do not have enough support in order to understand the tasks they are set. The curriculum in the Foundation Stage is not meeting all requirements, particularly in relation to the planning and provision of the outdoor activities. Appropriate attention has been given to building links between subjects, for example, pupils learn about healthy living through science and physical education, and teachers are developing effective cross-curricular links between literacy, mathematics, ICT and other subjects. Music and sport are strengths in the curriculum with the most able representing the local authority in football and cricket. One pupil commented, 'We now need another

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Grade: 2

cabinet, we have so many cups and trophies'. There is excellent provision for lunchtime and after school clubs and these are well attended and enjoyed by pupils. A good number of educational visits and visitors, and excellent performances by the school's orchestra further enrich the curriculum.

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Grade: 3

Care guidance and support are satisfactory. Personal development is promoted well. Members of staff treat each child as an individual. This helps them to settle well and enjoy coming to school. Pupils in Year 6, although sad to leave the school, say they are supported well on their move to secondary school. Pupils are made well aware of how they need to improve their work as assessment through marking and target setting give them guidance. They feel confident that they have some one to talk to and that they are listened to if they have a problem and that their views are valued except in relation to improving the toilet facilities. The accommodation has not been cared for and does not provide an attractive place for pupils to learn in. Children's toilets, the dining hall and the library provision are particularly poor. The school has identified these shortcomings through a sound health and safety process. Good attention is paid

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Grade: 3

to risk assessments especially in relation to trips out of school. First aid arrangements are satisfactory and good child protection procedures are in place. The support provided for vulnerable pupils is good. Support in lessons for pupils at the early stages of learning English is not consistently as good as it should be.

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Grade: 2

The leadership and management of the headteacher and his senior management team are good in maintaining and improving high standards and achievement. The school provides a successful focus on high standards of achievement and personal development 4 Inspection Report: Byron Court Primary School, 3 July 2006 to 4 July 2006 especially in Year 6. The recruitment and deployment of high quality teachers is key to this success. Members of staff with leadership and management responsibilities, such as the special educational needs co-ordinator, effectively monitor their areas of responsibility and have a sound understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Their overall effectiveness has been restricted because of staff turnover and sickness. There are sound procedures to monitor the quality of teaching and learning and analyse trends. Outcomes of monitoring are not always used to ensure consistency of teaching throughout the school. Pupils' individual academic and personal

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Grade: 2

progress is monitored and promoted well. Specialists are used well to teach music and provide coaching for sport.The limited number of teaching assistants creates an additional burden for teachers in classes where pupils are at an early stage of English language acquisition. The school's self-evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses is accurate. Parental views are sought and valued, together with those of the governors. The school is aware of the need to improve significant elements of the accommodation and the provision for pupils in the Foundation Stage. Despite a large budget surplus, slow progress has been made in making these improvements. Pupils are consulted on issues but agreed recommendations are not always implemented. For example, a salad bar is now provided at lunchtimes but the toilets are still unpleasant. As one parent wrote 'The children have commented about the toilets but nothing has been done

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Grade: 2

about it.' The governors meet their legal responsibilities and have a satisfactory understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. However difficulties in recruitment of parent governors limit their effectiveness. The school shows its capacity to improve by maintaining or raising standards despite a period of high staff mobility. 5 Inspection Report: Byron Court Primary School, 3 July 2006 to 4 July 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Byron Court Primary School, 3 July 2006 to 4 July 2006

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Overall

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

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 3 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 3 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes 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

Yes 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

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes 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

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes 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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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA 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

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Children Thank you for all the help you gave us when we came to visit your school. We enjoyed our visit very much, especially talking to you and looking at your work. We think this is a good school. We were very impressed with your behaviour and the friendly way in which you play together and care for everyone. You obviously enjoy school and take part enthusiastically in lessons as well as in the interesting out of school activities. Congratulations on doing so well in sports competitions. You work hard, listen to other children and make lots of helpful comments in lessons. We agree with you that your teachers are good at guiding you and providing helpful homework. Other adults who help in lessons are good at supporting children who find some learning difficult and this means that everyone can join in. The results you achieve in tests are good and the standards of work are often better than we see in other schools. We agree with you that your dining hall, library and toilets could be a lot

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

better. We also think that the children in the Reception classes could have more interesting activities to choose from and those children who are starting to learn English could do with more help. We have asked your teachers to make all your lessons as interesting and exciting as the very best we saw. We know that your teachers and parents are proud of you, just as you are proud of your school. We wish you every success in the future. Yours sincerely Philip Littlejohn Lead Inspector

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