Dairy Meadow Primary School

Inspection Report Dairy Meadow Primary School

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101894 Unique Reference Number Ealing LEA LEA 276611 Inspection number 26 January 2006 to 27 January 2006 Inspection dates Steven Hill AI Reporting inspector

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

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Swift Road School address Primary Type of school Southall Community School category UB2 4RP 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 02085717925 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 02085716138 Fax number 458 Number on roll Councillor David Scott Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Katherine Bailey Headteacher 7 February 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 276611 26 January 2006 - 3 to 11 27 January 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

This is a large primary school with a nursery, serving a multi-cultural area of Southall, which has high levels of deprivation. About half of the pupils have Indian heritage, with the others coming from a range of other ethnic backgrounds. Three quarters of the pupils are bilingual, and about a half are unfamiliar with using English when they start in nursery. However, throughout the school as a whole, most pupils are fluent English speakers. Pupils' social circumstances vary widely, but overall are below those found nationally. Attainment on entry to the nursery varies from year-to-year, but overall is below average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Dairy Meadow Primary School, 26 January 2006 to 27 January 2006

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Grade: 2

This is a good and improving school, and this is also the school's judgement. It is a harmonious and orderly, multi-racial community where pupils behave well, form good relationships and have very positive attitudes to learning. Pupils attend well. They achieve well because of good teaching and, as a result, standards are above average by Year 6. Teachers provide interesting lessons that pupils enjoy. Class management is good and pupils make good progress in lessons. Assessment procedures are satisfactory and the school is working to refine them, particularly in giving a better overview of the progress of different year-groups, and in using individual targets to help pupils to improve. There is a good curriculum that is enriched very effectively through visits, visitors and extra curricular activities. Good progress is being made in information and communication technology (ICT) since the new computer suite was

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Grade: 2

installed, and pupils now have good skills. Recent work on writing has led to a wider curriculum in English and higher standards. Pupils have a good understanding of a wide range of topics in science, but older pupils do not do enough practical work. There is good provision in the Foundation Stage. Provision in the reception classes improved last year, and children went into Year 1 with significantly improved standards. The school is well led and managed. It evaluates its provision very carefully and senior staff have a clear and accurate view of the school's strengths and weaknesses. Staff work as an increasingly effective team to address any weaknesses and turn them into strengths. The school works extremely effectively to involve parents in supporting their children's learning. The school provides good value for money, has made good progress since the previous inspection, and is well placed to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Refine assessment procedures and their use, particularly in setting targets for individuals to help them improve. * Give older pupils more opportunities to perform experiments in science.

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Grade: 2

Standards are good overall. Pupils make consistently good progress across the school and generally meet the challenging targets that are set for them. Achievement in the foundation stage is good and pupils in Reception last year attained above the expected levels. This year, pupils are making similarly good progress. Pupils continue to achieve well across the rest of the school, consistently attaining above average standards by the end of Year 6. Pupils are doing particularly well in English, after a focus on writing by the school in the last two years. The improvements made in ICT are raising standards in this subject, and pupils in Year 6 have good skills. The large proportion of bilingual pupils make rapid progress in learning English, and attain high levels of fluency during their time in school. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities make good progress in the light of their needs. Pupils from all ethnic groups achieve similarly well.

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Grade: 2

2 Inspection Report: Dairy Meadow Primary School, 26 January 2006 to 27 January 2006

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Grade: 2

Pupils respond well to the school's clear guidelines for behaviour and strong ethos of care and support. Pupils enjoy school and this is confirmed by their good attendance and eager participation in activities. Pupils make a good start in the Foundation Stage in developing their personal and social skills. This underpins their good behaviour and positive attitudes throughout the school. Members of the school parliament take their responsibilities seriously. They make a good contribution to the community by ensuring that the views of all pupils are heard. Pupils believe that their views are valued and point to improvements that have been made as a result of their suggestions.Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. In assemblies and the Thought for the Week they reflect upon and discuss spiritual, moral and social issues. Pupils show genuine concern for others' feelings and respect their beliefs. They celebrate

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Grade: 2

the cultural diversity in society and understand the need to challenge racist attitudes. Pupils know about healthy lifestyles. They participate energetically in physical education and after school clubs. Pupils have a secure awareness of how to stay safe, especially when using the Internet, in practical lessons and when moving around the school. Pupils develop good levels of independence, and work effectively in teams. Their good skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT prepare them well for the next stage of their education.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good throughout the school. Pupils are managed very well. Expectations of behaviour and concentration are high and pupils respond positively. Consistent good relationships mean that pupils are keen to please their teachers by working hard and behaving well. Pupils enjoy learning and take a pride in their achievements. This all supports the good progress they make. Work in English and mathematics is carefully matched to the needs of individuals, and the school is working effectively to extend this practice into other subjects.Teachers work hard to make lessons interesting and use the interactive whiteboards with increasing efficiency to do this. A video presentation about Martin Luther King was used very effectively to fire the interest and imagination of pupils in Year 5, for example. Pupils are becoming skilled in using ICT themselves to support their learning in different subjects, because

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Grade: 2

they are given more opportunities to do this. The school has just started to use targets to help pupils to learn and to give them an understanding of their progress. This is starting to be effective, but a more refined use of targets is needed to help individuals to make even better progress. 3 Inspection Report: Dairy Meadow Primary School, 26 January 2006 to 27 January 2006

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets pupils' needs well and contributes to the good progress they make. Children in the Foundation Stage enjoy learning about different 'topics' which build their skills across all areas of learning. Very good links with a partner school in Dorset mean that pupils are able to have first hand experience of a rural environment. However, older pupils do not have enough opportunities to undertake practical work in science, and this limits their understanding of the scientific process. A wide programme of visits and visitors enhances pupils' learning and enjoyment, and gives them a good understanding of the local community. There is an effective programme of personal, social, health and citizenship that permeates the life of the school. Pupils have good opportunities to keep fit and healthy through a wide range of sporting activities, both during and after school. Specialist music tuition and extra-curricular

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Grade: 2

clubs and activities successfully encourage pupils' musical skills and interests.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good care for its pupils. There are rigorous systems for child protection that are followed well by all staff. Procedures for assessing risks and for monitoring pupils' health and safety are robust. Good relationships between adults and pupils foster confidence and trust. As a result, pupils feel safe at school and know there is an adult to whom they can turn if they have a problem. They are taught about safety issues and healthy lifestyles through the curriculum, and through themed activities such as Health Week.The school works well with outside agencies to provide for its pupils. Pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities are given effective support and guidance in working towards the targets in their individual education plans. There are good systems for identifying and meeting the needs of pupils at the early stages of learning English, and for evaluating their progress.Pupils appreciate the pointers

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Grade: 2

for improvement that teachers make when marking their work. They say that this helps them to improve. However, the targets that teachers set pupils in literacy and numeracy are not always specific enough for them to know what exactly they have to do to get better.

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Grade: 2

The school is well led by the headteacher and senior management team. They establish clear priorities, based on a thorough analysis of strengths and weaknesses. Staff work together well as a team and take effective measures to address any issues. The very clear management structure and an increasingly positive role for subject co-ordinators support this. The improvements in pupils' standards in English, improved provision in the Foundation Stage, and better provision in ICT are recent examples of the effectiveness of this process. The strengths in leadership and management support the consistently good provision, and the good achievement and personal development 4 Inspection Report: Dairy Meadow Primary School, 26 January 2006 to 27 January 2006 of pupils. This is increasing backed by the supportive governing body.Improvements are based on good, accurate self-evaluation. The school is already tackling the issues

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Grade: 2

identified by the inspection as needing improvement. Very good account is taken of parents and pupils' views when setting priorities. Rigorous monitoring of teaching enables managers to give colleagues clear advice and help, to improve their practice. The analysis of assessment data is used well to identify areas for improvement. The tracking of individual pupils' progress contributes well to this, but assessment procedures do not give a clear enough overview of the progress of groups of pupils. The school is well placed to build on its strengths and improve further. 5 Inspection Report: Dairy Meadow Primary School, 26 January 2006 to 27 January 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: Dairy Meadow Primary School, 26 January 2006 to 27 January 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 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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

Thank you for your help when we inspected your school. We enjoyed talking to you and watching you at work in lessons. We thought you were all very friendly, polite and helpful. These are the main things we found out.Dairy Meadow is a good school. Pupils work hard and are really interested in their lessons. We were impressed by the good behaviour we saw in all the classes, from nursery up to the oldest children. You all get on well with each other and with the staff. You make good progress in your lessons because your teachers are good at explaining things to you. They give you interesting things to do, especially when they use the interactive white boards. You have become really good at writing in the last two years. You know a lot about science, and we think you will be even better if you spend more time on practical work, especially in the older classes. You are getting much better at ICT, particularly in the new computer suite,

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

and by Year 6 you are good at using computers. You know a lot about keeping fit and staying healthy, and you enjoy taking part in all the different clubs. Teachers are starting to use targets to help you learn and you need to work with your teachers to improve these, so you do even better. Teachers keep a close eye on how you are getting on in English, maths and science, and they are working out ways to do this in other subjects too. The headteacher organises the school very well, and all the staff work hard to check on how things are going. They are good at making improvements, through things like the new computer suite, or helping you to be better at writing. For the school to improve even more, you need to do more practical work in science, make more use of targets to help you learn, and your teachers need to keep a closer track of how you are doing in different subjects. We all enjoyed meeting you, and hope you have a good year in school.

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