Perivale Primary School

Inspection Report Perivale Primary School

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101906 Unique Reference Number Ealing LEA LEA 276614 Inspection number 21 June 2006 to 22 June 2006 Inspection dates Tina Herring HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Federal Road School address Primary Type of school Perivale Community School category Greenford UB6 7AF 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 02089970619 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 02088105267 Fax number 456 Number on roll Professor Landson Mhango Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Ms Deborah Hope Headteacher 18 June 2001 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 276614 21 June 2006 - 3 to 11 22 June 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Perivale Primary School is much bigger than most primary schools and caters for pupils from 3-11, with 50 children in the Nursery. Attainment on entry to the school is below average. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is above average. The vast majority of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds and most of these pupils have English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is average, as is the number of those with statements of special educational needs. Perivale's staffing is stable overall but there have been four changes of headteacher in a relatively short period of time.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Perivale Primary School, 21 June 2006 to 22 June 2006

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Grade: 4

Perivale Primary School provides an acceptable standard of education. Pupils achieve above average standards and they make good progress overall. Their behaviour is excellent and they receive good care, guidance and support. Provision in the Nursery and Reception classes is good and children make good progress. During the inspection the headteacher was absent from school. An interim headteacher is providing very good leadership. In just a few weeks, she has gained the confidence of parents, staff and governors. She accurately understands the issues facing the school. The relationship between the headteacher and governors has broken down. There are significant weaknesses in governance and senior management. As a result monitoring and evaluation are ineffective and there is too little focus on driving school improvement. The school's overall effectiveness is inadequate and it is not providing value for money. Pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The quality of teaching

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Grade: 4

and the curriculum are satisfactory overall, but there are too few opportunities for pupils to develop thinking and speaking skills or grow in independence. Assessment practices have improved but information is not always used to plan lessons and pupils' learning is not assessed well enough during lessons. Development has been uneven since the previous inspection and there is limited capacity to improve. In accordance with section 13(3) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than in all the circumstances it could reasonably be expected to perform. The school is therefore given a Notice to Improve. Significant improvement is required in relation to leadership and management. The headteacher and governors recognise some weaknesses in leadership and management but they underestimate the impact on pupils and they are too generous

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Grade: 4

in their self-evaluation. The Local Authority (LA) has given good support to the school's leaders and taken reasonable action to limit the impact of weaknesses.

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What the school should do to improve further

Improve leadership and management by: • making governance effective • strengthening senior management • effectively monitoring and evaluating the impact of provision on pupils and using information to drive school improvement. Improve teaching strategies to develop pupils' speaking, thinking and independence. Use assessment to inform lesson plans and develop strategies to assess pupils' learning within lessons. 2 Inspection Report: Perivale Primary School, 21 June 2006 to 22 June 2006

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Grade: 2

Many of the children who join the nursery class are learning to speak English and their attainment is lower than that expected of children of a similar age. However, they catch up quickly and, by the time they leave the Reception class, their knowledge skills and understanding are broadly average. During Year 1 and 2, pupils make satisfactory progress and, by the time they are seven, standards in reading, writing, mathematics are just above average overall. Progress is good overall between Year 2 and 6 and, by the time pupils leave school, standards are significantly higher than average in English and science. Standards are average in mathematics. Although the pupils, who are the least able in mathematics, make satisfactory progress they do not make as much progress as their peers. The school predicts a fall in the 2006 national test results and a significant increase in the 2007 results. This is a reasonable reflection of pupils'

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Grade: 2

starting points. Pupils with learning difficulties make satisfactory progress. Those who speak English as an additional language and those who receive free school meals make good progress. Nonetheless, standards have not improved over time and the school does not reach its targets. This is partly because of high mobility among pupils, but it is also because the quality of teaching and learning is inconsistent.

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Grade: 2

Personal development and well being are good. Particular strengths are the excellent behaviour of pupils and their very positive attitudes towards learning which contribute strongly to good achievement. Pupils enjoy coming to school. They are invariably polite, courteous and helpful. Pupils feel very safe in school and are confident about approaching staff for help. Attendance is just above average, with sound procedures in place to monitor and follow up absences. Pupils have a good understanding of how to live a healthy lifestyle, for example, in the choice of appropriate meals. They also enjoy opportunities for sport. Pupils have a very good understanding of what is right and wrong. For the pupils, the school is a harmonious community, where they treat each other sensitively, and work very well together, so that their social development is excellent. They enjoy opportunities to take responsibility as monitors. Assemblies

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Grade: 2

and lessons are used well to promote moral and spiritual development. This was seen, for example, in a good lesson in Year 6 when pupils composed sensitive poetry on the theme of the Nagasaki bomb. Pupils' future economic well being is supported by their excellent social skills and good basic skills in literacy and numeracy. However, many are teacher dependent, and the school provides insufficient opportunities for them to be more outgoing, and to develop more confidence in speaking at length. 3 Inspection Report: Perivale Primary School, 21 June 2006 to 22 June 2006

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Grade: 3

Teaching in the Nursery and Reception classes is good overall and consequently children make good progress especially in their personal, social and communication skills. In Years 1 to 6, the quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory with some good features. Although good teaching was observed in most year groups, it is not consistent throughout the school. Where teaching impacts positively on learning, teachers question well and encourage pupils to reflect, justify and explain. In good lessons, activities engage the pupils and they are given the opportunity to share ideas, develop initiatives and learn to work both independently and in groups. Teaching is less successful when work is not well enough matched to pupils' needs, when they listen for too long before starting work and when tasks provide few opportunities for them to develop their communication and thinking skills. Throughout the school, pupils' positive attitudes and excellent behaviour make a

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Grade: 3

significant contribution to their learning. They behave impeccably even when faced with mediocre teaching. High standards of presentation reflect teachers' high expectations. Provision for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities, including those with statements, is good and they are monitored well, but variations in the quality of teaching means that they make satisfactory progress overall and could do better. Gifted and talented pupils are identified and given additional support. Some planning indicates that their needs are well met. Systems to monitor the progress of all pupils are at an early stage of development and are best in English and mathematics. As yet assessment information is not used effectively to meet or further assess pupils' needs in all lessons. Consequently, pupils do not know enough about what they need to do in order to improve.

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Grade: 3

Curriculum provision is satisfactory. It is broad and balanced and provides a range of activities to support learning for all pupils. Teachers are beginning to link subjects but need to further develop these in order for pupils to apply the skills they have learned in, for example English and mathematics. The use of interactive whiteboards is having a positive impact on learning and improved information technology resources have placed the school in a strong position to develop this aspect of the curriculum. Pupils are taught the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and input from visitors and frequent reminders ensure that pupils' are aware of what they have to do to stay safe. Pupils, including pupils in Year 2, join after school clubs, mostly focussing on sport. Visits to museums, an activity centre and an annual trip to the Isle of Wight, enrich the curriculum. 4 Inspection Report: Perivale Primary School, 21 June 2006 to 22 June 2006

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Grade: 2

Pupils are well cared for and this contributes to their good sense of security in school. Pupils' progress is regularly assessed. They meet challenging individual targets, although the information is not used consistently to improve classroom teaching. Parents are fully involved in supporting their children, for example, when assessing the progress of pupils with English as an additional language. A strong personal, social and health education programme guides pupils well. There is good cooperation with outside agencies to ensure that vulnerable pupils are well cared for. Although the school has robust procedures for risk assessment and child protection, a significant number of parents communicated their concerns to the inspection team about aspects of their children's care and welfare. The inspection team did not find evidence to justify a lack of confidence in the school. However, the absence of an

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Grade: 2

accessible record of complaints is an omission.

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Grade: 4

Despite recent very good leadership by the interim headteacher, leadership and management are unsatisfactory. The school is an orderly environment with well established routines and good organisation. However, there has been too little monitoring and evaluation of important aspects of the school's work. This means that its leaders do not have a deep understanding of strengths and weaknesses and are not in a position to drive improvement. This has happened because relationships between the governors and the headteacher have broken down and the school's leaders are distracted from their core responsibility of school improvement. The situation is serious. Nearly 25% of parents who returned questionnaires for the inspection were unhappy with how the school is led and managed. The governors have lost confidence in the headteacher and have not managed events well. Understandably, the LA has lost confidence in the governing body and intends to remove its delegated powers

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Grade: 4

and impose an interim executive board. Although there have been some improvements since the previous inspection, leadership has deteriorated and the school's internal capacity to improve is very limited. The headteacher is absent. Governance is ineffective and slows development. The post of deputy has been vacant for a long time. The leadership of Key Stages 1 and 2 is weak; managers have little understanding of their roles and responsibilities and the impact of the role is ineffective. The leadership of literacy and numeracy are satisfactory and leadership of special educational needs, personal, health and social education and the Foundation Stage are good. However the leadership of other subjects and aspects is underdeveloped. It is credit to the staff that standards have been maintained and pupils have not suffered. However, although standards and progress are good they ought to be even better. 5 Inspection Report: Perivale Primary School, 21 June 2006 to 22 June 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: Perivale Primary School, 21 June 2006 to 22 June 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 4 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA No The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA No 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 3 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 1 The behaviour of learners NA 3 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 4 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 4 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 4 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 4 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 being so helpful and welcoming to me and the other inspectors who visited your school. We really enjoyed looking at your work and coming to your lessons. We particularly enjoyed listening to you telling us lots of interesting things about your school and we want you to know what we found out during the inspection. What we think is best about your school:* You work hard and make good progress and achieve high standards. * Your behaviour is excellent. You listen in lessons and work well with each other. You are very polite. You want to do well and this shows in the way you carefully present your work. * The adults in school take good care of you and help you to keep safe and feel happy at school.* You learn lots of new things in the Nursery and Reception classes and this gives you a flying start to your education. We have asked your headteacher, the staff and the school's governors to: * Improve the way

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

in which the school is led and managed so that you can do even better.* Give you more opportunities in lessons to improve your speaking and thinking skills and to grow in independence. * Use all the information they have about your learning to help plan lessons and to assess your learning during lessons.I wish you well in your education at Perivale and in your future lives. Yours sincerely, Tina Herring Her Majesty's Inspector

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