Harry Gosling Primary School

Harry Gosling Primary School Inspection report

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131737 Unique Reference Number Tower Hamlets Local Authority 282251 Inspection number 14 °15 May 2007 Inspection dates Arnalena (Nina) Bee 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 394 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Doros Ullah Chair Ms Carol McAdams Headteacher 8 January 2001 Date of previous school inspection Fairclough Street School address London E1 1NT

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020 7481 1650 Telephone number 020 7680 0184 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 14 °15 May 2007 Inspection dates 282251 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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Harry Gosling is an above average sized school. Most pupils are from Bangladeshi backgrounds although a few other ethnic groups are represented. All pupils speak English as their second language and the percentage of pupils who are at the early stages of learning English is high. The proportion of pupils identified with learning difficulties and disabilities is currently average but often varies significantly year on year.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007

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Grade: 3

Harry Gosling is a satisfactory school. Overall, pupils' achievement is satisfactory, but there is some variation in their rate of progress. Standards in Year 6, where there is an unusually high proportion of pupils with learning difficulties, are below average. These pupils have made uneven progress since Year 3 because of variations in teaching, but their progress has been good during their time in Year 6. The school is a happy and calm learning environment. Pupils' personal development is good and is promoted well in everything the pupils do. Behaviour is good and pupils quickly learn how their actions can affect the lives of others. As a result, pupils develop into well-rounded individuals. They are polite and respectful of their classmates, visitors and the adults who work in the school. As they get older, pupils show a good awareness of the importance of keeping safe in the wider world. They have a good understanding of why they

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Grade: 3

should eat healthily and this is promoted very well in the school dining hall each lunchtime. Many pupils have limited English but most are confident and happy to speak to visitors about what they are doing. By the time they leave the school, pupils are equipped with good personal and social skills. They have good attitudes to learning and generally do their best in the activities that the satisfactory curriculum provides for them. The youngest children in the Foundation Stage get off to a steady start and make satisfactory progress. Guidance and support for pupils are satisfactory and they are well cared for. Pupils, and those who look after them at home, know they are safe and well looked after in school. The personal support they receive is good. Academic guidance is less effective. All pupils have targets for literacy and mathematics but not all teachers use them effectively in lessons to develop pupils'

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Grade: 3

learning. Teaching and learning are satisfactory, overall, but vary across the school. The way teachers mark pupils' work is better in some classes than others. Teachers do not always use assessment information sufficiently when they plan lessons. As a result, work is sometimes too challenging for lower attaining pupils, those with learning difficulties and disabilities and those who speak little English. When this happens, these pupils do not always do as well as they should. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The co-ordinators for English, mathematics and science, who are part of the senior management team, have a clear idea of what is needed to improve and are beginning to focus on raising achievement and standards in their subject areas. The monitoring of teaching is not focused sharply enough on improving the identified areas of weakness. Recent systems developed to track how well pupils are doing are satisfactory but

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Grade: 3

not fully yet embedded to raise achievement and standards sufficiently.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Use assessment more effectively to make sure work is better matched to pupils needs. • Evaluate more rigorously the systems for tracking pupils' progress. • Improve the overall quality of teaching so that pupils achieve consistently well in all lessons. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007

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Grade: 3

The children's attainment on entry to Nursery is below average, in particular in language and communication skills because of their lack of familiarity with the English Language. A large majority of the children do not reach expected levels by the end of Reception. Nevertheless, achievement is satisfactory in the Foundation Stage in relation to children's starting points. Standards at the end of Year 2 are broadly average. As pupils move through Years 1 and 2, achievement is more rapid and pupils achieve well. This is the result of good teaching, in particular in Year 2. Pupils make satisfactory progress in Key Stage 2, although school data clearly shows that this varies considerably as they move between Years 3 and 6. This is because the quality of teaching varies from class to class. Standards are below average at the end of Year 6. This is lower than the test results for pupils in Year 6 in 2006 but the current cohort

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Grade: 3

has a much higher proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties. Overall, pupils in Year 6 achieve well because of good teaching. Good support is given to pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities and those pupils who are learning to speak English, enabling them to make similar progress to their classmates.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development, well-being and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are good. Pupils co-operate well in pairs and in groups. On the rare occasions when bullying or racial incidents occur pupils say they are dealt with quickly. Those new to the school say they soon made new friends. Smiles, as they come into school each morning show that they enjoy their time in school and this is reflected in improving attendance figures. Attendance is broadly average. Despite promoting the need to attend regularly, the school acknowledges that there is still room for attendance to improve in the Foundation Stage. Pupils are polite, inquisitive and courteous to visitors and willingly take on responsibility as monitors and school councillors. When they participate in fundraising events they contribute soundly to the local community and the wider world. Older pupils develop their personal and social skills well through

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Grade: 2

residential visits and citizenship lessons. These skills they develop prepare them well for the future. The satisfactory progress pupils make as they acquire literacy and numeracy skills prepare them adequately for their next stage in education.

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Grade: 3

Teachers establish good relationships with pupils, manage their classes effectively and expect their pupils to behave well and work hard. As a result, pupils generally concentrate well and pay attention during lessons. Despite some teaching being good, too much is satisfactory. The quality of teaching and learning varies considerably from class to class. The best lessons move at a fast pace and assessment information is used well to plan activities that match pupils' needs and move them on. In otherwise satisfactory lessons, the pace is too slow, in particular when the teachers spend too long talking. Activities are at times too challenging for a few pupils. Occasionally, pupils have difficulty completing tasks because they have not understood 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007 what they have to do; learning is then not as good. Marking, although good at times, does not

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Grade: 3

consistently inform pupils what they need to do to get better.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum meets most pupils' needs satisfactorily. Personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons support pupils' learning and their personal development well. The provision for literacy and numeracy is satisfactory. Provision for information and communication technology (ICT) and physical education is satisfactory and has improved since the previous inspection when it was unsatisfactory. Pupils are now taught by specialist teachers, which enable them to make better progress in these subjects. The school successfully promotes healthy eating and keeping fit and was awarded the Activemark for participation in sports in 2006. Visits, including some that are residential, enrich many curriculum areas well. The school acknowledges that the number and range of out of school activities is limited to a few activities.

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Grade: 3

The way the school cares for its pupils and supports them personally is good. Academic support is satisfactory. Appropriate arrangements are made for safeguarding and protecting children. Pastoral care is particularly good. Creating a caring and safe environment for pupils to thrive is high focus in all that the staff do. As a result, pupils feel safe and happy in school. There are good partnerships with external agencies, which provide support for pupils with learning or other difficulties. Systems to support how well pupils are doing academically are sound but still at an early stage of development. Assessment information is used to place pupils in ability sets for literacy and numeracy from Year 2 upwards. Not all teachers reinforce targets effectively either during lessons or when they mark pupils work.

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Grade: 3

The headteacher has the confidence of staff and governors and has a clear vision for the school's development. She leads the school well. In the past two years she has clarified senior leadership roles and empowered the senior management team and subject leaders to evaluate and develop their roles. All teaching members of the senior management team have been involved in monitoring teaching and learning and are good role models in their own teaching. The senior leaders and managers are very realistic about what needs to be done and work extremely well together as a team. They acknowledge that there is still a way to go. Systems to track pupils' progress have improved, for example, the number of pupils who have previously not done as well as they should, has been significantly reduced. The track record of improvement means that school has good capacity to improve further. The school development plan provides a

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Grade: 3

good basis for further improvement. All the issues raised in this inspection have been identified and the school is already working on them. Governors are supportive of the school and have a good understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses. They are developing their role as a critical friend and increasingly hold the school accountable for the quality of education it provides. Progress since the previous inspection has been satisfactory. Strengths in pupils' personal development and care have been maintained well. Whilst assessment procedures have 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007 improved, these are relatively new and have not yet had time to impact sufficiently on the achievement and standards pupils reach. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

23 May 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Harry Gosling Primary School,London,E1 1NT It was so lovely to come and visit your school. We particularly enjoyed talking to you and seeing how hard you all work. We thought you had lovely lunches at lunchtime and we are pleased that you have healthy things to choose to eat. Thank you for making our visit so enjoyable. We think you go to a satisfactory school, where you are well looked after. I am writing to let you know what we like about your school • Your parents are pleased with how the school cares and looks after you. • You all behave well, are kind to each other and work hard in lessons. • Most of you achieve satisfactorily but those of you in Years 2 and 6 do a little better and achieve well. • We think you have a good idea of the importance of eating healthily and keeping yourselves safe. To make the school even better, we have asked your teachers to: • Make sure that you all are given work that helps you get better.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• Keep checking how well you are doing and make sure that all teachers know who is doing really well and who needs to have some extra help to make them get better. • Make sure that in all lessons, teaching is good and you learn well. Keep smiling and doing your best Yours sincerely, Nina BeeLead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Harry Gosling Primary School, 14 °15 May 2007

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