Chisenhale Primary School

Inspection Report Chisenhale Primary School

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100896 Unique Reference Number Tower Hamlets LEA LEA 285282 Inspection number 10 July 2006 to 11 July 2006 Inspection dates Florence Olajide HMI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 which gives Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools the authority to cause any school to be inspected. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Chisenhale Road School address Primary Type of school Bow Community School category London E3 5QY 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 020 8980 2584 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 020 8983 4261 Fax number 310 Number on roll Mrs Sonya Young Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Nicholas Hague Headteacher 11 October 2004 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 285282 10 July 2006 - 3 to 11 11 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Chisenhale Primary School is slightly larger than average. Pupils come from a mix of socio-economic backgrounds. Almost two-fifths are entitled to free school meals. Although most of the pupils come from White British backgrounds, many other ethnic groups are represented in the school, the largest of which are from a Bangladeshi background. About two-fifths of the pupils speak a first language other than English and more than a quarter have learning difficulties and or disabilities. Historically, the school population has been fairly stable, although over the past year, there has been a significant increase in the number of pupils who enter and leave the school at times other than the usual entry and exit points. When the school was inspected in October 2004, it was judged to require special measures.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Chisenhale Primary School, 10 July 2006 to 11 July 2006

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Grade: 3

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures. Inspectors agree with the school's evaluation that it now provides a satisfactory standard of education. The school also has some good features. It has made good progress in addressing all of the key issues identified in the previous inspection. It has demonstrated very good capacity to improve and it currently provides satisfactory value for money. Under the very good leadership of the recently appointed headteacher and senior leadership team, the school has established sound structures to promote school improvement. The quality of teaching has improved and standards have risen rapidly particularly in Key Stage 2. The school has effective assessment procedures. It uses assessment information carefully to plan appropriate learning experiences for pupils. It provides additional support to those who need it and sensibly uses a range of

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Grade: 3

catch-up programmes to improve the attainment of pupils who are underachieving. As a result, most pupils make satisfactory progress and some make good progress. The school provides good support for pupils' personal development and well being. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and behave well. Attendance is satisfactory and the school is doing all that it can to improve it further. The quality of provision and standards in the Foundation Stage are now satisfactory. The school has worked very hard recently to bring provision in this area up to an acceptable standard and has appropriate plans to improve it further. The curriculum has been improved greatly but more remains to be done to ensure that it promotes healthy lifestyles and safe practices among pupils. Procedures for identifying and supporting pupils at the early stages of learning English are very new and not yet firmly embedded.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Strengthen the curriculum and ensure that it promotes healthy lifestyles and safe practices among pupils • Improve the quality of provision in the Foundation Stage further to ensure that pupils get a good start to their education • Ensure that provision for pupils for whom English is an additional language enables them to achieve as well as they can.

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Grade: 3

Standards and achievement are satisfactory overall although they are variable across the school. The provisional 2006 Key Stage 2 national test results indicate that pupils in Year 6 made very good progress over the past year because of highly effective teaching. Standards are now average in science and mathematics and above average 2 Inspection Report: Chisenhale Primary School, 10 July 2006 to 11 July 2006 in English. The proportion of pupils achieving the higher levels has increased significantly particularly in English. The school has met its challenging targets and exceeded some of them. Standards in information and communication technology (ICT) are below average in Year 6 but are better further down the school where better teaching and provision is beginning to have an impact. Although still below average, standards in Year 2 have improved because of the very good teaching pupils have received. Provisional national test results in reading, writing

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Grade: 3

and mathematics in 2006 show that an increasing proportion of pupils achieved above average levels, which is a significant improvement from last year. Pupils in other year groups make satisfactory progress although the school recognises that progress is slower in some year groups than in others. The school has not made a detailed analysis of its most recent data in relation to the attainment of different ethnic groups. Previous information suggests that pupils from a Bangladeshi background lag behind other groups. The school has sufficient data to indicate that the gap between other groups and those for whom English is an additional language widens as they move higher up the school. This shows that these pupils do not do as well as others. Pupils with learning difficulties and or learning disabilities make satisfactory progress and achieve as well as their peers.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Their spiritual and cultural development are satisfactory, and their social and moral development are good. Pupils enjoy school, work hard and are keen to do well. They are proud of their achievements and express their opinions confidently. They willingly undertake responsibilities around the school, contribute to the decision-making process and raise funds for charities, all of which contribute to their good understanding of their role in the community. They like the way the school is developing and appreciate the way their views are sought and acted upon. Pupils' behavior is very good. Pupils say that any incidents of bullying are dealt with very promptly and effectively. Relationships and racial harmony are very good. Attendance improved very well in the last term and is now satisfactory. The school has implemented rigorous systems to follow up absences and encourage

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Grade: 2

regular and punctual attendance. Pupils say they feel safe in school. They enjoy physical activities and a range of playground games that also encourage fitness. Older pupils appreciate that healthier school lunches have been introduced, but pupils' choice of meals and contents of lunchboxes indicate that some pupils need further encouragement to eat healthily. Pupils' competent basic skills and good social skills prepare them well for future life. 3 Inspection Report: Chisenhale Primary School, 10 July 2006 to 11 July 2006

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. It has improved significantly over the year and there are increasing proportions of good and outstanding lessons. Teachers plan effectively to meet the needs of all learners and share the purpose of lessons clearly. They have high expectations of pupils' work and behaviour. As a result, lessons are purposeful and pupils have a clear idea of what they are expected to learn. Teachers are working hard to make lessons more interesting and exciting for pupils and use the new interactive technology effectively to motivate and engage learners. In an outstanding literacy lesson in Year 6, the teacher helped pupils to empathise with characters in a story, through very challenging questioning and the use of role play. Pupils were given many opportunities to discuss and articulate their views, which consolidated their understanding. In another lesson in Year 4, ICT was used very

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Grade: 3

effectively to provide pupils with additional and culturally relevant stimuli for their discussions. As a result, pupils thoroughly enjoyed these lessons and made very good progress. However, a large proportion of teaching is still only satisfactory. In some of the satisfactory lessons, tasks for all pupils are not sufficiently challenging and teachers' subject knowledge is not always secure. Consequently, in these lessons, pupils do not make sufficient progress.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum has improved considerably during the last year. It is now satisfactory. Provision for pupils with learning difficulties and for gifted and talented pupils is now good. The school has identified pupils at the early stages of learning English but does not yet provide them with sufficient and appropriate support to ensure that they make good progress. Very recent improvements to the Foundation Stage curriculum mean that children are now given a satisfactory range of activities. However, this practice is very new and not firmly embedded. The curriculum in Years 1 to 6 gives good attention to teaching the basic skills and links between subjects are developing. The range of extra curricular and enrichment activities are satisfactory and pupils really appreciate these. Provision for ICT has improved significantly. However, the school is in the process of redrafting its personal, social and health education policy and,

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Grade: 3

currently, does not sufficiently promote healthy lifestyles and safe practices among pupils. The school has plans to improve the curriculum further by increasing the time for physical education, introducing specialist arts provision and by teaching a modern foreign language. 4 Inspection Report: Chisenhale Primary School, 10 July 2006 to 11 July 2006

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Grade: 2

The care, guidance and support for pupils are good. The school has suitable arrangements for the protection of children which are fully understood by all staff. Health and safety procedures are robust and potential risks are carefully assessed. Assessment procedures have improved rapidly this year. Teachers are now using information about pupils' progress to set challenging targets and to identify those in need of additional support. Teachers mark pupils' work regularly and provide them with good guidance on how to improve. Support for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities and the care of vulnerable pupils is strong. Pupils and their parents hold the work of the learning mentor in high regard. The school makes effective use of it links with a range of outside agencies to provide support to individual pupils as appropriate.

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Grade: 2

The quality of leadership and management is good. The headteacher and senior leadership team provide the school with a very strong sense of direction and are successfully improving achievement for all pupils. They are supported by middle managers whose roles are developing and who are increasingly taking on greater responsibility for ensuring that high standards are maintained in the subjects and areas on which they lead. Governors provide good support and are developing a growing capacity to hold the school to account for its performance. The school has robust self-evaluation procedures and an accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses. An increasing number of stakeholders participate in the self-evaluation process and there are clear priorities for improvement. The school is developing ways of seeking the views of parents more widely and involving them further in the work that it does. The senior leadership team have set high expectations for all staff and

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Grade: 2

pupils. They monitor the quality of teaching and learning closely and this has contributed to the rising standards. The school has developed extensive and robust assessment procedures, which enable it to track pupils' progress effectively in all subjects except religious education and there are plans to address this from September 2006. Effective use is now made of information from assessments to target resources at improving the attainment of underachieving groups. However, more remains to be done to ensure that those at an early stage of learning English are supported effectively. The school's budget is used efficiently to support its aims and priorities. 5 Inspection Report: Chisenhale Primary School, 10 July 2006 to 11 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: Chisenhale Primary School, 10 July 2006 to 11 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 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 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 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 3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 3 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 3 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 3 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 2 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

Pupils Thank you for the warm welcome that you extended to us when we visited your school. We really enjoyed talking to you and listening to your views. Some of you asked us what we thought about your school, so we have written this letter to tell you. Under the very good leadership of your new headteacher and with the very hard work put in by all the staff, your school has improved a lot in a short space of time. We were pleased that many of you have worked extremely hard and are now doing quite well in your work. You behave very well and we were impressed by how polite you were to us during our visit. Your teachers are working hard to make lessons more interesting and enjoyable and you told us that you really appreciate this. Your attendance has improved this term and you enjoy winning the award for good attendance. Your school now has good systems in place to make sure that you all continue to improve in your work and achieve high standards. To help you to do even better,

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

we have asked your school to do three things: * to encourage you to develop healthy lifestyles and safe practices * to help the youngest pupils get a good start to their education * to provide more help for those of you who speak another language other than English so that you achieve as much as possible.We hope that you will continue to work hard and we wish you all well in the future. Florence Olajide Her Majesty's Inspector

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