Chalgrove Primary School

Inspection Report Chalgrove Primary School

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101309 Unique Reference Number Barnet Local Authority 286024 Inspection number 18 °19 October 2006 Inspection dates Susan Rogers 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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Chalgrove Gardens School address Primary Type of school Finchley Community School category London N3 3PL 4 °11 Age range of pupils 02083491798 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 02083491799 Fax number 201 Number on roll (school) Mrs Susan Bills Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Ms Lindsey Shaw Headteacher 23 September 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 286024 18 °19 October 2006 4°11 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is an average sized primary school that serves pupils from a variety of ethnic minority backgrounds. There are significantly high numbers of pupils who are in the early stages of learning English when they arrive at the school. The number of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is well above national averages. In addition, the proportion of pupils joining or leaving the school at other than the usual times is also high, especially in Years 5 and 6. Most children joining the reception year have experienced pre-school education in a variety of settings.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006

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Grade: 4

The school is failing to provide an adequate standard of education for its pupils because leadership and management are weak. Achievement has declined since the last inspection as very little improvement has been made since the headteacher took up post 18 months ago. A significant number of parents are concerned about pupil progress and especially the progress of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. The inspection team shares the view expressed by over a third of parents that communication is not good enough. Even more parents are concerned that pupils are not listened to or consulted. Recent initiatives, such as parent workshops in science, have not been sufficient to make parents feel involved in school life because they do not feel they answer their real concerns. As a consequence many have lost confidence in the way the school is led and managed. Overall, achievement is satisfactory, but it is inconsistent. The progress made by

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Grade: 4

younger pupils and pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is uneven. This is because teaching is inconsistent across the school. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 make faster progress because of better teaching, but the quality of teaching and learning varies in other classes and is too often inadequate. Provision in the Foundation Stage is variable, but here the children make satisfactory progress overall. The results of national tests show that, by the end of Year 6, standards are usually broadly in line with national averages, reflecting the starting points of most groups of pupils. There has been no improvement in the use of assessment since the last inspection. One of the school's principal weaknesses is that it does not generate information to allow the effective tracking of pupils' progress each year or to see how well vulnerable groups are doing. The headteacher has put in place systems aimed at improving the

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Grade: 4

way assessment is used to monitor pupils' performance. However, these systems are not being used effectively and have failed to make any impact on standards. Leadership and management of the school is not effective in improving or accelerating pupils' achievement because the leadership team do not work well together. Management systems and school development planning are very weak. Monitoring is ineffective, which accounts for inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. Many staff do not have a clear understanding of what the school expects of them. Attendance and behaviour are satisfactory. Pupils feel safe and know what it means to be healthy. They are prepared for the next stage of school and for the adult life ahead of them. However, pupils' care, guidance and support are unsatisfactory, as systems to assess and track pupils' performance and to ensure they are safe are not robust enough. In accordance with section 13 (3) of the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion

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Grade: 4

that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. 2 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the school leadership team so that leaders work together effectively and are capable of driving forward school improvement. • Improve school management such that all staff are clear about what needs to be done to accelerate achievement. • Improve the rigour of monitoring and evaluation in order to ensure consistency and improvement in the quality of teaching. • Sharpen the way teachers use assessment to accelerate pupils' progress throughout the school and raise standards. • Improve communication so that parents feel confident in the leadership of the school.

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Grade: 3

Results in national tests at the end of Year 6 vary from year to year depending on the abilities of the pupils in each cohort. They declined in 2005, improved a little in 2006 and the school's assessments indicate that they are likely to decline considerably this year. They are, on average, in line with national results, by the time the pupils reach Year 6. Mathematics results are consistently better than English and science. End of year assessments follow a similar fluctuating pattern at the end of the Foundation Stage and at the end of Year 2. These fluctuations have not been tackled by targeting sufficient support below Year 6. Over recent years there has been a slight decline in pupil achievement. Overall, pupils' progress from entry to leaving the school at Year 6 is barely satisfactory, because pupils' progress is inconsistent from year to year, depending on the quality of the teaching. Teachers in Year 5 and Year 6 work very hard to ensure that pupils catch up

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Grade: 3

and that test scores are average when they leave the school. Support for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities and those with other specific learning needs is also of variable quality and sometimes these pupils do not make the progress that they should.

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Grade: 3

Personal development and well-being is satisfactory as is the pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils enjoy school because, as one typically commented, 'It's really easy to make friends'. They take on special responsibilities, such as being playground friends or members of the school council, and are proud to take care of other pupils. Behaviour is satisfactory and relationships are good. Most pupils are well behaved in lessons when tasks are fast paced and stimulating. However, some become restless when the work is less demanding. The pupils' knowledge of other cultures is satisfactory. They learn about the diversity of backgrounds represented 3 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006 across the school when celebrating festivals or special occasions, such as Black History month. Attendance rates are satisfactory although there has been a decline, caused mainly

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Grade: 3

by families taking extended holidays during term-time. This slows the pupils' progress and achievements. Pupils explain that bullying is rare and dealt with well. They are considerate of those less fortunate than themselves. They have a good understanding of healthy eating and participate in sport and team games, which helps them to understand the importance of exercise. The pupils receive a satisfactory grounding in basic skills, including information and communication technology (ICT) and this prepares them for the future.

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Grade: 3

Teaching is inconsistent across the school, but is satisfactory overall. Teaching is successful where teachers know the pupils well as individuals. In these instances teaching assistants are effectively deployed and pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities are well supported. However, the use of assessment information is weak. The staff do not have the necessary information to guide all pupils consistently with their work. Teachers are not informed enough about the level at which pupils are working, so they cannot plan properly for all abilities. It is difficult for them to gauge how fast pupils are progressing. Teachers prepare conscientiously, but pupils are too often not clear about what they are supposed to be learning. Neither are they given enough guidance on how they will know whether they have succeeded in their learning. Day to day assessment and marking are inconsistent and do not give enough information about what pupils need

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Grade: 3

to do to improve. Good lessons sparked pupil interest through well designed activities, for example in a lively practical mathematics lesson pupils learned about ratio by mixing drinks.

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Grade: 3

The school's curriculum is satisfactory with some good aspects that have a positive effect on the pupils' personal development and enjoyment of school. Activities are planned to help pupils develop a healthy lifestyle. There is a useful range of opportunities for pupils to learn to play musical instruments or for older pupils to play team games and sports. A good range of out-of-hours clubs enhance and enrich the curriculum and help pupils to develop skills such as teamwork and co-operation. Information and communication technology (ICT) is now better resourced in order to support learning in other areas of the curriculum, although this is still developing , is variable, and has yet to impact on standards. Planning to meet the needs of all pupils 4 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006 is satisfactory overall, but the quality is inconsistent across the school and between different lessons.

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Grade: 4

Care, guidance and support are inadequate overall. There are satisfactory links with other agencies to support pupils with specific learning needs. However, systems for tracking the progress of all pupils are in their infancy. Practice varies across the school so that attainment targets for some pupils are not challenging enough. Assessment is inadequate and is inconsistent because teachers are not using the information about pupils' progress and performance to set individual learning targets. The school is aware of this and has begun a whole scale review of assessment. Health and safety procedures and risk assessments are in place, but are not robust enough to ensure that the welfare and safety of pupils are safeguarded.

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Grade: 4

Leadership and management at all levels is inadequate. The key issues for improvement as a result of the 2002 inspection have not been effectively addressed. The trend in achievement is one of decline as inconsistencies in pupil progress have not been tackled and planning for vulnerable groups of pupils is not as good as it should be. Through the parent questionnaires a significant number expressed concern with all areas of school life. They are especially concerned about pupil progress. They do not feel consulted or listened to and say that they are unsure that pupils are listened to either. The leadership team is failing to function properly because the headteacher and deputy headteacher lack confidence in each other. Many important tasks have been started but have not moved beyond the initial stage. The school has been slow to collect pupil information and no progress has been made in the analysis of that information. The

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Grade: 4

headteacher has evaluated the school's work but these evaluations are sometimes more positive than they should be. She has begun to put in place a number of systems to tackle the school priorities of improving teaching and assessment. However, these have had no impact because they are not clearly communicated. School development planning is very weak. There are no action plans for most important school initiatives. Staff do not have access to job descriptions and do not know who is supposed to be doing what. For example, no-one in the school knew where the responsibility lay for the management of pupils in the early stages of learning English. Performance management and the monitoring of teaching and are ineffective because judgements are too positive and targets set are not measurable, so they cannot bring about improvement. The school does not have the capacity to improve. Governance is inadequate as the

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Grade: 4

governors do not hold the school to account. 5 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006 .

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Grade: 4

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006

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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 4 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 4 The capacity to make any necessary improvements No 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?

3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 3 How well learners enjoy their education 3 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?

4 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. 7 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006

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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 No Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? Yes Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for helping the inspectors. We enjoyed talking to you. This letter is to tell you what we have found out about your school. We were pleased to see that you try hard in lessons and play happily together in the playground. Many of you told us you enjoy school and we could see that you get on well with the staff. You were polite and most of you were well behaved. However, we think that your teachers could do quite a lot more to help you to do better in your lessons and that your school needs special help. Other inspectors will be making regular visits to see how you are getting on. We have asked the school to make sure that: • Your head and deputy work well together • Every lesson gives each of you work that is not too hard or too easy, but and;quot;just rightand;quot; to make you think hard and learn new things • You each have proper targets so that you know what you are aiming to learn next • You and your parents are more involved in the running of the school

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• Staff all plan together to improve your school We are sure that if these things happen your school will quickly start to improve. Best wishes to you all, Sue Rogers Lead inspector 9 Inspection Report: Chalgrove Primary School, 18 °19 October 2006

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