Mottingham Primary School

Inspection Report Mottingham Primary School

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101605 Unique Reference Number Bromley Local Authority 286121 Inspection number 21 °22 February 2007 Inspection dates Wendy Simmons 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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Ravensworth Road School address Primary Type of school Mottingham Community School category London SE9 4LW 4 °11 Age range of pupils 020 8857 4181 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 020 8851 5037 Fax number 323 Number on roll (school) Mr Darren McNaughton Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Elaine Hamilton Headteacher 13 January 2003 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 286121 21 °22 February 2007 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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Mottingham Primary is a large school. Most pupils come from White British backgrounds, although since the last inspection many characteristics of the school have altered, with more pupils coming from Black Caribbean and mixed backgrounds. A small proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language. The school is situated in an area of high social deprivation and there has also been a very significant increase in the number of pupils who join and leave the school at intermittent times throughout the school year. This is due to housing needs and complex social and family problems. More pupils are considered to be vulnerable. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is now much higher than average. The school has a Special Opportunities Unit, which supports pupils from Bromley who have language and communication difficulties. The headteacher joined the school in 2004 and since then,

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Description of the school

the school has gained several awards including Investors in People, Healthy Schools, and the Sports Council Active Mark.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 2007

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Grade: 3

Mottingham Primary School is a happy school that provides a satisfactory education. Pupils' personal development and the care, guidance and support provided by the school are good. Parents have confidence in the school. The words of one parent reflects the views of many parents when saying that her child, 'has been safe, happy and nurtured' at the school. Provision is good in the Special Opportunities Unit and for vulnerable pupils. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Within this, the headteacher and deputy provide enthusiastic and determined leadership. When the current headteacher joined the school, pupils' behaviour, and aspects of teaching and learning, were often inadequate and so pupils did not always make suitable progress. The school has successfully addressed these weaknesses, so that pupils' behaviour is now good and they are respectful of each other. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Links with

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Grade: 3

the 'Bromley Children's Project' and the 'Bromley Learning Alliance,' are contributing effectively to improvement. Overall, pupils' achievement is satisfactory and the school has a satisfactory capacity to improve further. Provision is satisfactory in the Foundation Stage and good in the promotion of pupils' personal development. As pupils move through the school they build up skills steadily. Standards are well below average by the end of Years 2 and 6; this represents satisfactory progress from pupils' very low starting point. Standards are adversely affected by the very high proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and the fact that many pupils join and leave the school throughout the school year. While there are many good systems in place to ensure that pupils attend regularly, a few parents do not ensure that their children come to school regularly and on time. This means that a few pupils do not reach the standards that they are capable of.

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Grade: 3

The good focus on pupils' personal development has resulted in them gaining self esteem and confidence. Pupils work hard and make a good contribution to the community. Pupils are successfully adopting healthy lifestyles. The school provides a satisfactory curriculum and improvements to the planning for English and mathematics are central to the school's plans. Leaders are working to raise the quality of teaching and learning from satisfactory to good. The headteacher notes that, 'Improvements are like a jigsaw puzzle, all the pieces need to fit together to be fully successful.' So far, good 'catch-up' and booster group activities are contributing well to pupils' progress. Teaching assistants are better trained and now give strong support to pupils. In English and mathematics, there is still more to do so that pupils can develop clarity in their speaking and thinking; edit, extend and improve their writing and become more skilled at doing mental calculations.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards in English by promoting opportunities for pupils to develop their speaking skills and by editing and extending their writing. 2 Inspection Report: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 2007 • Raise standards in mathematics by improving pupils' thinking and mental calculation skills. • Lift the quality of teaching and learning from satisfactory to good. • Work closely with parents to help them to ensure that their children attend regularly and punctually.

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Grade: 3

When children start in the Foundation Stage, their social, speaking, reading and writing skills are exceptionally low. These young children make satisfactory overall progress. Standards are much lower than average as they start in Year 1. From this point onwards a very high proportion of pupils join and leave the school and this has a negative impact on standards. By the end of Years 2 and 6 standards are well below average. A very high proportion of pupils struggle to get to an average level because many have complex learning difficulties. The poor attendance of a few pupils, and late arrival by a significant minority, also hampers pupils from achieving better. Nonetheless, pupils, including those with learning difficulties, make satisfactory progress. New pupils settle in quickly and helpful assessment systems ensure that they achieve satisfactorily. The school is working appropriately to raise standards. Overall, pupils do better in English than in

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Grade: 3

Mathematics because spelling, punctuation and handwriting are improving well and pupils are reading more frequently. The school recognises that many pupils' do not express themselves with clarity in discussion. Pupils are doing more mathematical problem-solving work, but they lack quick recall of tables to help them to work quickly. Pupils in the Special Opportunities Unit make good progress, as do those who are supported one-to-one or in group activities. The most able and gifted pupils and those learning English as an additional language achieve satisfactorily.

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Grade: 2

Good social development starts in the Foundation Stage and continues throughout the school. Pupils enjoy school and behave well because they know what teachers expect of them and are motivated by the praise that they receive. Pupils have a strong sense of fairness, cooperate well with each other and are proud of their school. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is good with assemblies contributing well to this. In the last year, exclusions have declined significantly. Pupils commented that they know how to be safe and are aware of how to deal with bullying. Links with the Bromley Children's Project and the Bromley Learning Alliance are helping pupils to grow in confidence. Pupils know what constitutes healthy eating and they enjoy exercise, the new astroturf enhances this well. Pupils enjoy working together and make a good contribution to the community through team sports, music and charity fund

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Grade: 2

raising activities. Pupils like taking responsibility and valued suggesting ideas for how 3 Inspection Report: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 2007 to make lunch time calmer and the toilets better. The school recognises that attendance is inadequate and has rigorous systems to promote good attendance. The school has recently secured a grant to offer funded breakfast club facilities for 16 pupils to promote attendance, punctuality and their well-being.

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Grade: 3

Pupils behave well and show a readiness to learn because teachers have good classroom management skills. Consequently, the relationships in lessons are good. Pupils really value the one-to-one and small group activities and teaching assistants give good support, especially to those with learning difficulties. A Year 6 pupil said that these sessions, 'Have given me more confidence with mathematics.' Activities are mostly well matched to the very wide range of abilities in classes. While some teachers encourage good discussion work, this is underdeveloped. Planning is satisfactory, but sometimes teachers are not modifying their weekly plans to ensure that pupils have enough time to extend and consolidate their skills before moving on to new work. The school has been working to improve the quality of feedback that pupils receive about their work. Some verbal and written marking is good but this is not consistent, especially

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Grade: 3

in guiding pupils in how to edit, extend and improve their writing. Teachers are focusing more on mental work in mathematics, although pupils rely too much on their fingers to calculate and this slows their progress.

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Grade: 3

The school provides a satisfactory curriculum. Skills are building up in an organised way and pupils are given help if they have missed important parts of their learning in the past. Pupils enjoy the good range of visits and clubs. The school employs specialist staff for music, dance and sports activities, which enables pupils to learn skills that support their pupils' personal development well. The extra time, which has been allocated to booster groups and 'catch-up' groups for English and mathematics is a good initiative that is leading to good achievement in these sessions. The curriculum is well planned for pupils with learning difficulties and very well modified for those in the Special Opportunities Unit. Gifted and talented pupils have suitable opportunities to enrich and extend their skills. For example, pupils have worked with a professional local author to improve their writing skills. The headteacher is investigating how to

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Grade: 3

develop the curriculum further by linking more subjects and by developing speaking skills. 4 Inspection Report: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 2007

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Grade: 2

The nurturing ethos, strong pastoral care and good relationships help pupils to gain self-esteem. In particular, troubled and vulnerable pupils are helped to overcome anxieties and express their views. Child protection and health and safety procedures are robust. Pupils confirm that they feel safe and well-supported in school. Links with outside agencies are very well established and play an important part in the good support given to pupils with complex needs, learning difficulties or behaviour problems. The school is making better use of information to track pupils' progress. As a result, for the last year, teachers have identified and are supporting pupils who had made slower progress in the past and now they are well supported and make at least satisfactory progress. Pupils know their targets but do not often know what level of the National Curriculum they are aiming to reach each term.

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Grade: 3

Team work is well established and management systems are improving well because of the clear leadership from the headteacher and the deputy. Middle managers are developing their roles so that they are becoming more responsible for monitoring the quality of teaching, learning and standards. However, not enough has been done to evaluate how well pupils' speaking skills are promoted. The headteacher delegates well and has helped teaching assistants to take on wider responsibilities. The good professional development of all staff is helping to improve achievement and the school is working to lift the quality of teaching and learning to good. The school's evaluation of its work is accurate in almost all respects, although its view that its overall effectiveness is good is over-generous, given pupils' satisfactory achievement. There is a clear plan in place to support further improvements and a strong focus on raising

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Grade: 3

standards. Good links with the Local Authority are helping the school to improve. Governance is satisfactory. Governors know the strengths and weaknesses of the school but do not ask challenging questions about how well different groups of learners make progress. Improvements in the school's accommodation are very good and this has contributed much to pupils' positive attitudes and the improved learning opportunities. 5 Inspection Report: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 2007 .

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 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 3 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? 4 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 4 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 2 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?

2 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: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 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? 8 Inspection Report: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

You may remember that three inspectors came to your school recently to find out how good it is and how well you are doing. Thank you for being so friendly and telling us about your school. We are writing to let you know our findings. Your school is satisfactory. This means that most things are as they should be, some things are particularly good and a few aspects need to be better. You are all happy at school and are becoming more confident. We agree that you have a good range of extra clubs and activities. Adults look after you especially well and they really want the best for you. Well done for behaving well, please keep this up. You like learning and are working hard to make your work better still. You make steady progress because teaching and learning help you to understand new things. Your headteacher, deputy and governors are especially keen to try to do the best they can for you and are determined to keep improving the school for you. We want to help

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

them, so we have asked them to: • help you to have more opportunities to develop your speaking skills and improve your writing by making changes to it to make it as good as possible • helping you to become quicker at doing counting activities in your head • make more lessons good so that you can make the best possible progress • work closely with you and your parents to make sure that you come to school every day and arrive on time. Please help your teachers by working with them on the things that we would like the school to improve. It was a great pleasure to meet you all. We thoroughly enjoyed your assembly, especially the music and were very pleased to see you running around and enjoying the new astroturf. You are becoming fit and healthy, so keep this up! Yours sincerely Wendy Simmons Lead inspector 9 Inspection Report: Mottingham Primary School, 21 °22 February 2007

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