Bond Primary School

102626 Unique Reference Number Merton Local Authority 286443 Inspection number 6 °7 November 2006 Inspection dates Christine Canniff 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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Bond Road School address Primary Type of school Mitcham Community School category CR4 3HG 3 °11 Age range of pupils 020 8648 8757 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 020 8646 7343 Fax number 370 Number on roll (school) Mrs C Munn Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs J Peek Headteacher 26 March 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 286443 6 °7 November 2006 3°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

Bond Primary is a large and ethnically diverse school in which 25 different languages are spoken. A high proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language. The largest groups include pupils from White British, Black African and Sri Lankan backgrounds. Deprivation is higher than found in most schools. More pupils than usual have learning difficulties and disabilities. A high number of pupils join the school during the school year, particularly in Years 3 to 6. Since the last inspection the school has changed from being a First school to an all-through primary. The school recently regained the Investors in People Standard. It also holds the Healthy Schools Award and has gained the Effective Early Learning Award and the Investors in Children Mark.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 2006

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Grade: 3

Bond Primary provides its pupils with a satisfactory standard of education. It is a welcoming and friendly school where everyone is treated with respect. Teachers succeed in creating a positive environment. As a result, pupils are ready to learn and enjoy their lessons. This is confirmed by the high level of parents' satisfaction with the work of the school. Pupils' achievement is satisfactory. Standards have been very low for a number of years but have recently begun to rise. Although results are below average in English and mathematics, more pupils are now achieving the expected level by the time they leave in Year 6, and in science standards are close to average. Children start school with skills below those expected for their age. For some year groups these skills are well below those expected. Provision in the Foundation Stage is very good, enabling children to make good progress towards the goals they are

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Grade: 3

expected to achieve by the end of the Reception year. The school places strong emphasis on pupils' personal development and well-being. Children in the Foundation Stage do particularly well in their personal, social and emotional development which prepares them well for their future learning. The good attitudes they develop remain with them throughout their time in school. This means that pupils behave well and try hard. Further strengths in pupils' personal development are their good understanding of staying safe and healthy lifestyles. Teaching is satisfactory. In some lessons, assessment information is used well to plan lessons for the range of abilities within the class, but this is not consistent enough to help accelerate pupils' progress. The monitoring of teaching and learning has been too irregular to inform the next steps needed to ensure that standards rise at a faster rate. The curriculum is satisfactory. Strong links with the community and the good

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Grade: 3

range of additional activities enrich the curriculum and make learning interesting and enjoyable for all pupils. All pupils, including the most vulnerable, are well cared for, safe and secure. Improvement to the assessment systems is now enabling the school to track pupils' progress in English and mathematics more frequently and identify underachievement. However, the school does not make enough use of this information when planning the learning of different groups of pupils. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher and deputy head work well with their staff and are determined to bring about further improvement in standards. Recent measures to raise standards have already had some impact on results and indicate the school's satisfactory capacity to improve.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Make better use of assessment information to provide an overview of pupils' progress throughout the school, and to ensure that teaching is more focused on the needs of different groups of pupils, including those who are just starting to learn English. 2 Inspection Report: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 2006 • Establish a regular programme of monitoring of lessons that focuses more on how effectively pupils are learning. • Improve the quality of development planning by placing clearer emphasis on outcomes in terms of standards and achievement.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' achievement is satisfactory, although standards overall are below average. The attainment of many children when they join the school is below average, particularly their language skills. The Foundation Stage caters well for children and they make a good start to their education. The strong focus on children's personal, social and emotional development and speaking and listening skills enables them to develop good attitudes to learning. They make good progress towards the targets expected for their age, although the attainment of many is below expectations when they start Year 1. Standards in Year 2 are beginning to improve. Pupils do better in reading than in writing and mathematics. Although there has been some improvement in the proportion of pupils achieving the expected level, too few achieve the higher levels. Pupils in Year 6 do better in science than in English and mathematics, though standards

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Grade: 3

are beginning to rise in these subjects. In the most recent national tests the school met its targets for improving the proportion of pupils gaining the expected level. Most pupils, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities, make the progress expected of them. However, teachers do not always match work accurately to the needs of the different groups of pupils and challenge them at the right level. Too few pupils move on to the higher levels in English and mathematics.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy school, behave well and have positive attitudes to learning. Attendance is good and has improved significantly because of the school's strong efforts and effective work with the education welfare officer. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They have a clear sense of fairness and respect the schools high standards for behaviour. Pupils develop a strong sense of community and contribute well. The school council makes a positive contribution to the school and also take responsibility for a variety of tasks. Older pupils say that they would like to take on more responsibility. Pupils participate in a wide range of community activities, for example, by hatching trout and restocking the local river. Pupils know about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and diet. Their regular involvement in physical activities boosts their fitness and teamwork skills. Pupils understand the

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Grade: 2

importance of keeping safe and are confident that adults will listen to their concerns. 3 Inspection Report: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 2006 One pupil said 'They listen and help whatever it's about'. Pupils are satisfactorily prepared for later life through their developing English, mathematical and information, communication and technology skills, and especially their personal and social skills.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory and promote satisfactory progress. Teaching in the Foundation Stage unit is consistently good because teachers evaluate children's progress well and use the data to inform the next steps in learning. Throughout the school, teachers and pupils have good relationships which help to create a good working environment. As a result pupils' behaviour is good. Teachers use resources well to make lessons interesting and to promote understanding. Pupils respond well and are keen to learn. Teachers plan activities to match pupils' levels of ability, but some tasks do not accurately match the needs of all groups and this limits their progress. This is because teachers do not always make enough use of assessment information to help them plan pupils' learning. Teaching assistants contribute well to pupils' learning. Pupils' work is marked carefully and there are some good examples

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory with a number of strengths. The school's evaluation of the curriculum has led to a more creative approach to planning so that the needs of the pupils are addressed in a more practical and exciting way. Cross-curricular links are well thought out and appropriate emphasis is placed on literacy and numeracy. There is still some inconsistency in the way in which the needs of different groups of pupils are met. The provision for pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) is satisfactory, although the needs of those just beginning to learn English are not fully met. The range of enrichment activities is good and contributes well to pupils' personal development. Older pupils are enthusiastic about the opportunities provided for them; they particularly enjoy the year group trips.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support for pupils are satisfactory. The school provides a good standard of care for its pupils. Any pupils who may be vulnerable are carefully identified and appropriate support is provided for them in school and through good liaison with outside agencies. Arrangements for child protection are thorough. Well established initiatives help develop pupils' understanding of how to stay safe and healthy. 4 Inspection Report: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 2006 Tracking of pupils' achievement in English and mathematics has improved significantly in the past year. Older pupils know and understand the targets that teachers set for them. Pupils' progress is now regularly assessed and recorded. However, the school does not yet have an easily manageable system to track pupils' progress from year to year. The assessment of pupils for whom English is an additional language is systematic overall. However, in some cases, assessments do not accurately reflect pupils' fluency

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory overall with strengths in care and the support of pupils' personal development. The school has benefited from involvement in a targeted support programme provided by the local authority, which has focused attention well on raising standards in English and mathematics. The leadership team has strengthened the monitoring of pupils' progress and curriculum targets for pupils of differing abilities are now in place in each class. All of this has contributed to raising expectations and to improved results in 2006 in English in Year 2 and English and mathematics in Year 6. However, the school improvement plan does not fully reflect this emphasis on improving results. The monitoring of teaching by senior staff is not yet sufficiently systematic. Classroom observations focus on teaching and learning but do not evaluate accurately the progress of pupils of differing abilities. Governors are committed to the school and supportive

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Grade: 3

of its leadership, but are still developing their involvement in the evaluation of the school's work. Parents are happy with the school and the good support that their children receive. 5 Inspection Report: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 2006 .

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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: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 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? 2 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? 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 2 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?

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. 7 Inspection Report: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 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 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: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We enjoyed our visit to your school and want to thank you for making us welcome. You were friendly and polite and we enjoyed talking to you. I am writing to let you know what we found out. We are pleased that you enjoy school and the many interesting activities it offers you. You are particularly excited by the visits out to places such as HMS Belfast. You told us that you feel safe and happy at school. The adults at the school care for you well and they work especially hard to help you develop good social skills, such as working with and respecting others. You all get on well together and are friendly towards each other. Well done for behaving well. Your school is giving you a satisfactory education. Teachers make your lessons interesting and plan tasks that help you to make satisfactory progress in your learning. Your headteacher and all the staff are keen to make the school better for you. We have asked

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

them to help you more by planning tasks so that different groups can learn in ways that most suit their needs. We have also asked them to make changes in the way in which they look at what you are learning in lessons and when planning new projects make sure these help you to make good progress. We wish you well in your future learning. Yours sincerely Christine Canniff Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Bond Primary School, 6 °7 November 2006

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