Setting

Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by the Office for Standards in Education under Section 162A of the Education Act 2002 as part of pilot inspection arrangements in order to advise the Secretary of State for Education and Skills about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about the school

Greenwich House School is located in Louth, Lincolnshire. It provides day education for boys and girls between the ages of four and 11 years. The 50 pupils currently attending are taught in small groups arranged by age. Almost all of the pupils are of white British heritage. Two pupils have a statement of special educational need. The school also provides a Crèche and Kindergarten for younger children. Many of the pupils in the Lower and Upper Schools have started in the Kindergarten.

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Overall evaluation of the school

The school provides good quality education in an environment that is safe and secure. Pupils take great pleasure in coming to school. They are impeccably behaved and very motivated to learn. There is a wide range of learning opportunities, extra curricular activities and visits offered. These enable all pupils to become knowledgeable, confident and to make good progress. This view is echoed by all parents.

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Overall evaluation of the school

The overall quality of the educational provision is good. The school provides a very broad curriculum, and there is high emphasis placed on literacy, numeracy, and drama. Pupils, from a very early age, are presented with a wide range of subjects including a modern foreign language. For example children in the Kindergarten have short sessions where they learn French. Planning and coverage within in each subject take account of national guidelines, and in some subjects are supported by a commercial scheme. Pupils are well prepared for transfer into the next stage of education because they have studied within each subject, programmes of study from the National Curriculum. The school also provides well for pupils with special education needs. They are totally included in all learning opportunities. Personal, social and health education has always had its place in the curriculum of this school, but has recently become more formalised. There is now a session allocated to it

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Overall evaluation of the school

each week and areas studied include topics from citizenship. The curriculum is very well supported by a wealth of extra-curricular activities and visits outside the school.

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Overall evaluation of the school

There is a very well planned and organised curriculum for the children in the Kindergarten, which is based on the nationally agreed ‘Stepping Stones’ in development. In the reception class, children move onto a curriculum which takes them towards, and for most children, beyond the nationally agreed Early Learning Goals. Again, children are very well prepared for moving onto the next stage of education within the school or into alternative provision. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. There is a good range of experience and expertise amongst the staff. The school’s model for teaching primary aged pupils is unusual as each subject is taught by a different teacher. Because of this and the fact they are subject specialists, teachers have a high level of subject knowledge and know how well all pupils in the school are doing in the particular subjects they teach. Pupils are very comfortable with the constant change of

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Overall evaluation of the school

teachers, and sometimes classrooms. They confidently take these changes in their stride from an early age. Lessons are planned and prepared well. The school has developed planning so that it identifies what teachers want the pupils to achieve by the end of the lesson. The best lessons end with a summing up or plenary and this is used to assess pupils’ learning. Another feature of the good lessons is the pace of the lesson. Pupils are quickly moved on from one activity to another and are presented with a variety of activities, including paired work and independent learning. However, in a few lessons this is not the case and pupils who finish the main activity are not directed onto the next activity or given extension work to take their learning further. Overall pupils’ progress is good. This is because they are enthusiastic and motivated learners who enjoy coming to school. They take great pride in their work and behave impeccably.

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Overall evaluation of the school

Pupils are entered for national tests and the majority achieve high levels. The school has good systems in place for assessing pupils and tracking progress. Because classes are very small teachers have a very good knowledge of what pupils know, understand and can do. Teachers informally assess pupils through observation, questioning and testing. Each lesson evaluation shows who has not understood the concept being taught, but these evaluations do not show which pupils are able to go beyond this level of learning. The school has recently introduced detailed assessment based on national guidelines. This has not been in place long enough for the information from it to be used when planning learning outcomes or setting individual targets, especially for higher achieving pupils. Some pupils in discussion felt that that they could achieve more. In the Early Years classes the links between the curriculum planning and assessment are strong. The assessed outcomes are well

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Overall evaluation of the school

recorded and lead to newly introduced target setting.

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Overall evaluation of the school

The provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. These are embedded in all aspects of school life and the curriculum. In this respect the aims of the school in developing motivated, confident and interested learners are achieved. The good quality displays of pupils’ work celebrate achievement, as do special awards, such as the annual award for the pupil who has acted consistently as a friend to others throughout the year . Behaviour is outstanding and incidents of misbehaviour are rare. There are many social and cultural experiences for pupils, through visits to galleries, museums and concerts, as well as the many stage productions that the pupils perform in the community. There are a good range of opportunities, through the prefect and the class representative system, for pupils to take responsibility for aspects of school life. The school excels in supporting local

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Overall evaluation of the school

and national charities through fund-raising.

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Overall evaluation of the school

The health safety and welfare of pupils is good. All policies and procedures are rigorously applied so that pupils are well protected, and any difficulties they experience are listened to and acted on. Pupils are well supervised and say they feel safe and secure. They are confident that should they experience any difficulties the staff at the school would listen and support them. This is echoed by parents. Pupils are knowledgeable about the value of eating healthily, taking exercise, and the dangers of drug taking. They feel there is a good choice of sports available to both boys and girls. Pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities are very well supported by the learning support assistants. They make sure that these children are fully involved in the life of the school and that any medical needs they have are cared for. However, the school does lack a medical room and facilities so that pupils who are ill

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Overall evaluation of the school

can be offered privacy. The school makes very good use of outside agencies to identify, and offer support and advice to both themselves and parents.

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Overall evaluation of the school

There are very thorough checks made on all staff so that qualifications and experience are well known before appointment. All Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are up-to-date. The accommodation is satisfactory but space is at a premium and many rooms serve more than one purpose. Storage space for resources is limited, as is space for the coming together of two or more groups. The school benefits from large outdoor play facilities and grassed area. The buildings and grounds are well maintained. The school has not formally identified, through an audit, how the accommodation can be made more accessible for parents, pupils and visitors with disabilities.

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Overall evaluation of the school

The school has several good information leaflets for parents. These provide a great deal of information about the Crèche and Kindergarten provision but there is not as much about what the school provides. Vital information identified in the regulations is missing. The school’s annual reports to parents provide a wealth of information concerning whether pupils are average, or above or below average for a pupil of the same age in different aspects of each subject. Some of these aspects relate to National Curriculum statements of attainment but the parents do not have the benefit of knowing which level of the National Curriculum their children are reaching. The information from these reports makes it difficult to identify the progress pupils are making as they move up the school. The requirements for reporting on the progress of pupils with special education needs are met. There are very good systems in place for holding annual reviews. The school reviewed its complaints

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Overall evaluation of the school

policy during the inspection to include the time allocated to each stage of the procedures. It is now clear and very detailed. The school plans to circulate the re- drafted policy to all parents

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school meets all of the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003 as amended 17 Jan 05, with the exception of those listed below.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of the quality of education (standard 1) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 assess pupils' work regularly and thoroughly and use information from such assessment in planning of teaching (paragraph 1(3)(g)).

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of the suitability of the premises and accommodation (standard 5) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 provide appropriate facilities for pupils who are ill in accordance with the Education (School Premises) Regulations (paragraph 5(l)).

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of the provision of information (standard 6) and must:

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 provide to parents, particulars of the school's policy on and arrangements for admissions, discipline and exclusions (paragraph 6(2)(e));

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 provide to parents, particulars of educational and welfare provision for pupils with statements and for pupils for whom English is an additional language (paragraph 6(2)(f));

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 make it clear that parents of pupils and of prospective pupils may request: policies relating to bullying, child protection, health and safety, the promotion of good behaviour, and sanctions adopted in the event of pupils misbehaving (paragraph 6(2)(h)); particulars of academic performance during the preceding school year, including the results of any public examinations (paragraph 6(2)(i)); details of the complaints procedure adopted by the school, together with details of the number of complaints registered under the formal procedure during the preceding school year (paragraph 6(2)(j)); information about the number of staff employed at the school, including temporary staff and a summary of their qualifications (paragraph 6(2) (k)); and

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 prepare an annual account of income received and expenditure incurred by the school in respect of any pupil who is wholly or partly funded by the local authority and submit this to the local authority and on request to the Secretary of State (paragraph 6 (7)).

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school must devise a three-year plan to improve the accessibility of the premises as required by the Disability and Discrimination Act.

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School details

Name of school: Greenwich House School DfES Number: 925/6038 Type of school: Independent Status: Primary Date school opened: 1990 Age range of pupils: 9 months – 11 years Gender of pupils: Mixed Number on roll : Boys: 28 Girls: 22 Total: 50 Number of pupils with a statement of special educational need: Boys: 1 Girls: 1 Total: 2 Annual fees (day pupils): £5,100 Address of school: 106 High Holme Road Louth Lincolnshire LN11 0HE Telephone number: 01507 609252 Fax number: 01507 606294 Email address: greenwichhouse@btinternet.com Headteacher: Mrs J Brindle Proprietor: Mrs J Brindle Reporting Inspector: Mrs F D Gander Dates of inspection: 3 – 4 October 2006

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School details

educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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School details

School inspection reports are available on the Ofsted website ( www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

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School details

The website lists Ofsted independent school inspection reports, together with information on the work Ofsted does in the independent sector.

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