Setting

Prospects Learning Services Ltd 132-138 High Street Bromley Kent BR1 1EZ T 020 8313 7760 F 020 8464 3393 Ofsted helpline 08456 404045

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Mr John Towers The Headteacher Bevington Primary School Bevington Road London W10 5TW

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Introduction

Following my visit with Derek Watts, Additional Inspector, June Woolhouse, Additional Inspector and Asyia Kazmi HMI, to your school on 14 and 15 November 2006, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector to confirm the inspection findings.

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Introduction

The visit was the second monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures in January 2006.

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Introduction

This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website. Please inform the Regional Inspection Service Provider of any factual inaccuracies within 24 hours of the receipt of this letter.

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Evidence

During the visit 18 lessons or parts of lessons were observed. Pupils were observed at lunch and play times and generally around the school. Discussions were held with the headteacher, a range of middle and senior managers, pupils from the school council, the chair of governors and a representative from the local authority (LA). A range of school documents was scrutinised.

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Context

There have been substantial staff changes at the school since the last visit. Six new members of staff have joined the school. These include an assistant head and two phase leaders. There are two newly qualified teachers and one long term supply teacher.

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Achievement and standards

Improved leadership and management, rigorous use of data to inform planning, teaching that caters for the needs of all pupils and marking that tells pupils what they have to do to improve has resulted in improved standards.

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Achievement and standards

Children begin in the nursery class with standards below average. They make good progress because there is a rich, practical curriculum so that by the end of the Foundation Stage standards are broadly average. Standards at Key Stage 1 have improved and are now broadly average in mathematics and writing but below average in reading. More pupils are now attaining the higher levels in writing and mathematics.

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Achievement and standards

In Key Stage 2, standards have risen significantly in English and science and are now in line with national averages. Standards in mathematics remain below average. The school is working hard to address this. Evidence including school data, lesson observations and pupil workbooks suggests a significant improvement in 2007, particularly in mathematics. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities are supported well and make satisfactory progress. The school’s focus on more able pupils is producing results with an increase in the number of pupils attaining the higher levels in the core subjects at both key stages.

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Achievement and standards

Progress on the areas for improvement identified by the inspection in January

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Achievement and standards

 Improve standards significantly, especially in reading, writing and mathematics in Key Stage 1 and English, mathematics and science in Key Stage 2 – satisfactory progress.

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Personal development and well-being

Pupils’ personal development and well-being are good and this aspect continues to be a strong feature of the school. Pupils enjoy their time at Bevington and show interest and enthusiasm for learning. As one pupil commented, ‘We like school because we learn a lot and have fun with our friends’. Pupils are friendly, polite and helpful to others. Clear expectations of conduct and an effective system of rewards lead to good behaviour in lessons and around the school. Pupils are safe and staff swiftly deal with any unkind and inappropriate behaviour. Most show a good understanding of the importance of leading healthy life styles. They take regular exercise and choose healthy foods. Pupils are now acquiring literacy, numeracy and ICT skills well. These skills, with their good collaborative skills, prepare them reasonably well for the next stage of their education. The school has worked hard to improve attendance and figures are now in line with the national

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Personal development and well-being

average. While unauthorised absence has also improved, it is still too high at 0.9%.

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Quality of provision

In 17 of the 18 lessons observed, the teaching was satisfactory or better; it was good in ten lessons and outstanding in three. This represents a significant improvement since the last monitoring visit. Overall, the majority of teachers are now demonstrating a marked degree of confidence in organising and structuring their lessons. All classrooms are organised well to support pupils’ independent learning.

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Quality of provision

In the good and better lessons teaching is lively, engaging and has high expectations of pupils’ work and behaviour. Work in these lessons is focused carefully on the pupils’ individual learning needs and is very well directed and managed. Good resources are used to make the pupils’ learning stimulating and interesting. Teachers are using well-focused questioning to challenge pupils’ thinking, encouraging them to articulate their answers, explain the strategies they use to solve problems and contribute confidently in whole- class and group discussion; consequently, these lessons proceed at a brisk pace. Some outstanding and exciting teaching was observed in upper Key Stage 2 when for example, pupils made exceptional progress in acquiring knowledge relating to Victorian times and applying this to debate. Similarly in a mathematic lesson the teacher’s high expectations and high quality exposition enabled all groups to make exceptional progress .

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Quality of provision

Most teachers use ‘talking partners’ well as a strategy for encouraging pupils to discuss their work in pairs. Learning objectives are recorded, visible and understood by pupils. Pupils use subject specific vocabulary accurately and with confidence. Teachers’ planning is of high quality and is consistent across year groups.

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Quality of provision

In the weaker teaching, lessons suffered from the limited subject expertise of teachers, a lack of pace, and oral and mental starters were not brisk. Opportunities to promote speaking and listening skills were missed. As a result of targeted training teaching assistants are now used more effectively. In the best examples, the teaching assistants had a key role to play in the pupils’ learning, were well briefed and responded to the pupils’ input positively; praise and affirmation were used well to encourage the pupils to participate. Effective modelling by the teaching assistant helped the pupils to build on skills learnt previously.

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Quality of provision

Care, guidance and support are good. A positive and harmonious school atmosphere contributes to pupils’ good pastoral care and to their good personal development. Teachers and support staff know the pupils well and have established good relationships with them. One pupil rightly commented, ‘Teachers are kind, they look after us and help us to learn’. Another pupil said, ‘The staff support us and do their best for us’. There are effective procedures to ensure that pupils are safe and secure in school. Pupils with learning difficulties and those at an early stage of English language acquisition receive appropriate support.

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Quality of provision

Academic guidance and support have improved and are now good. There are effective systems to assess pupils’ attainment. Teachers are now using assessment data well to plan teaching and learning. As a result, activities and tasks are generally well matched to pupils’ attainment and needs. Pupils are set individual and appropriately challenging targets for English and mathematics but this good practice has not yet been extended to science. Inspection of books during lessons showed that pupils are given encouragement and praise for good work and there is clear guidance to help them improve.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher has increased the school’s capacity to improve more rapidly by building a more effective senior leadership team. Already there has been an impact on pupil performance with improvements in both key stages. A more organised system for managing performance is in place and all staff targets are linked to school targets. This has helped to promote further a common direction for everyone’s work. Senior leaders have contributed well to improvements in teaching and to enabling others to improve their planning and teaching through effective coaching. Meetings at all levels are now firmly established in which regular and systematic monitoring of planning, teaching, learning and pupils’ work are organised and reported on. The outcomes of monitoring activities are considered carefully and result in specific professional development activities. A comprehensive evidence base exists which provides the basis for good feedback and a means of tracking

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Leadership and management

improvements over a longer period of time. This is particularly important when tracking pupil performance.

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Leadership and management

The governing body, well led by the chair of governors, has received training resulting in greater understanding of what the school is doing to improve and how to find out. The headteacher values these challenging discussions and the opportunities he has to inform governors, with good evidence, that improvements are taking place.

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Leadership and management

The school has a good assessment data system in place which is well understood and used by the senior leadership team. Information on any pupil is immediately to hand enabling subject leaders to target particular groups and individuals for extra support. The headteacher now evaluates trends and patterns at year group, key stage and school levels. He has managed his resources well, and always to the advantage of the pupils, by putting in extra support as a result of these evaluations. There is good evidence that pupils are making faster progress in their lessons. He has been very quick to take firm action on inadequate teaching by providing a comprehensive programme of support for the rest of the term. It is important that all staff are now trained to interrogate the extensive data base that this system is providing to support their own improvements.

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Leadership and management

Progress on the areas for improvement identified by the inspection in January 2006:  Strengthen the management structure, with clear lines of accountability, to ensure that the strengths and weaknesses in pupils’ learning are analysed robustly, so areas for improvement are identified sharply and tackled promptly and systematically – good progress  Ensure the school improvement plan has a clear focus on the main actions needed to raise standards and that evidence is gathered regularly and frequently to check on how well all pupils are making progress – good progress  Ensure all staff understand how to use the school’s new assessment data system to provide work which is challenging for each pupil and that the pupils know how they can improve their work – satisfactory progress.

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External support

The LA is now providing good support. Its contribution has increased and includes numeracy, literacy and Gifted and Talented consultants. The LA link adviser continues to work closely with the school to adjust and amend the support needed as the school makes progress and has supported the school in establishing strong monitoring and evaluation systems.

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Main Judgements

Progress since being subject to special measures – good

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Main Judgements

Progress since previous monitoring inspection – good

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Priorities for further improvement

 Use appropriate interventions to improve reading and mathematics throughout the school

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the chair of governors and the Executive Director of Education and Libraries for Kensington & Chelsea.

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