Setting

Mr G Wilder Headteacher Warren Junior School Gordon Road Romford RM6 6DA

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Club links (PESSCL) strategy on improving the standards of

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 16 January to look at work in swimming.

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Club links (PESSCL) strategy on improving the standards of

As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the subject, the visit had a particular focus on swimming and the impact of the PESSCL strategy in improving standards.

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Club links (PESSCL) strategy on improving the standards of

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions, but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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Club links (PESSCL) strategy on improving the standards of

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with pupils, school and local authority staff, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ reports work and observation of three parts of lessons.

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Club links (PESSCL) strategy on improving the standards of

The overall effectiveness of swimming provision was judged to be good.

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Achievement and standards

Achievement in physical education (PE) is satisfactory and good in swimming.

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Achievement and standards

 In the limited number of lessons seen, standards and progress in gymnastics are average. The majority of pupils are able to demonstrate balances on two and three parts of the body, although most do not demonstrate a high level of control or stillness during Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 F 020 7421 6855 www.ofsted.gov.uk balance. Pupils travel around the hall with a satisfactory variety of movements using different parts of the body.  Pupils make good progress in swimming because of the time allocated to the activity and the quality of teaching. The majority of pupils achieve the expectation of swimming 25 metres by the end of Year 6.

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Quality of teaching and learning

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory in PE and good in swimming.

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Quality of teaching and learning

 Although lessons are well planned, supported by effective schemes of work, this is not always transferred into good teaching. The pace and challenge during lessons does not ensure that all pupils make the progress of which they are capable.  Good use is made of pupil demonstration with some opportunities to evaluate and improve their own and others performance, however this is not used in depth to extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding of gymnastic skills.  Day-to-day assessment and teacher intervention, when used, help pupils to improve their work and make the expected progress.  Swimming teachers are well qualified, the pace of lessons is brisk and work is clearly matched to the needs of individual pupils. A good range of flotation aids and teaching methods are used with beginners to quickly build pupils’ confidence in the water and help them make good progress in learning to swim.  The vast majority of pupils display good attitudes towards PE lessons;

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Quality of teaching and learning

they listen to instructions, work co-operatively together and behave well in lessons.  Pupils comment that they enjoy PE and have fun when they are being active.

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Quality of curriculum

The quality of the PE curriculum is satisfactory overall.

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Quality of curriculum

 The PE curriculum broadly covers the expectations of the National Curriculum and good links are made with other subjects where possible, such as dance and history when studying the Egyptians. However the time allocated to PE does not meet the government target of two hours PE and school sport to study the National Curriculum in depth.  Pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 have good opportunities to access swimming lessons during curriculum time.  The range of extra curricular opportunities is good and has increased as a result of the schools involvement with the PESSCL strategy. Good use is made of external coaches in cricket, football and trampolining. The school ‘Bollywood’ dance and juggling club are particularly well attended.

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Leadership and management

The quality of leadership and management is good.

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Leadership and management

 The subject leader has good knowledge of the National Curriculum expectations and has adapted QCA and commercial schemes of work to meet the needs of the school.  The subject action plan has clear targets and realistic timescales for improving the time allocation for PE to meet the government target of two hours.  The subject leader uses her time effectively to evaluate and plan improvements for the subject and works well with the sports co- ordinator and PE advisers in the Borough to improve PE provision at the school. She has a good vision for future developments and has the capacity to bring about improvements.  Professional development opportunities for teachers have increased as a result of involvement with the PESSCL strategy such as working with specialist teachers and external coaches to improve their subject knowledge.  Assessment of pupils’ progress is recorded in the majority of PE activities, although this information is not brought together to support

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Leadership and management

planning fully in meeting the needs of all pupils.

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standards of swimming

 The PESSCL strategy has had limited impact on improving swimming standards at the school as provision and standards were already good.  The Borough provides a secure swimming programme that enables the vast majority of pupils at the school to meet the National Curriculum expectation of swimming 25 metres by the end of Year 6. Top up sessions were offered to the few pupils that did not meet the expectations, however, due to difficult circumstances at the swimming pool the sessions did not go ahead for these pupils.  PESSCL has had good impact in increasing extra curricular activities for pupils and supporting the subject leader to explore opportunities for improvements in the subject.

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Inclusion

 The schools arrangements to promote inclusion are good. All pupils are involved in PE lessons including those with learning difficulties or disabilities.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 increasing the time allocated to physical education in order to meet the government target of two hours physical education and school sport  making better use of physical education assessment information to support planning that meets the needs of all pupils and helps them make the progress of which they are capable  using evaluation and improvement tasks more frequently in lessons to support the development of pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the subject.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop physical education in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As I explained in my previous letter, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on Ofsted’s website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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