Setting

Ms M Loosemore Headteacher Roe Green Junior School Princes Avenue Kingsbury London NW9 9JL

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 10 November 2006 to look at work in Physical Education (PE).

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education

As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the subject, the visit had a particular focus on the Physical Education School Sport and School Links (PESSCL) strategy.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education

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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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with staff, pupils and the school sport coordinator, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work, observation of two lessons and lunchtime activities.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education

The overall effectiveness of PE was judged to be outstanding.

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Achievement and standards

Achievement and standards are outstanding.

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Achievement and standards

 The school’s extensive programme of PE, school sport and healthy living is making a significant contribution towards pupils’ overall achievement and their personal development and well-being. A daily diet of physical activity, high quality weekly PE lessons and frequent opportunities to participate in lunchtime and after-school sport is Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 F 020 7421 6644 www.ofsted.gov.uk improving the attitudes, behaviour and interest of pupils in all aspects of school life.  Standards achieved by the end of Key Stage 2 in PE are well above average. In a Year 4 outdoor and adventurous activities lesson pupils could follow instructions carefully, work independently to plan their own learning using playground markings and demonstrate to others what they have to do to improve their skills. In gymnastics, Year 5 pupils could explain the importance of warming-up before exercising

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Achievement and standards

and worked hard in groups to practice and refine their rolling and jumping skills.  Pupil attitudes and behaviour are outstanding; they thoroughly enjoy themselves at school and grab every opportunity to participate in physical activity. Their eagerness and enthusiasm is clearly demonstrated at break-times when the whole school takes part in vigorous exercise to music, led by Year 6 pupils.

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Quality of teaching and learning of PE

The quality of teaching and learning is outstanding.

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Quality of teaching and learning of PE

 Teaching is well planned and organised so lessons include effective warm-ups, generate high activity rates, provide opportunities for pupils to plan and reflect on what they have learnt and offer high quality support for pupils of all abilities.  Teachers are good at facilitating learning; they have the confidence to allow pupils to practise skills by themselves, work in small groups and teams and let them take responsibility for their own and others’ learning. Teachers are particularly effective at knowing when to stand back and allow pupils to learn independently and when to intervene to offer advice or provide support.  Regular assessments are made to track individual pupil progress but not all pupils know what they need to do to improve their work in specific activities.

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Quality of the PE curriculum

The quality of the PE curriculum is outstanding.

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Quality of the PE curriculum

 All pupils exceed the PESSCL target for a minimum of two hours high quality PE and school sport. Curriculum time is boosted significantly by daily exercise at break-times, lunchtime and after-school sports activities, inter-school fixtures and festivals, additional swimming lessons and residential activity weeks.  A Walk on Wednesdays (WOW) club encourages pupils to walk to school one day a week to improve their fitness. Pupils who do so wear their club badges with pride.  The school’s exceptionally good indoor and outdoor facilities are used well to deliver a broad, balanced PE programme and provide a wide range of enrichment activities that all pupils can access.  Pupils write in their journals and personal achievement records during cross-curricular work to review their health, well-being and lifestyle. Pupils comment very favourably on the healthy living day where they had to consider their diets and types of exercise they participate in.

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Leadership and management of PE and sport

Leadership and management of PE are outstanding.

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Leadership and management of PE and sport

 PE is exceptionally well led by a team of enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff who share a commitment to raising achievement in PE and sport.  Staff are keen to work with others, particularly the school sports coordinator to improve teaching and learning and to ensure their pupils get very best opportunities to participate and lead healthy lives.  This is a school that evaluates its work well. Leaders know its strengths and weaknesses and plan effectively to maintain the current outstanding provision and prioritise areas that it feels it can enhance even further.  You are an excellent role model for staff and pupils, regularly taking part in physical activity, teaching PE lessons and liaising with the school sports coordinator to ensure PE and sport retains its high profile in the school.

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The impact of the PESSCL national strategy

The PESSCL national strategy is having a good impact on improving the quality of provision in PE and school sport. The school has embraced the aims of the strategy and demonstrated its eagerness to work in partnership to enhance teaching and learning and to increase the range of opportunities for youngsters to participate in school sport.

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The impact of the PESSCL national strategy

 The school is ideally positioned to maximise the benefit of being next to the neighbouring sports college; it welcomes young leaders into school to coach junior sport and engages fully with the secondary PE department and its school sports coordinator.  Development planning is evaluative and effective; the success of new initiatives are closely monitored and tailored to compliment existing provision in the school.  In-service training provided through the partnership is making a significant contribution to raising the quality of teaching and learning and leadership of the subject.  The partnership is working to increase the number of junior club structures in the borough so pupils can participate in sport in their local community.

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Inclusion

 This is a highly inclusive school that ensures pupils of all interests and abilities can engage with and enthuse about PE and sport. It is highly effective at encouraging pupils from a range of different ethnic backgrounds to become involved in sport and lead a healthy lifestyle.  Mass participation events during break-times, involving vigorous aerobic exercise to music and led by Year 6 pupils are outstanding.  Targeted support to develop fundamental movement skills for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is excellent; the care and support they receive in their own lunchtime club boosts their self esteem and gives them the skills and knowledge they need to achieve well in lessons.  A lunchtime football club run by the PE coordinator with the help of the deputy caretaker is very popular and is used well to reward and encourage boys who behave well in lessons and around school.  Pupils with talent in particular sports are encouraged to participate in

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Inclusion

the enrichment programme and access a range of competitions and events organised by the school sports partnership.  The school grounds are well designed to stimulate interest and engage youngsters in a range of physical activity.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 provide activity-specific feedback during lessons so pupils know what to do to improve the quality of their work  consider ways of ensuring subject leadership is perpetuated during periods of staff development and change.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop PE and sport 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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