Setting

Mr Jon Abbey The Headteacher Bush Hill Park Primary School Main Avenue Enfield EN1 1DS

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on 26 June 2007, for the time you gave to our phone discussions and for the information which you provided before and during my visit. Please pass on my thanks to the staff, the school council, the chair of governors and the local authority representative who spoke to me.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

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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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

As a result of the inspection in November 2006, the school was asked to improve: the curriculum and management of provision, for pupils for whom English is an additional language; raise standards further for pupils joining the school other than in the Foundation Stage by improving initial assessment, induction procedures and the monitoring of their progress; enhance pupils’ opportunities to develop skills needed in later life, including in ICT, independent learning and team work; improve pupils’ handwriting and presentation of work.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school is making satisfactory progress in addressing the issues for improvement.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

Since the last inspection, the school has rightly incorporated the areas for development into the school improvement plan. This has resulted in the school adopting a more robust approach to improving standards. This is because there is an increasing awareness among staff that good quality teaching and learning is underpinned by a well resourced and appropriate curriculum to build up pupils’ self- esteem and reassure them that they can succeed.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

The headteacher provides a very good steer for the direction of the school and has successfully forged ahead with maintaining the support, loyalty and willingness of the staff to make further improvements to the provision. For example, he has taken radical steps when performance has not been satisfactory. He has brought greater Prospects Learning Services Ltd 132-138 High Street Bromley Kent BR1 1EZ T 08456 40 40 40 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 020 8313 7760 Direct F 020 8464 3393 clarity to the headship team by spelling out the responsibility of middle managers and incorporating them into the senior team, thus increasing the capacity of the team to drive forward changes. The senior team is therefore better equipped to tackle the key issues. They have also been exposed to good practice and continuous professional development which have improved their accountability. The local authority has provided good support through the self-reviews, which show that the

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

school is improving. The governors recognise that the school has made substantial progress since the last inspection as a result of the new and effective initiatives which are being embedded. Consequently, the school is well place to sustain the improvements.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

As a result of these changes, the school is now better placed to support the increasing number of newcomers and pupils learning English as an additional language. A comprehensive induction programme with good assessment procedures has been introduced. Assessment is now, not a one off event but part of a continuous cycle. This is enabling staff to have the assessment information quickly so they can match work to individual needs, spot underachievement and other learning difficulties, if any, and provide appropriate support. The induction information has also been translated into the main home languages of pupils new to the country. The teachers are better equipped to meet the needs of the pupils because training has been specific; the school has drawn on the expertise of the consultant and inclusion manager; the ethnic minority achievement team has been streamlined and plans are in place to increase the team further in September. Well thought out intervention

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

programmes such as ‘Talking Partners’ and phonics are being used successfully in the Foundation Stage and Year 1 to prepare the pupils for the next stage of their learning. The school’s analysis of data for pupils learning English show that most are making satisfactory and often good progress. As a result, standards are improving and the targets for Years 2 and 6 show an upward trend, particularly in Year 2.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

The improved rate of progress of pupils learning English can also be linked to the sensible introduction of the pre-teach sessions. Although the initiative is new, evidence shows that pupils are successfully accessing the curriculum because of the basic initial work undertaken with them. The school has taken appropriate steps to work with parents to develop links with the home and school. However, there is still more work to do in engaging parents in the school’s work.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

A new curriculum, the Creative Learning Journey, a largely skills based scheme, is currently being trialled in preparation for its full implementation in September. The leadership team has identified a suitable curriculum to meet the pupils’ needs. Teachers have been well prepared to develop the new curriculum model and have begun to use it well by incorporating a range of practical and visual approaches to teaching. For example, drama is used as a spring board to improve pupils’ communication and writing skills, their confidence, team work and independent skills.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

The school has made a good start to using information and communication technology (ICT) as a teaching, learning and administrative tool. All teachers now have and use an interactive white board to engage pupils in their learning. Pupils say that their learning is ‘more fun when the smart board is used because they can remember the highlighted key phrases, important sentences and parts of speech.’ There is now a clear focus on using ICT to teach key literacy and numeracy skills. The school now has more systematic planning and tracking systems to identify how pupils of differing abilities and ethnicity are achieving.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

The new approach to handwriting and presentation has improved since the school was inspected. The school is now developing a distinctive cursive style because expectations of handwriting and presentation are explicit and teachers act as good role models. Pupils say that they take pride in their work because untidy work will not be marked. The school has done much to foster the pupils’ confidence through using role-play and a wide range of team activities. For example, pupils say that they ‘like the new house system group and partner work because they learn to cooperate with each other’. Pupils also feel that they are becoming confident learners ‘because the teachers have taught them how to do things for themselves; they have boosted us a lot on how to become independent’. In lessons observed, pupils displayed some good independent learning skills from as early as Reception where children demonstrated that they can listen to instructions and manipulate the ‘mouse’ without

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

the constant supervision of their teachers.

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Ofsted Monitoring of Schools with Notice to Improve

I hope that you have found the visit helpful in promoting improvement in your school.

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