Daubeney Primary School

Daubeney Primary School Inspection report

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100223 Unique Reference Number Hackney Local Authority 307330 Inspection number 5 °6 June 2008 Inspection dates Nick Butt Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 526 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Jonathan Hourigan Chair Dame Anna Hassan (executive) Headteacher 1 December 2003 Date of previous school inspection Daubeney Road School address Clapton London E5 0EG 020 8985 4380 Telephone number 020 8985 9075 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 5 °6 June 2008 Inspection dates 307330 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Daubeney is a much larger than average, inner-city area. Almost 90% of pupils come from a variety of minority ethnic backgrounds, the largest being Black African. Over half the pupils speak an additional language to English; a much higher proportion than found nationally. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is well above average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/ or disabilities is above average. Many of these pupils have behavioural and emotional difficulties. The school has an award for promoting healthy lifestyles. The school is part of an Education Action Zone and a cluster for extended services. The Nursery is in temporary accommodation while a new children's centre is built. At the time of the inspection, the substantive headteacher was absent on sick leave. Since February 2008, an executive headteacher, who also leads another local primary school, and

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Description of the school

(since April 2008) a consultant headteacher, have been running the school.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008

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Grade: 4

The overall effectiveness of the school is inadequate because pupils' standards are exceptionally low and there are serious shortcomings in the quality of teaching. Consequently, pupils do not make the progress they should and leaders and managers at all levels have not acted quickly or rigorously enough. In accordance with section 13 (3) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement. The school is going through a long period of uncertainty, with very high levels of staff turnover and sickness. A very high number of teachers have left in the past two years. In recent weeks, the executive headteacher and the consultant headteacher have begun to put in place systems

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Grade: 4

and procedures to monitor and evaluate the school's effectiveness. However, it is far too early for these to have any discernable impact on standards and achievement or the quality of teaching. As a result, the school has an unrealistic estimation of the effectiveness of its work. Standards at the end of Year 6 have declined year-on-year and are exceptionally low in English, mathematics and science. The majority of pupils have made little or no progress this year, and many appear to have gone backwards. This is primarily because teaching is inadequate, with a significant proportion of lessons where hardly any learning takes place. Many teachers lack the subject knowledge to enable pupils to move forward in their learning, and lessons are often uninspiring with low expectations that fail to challenge them. In particular, there are insufficient opportunities for pupils to extend their writing across different subjects. Pupils are rarely able

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Grade: 4

to apply and use their understanding in practical ways in mathematics and science. The curriculum is dull and does not take into account the needs of different groups of pupils, or respond to their aspirations. Pupils are cared for satisfactorily, but the academic guidance and support given is inadequate. The school has been unable to identify and target pupils who were falling behind because assessment is weak. Pupils' personal development is satisfactory. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning, and get along together well. They have some understanding of how to live healthily and keep safe, and are involved in their community through activities such as performing for the elderly. They leave school with very poor basic skills and are inadequately equipped for the next stage of their education. The school's performance has deteriorated since the last inspection, and the governing body has failed to hold leaders to account, or monitor the school's work robustly. The executive

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Grade: 4

headteacher and the consultant headteacher have worked incredibly hard in recent weeks to tackle the many failings of the school they have inherited, aided by their productive partnership with a local successful primary school. However, they have only just begun to tackle the school's deep-seated problems, and thus its capacity to improve is inadequate.

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Grade: 3

Children enter the Nursery with skills and abilities well below those usually expected, but settle quickly because there is a suitable range of interesting activities for them to enjoy. Good use has been made of the temporary accommodation, with free access to an outside play area. In 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008 both the Nursery and Reception classes, there is an appropriate mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Satisfactory teaching enables children to make satisfactory progress in their learning. Reception classes do not have direct access to an outside play area. This limits children's opportunities to explore the different areas of learning outdoors and develop their knowledge and understanding of the world.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards and achievement in English, mathematics and science.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the quality of teaching and learning by raising teachers' expectations of what pupils can do and achieve. ■ Ensure that pupils' learning needs are identified promptly and that effective interventions are put in place to accelerate their progress. ■ Increase the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring there is systematic and rigorous monitoring of standards and provision by leaders at all levels, and by the governing body.

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Grade: 4

Despite making satisfactory progress in the Foundation Stage, pupils enter Year 1 not reaching the expected early learning goals, because their starting points are so low. Pupils' reading skills and their knowledge and understanding of the world are particularly weak. Achievement for all groups of pupils is inadequate throughout Years 1 to 6 because of weak teaching and a curriculum that is not suited to pupils' needs. Many of the pupils are up to two years behind where they should be. Those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including those with emotional and behavioural needs, also make inadequate progress and it is only very recently that the school has begun to address their specific needs. Pupils have had limited access to computers and this has had a detrimental effect on the development of their skills in information and communication technology (ICT). The executive headteacher has arranged for a new

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Grade: 4

computer suite to begin to address this deficiency. Standards by the end of Years 2 and 6 are exceptionally low.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' spiritual, moral and cultural development is satisfactory. Their social development is good. Pupils from different ethnic backgrounds mix together well and show one another respect. In general, they are happy at school. They behave satisfactorily in lessons and are willing to cooperate even when the teaching appears to bore them. They understand how to live a healthy lifestyle and know about keeping safe. Pupils support one another as school councillors and peer mediators. They help with recycling, and take part in sporting and cultural events outside school. Attendance is a little below average but improving as a result of the pupils' and their families' growing awareness of the need to be in school. Displays of the latest attendance figures for each class give pupils information about how well they are doing. Pupils currently lack the basic skills to excel, and do not have the confidence and independence they need to

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Grade: 3

develop a love of learning. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008

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Grade: 4

A parent wrote, 'There needs to be serious improvement in teaching. The only ones that suffer will be the children.' This accurately captures the inadequate quality of teaching, although there are pockets of enthusiasm and occasional good lessons. The executive headteacher has made recent improvements to planning, so that lessons now have a learning focus. However, expectations of what pupils are capable of are far too low and teachers often fail to set work that matches the abilities of the pupils. Many lessons are conducted at a slow pace, with introductions often taking too long. Teachers lack the subject knowledge to extend pupils' understanding in mathematics and science, especially through investigative work. They do not make the most of technology to enliven lessons. Writing tasks do not challenge pupils sufficiently, or inspire them to write at length.

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Grade: 4

The executive headteacher has ensured that the curriculum is now broad and balanced and meets statutory requirements. That said, it is inadequately matched to the needs and interests of pupils. It lacks relevance, for example to the many pupils who speak English as an additional language. There are few signs of creativity, although one teacher is developing an interesting China project in the run up to the Olympic Games. There is weak provision for literacy, numeracy and ICT. The curriculum for the Year 1 pupils in a mixed Reception/Year 1 class is inappropriate and does not challenge them sufficiently. The school has a limited range of enrichment activities, and participation in clubs is low.

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Grade: 4

Pupils who are underachieving have not been identified because there is no reliable and rigorous system to interpret assessment data. Interventions have not been put in place for struggling pupils because staff were unaware they were having difficulties. The executive headteacher and the consultant teacher have begun to change this situation, but it is too early to see any beneficial impact. Teaching assistants have only recently been trained in how to support pupils with difficulties, and little regard has been paid to what individual education plans state. Pastoral care is satisfactory, aided by the work of the family care team, especially with pupils who have emotional or behavioural needs. Pupils are beginning to be given guidance on how to improve their writing, but marking is inconsistent and some teachers lack the skills to assess accurately how well pupils are doing or what they need to learn next. Safeguarding arrangements are

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Grade: 4

Leaders and managers have failed to make a positive impact on the quality of provision or in raising standards and achievement. They have been unable to stem the rapid decline in the school's performance since the last inspection. The systems and procedures put in place by the 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008 executive headteacher and the consultant headteacher are new and have not had time to make a difference. Action is being taken to tackle inadequate teaching, but is at a very early stage. The executive headteacher and the consultant headteacher have clearly identified the school's many problems, and through an emergency development plan have begun to tackle the most serious ones. Middle managers are ineffective in their monitoring roles because they lack the training and experience to make accurate evaluative judgements. There is a lack of capacity from within the school's permanent staff to bring about improvement. A constructive link with

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Grade: 4

another primary school means that good practice is now being shared. Governors have not, until very recently, taken steps to find out for themselves what is actually going on in the school, and have failed to give the school a strategic lead. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008 .

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Grade: 4

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008

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Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? No Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 4 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

4 How well do learners achieve? 4 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 4 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 3 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 3 The behaviour of learners 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

4 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 4 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 4 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? Yes Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

01 July 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Daubeney Primary School,London,E5 0EG Thank you very much for making us welcome at your school. By now you have probably heard that we think your school needs some extra help. We have decided that it requires something called 'special measures'. This means that there are some important things wrong with it and it needs help to put these things right. We think things need to improve quickly, so other inspectors will be coming in to see how your school is getting on. I expect they would like to talk to you too to find out your views about how well you are doing. These are the things that need improving.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You need to do better in your work, as standards are too low at the moment. For this to happen the teaching needs to challenge you, and the lessons need to be exciting and interesting. We have asked the school to think of ways it can do this, such as letting you write in different subjects, and having more experiments to try out in science and mathematics. We have asked the teachers to make sure that those of you who find work difficult get the support you need when you need it. We want the school's leaders and governors to keep a close eye on how things are going, so that they know what still needs improving. We are sure they would be interested to hear what you think of the changes they are bringing in. Here are some of the things that are going well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ We think you show one another respect and try hard in lessons, even when they are not that interesting. We are pleased you are making more of an effort to get to school. Children get off to a satisfactory start in the Nursery and Reception classes, as they have plenty to interest them. The executive headteacher and the consultant headteacher are working very hard with the staff to help the school to improve. Thank you once again for your help, and our best wishes for the future. Yours sincerely, Mr N Butt Lead Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Daubeney Primary School, 5 °6 June 2008

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