Swaffield School

Swaffield Primary School Inspection report

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101022 Unique Reference Number Wandsworth Local Authority 307566 Inspection number 16 °17 January 2008 Inspection dates Sheena MacDonald HMI 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 424 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs L Hopkins Chair Mrs C Lilley Headteacher 9 June 2003 Date of previous school inspection St Ann's Hill School address London SW18 2SA 020 8874 2825 Telephone number 020 8871 1853 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 16 °17 January 2008 Inspection dates 307566 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Swaffield Primary is larger than most primary schools. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is higher than average. A very high and increasing proportion of pupils represent a wide range of minority ethnic communities. The number of pupils whose first language is not English is about four times the national average and many are at the early stages of learning English. The school has a smaller than average proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. More pupils than is usual join or leave the school at times other than in the Foundation Stage or at the end of Year 6. The school has achieved national awards including Artsmark gold, International Schools Award (intermediate), Healthy schools award, Active award and Investors in People. The school is a lead school providing school-centred initial teacher training.

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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: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 2008

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Grade: 3

Swaffield is a satisfactory school with many good features. It is a school right at the heart of its diverse community and is highly regarded by parents. Inspectors agree with the parent who commented, 'Swaffield school has a fantastic sense of community and offers many opportunities for parental involvement. It is strongly led and has dedicated teachers.' Another parent commented that, 'the headteacher is passionate and enthusiastic about her school' and this is certainly true. The headteacher has a strong belief in the importance of educating the whole child, valuing each individual and enabling everyone to make their distinctive contribution. In this school every child, and indeed every adult, really does matter. Care, guidance and support are given a very high priority. As a result this aspect is a strength of the school and very much valued by pupils and parents. The school has come through unsettled times since the last inspection and there has been very

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Grade: 3

high staff turnover. Standards of behaviour and academic attainment dropped. Senior leaders have worked hard to establish a settled team of hardworking and enthusiastic staff and last year saw academic standards begin to rise. Behaviour and attitudes are now good and the atmosphere in school is calm and harmonious. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good; they enjoy school and are proud of their contribution to it and their community. Achievement and standards are both satisfactory and pupils achieve standards which are broadly average for their age throughout the school. For some pupils this represents good progress as they enter school with below average skills and knowledge. Efficient monitoring and tracking arrangements are linked to well managed support which is successful in raising the attainment of targeted pupils. This includes individual help, support targeted at pupils with English as an

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Grade: 3

additional language and 'catch up' activities for pupils who are in danger of falling behind. Whist successfully raising the standards for these pupils, some of the more able pupils have not made the expected progress, particularly in mathematics and science. Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall, with some that is good and none that is inadequate. Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to provide well-structured lessons that pupils enjoy. Relationships and behaviour in lessons are good. Currently, although there are some good lessons, there are too few which provide the challenge and excitement which spur the pupils on to make faster progress. The curriculum is good and all pupils have access to a wide and interesting range of opportunities including many which directly link into the local community. Leadership and management are good. Senior leaders, including governors, have clear roles

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Grade: 3

which they carry out effectively. The headteacher has built a whole school team where each person has a shared commitment and a growing understanding of their individual role in contributing to improvement. The school's self-evaluation is accurate. Improvement planning now needs to shift from staff development and focus more sharply on pupils' achievement and progress. The strong sense of purpose, commitment to improvement and successful turn round following past difficulties show that the school has good capacity to improve.

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Grade: 3

Children make satisfactory progress in the Foundation Stage. They arrive in the Nursery with very wide variation in their skills and knowledge and some are at the very early stages of learning 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 2008 English. Attainment on entry varies with each group but overall is generally below national expectations. By the time the children leave the Reception class, attainment is also below expectations particularly in aspects of literacy, communication and mathematical development. A strength of the Foundation Stage is the good emphasis on personal, social and emotional development and well-being. Staff work well as a team to establish routines and high levels of care so that children settle quickly, get on well together and develop self-confidence and positive attitudes to learning. Teaching and learning are satisfactory and there is a good balance

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Grade: 3

between teacher-led activities and opportunities for children to learn through independent play. Sometimes, when children are playing independently, there are missed opportunities to extend their learning through high quality questioning and prompts. Outdoor activities are organised and resourced well, particularly in the Nursery. As a result children's physical development is good. Management is effective in establishing and establishing consistent routines and systems for planning and assessment. However, there is a lack of a strategic overview of changing needs and trends in attainment, which would inform future improvement planning.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the pace, challenge and excitement in mathematics and science lessons so that all children, particularly the more able, achieve at the higher levels. ■ Develop more effective self-evaluation in the Foundation Stage and use this to inform planning and focus improvements. ■ Ensure that improvement planning has a sharper focus on raising standards and improving progress. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Pupils make satisfactory progress and achieve standards which are broadly average. Attainment on entry varies widely but overall pupils arrive with standards below national expectations, particularly in aspects of language and mathematical development. They make satisfactory progress and by the time they leave, standards are broadly average to below average. Standards have dipped in recent years. Effective strategies, particularly intervention groups and 'catch' up' sessions, have succeeded in reversing the downward trend in English and mathematics at Key Stage 2. Science continues to be the weakest subject and fewer than expected pupils achieve at the higher levels in mathematics. There are good and improving systems for assessing, monitoring and tracking individual pupil's progress. Challenging targets are in place and careful mapping of support and intervention ensures that pupils with additional language or learning

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Grade: 3

needs get speedy and appropriate support. As a result, these pupils make good progress. Evidence from lessons and pupils' books confirms that there has been less emphasis on making sure that there is enough challenge in lessons to really push more able pupils, particularly in mathematics and science. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 2008

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy school and their behaviour and attitudes are good. A strong whole school ethos, based on respecting and valuing each individual, contributes to good outcomes in these areas. They get on well together and care for each other. Moral, social and cultural development are good and spiritual development is satisfactory. Pupils have good relationships with adults and are keen and confident to share opinions and ideas. Older children are good role models for younger pupils. Pupils make a good positive contribution to the school, the community and the wider world. They are pleased to take on responsibilities such as playtime helpers and and;quot;eco cluband;quot; members. The school encourages involvement in fundraising for charities and pupils take part in many community events. The schools council is justifiably proud of its influence over the much valued playground improvements and well-managed playtime

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Grade: 2

arrangements. These improvements have resulted in more harmonious playtimes with children engaged in a wide range of activities from Karaoke to spacehopper races. Pupils have a good understanding of what makes a healthy lifestyle and are happy to support the school's policies and rules such as the restrictions on unhealthy snacks. There is a high take up of the healthy school meals and the many physical and sporting after-school clubs. Pupils collaborate well but there are too few opportunities in the classrooms for them to use their initiative and develop independence. Attendance is satisfactory and the school works hard and sensitively to improve this situation. Further work is required to improve punctuality.

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Grade: 3

Teachers and assistants are enthusiastic team workers who work hard and share their expertise and experience well. This is particularly important as many of the staff are relatively inexperienced and most are teaching age groups which are new to them. Lessons are well managed with good, consistent structures and routines. As a result relationships are good, pupils behave well, are attentive and come to lessons ready to learn. All lessons are carefully planned to make sure the curriculum is covered and teachers make sure that the pupils know the learning objectives. The work is planned and support is targeted well to make sure that pupils with additional needs are well catered for and as a result, they make good progress. However, although there are notable exceptions when pupils become very involved and fired up with the learning, many lessons lack that bit of extra spark. In many, there is not enough

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Grade: 3

pace, challenge and excitement or opportunities for pupils to take responsibility for their own learning. This limits the progress, particularly of more able pupils.

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Grade: 2

The school is committed to providing pupils with a broad, balanced and enriched curriculum which caters for a wide range of needs and interests. The personal, social, health and citizenship curriculum has a very positive impact on pupils' good personal development and well-being. There is strong provision for the arts and physical development and children do well in these subjects. High quality art work contributes to the vibrant environment and pupils clearly enjoy the music curriculum as evidenced by the lusty and tuneful singing heard during the inspection. Good well- targeted support for children with learning difficulties and those with English as 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 2008 an additional language allows all children to access and enjoy the full curriculum. Pupils also very much appreciate the cross subject links, good range of visits, visitors and clubs which

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Grade: 2

enrich their learning. There is further scope for the curriculum to offer more opportunities for independent and challenging learning.

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Grade: 2

Staff know pupils very well and place a strong emphasis on their care and well-being. The very positive response of parents shows that this is very much appreciated. Pupils are confident that any concerns or incidents will be dealt with swiftly and sensitively. The environment both inside and out is clean, safe and maintained well. Systems for ensuring pupils' safety are rigorous and well managed. A consistently applied approach to behaviour management has resulted in positive improvements. Well-trained staff provide high quality individual support for pupils with additional needs and also those who are at the early stages of learning English. There are good links with specialist colleagues such as educational psychologists. The school takes care to ensure that children are well supported through times of change such as moving on each year. All staff mark pupils' work thoroughly. There are some examples of high quality marking

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Grade: 2

and feedback linked to targets. This helps pupils know how to improve their work but is inconsistent across the school.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher is providing strong leadership, has established a positive climate for learning and gathered around her a hard working, enthusiastic team. Her commitment to teamwork and to an open self-critical approach has enabled other senior leaders, staff and governors to develop their roles so that they make an effective contribution. Governors provide expertise, high levels of support and are becoming more effective in holding the school to account. There are good relationships with external partners including initial teacher training providers, local specialist high schools and other primary schools. These links are used well used to improve the quality of education provided by the school. In recent years, the leadership team has understandably focused on staff recruitment and development and there are good systems that provide staff with high quality training and development opportunities. Middle management

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Grade: 2

has been relatively underdeveloped and the current focus on developing these roles and responsibilities has the potential to build further leadership strength. Analysis of performance information and data is used effectively to set targets for improvement. For example, the school accurately identified as a priority the need to raise standards in mathematics and implemented strategies which led to an improvement although not yet at the higher levels. Behaviour was identified as a concern and the school successfully implemented a well-designed plan involving consistent approaches throughout the school and strategies such as the improved playtime provision. Resources are well managed. School self-evaluation is accurate. However, the links between self-evaluation and improvement planning are not sharp enough nor are plans sufficiently focused on the impact of actions on pupils' achievement. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 2008

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 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? Yes 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 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 2 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?

2 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: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 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? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

28 January 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Swaffield Primary School,London,SW18 2SA As you know we visited your school recently to find out how well you were doing. We really enjoyed our time with you. Thank you for being so friendly, polite and welcoming, especially those of you who gave up playtimes to talk to us. We think your school is satisfactory with some really good features. Here are some of the main things we liked about your school. There is a lovely atmosphere in your school. You get on very well together, show each other respect and your behaviour is good. You really know how to stay fit and healthy. All those playtime activities and clubs help! All the adults work well together to make sure that those of you who need extra help or 'catch up' sessions get the help you need. They also make sure you are safe and well cared for. You have good opportunities to learn about lots of different subjects

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

and we saw some lovely art work around the school. Well done! You also told us how much you enjoy all the different clubs and other activities like visitors and trips. Mrs Lilley and the other leaders are doing a good job of building good teams and making sure everyone is working together to make things even better. We know that the headteacher and all the adults are determined to make your school into a good school so we've asked them to do three things to improve. Overall, you make satisfactory progress in your work. Some of you could do better, particularly in science and mathematics. We think this is especially true for those of you who sometimes find the work a bit easy. We've asked the school to make mathematics and science lessons more exciting and challenging so that you really stretch yourself in your learning and do as well as you possibly can. Your school has had a lot of changes in staff over the past few years and this

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

has meant the school leaders have been busy making sure all the staff know how your school works. Now we've asked them to make sure that plans focus very sharply on your progress and achievements. We have also asked them to make more use of the information they have about how well children are learning in the Foundation Stage so that they have a clearer idea of what needs doing to bring about improvements. Thank you again for helping to make our time in your school so enjoyable. Yours sincerely, Sheena MacDonald HMI 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Swaffield Primary School, 16 °17 January 2008

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