Featherstone Primary and Nursery School

Featherstone Primary and Nursery School Inspection report

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101910 Unique Reference Number Ealing Local Authority 307846 Inspection number 13 °14 February 2008 Inspection dates Alan Jarvis 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 694 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr S Moy Chair Mrs K Bailey Headteacher 4 March 2002 Date of previous school inspection Western Road School address Southall UB2 5JT 020 8571 4977 Telephone number 020 8574 6154 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 13 °14 February 2008 Inspection dates 307846 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 four Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Featherstone is a much larger than average school. The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and for whom English is an additional language are significantly higher than most schools. Just under half have Indian backgrounds but those from Black African and Pakistani heritages are also well represented. A small minority come from asylum seeking or refugee families. Many pupils join at unusual times, often with little or no English. The headteacher took up post six months ago.

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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: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 2008

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Grade: 3

Featherstone is a satisfactory and improving school. Given their low starting points, and the numbers who join at unusual times, achievement is satisfactory for most pupils. It is popular with parents. Pupils have pride in their school. They say, 'If you are new to the school you will quickly make new friends, get a lot of help, be well respected and treated as an equal'. Pupils' good personal development is an important strength of the school. Pastoral care is very good. This exemplifies the caring ethos of the school and the harmony which has been established. Staff keep an eagle eye on any unkind behaviour and so behaviour is consistently good. All groups of pupils are keen to learn, which is helping their progress. Clear codes of conduct and courteous relationships between pupils from different backgrounds successfully foster both self-respect and respect for others. This stands them in good stead for later life.

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Grade: 3

They have a good sense of right and wrong. Pupils settle in extremely quickly, helped by the effective and personalised support provided to their families both by the school and by outside agencies. Standards are well below average at the end of Year 2 and below average by Year 6 particularly in literacy. Pupils in Year 6 who started in the Foundation Stage and pupils from Indian and Pakistani heritages consistently make good progress. Teaching is satisfactory and the key reason why most pupils make sound progress. Pupils enjoy their lessons because they can learn without distraction and lessons have variety. Currently not enough teaching is effective enough to ensure most groups of pupils make good progress. This is because lessons vary in their effectiveness in giving pupils opportunities to discuss their thinking, in having a clear focus for learning or helping them learn independently. Good plans are being implemented to quicken the rate of pupils' academic progress. For example,

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Grade: 3

in response to the low standards at the end of Reception the Year 1 curriculum has been adapted to make it more suitable for the way young children learn. Pupils are receiving more help in linking letters to sounds. In later years, more tailored support is being given to pupils with learning difficulties and those from Black African heritages who have often made slower progress. Whilst there are early signs of progress accelerating in these areas there is still some way to go. The school has made good progress since the last inspection. The senior leadership work well as a team. They have identified the right areas for development and are robustly tackling those that have been more difficult to address. Challenging targets are being exceeded. These reflect a good capacity to improve. However, whilst subject coordinators give good support to their colleagues they are insufficiently accountable for the progress made by different groups of

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Grade: 3

pupils and for developing links between subjects.

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Grade: 3

In 2007, children's attainment was well below average at the end of Reception, especially in communication, language and literacy and mathematical development. This made it difficult for many to make good progress in Years 1 and 2. Strong links with families helps the children settle in very well. The accommodation is used well to develop all aspects of the curriculum. Teaching is satisfactory. However, some children do not make as much progress as they might. This is because the different groups of children are not always supported well in activities they 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 2008 start themselves. Opportunities are missed for some children to develop their speaking skills, although those with speech and language difficulties are well catered for. Teaching, learning and the curriculum have not been good enough to make inroads on the low standards. Whilst

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Grade: 3

improvements are starting to emerge, more needs to be done.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards in the Foundation Stage.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that teaching consistently challenges all groups of pupils so that they make at least good progress in literacy, especially those from Black African heritages or with learning difficulties. ■ Ensure all curriculum coordinators are fully accountable for their contribution to quickening pupils' progress and linking learning in different subjects. A small proportion of schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before the next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Standards at Key Stage 1 have been fairly static. In 2007 they were well below average in reading and writing and below average in mathematics. Standards at the end of Year 6 have been steadily rising for the past four years. They were below average in 2007 and closer to average in mathematics and science than in English. This rise in Year 6 is due to improvements in the quality of teaching and the curriculum in Key Stage 2 gained through good monitoring of provision. Pupils' progress is satisfactory throughout the school. Some groups of pupils achieve better than others. For example, those who join part way through Years 3 to 6, who often have no English, quickly gain the necessary skills in English. Girls generally make better progress than boys. Pupils from Black African heritages and those with more specific learning difficulties make slower progress. Progress is quickening as a result of more timely and carefully targeted

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Grade: 3

support being provided for these pupils.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy school and they wait eagerly at the gates of their 'brilliant new building' for the doors to open. The youngest children and those new to the school settle in quickly and are well looked after by the older ones. Pupils are happy and well behaved. Their good attitudes to learning have a positive impact on their academic progress. Attendance is satisfactory and improving. Pupils are beginning to enjoy the facilities of extended services, although as yet the impact of these is only just starting to feed through to their achievement. School council members have a mature outlook and understand the issues put forward by their friends, such as 'Say no to the Heathrow expansion'. They help promote a healthy lifestyle through their work on healthy recipes and 'The Travel Plan'. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is particularly good. It is helped by educational visits and a very good programme

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Grade: 2

of visitors to school such as those who teach African drumming or help celebrate Refugee Week. Instances of racist behaviour or bullying are rare. Given the satisfactory progress they make in basic skills, pupils are satisfactorily prepared for secondary school. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 2008

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Grade: 3

Teachers are very skilled in managing pupils' behaviour. This creates a very positive climate for learning and relationships are good. Lessons are carefully prepared. Teachers use time, resources and demonstrations well to engage and motivate pupils and to help them learn in different ways. Assistants give good support to pupils with learning difficulties or those who are becoming proficient in English. This ensures that work is well organised to meet the needs of these pupils. In some classes, teachers give pupils opportunities to discuss their ideas and to explain their thinking, which helps them make good progress in literacy. However, this good practice is not consistent across the school. In a small number of lessons, the focus of learning was insufficiently sharp and so limited good progress. Too much teaching tends to over direct learning. Consequently, pupils have few opportunities to make choices about how they will tackle their

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Grade: 3

work which limits the challenges they are given.

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Grade: 3

Provision for personal, social and health education is good and makes a strong contribution to pupils' personal development and well-being. The development of a thematic curriculum in Year 1 is leading to more innovative ways of organising learning and this is starting to quicken progress. There is a more rigorous approach to the teaching of letters and sounds and this is helping standards to improve in reading and writing for the very youngest children. For older children, the extended writing project is helping pupils to edit and extend their writing by using interesting words and punctuation more accurately. In mathematics, pupils do plenty of mental and written calculations but have too few opportunities to use these skills to solve problems. The school is strengthening links between subjects and using information and communication technology more to help pupils make faster progress in their literacy and enliven learning. The

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Grade: 3

curriculum is enriched well by visits and visitors together with the wide variety of clubs that are popular with pupils.

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Grade: 2

Pastoral provision continues to be very strong. Robust procedures to keep pupils free from risk or harm are securely in place. Pupils trust their teachers and know they can approach adults in the school to help solve any problems. The school works well with outside agencies from the local authority and the health services to facilitate more specialised support to pupils and their families. Good support is provided to new pupils who join at unusual times. Academic support is also good. Teachers track pupils' progress and are making increasingly effective use of the information they have on pupils to plan challenging work. Pupils are given individual targets to aim for in English and mathematics. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 2008

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Grade: 3

Pupils' good progress in their personal development owes much to the effective links with their families and the strong emphasis on care. In this very large school leadership responsibilities are devolved well so that the different year groups are effectively overseen and run smoothly on a daily basis. Leadership and management currently have a satisfactory impact on standards and progress and there is a clear focus on ensuring more pupils make good progress. The plans being implemented to improve provision in the Foundation Stage, improve pupils' literacy skills and address the slower progress of certain groups of pupils are starting to bear fruit but more remains to be done. Governance is satisfactory and the committee structure works well. However, governors' monitoring of the school's work in holding it to account for the progress made by different groups of pupils has insufficient impact. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 2008

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 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 3 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: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 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 2 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: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

03 March 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Featherstone Primary and Nursery School,Southall,UB2 5JT Thank you for making the inspectors feel very welcome when we visited your school recently. It was a pleasure to talk to you and it was interesting to hear your views about your school. Our report says that Featherstone is a satisfactory and improving school. As well as your brilliant new building these are the things I liked most about your school:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ All the adults look after you very well and you too look after the many pupils who join you school from very different backgrounds. Well done! ■ You enjoy school and are working hard to improve it.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Everyone is treated as an equal and unkind behaviour is extremely rare.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Many of you who are in the school a long time make good progress.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Senior staff are helping the school improve by focusing their efforts where it will best make a difference. Your headteacher, teachers and governors are working really well together to improve your school. I have asked them to look at these three things to improve the school further.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Help children in the Foundation Stage reach higher standards.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Work with your teachers to ensure more of you make good progress.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Enable teachers in charge of subjects to do their job even better than at present.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Dr. Alan Jarvis Lead Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Featherstone Primary and Nursery School, 13 °14 February 2008

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