Belmont Infant School

102079 Unique Reference Number Haringey Local Authority 307895 Inspection number 27 September 2007 Inspection date Steven Hill 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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Infant Type of school Community School category 3 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 214 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Alan Sterenberg Chair Mrs Louisa Oakley Headteacher 28 January 2002 Date of previous school inspection Rusper Road School address London N22 6RA 020 8888 7140 Telephone number 020 8881 3400 Fax number

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3-7 Age group 27 September 2007 Inspection date 307895 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 an Additional Inspector. The inspector evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues:

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Introduction

■ pupils' achievement and personal development

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Introduction

■ how well the school keeps track of pupils' progress

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Introduction

■ leadership and management, particularly in addressing the issues from the last inspection.

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Introduction

Evidence was gathered from observing lessons and break-times; talking to pupils and staff; checking the school's records of pupils' progress and the quality of teaching; the results of questionnaires returned by parents and pupils, and looking at other documentation. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

This is an average sized infant school with a nursery. It has an extremely diverse intake, with pupils coming from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. It serves an area of high deprivation. A large proportion of pupils are asylum seekers. Almost two thirds of the pupils have a home language other than English, and about a half of these are at the early stages of learning English.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Belmont Infant School, 27 September 2007

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Grade: 1

Belmont Infants is an outstanding school. It is a lively, harmonious multi-cultural community, where the excellent provision for the care, guidance and support of pupils underpins its many strengths. Extremely good pastoral care ensures that pupils are happy and involved throughout their time in school. Pupils and their families are valued as individuals, and the staff work very hard to meet their needs. Pupils thoroughly enjoy their education, form excellent relationships with each other and with staff, and their behaviour is outstanding. Their have very positive attitudes to learning, they know a lot about keeping healthy and staying safe, and put this knowledge into practice very well. The consistent, positive approach of all staff, who are excellent role models, helps ensure that pupils' overall personal development is outstanding. Attendance has improved steadily and is now good. The school has worked very hard and effectively to ensure that the variety

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Grade: 1

of cultures represented in the school are valued and celebrated, and this strongly supports pupils' excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. There are exceptionally close links with the local special school, whose staff provide advice and support that enhances the learning of many of the pupils at Belmont. The integration of pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities is exceptionally good, and their parents have praised the school's work in this. These pupils take a full part in the life of the school, join in with their friends and classmates in all aspects, and make excellent progress. Pupils' personal development is a springboard for their outstanding achievement. Children start in the Foundation Stage with standards that, while variable, are very low. Standards at the end of Year 2 have risen considerably since the last inspection, and are now in line with national averages, representing excellent progress from their starting points. More able pupils now make

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Grade: 1

much better progress than at the last inspection. Several other factors influence pupils' high achievement. Chief among these is the outstanding quality of teaching, another major improvement over the last few years. Teachers have very good relationships with their pupils, and those in Year 2 agreed that they '...like the teachers because they're fair.' Teachers use the school's very good systems for tracking pupils' progress to ensure that work is matched very closely to individuals' needs. Teachers and support staff work extremely well as teams in class, maximising the amount of individual attention that pupils receive and boosting their progress. Teachers ensure a good pace in lessons, and enthuse and engage pupils through lively explanations, often enhanced by the use of interactive whiteboards. They prepare interesting things for pupils to do, with a good emphasis on practical work, active participation, and opportunities for discussion. All this leads to high levels of concentration

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Grade: 1

and hard work. The school's curriculum is good, and has particular strengths in personal, social and health education and in the creative arts. In the last two years the school has introduced a highly structured scheme to support pupils' progress in literacy, by concentrating on the links between sounds and letters. This is used imaginatively, is managed very carefully, and has been very effective in raising standards. Weaknesses in religious education (RE) and information and communication technology (ICT) from the last inspection have largely been eliminated. However, the school still does not have enough computer equipment. Consequently, only a few pupils are able to work together at the same time. Teachers work effectively to make the best use of the equipment they do have, so pupils make sound progress. The school's outside environment, 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Belmont Infant School, 27 September 2007

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Grade: 1

a weakness at the last inspection, now provides exemplary support for pupils' learning. It is used very well by teachers to support the curriculum, and very enthusiastically by pupils at break-times, boosting their fitness and their enjoyment of school. There is a satisfactory range of extra-curricular activities. The school's many strengths rest on a foundation of excellent leadership and management. The strong direction from the headteacher and senior management team has led to excellent teamwork from all staff. Governors know the school well and provide good support and challenge. The school's self-evaluation is now outstanding, having been satisfactory at the time of the last inspection. Rigorous monitoring of teaching and planning has enabled senior staff to give clear pointers to colleagues about their practice, leading to significant improvements in quality. The results of the very careful tracking of pupils' progress are used extremely well

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Grade: 1

to target a wide variety of programmes to help pupils who have particular needs. These include interventions to help pupils who are new to English and those who are gifted and talented. A large number of different programmes is used to help pupils with different learning difficulties. Their use is flexible and is extremely well managed by the very effective inclusion team, leading to outstanding achievement for these pupils. The inspection evidence confirms the overwhelmingly positive views of parents, typified by the comment, 'I am very happy with the way Belmont School has helped my son develop, not only academically but also socially and; emotionally.'

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Grade: 1

The excellent start that children make in the Foundation Stage gives them a very firm basis for their future education. The provision shares many of the outstanding features of the rest of the school. The classes are very well organised and staff are extremely skilful at settling children happily so they feel at home and enjoy the wide range of exciting activities they are given. During the inspection, when many children had only been in school for a couple of weeks, staff had already formed very positive relationships with them. Children were taking part in activities confidently, and were starting to follow routines well. Children's academic and social progress is monitored thoroughly and their individual needs are catered for carefully. They achieve very well as a result, although many still fall short of the standards expected by the end of the Reception year because of their very low starting points.

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What the school should do to improve further

The school has no major weaknesses and has clear plans for a number of things it wishes to improve. The inspector agrees that these form a very good basis for future developments. In addition,

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What the school should do to improve further

■ the school should increase the provision of computers for pupils so they have more chances to practise their skills. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Belmont Infant School, 27 September 2007 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: Belmont Infant School, 27 September 2007

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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? 1 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

1 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 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 1 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?

1 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. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: Belmont Infant School, 27 September 2007

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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 1 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? 8 of 9 Inspection Report: Belmont Infant School, 27 September 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

4 October 2007 Dear Children Inspection of Belmont Infant School,London,N22 6RA Thank you for your friendly welcome when I visited your school. I really enjoyed seeing you in class and talking to you. A special thank you to the children in Year 2 who came to talk to me in the library - you were a big help. I am writing to say that I think your school is outstanding. There are lots of really good things about it, and these are some of them.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You enjoy school, get on extremely well with each other and your behaviour is excellent. You know a lot about keeping healthy and staying safe. ■ Your teachers and the other staff are excellent at helping you to learn, so you make very good progress in reading, writing and maths. ■ All the adults keep a careful eye on how you are getting on, and make sure that you have work that is just right for you. You get a lot of extra help if you need it. ■ The school has improved a lot since the last inspection, especially in the wonderful equipment outside and your lovely garden. ■ The headteacher and all the other staff organise the school really well and are always trying to make it better. The adults have lots of plans for things to get even better, and I have agreed that they are a good idea, and they should go ahead with them. I have also suggested that it would be helpful if they could buy some more computers, so you can have more practice in using them.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I am sure your school will carry on getting better and better, and I hope that you carry on enjoying it. You can help by keeping up your excellent behaviour and your hard work in class. Thanks again for all your help, Best wishes, Steve Hill Lead Inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Belmont Infant School, 27 September 2007

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