South Harringay Junior School

South Harringay Junior School Inspection report

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102110 Unique Reference Number Haringey Local Authority 307900 Inspection number 2 October 2007 Inspection date Glynis Bradley-Peat 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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Junior Type of school Community School category 7 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 226 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs G Pengelly Chair Ms A Ryan Headteacher 11 February 2002 Date of previous school inspection Mattison Road School address London N4 1BD 020 8340 2757 Telephone number 020 8340 7541 Fax number

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7-11 Age group 2 October 2007 Inspection date 307900 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

■ What are the most significant factors in the school's leadership and management strategy and how does this impact on pupil success? ■ What are the reasons for the rapid improvement in results, especially in mathematics?

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Introduction

■ What impact is teaching having on learning and achievement?

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Introduction

Evidence was gathered from analysis of pupils' work, analysis of school documentation, observation of lessons, conversations with learners and discussions with teachers and senior staff. Other aspects of the school's work were not inspected in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

The school serves an area of significant deprivation and a well above average proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals. The vast majority of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds with almost a third being from white backgrounds other than British. Almost three quarters of pupils are learning English as an additional language. The percentage identified with learning difficulties is about twice the national average. The proportion of pupils joining or leaving the school at other than the usual times is also very high. The school has gained 'Healthy School Status'.

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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: South Harringay Junior School, 2 October 2007

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Grade: 2

The remarkable headteacher and staff of South Harringay Junior are a fine example of the refusal to accept second best for their pupils. In September 2004, the current headteacher took over the leadership of the school when results in national tests were exceptionally low. Since then, along with a highly effective governing body and enthusiastic staff, she has had an unremitting focus on improving the life chances of the pupils. Standards have risen in English and science to average and in mathematics to above average. This represents very good achievement from their low starting points. Despite this, standards and achievement are not yet quite outstanding because of a legacy of previous underachievement. Parents are delighted and praise the school's work. In the words of one, 'The management team, especially the headteacher have transformed the school and the expectations that the children have of

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Grade: 2

themselves.' A great many pupils make good and sometimes better progress as reflected in the school's value added measures where it appears in the top 25% of schools. Pupils who need an extra 'boost' to achieve well make particularly good progress. Much of this intensive work is carried out by an exceptional group of teaching assistants who have had a real impact on raising standards amongst targeted groups of pupils. This is one of the reasons that the school has made such improvements in national tests. Current performance of Year 6 pupils indicates that the challenging targets set for 2008 are realistic. South Harringay Junior is a good school with some outstanding features. Children enjoy school very much and behave very well. This is because they believe that 'you learn and you'll be able to get a better job', 'teachers don't have a boring way of teaching, we have maths games and things!' and 'every day we learn something new!' These comments are

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Grade: 2

a reflection of the consistently good teaching pupils receive, particularly in English and mathematics. Teachers make the learning interesting by organising fun activities such as 'role play' and in their highly effective use of electronic whiteboards. Teachers' high quality questioning skills were seen at work in outstanding lessons in mathematics and literacy. Because of a real focus in all lessons on speaking and listening, pupils make good progress, particularly those pupils whose first language is not English. The school has rightly realised that these features of good and outstanding practice should now be spread more widely across the curriculum, particularly to geography and history. Attendance has improved and is now average thanks to the persistent efforts of the school and the pupils. They were particularly keen to say that they had helped to improve their own attendance by making sure that their parents knew how much attending school really mattered

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Grade: 2

to them. Pupils were enthusiastic about the attendance trophy and were desperate to win it! The substantial improvement in attendance has been an important contributing factor to the rise in standards. Pupils feel safe and secure and adopt healthy lifestyles. There is a highly effective school council who have been instrumental in changing what food was on offer at lunchtime in school and also told the inspector, 'There's no chocolate in our lunch boxes!' Pupils are particularly proud of their 'peer mediators' who reportedly, 'Sort people's problems out in the playground.' They undergo special training to encourage others to adopt peaceful problem solving. Pupils told the inspector about all the educational visits they enjoy and how it helps them to learn and achieve well. Contributions to the community are varied and the development of economic well-being is good. Basic skills equip them well for the future and there are some

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Grade: 2

beneficial links with the outside community and local secondary schools. 4 of 9 Inspection Report: South Harringay Junior School, 2 October 2007 Pupils are given numerous opportunities to participate in the life of the school through extra curricular clubs and special curricular events. Black History Month, International Evening, Recycling Week and Health Week are all well supported and impact well on the personal development of pupils. There are opportunities to be creative and pupils can join the choir and art club and participate in art and drama projects. Excellent opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their skills in information and communication technology (ICT). The next priority for the school is to develop pupils' skills in other areas of the curriculum, these are particularly under-developed in geography and history. Pupils in Years 3 and 4 benefit from French lessons and say that they enjoy them. The school has a track record of doing well in

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Grade: 2

competitions and pupils delighted in telling the inspector about their victory in 'tag rugby' and how well they did in the swimming gala. The curriculum is particularly responsive to the needs of the pupils. Personal, social and health education (PSHE) is timetabled weekly and improves the social and emotional aspects of learning. Circle time and peer mentoring are effective ways of addressing particular issues. This contributes well towards the good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils. The provision for care, guidance and support is outstanding which is why the personal development of pupils is excellent. Assessment and academic guidance are particularly effective and have a great impact on pupils' achievement. The tracking system is easy for staff to use and effectively pinpoints those pupils in need of extra support. This has had a real impact on raising standards and helping those pupils with learning difficulties make as much, and in some

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Grade: 2

cases more, progress as their classmates. Pupils know and understand their targets. They cheerfully explained to the inspector that once they had achieved a target it was important to get a new one so they could move on quickly! Marking of books is regular and pupils say that they particularly appreciate the verbal feedback they receive from teachers which they report 'helps us to improve our work.' In one lesson, excellent practice was observed where pupils evaluated the work of their friends and made constructive comments on how they could make their writing better. This excellent approach to academic guidance is the result of high quality and vigilant monitoring by subject leaders who regularly review teaching, learning and the marking of books. Safeguarding and risk assessment is good. Pupils are looked after well and the school has the confidence of parents. Pupils know who to come to if they have any problems

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Grade: 2

and are confident that things will be effectively dealt with. Improvement since the time of the previous inspection has been excellent and standards have risen rapidly. In view of this and the real focus on making 'every child matter', there is outstanding capacity to make further improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that the curriculum and teaching offers more opportunities for pupils to develop their skills in geography and history. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: South Harringay Junior School, 2 October 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: South Harringay Junior School, 2 October 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 capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 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 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 1 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: South Harringay Junior School, 2 October 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 1 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: South Harringay Junior School, 2 October 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

11 October 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of South Harringay Junior School,London,N4 1BD I am writing to let you know what I found out when I visited your school recently. No wonder you all enjoy yourselves there so much! It really is a good school and some of the things it does are excellent! I would like to thank those of you who took the time to speak with me, you gave me lots of useful information which helped me to make up my mind about your school. Your 'peer mediators' do a really good job, it's no surprise that you appreciate their work. You all know how to eat sensibly and healthily and what to do if you have any problems. I was very pleased to hear that you go on lots of school trips. You told me about so many that I don't have room here to list them all! I was very pleased to hear how you value good attendance at school and have done your best to improve it. What a lovely trophy you can win each week if

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

your class attends the best! Your teachers do a really great job and teach you well. They are very clever with the electronic whiteboards and I know you really like that. You told me that it helps you to learn better. Your results in national tests have gone up a lot since your headteacher took over in 2004, she has done a fantastic job! The teachers and teaching assistants have also helped you to do better too. They are very keen for you to do as well as possible in the future. Even in a really good school like yours, there are always ways that improvements can be made. Your headteacher has noticed that there are some subjects where your work is not as good as in maths, English, science and ICT. I have asked her to concentrate more on these, particularly geography and history. Thank you for making my visit so enjoyable and I wish you every success in South Harringay Junior School. I will be particularly interested to see how well you do in your tests in the summer!

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Kind regards Glynis Bradley-PeatLead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: South Harringay Junior School, 2 October 2007

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