Arden House

DCSF Registration Number 207/6399 Unique Reference Number 132788 Inspection number 316965 Inspection dates 4-5 December 2007 Reporting inspector Sandra Teacher AI

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 162A of the Education Act 2002 (as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005).

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Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005, in order to advise the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about the school

The Lloyd Williamson School is a small, independent, village style school. The school is seven years old and is located in a busy, multicultural, area of Kensington and Chelsea. The main departments are: two nurseries, a transition, senior and upper school for 85 children and pupils, aged 6 months to 13 years. The school offers an extended day and holiday clubs.

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Information about the school

There are seven pupils with statements of special need but at present no pupils for whom English is an additional language.

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Information about the school

The school aims to ‘foster individuality, initiative and a love for learning’. The Early Years provision was inspected in 2006 but this is the school’s first published inspection report.

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Evaluation of the school

The Lloyd Williamson School meets its aims: ‘to achieve good standards; with good quality teaching; small classes; individual work programmes and a high level of pastoral support and care’, and provides a good quality of education. The good curriculum develops the pupils’ intellectual and creative talents within a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Pupils’ personal development, and the care they receive, is outstanding because of the dedicated commitment of the Co-Principals and all the staff. Each child is nurtured individually as all the parents agree, which is why they chose the school. The school has yet to devise an accessibility plan in relation to disability, but otherwise meets all of the regulations.

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The quality of the curriculum

The curriculum is good. The school has worked very hard in recent months to put schemes of work and associated planning and assessment practices into place. Overall, the curriculum includes a wide range of subjects and enables all pupils to learn and make good progress. It gives a strong emphasis to reading, literacy, speaking and listening, mathematics and pupils’ personal development, and pupils’ achievement in these areas is good as a result. Pupils receive additional stimulation through learning languages, not only modern European languages but also Latin. Drama, music art and cookery give pupils hands on practical experiences and allow each pupil to be good at something. The main weakness is the lack of information and communication technology (ICT). In this respect, pupils are not fully prepared for the technological age in which we live.

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The quality of the curriculum

The school has adopted a good format for planning a series of lessons in each subject. It includes clear learning objectives for each lesson, and staff review individuals’ achievement against them daily. This helps staff to adapt teaching plans for the following lesson and contributes effectively to written reports of progress. Individual education plans (IEPs) derive from pupils’ statements of special educational need, should they have one, and are well written. Although the targets are pursued in lessons such as reading and mathematics, there is less of a focus on reinforcing and consolidating them in other subjects of the curriculum.

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The quality of the curriculum

The curriculum for children under five in the Foundation Stage covers all the recommended areas of learning in practice but timetables, planning and the structure of most lessons follows the same format as the rest of the school. Some activities do not take enough account of practical and play-based learning as alternatives to a more sedentary approach, although the pupils benefit from the high degree of structure provided. There is limited use of the outside play/learning area, for the Reception class. Nevertheless, the youngest pupils make similar good progress to that of their older peers.

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The quality of the curriculum

The quality of teaching is good overall, but varies from excellent to unsatisfactory. Pupils learn correspondingly; where teaching is good, pupils learn well. A small amount of unsatisfactory teaching results in pupils not learning enough. Teachers, therapists and support staff all know each individual pupil really well. This helps them plan to meet pupils’ needs and to support their progress effectively. A particular strength is the collaborative teamwork between staff members.

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The quality of the curriculum

Where teaching is at its best, the staff have spark and drive, and make the lessons interesting and relevant to pupils’ needs and interests. In one such lesson, pupils wrote high quality poems relating to their art work in the style of Picasso. Seven and eight year-olds accessed a thesaurus competently and were able to use various synonyms for describing the colour red as in ‘Vermillion sky turning grey’. The pupils concentrated well and clearly learned and achieved what was intended. Throughout the school relationships between staff and pupils are excellent, which gives the pupils the security and confidence to succeed, but also to make mistakes, and so learn from them. Staff apply the school behaviour management system effectively, and consequently, pupils are almost always calm, responsible and eager to learn.

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The quality of the curriculum

Most, lessons are planned effectively, although at times teachers’ lack of underlying subject knowledge in some subjects, particularly science, means that they cannot deviate from, or reinforce learning from workbooks or work sheets. For example, older pupils have had limited opportunities for experimentation. In a small number of lessons, pupils are not given enough opportunity to use their own initiative or to be as independent as possible. In other lessons, this is the reverse. For example, in a good structured play session, children were encouraged to learn road safety skills by collaborating together, so strongly reinforcing their personal development. Resources are adequate in range and quantity. There is a good range of reading material and although pupils make use of digital cameras and learn about communication through networking in geography, ICT is not used sufficiently to enhance the teaching and the learning.

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The quality of the curriculum

Procedures for the assessment of pupils’ progress are good. The lesson planning system includes daily evaluation of pupils’ achievement, which builds up a good picture of their learning in some subjects. Work is generally marked well. Pupils have regular quizzes and tests. Progress against the targets set in pupils’ IEPs is recorded systematically and the outcomes used to plan the next set of targets.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding, and their spiritual development is very strong indeed. Pupils develop markedly in confidence, sensitivity and understanding as they grow older. The PGL residential trip is just one example of building up self-reliance, and also developing excellent inclusion for those pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. No one is left out. As a result, their enjoyment of school and their attitudes to learning are extremely positive.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

The Co-Principals and staff set high expectations of attendance and behaviour which all pupils meet successfully, as these are also outstanding. Pupils are polite and friendly to visitors and very supportive of one another. They form a cohesive family group and the older children act as very good role models for the younger ones. They love looking after Fudge, the rabbit, and support a range of charities.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

Discussion times and daily reading sessions help pupils to understand effectively their responsibilities to others and to the broader community. Subjects such as social studies and topics such as ‘What’s in the News’ stimulate their general knowledge and the older pupils have investigated local government and services to a good level. Because of the small number of pupils, each can play a major role in the life of the school, for example performing in the drama and musical productions.

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

Pupils’ cultural development is excellent. They have an extremely good grounding in many aspects of their local and wider British and European culture through the use of books, dance, music, and local visits. They exchange letters with pupils from a school in Scotland. They learn about China from the experiences of a teacher who lived there. The festivals of different faiths are celebrated and through the good curriculum they learn about different cultures around the world. Racial harmony between pupils is effectively achieved.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

Provision for the welfare and care of pupils is outstanding. There are a number of detailed policies for the promotion of good behaviour and safeguarding of pupils, as well as healthy living. These documents take full account of the required guidelines and have a beneficial influence on daily life in the school. For example, lunch is freshly cooked and pupils benefit from the exciting adventure playground which they visit daily. They frequently comment on their positive relationships with staff and it is clear that they generally get on well with each other, for example, older pupils looking after the younger ones or sitting together on the ‘friendship bench’. This contributes to the friendly working atmosphere and the school environment is one in which pupils feel safe and well looked-after. They all know about ‘the worry box’, if they feel they have concerns.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

Pupils are carefully supervised at all times, both on and off the school premises. Child protection and safety have a high priority, and pupils are safeguarded around the school and on educational trips and visits. Suitable health and safety policies and practices are in place and these have due regard to relevant guidance. Proper risk assessments are undertaken for all activities, fire drills are held frequently and appliances are regularly tested.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

An accessibility plan has yet to be prepared with regard to the Disability Discrimination Act 2002.

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Suitability of the proprietor and staff

All the necessary checks on staff have been made to fully meet the regulations and these are documented on a central register.

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School’s premises and accommodation

The school is situated in the heart of London with very good opportunities to visit a wealth of nearby places of educational interest. It is deceptive in its size and has recently been refurbished. The premises are very well maintained and in very good decorative order. They are conducive to safe, effective learning, but are not, however, as yet accessible to the disabled.

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School’s premises and accommodation

Classrooms are small, but adequate for current numbers. The youngest pupils have additional access to a small courtyard for some activities, but it does not represent an outdoor classroom. There is no outdoor play area, but the school provides suitable alternative provision by having sole use of the local adventure play area, other local parks and leisure centres, at every midday break and for games and sports lessons. These arrangements provide a very beneficial experience.

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Provision of information for parents, carers and others

The school provides high quality information for parents and others. Detailed reports and IEP review reports on pupils’ progress are prepared for parents each term. These clearly show what pupils have learned and what they should learn next. An attractive printed prospectus outlines the school’s aims and curricular provision and lists all policy documents. Newsletters give news for each class, celebrate individuals’ achievements, and together with the message book encourage parents to be involved in their children’s learning. The school is very welcoming and parents and pupils are greeted by the Co-Principals each morning. Informal discussion often takes place between parents and staff at this time, as well as at home time. The new website is almost ready to extend further the school’s communication of information.

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Procedures for handling complaints

The complaints policy meets all of the regulations and there have been no complaints this year.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school meets all of the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003 as amended January 2005, with the exception of the one listed below.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

In order to comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2002 the school should devise a three-year accessibility plan.

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What the school could do to improve further

While not required by the regulations, the school might wish to consider the following points for development:

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What the school could do to improve further

 ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently good.

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School details

Name of school The Lloyd Williamson School DCSF number 207/6399 Unique reference number 132788 Type of school Day school Status Independent Date school opened 2000 Age range of pupils 0-14 Gender of pupils Mixed Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 41 Girls: 29 Total: 70 Number on roll (part-time pupils) Boys: 8 Girls: 7 Total: 15 Number of boarders Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0 Number of pupils with a statement of special educational need Boys: 5 Girls: 2 Total: 7 Number of pupils who are looked after Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0 Number of children receiving day care Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0 Number of children receiving funded nursery education Boys: 3 Girls: 2 Total: 5 Annual fees (day pupils) £8,460 Address of school 12 Telford Road London W10 5SH Telephone number 0208 962 0345 Fax number 0208 962 0345 Email address office@lloydwilliamson.demon.co.uk Co-Principals Mr Aaron Williams

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School details

Mrs Lucy Meyer Proprietor Mrs Lucy Meyer Reporting inspector Sandra Teacher AI Dates of inspection 4-5 December 2007

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