Salusbury Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 13–14 May 2009 Inspection number 323473 Salusbury Primary School Inspection report

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Unique Reference Number 101527 Local Authority Brent Inspection number 323473 Inspection dates 13–14 May 2009 Reporting inspector Gill Close HMI

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This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 under pilot arrangements; it was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act .

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number on roll School (total) 662 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ms Doris Bancroft Headteacher Mrs Elaine Clarke Date of previous school inspection 26–27 June 2006 School address Salusbury Road Kilburn London NW6 6RG Telephone number 020 7624 0311 Fax number 020 7328 1380 Email address admin@salusbury.brent.sch.uk Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk 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

This pilot inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and three additional inspectors. The inspectors visited 25 lessons and six small group support sessions, and held meetings with groups of pupils, staff, governors and parents. They observed the school’s work, and looked at documentation including pupils’ work, performance data, school planning and evaluation, and 182 completed parental questionnaires.

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Introduction

The inspection team reviewed many aspects of the school’s work, in particular:

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Introduction

 pupils’ learning and progress across all year groups, especially in English and science, and how teaching quality contributes to these  the progress, attainment and personal development of pupils whose first language is not English and of pupils of Somali heritage, including the impact of the school’s support for pupils and parents  whether care, guidance and support, provided in conjunction with partner organisations, are sufficiently well targeted to be judged outstanding  how rapidly and effectively leadership and management at all levels have identified where improvement was needed and brought it about.

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Information about the school

Salusbury Primary School is very large. Its pupils come from a wide range of ethnic and social backgrounds, and include a substantial number of refugees. The two largest ethnic groups are the two fifths of pupils who are White British and the one tenth with African heritage. One third of pupils speak a first language other than English; two in five of these are at early stages of fluency. An average proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals. A higher proportion than usual has learning difficulties and/or disabilities, of which the most common are emotional or behavioural. The school holds Investors in People status and the Healthy School Award.

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Information about the school

Two independent providers deliver childcare on the site. One runs a breakfast club and after school activities. The other is a refugee charity, the Salusbury World After School Club.

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Inspection judgements

Grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

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Main findings

Salusbury Primary School provides a satisfactory education. Parents are rightly pleased with its caring and supportive ethos in which pupils increase in confidence and achieve outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The good quality of care successfully brings together the diverse community, and pupils enjoy school and feel safe. A typical comment from a parent describes the school as ‘an incredibly friendly and special place’. Another praises it for ‘managing a large number of kids from diverse backgrounds, yet maintaining an intimate atmosphere’. One parent sums up a common view with ‘I think Salusbury is great because they genuinely care about the children, and most children I know there are really happy’. The school works well with a wide range of partners to enhance pupils’ learning and well-being, and successfully supports pupils who have emotional or behavioural difficulties or who are at early stages of learning English.

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Main findings

Pupils learn satisfactorily in lessons and make sound progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and overall, reaching average levels of attainment by the end of Year 6. Teaching is satisfactory, with some that is good, and the curriculum is satisfactory, with some good enrichment.

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Main findings

While there have been recent improvements in some areas, such as in progress in mathematics, leaders have not ensured rapid improvement in attainment and progress in English and science. Performance in these subjects fell in 2007. The school identified accurately that improvement in writing was needed across all year groups. It introduced initiatives but improvement has been slow. The school has however made satisfactory improvement since the last inspection in some areas, for example in mathematics, in using assessment information and in raising teaching quality through monitoring. The last two of these were areas for development at the last inspection, and further improvement in them is still needed. These improvements demonstrate the school’s satisfactory capacity for further improvement.

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Main findings

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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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise pupils’ progress and attainment, in particular in English and science, through improving the quality of teaching in lessons, by:  challenging all, especially the higher attainers  using more investigatory and problem-solving work, encouraging pupils to think hard and take initiative  extending the focus on writing in English lessons and across the curriculum  involving pupils more effectively in self-assessment  being clearer about how pupils can improve their current work and how they can reach a higher standard overall.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the rigour in evaluation and planning to address weaknesses more rapidly and effectively, by:  identifying key priorities with measurable criteria based on impact  focusing the monitoring of teaching on pupils’ learning, including the learning of groups, and on thorough tracking of improvement in areas for development  analysing data more incisively to evaluate the attainment and progress of groups and the impact of initiatives  including more systematically the views of pupils and parents  monitoring curriculum delivery  involving middle managers more effectively.

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 3

At the time of the last inspection, pupils’ progress across year groups was variable. The school’s data show that it is now more consistent and has particularly improved during Key Stage 1. Nevertheless, pupils’ progress and learning in lessons vary between classes because the quality of teaching differs. In some classes, pupils learn well and make good progress. On these occasions, they participate enthusiastically in interesting activities and discuss keenly with each other. In many lessons, pupils make satisfactory progress. Their hard work, good behaviour and effective working relationships with adults and other pupils contribute to their learning. Sometimes however they spend too long listening, so do not have enough time to do work for themselves, or the activities are not challenging enough, especially for the higher attainers, so pupils cannot make more than satisfactory progress.

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 3

Pupils make satisfactory progress in lessons and in the longer term. They join the school with a wide range of prior attainment that is average overall and reach broadly average standards by the end of Year 6. When Key Stage 2 standards dropped in 2007, the school identified a weakness in writing and introduced initiatives to improve this from the Early Years Foundation Stage upwards. There are indications from the school’s data and pupils’ books that attainment in writing is now improving across the school. However, this improvement has been slow. The school has already had greater success in improving pupils’ attainment and progress in mathematics. In 2008, mathematics attainment at Key Stage 1 rose to above average and progress during Key Stage 2 improved and is now good. In science, attainment and progress in lessons, books and overall are average. Pupils made satisfactory progress in the information and communication technology lessons

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 3

Pupils whose first language is not English receive well-targeted support that enables them to develop their language skills and to make similar progress to their peers. There are signs of some improved progress and attainment by pupils with Somali heritage, who had been making less progress than other pupils in recent years, although their attainment remains below national expectations. The effective support for pupils who have emotional and behavioural difficulties gives them good access to learning and helps them to make satisfactory progress.

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 3

Pupils think deeply about other people’s experiences and differences between cultures. They challenge racism and resolve conflicts well. These qualities underpin their outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils contribute well to the community. For example, they help each other out as peer mediators or play leaders, raise money for charity and perform in a choir at old people’s homes. The school council helped to choose playground equipment although it has not been involved in improving the quality of lessons. Pupils know how to stay healthy and many eat a healthy lunch. In lessons and around the school behaviour is good, although pupils report some misbehaviour in the playground and in lessons, for example when they do not have their usual teacher. Pupils say that the occasional instances of bullying are dealt with well. Their average attainment and attendance, and sound opportunities to show initiative prepare them satisfactorily for their future

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 3

These are the grades for pupils’ outcomes Pupils’ attainment 1 3 The quality of pupils’ learning and their progress 3 The quality of learning for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and their progress How well do pupils achieve and enjoy their learning? 3 To what extent do pupils feel safe? 2 How well do pupils behave? 2 To what extent do pupils adopt healthy lifestyles? 2 To what extent do pupils contribute to the school and wider community? 2 Pupils’ attendance 1 3 How well do pupils develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being? What is the extent of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development? 1

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 3

1 The grades for attainment and attendance are: 1 is high; 2 is above average; 3 is broadly average; and 4 is low

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How effective is the provision?

Teaching is satisfactory. It varies in quality, with some that is consistently good. Lessons are sometimes less effective when taught by a supply or float teacher than the usual teacher. Lessons are carefully planned and orderly. Teachers make an effort to explain the work so that everyone can get started. They use interactive whiteboards to illustrate ideas effectively. Pupils are taught skills clearly but activities do not develop their thinking and initiative well enough. For example, activities miss opportunities for pupils to consider audience and purpose in writing, build the reasoning required to use and apply mathematics, or design science investigations themselves.

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How effective is the provision?

A striking feature of provision is the good quality of individual and small group support provided within and outside lessons, including by volunteers such as parents. This is helping to raise pupils’ confidence and improve their literacy. Through links with the Place 2 Be counselling charity located on the school site, many pupils with emotional or behavioural needs are supported well, enabling them to participate more effectively in lessons. Pupils are safe, staff have appropriate training and risk assessments are carried out thoroughly. The good quality of care ensures that pupils’ personal development and well-being are good, and support for vulnerable pupils is successful. The school recognises the need to track pupils’ participation and personal development outcomes more rigorously and the opportunity for this provided by its new tracking system.

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How effective is the provision?

Pupils are familiar with the targets they are working towards, but not the National Curriculum level they are working at or what they need to do to reach the next level. Some make self-assessments, such as indicating when they have demonstrated evidence for meeting a target. Marking generally provides praise and shows pupils where they have gone wrong. It does not frequently enough provide precise information to help pupils improve, or evaluation against the pupil’s targets or the learning objectives for the lesson.

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How effective is the provision?

The curriculum is broad and balanced. There are some good links between subjects, including through use of the green space behind the school. Provision for pupils who are at early stages of learning English and those who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities is personalised well to meet their needs. In contrast, too many lesson activities do not challenge all pupils, particularly the higher attainers. The school’s focus on writing is apparent in English lessons but not consistently across other subjects. A variety of visits and visitors enrich the curriculum, as does the range of popular after school activities, for some of which a fee is charged. Pupils report that they sometimes do not have the recommended two hours of physical education (PE) or swimming, and occasionally miss art, particularly when there are unusual events or a change in teacher. Systems are not in place to monitor the delivery of the

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How effective is the provision?

These are the grades for the quality of provision The quality of teaching 3 The use of assessment to support learning 3 The extent to which the curriculum meets pupils’ needs, including, where relevant, through partnerships The effectiveness of care, guidance and support 2

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How effective are leadership and management?

The senior leadership team is committed to improvement and has introduced initiatives, some of which have contributed to improvement. However, action plans do not prioritise the key actions to raise attainment and progress, include sufficient detail, convey urgency through target dates or provide measurable success criteria expressed in terms of impact. Governors are active in the life of the school and have helped it to improve but not rapidly enough to ensure that pupils now make good progress. Safeguarding requirements are met but systems for reporting on equalities and reviewing policies lack rigour. The role of middle managers is developing to involve them all in monitoring and evaluation.

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How effective are leadership and management?

In joint observation of lessons with inspectors, senior leaders made accurate judgements but some previous evaluations appear generous and lack a focus on pupils’ learning. They have led to improvements in some cases, but in others the areas for development have not been concentrated closely enough on improving the quality of subject teaching or followed up rigorously enough to ensure improvement.

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How effective are leadership and management?

The school is using information on individual pupils’ progress more effectively to target support for those who are falling behind, but does not evaluate the performance of groups well enough to ascertain the impact of initiatives to raise their progress. It has recently introduced a new tracking system which has the capacity to do this.

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How effective are leadership and management?

The school collaborates well with the Salusbury World charity for refugees that is housed in its premises. The school has supported Somali parents effectively in working more closely with it to assist in their children’s progress. It promotes equality well, such as through enabling pupils who have emotional difficulties to participate more effectively and Somali pupils to attain more highly. The impact of its good promotion of community cohesion is evident from the close-knit diverse school community and links with other communities, but is not formally evaluated. Many parents help out as volunteers in the school or participate in the parent-staff association. There are many links with parents but more than one fifth of questionnaire respondents felt either that they were not communicated with effectively enough or that their suggestions and concerns were not taken sufficiently into account.

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How effective are leadership and management?

These are the grades for leadership and management The effectiveness of leadership and management in communicating ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the school promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination The effectiveness of safeguarding procedures 3 The effectiveness of the governing body in challenging and supporting the 3 school so that weaknesses are tackled decisively and statutory responsibilities met The effectiveness of the school’s engagement with parents and carers 3 The effectiveness of partnerships in promoting learning and well-being 2 The effectiveness with which the school promotes community cohesion 2 The effectiveness with which the school deploys resources to achieve value for money

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Early Years Foundation Stage

The quality of education in the Early Years Foundation Stage is satisfactory. Children join the school with average attainment and make satisfactory progress to reach broadly expected levels. Some reach above expected standards but others attain below these, in particular in communication, language and literacy. The greater focus on linking sounds and letters has increased children’s attainment and prepared them better for writing in Year 1, although many are still working below expectations. Strengths are children’s evident enjoyment, keen participation, good behaviour, growing independence and understanding of how to stay safe and healthy, including when negotiating stairs. Children are happy and confident in making choices and working together. They have a good range of teacher-directed and child-initiated activities but opportunities are missed to challenge their thinking, assess their progress and feed these into planning next steps. Space limits the outdoor provision,

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Early Years Foundation Stage

for example for large climbing apparatus and wheeled toys.

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Early Years Foundation Stage

Recent developments have improved the leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage, bringing increased coherence in planning across Nursery and Reception. New induction procedures with home visits are securing better settling in and closer links with parents, but a key person from among the staff has not been assigned for each child.

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Early Years Foundation Stage

Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage 3 The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 3 The effectiveness of leadership and management in the Early Years Foundation Stage Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage 3

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Views of parents and carers

Almost all parents are happy with the school. They overwhelmingly find that their children enjoy it and are kept safe. They comment on the very friendly and diverse nature of the school and how well staff care for their children. Parents’ responses to the questionnaire show that they want more information about their child’s progress, issues affecting them and how to help them learn. They also want more account taken of their views and concerns, including some about their children’s well-being. Inspectors agree that there is a need for clearer frequent information to help pupils improve and more systematic inclusion of parents’ views. Some parents considered that too little time was spent on PE and others that their children were not always given sufficiently challenging work. Inspectors found that systems do not ensure that each child receives two hours of PE, including swimming, each week and that

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Views of parents and carers

teaching was not consistently challenging enough, especially for higher attainers. A few parents raised concerns about how behaviour was dealt with. Inspectors found that behaviour was good and dealt with well by most, but not all, staff.

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Views of parents and carers

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at Salusbury Primary School to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school. If a parent has more than one child at the school, we ask them to record an answer against all the questions, for each of their children. The inspection team received 182 completed questionnaires. In total, there are 895 parents and carers registered at the school.

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Views of parents and carers

Always Most of the time Occasionally Never Overall, I am happy with my child’s experience at this school 125 57 6 1

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. In 2007-8, 15% of schools were judged to be outstanding. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. In 2007-8, 49% of schools were judged good. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. In 2007-8, 32% of schools were judged satisfactory. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves. In 2007-8, 5% of schools were judged inadequate.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning, training or development. This may refer to the acquisition of skills, knowledge, understanding or desired attributes. Attributes include qualities or personal competencies which are important to the development of the pupil; for example personal, social, cultural, emotional or health.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving. Inspectors base this judgement on what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school. 1 June 2009

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Inspection of Salusbury Primary School, London, NW6 6RG

Thank you for welcoming us so warmly when we visited your school and for telling us about it. We enjoyed meeting you and seeing the school. We decided that Salusbury is a satisfactory school. These are the main things we found.

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Inspection of Salusbury Primary School, London, NW6 6RG

 The staff care for you well and make sure you are safe.  You have an excellent understanding of your differences and get on very well with each other and the staff.  You help each other well, for example as peer mediators or play leaders.  You enjoy school and behave well, although you told us about some occasions when behaviour was not so good.  The standards you reach are average and you make satisfactory progress.  You are doing better in mathematics than in English and science.  Teaching is satisfactory. Sometimes it is good and you are actively involved in exciting activities. At other times the work is too easy for you or does not help you to think for yourself; for example you do not have enough opportunity to solve problems in mathematics or design your own investigations in science.  You are spending more time on writing and are improving at it, but we think that teachers could help you to do even better when you are writing in literacy

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Inspection of Salusbury Primary School, London, NW6 6RG

and other subjects, for example by thinking about the purpose and audience.  The school gives good support for those of you who are starting to learn English or need extra help.  You told us that you sometimes missed PE or art lessons.

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Inspection of Salusbury Primary School, London, NW6 6RG

 help you do better, particularly in English and science, by making sure that all teaching is good and you are clearer about what you need to do to improve  make improvements quickly by checking on teaching, the subjects you are being taught and how well you are doing, as well as asking for your ideas.

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Inspection of Salusbury Primary School, London, NW6 6RG

You can help by thinking hard in lessons and checking how well you are meeting your targets and the lesson objectives.

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Inspection of Salusbury Primary School, London, NW6 6RG

Gill Close Her Majesty’s Inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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