Setting

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Ms F Walsh Headteacher Broadford Primary School Faringdon Avenue Harold Hill Romford Essex RM3 8JS

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education (PE)

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 25 June 2009 to look at work in PE.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education (PE)

As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the subject, the visit had a particular focus on assessing the PE contribution to the outcomes of Every Child Matters particularly ‘being healthy’.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education (PE)

The visit provided valuable information, which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education (PE)

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included interviews with staff and learners, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ reports, observation of two lessons and other activities.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Physical Education (PE)

The overall effectiveness of physical education was judged to be inadequate.

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Achievement and standards

 Pupils do not make enough progress in PE; many pupils could achieve more and reach higher standards. Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and this year most have reached the expected level in their physical development. A greater emphasis on helping boys develop their physical skills has led to good improvement in their attainment this year. This good progress does not continue in Key Stages 1 and 2 and many pupils are underachieving. The subject leader judges standards to be below average in Year 6, with a significant minority of pupils not reaching Level 4. Apart from in the Early Years Foundation Stage, the school does not keep a check on the standards reached by pupils or how much progress they make.  Standards in swimming are below average. When pupils finished their course of lessons this year in Year 5, just over half were able to swim 25 metres. Top-up swimming is only used every two years to help

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Achievement and standards

pupils to reach the national standard before they leave in Year 6. The school is not monitoring or evaluating pupils’ progress in swimming.  All pupils are included in lessons and teaching assistants help pupils with additional needs to take part. A small number of the pupils who are talented at sport are identified and given the chance to extend their skills in additional physical challenges organised through the sports partnership. There are many more pupils who would benefit from having more challenging activities in their lessons and in after- school clubs.

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Quality of teaching and learning of PE

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching and learning of PE

 Following a period when the subject leader taught all lessons in PE, most classes are now taught by their teachers. Two lessons were observed during the inspection, both in Key Stage 1. The lessons followed a suitable structure and provided pupils with the opportunity to acquire, develop and apply their skills. In each lesson, teachers had identified in their planning the learning that would take place, but not enough emphasis was placed on sharing the key steps children would need to take to meet a successful learning outcome. One teacher had used a video clip to show pupils what they were aiming for in their running. Teaching assistants provided satisfactory support for individual pupils.  Although most children made satisfactory progress during the lessons, pupils were not given enough guidance on how to reach higher levels of performance. One of the lessons was interrupted by pupils not listening well enough and this slowed down the pace of learning. In the

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Quality of teaching and learning of PE

other lesson, pupils sat for too long observing others rather than being active themselves. Teachers made some assessments of pupils’ performances during the lessons but did not involve pupils enough in discussing and evaluating their learning. The school acknowledges that assessment in PE requires improvement. Teachers and leaders need to have a clearer understanding of the standards reached by pupils, and where underachievement occurs, so that it can be tackled.

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Quality of the curriculum

The quality of the curriculum is satisfactory.

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Quality of the curriculum

 Pupils have two hours of PE recorded on their weekly timetable, although older pupils interviewed thought that it was less than that. Activate sessions are run in Key Stage 2 classes to supplement lesson time. The long and medium term plans for PE show that five of the six areas of learning are included in the teaching programme. Pupils have a total of three terms of swimming lessons in Years 4 and 5. A new scheme of work has been introduced recently to improve learning continuity and planning. Older pupils do not have the chance to take part in any outdoor and adventurous activities.  Some work in other subjects is linked to PE, such as learning about healthy lifestyles in science and in personal, social and health education. There are missed opportunities for pupils to learn about their own and other cultures and traditions through dance. Basketball and tennis are the only sports clubs currently offered to pupils in a

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Quality of the curriculum

narrow extra-curricular programme. Pupils occasionally attend local festivals and tournaments organised by the sports partnership but their involvement in competitions and inter-school sport is limited.

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Leadership and management of PE

The quality of leadership and management is inadequate.

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Leadership and management of PE

 Recent changes in the organisation for teaching PE and the introduction of an up-to-date scheme of work have improved provision this year, but weaknesses in leadership and management remain. The school has not taken full advantage of its involvement in the school sports partnership programme. Teachers have missed out on training that would help improve their subject knowledge and pupils have not benefited sufficiently from the community coaching programme or from attending after-school sports clubs.  The subject leader’s evaluation of the effectiveness of provision is too positive and fails to acknowledge pupils’ low standards and underachievement. Although the subject action plan identifies improvement priorities, the date for the completion of some of these has been missed. Too little importance is given in the plan to how the actions taken will improve outcomes for pupils. Insufficient emphasis has been placed on systematic monitoring and evaluation, and PE and

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Leadership and management of PE

sport have a very low profile in displays around the school. Accommodation is satisfactory, although the hall space is restricted by the storage of many items of furniture.

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Matters particularly ‘being healthy’

 Pupils’ involvement in PE and sport is not making enough of a contribution towards their personal development and well-being. Pupils say they enjoy PE and are able to talk about the benefits of taking regular exercise. They know about other factors that contribute to adopting a healthy lifestyle, such as eating a balanced diet. Healthy school meals and fruit snacks prepared by the kitchen staff are having a positive influence on pupils’ food choices. Pupils interviewed were very keen to talk about their involvement in the ‘walk to school’ initiative and how this benefits their fitness. Pupils recognise that there are too few opportunities for them to take part in sports clubs, and they say they would like more. Older pupils have not had the chance to train as play-leaders to enable them to take more responsibility for leading purposeful play activities at lunchtimes. Although pupils engage enthusiastically in lessons, on occasions the attitudes and behaviour of

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Matters particularly ‘being healthy’

a small number of pupils interrupts the teaching and slows down the pace of learning for all pupils.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 raising standards and improving achievement in PE, including increasing the proportion of pupils reaching the expected level of attainment in Year 6 and those able to reach the National Curriculum swimming standard  providing teachers with suitable training to help strengthen their subject knowledge in order to improve the overall quality of teaching and learning in PE  increasing pupils’ participation in physical activities by establishing a wider range of extra-curricular sports clubs  strengthening subject leadership and management to bring about an improvement in the overall effectiveness of the subject.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop physical education in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As I explained in my previous letter, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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