Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Miss A Reese Headteacher Hanover Primary School Noel Road London N1 8BD

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development

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff, parents and pupils, during my visit on 26 January 2010 to look at the impact that links between parents/carers and schools have on supporting and encouraging young people’s achievement, well-being and personal development.

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As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the aspect, the visit had a particular focus on how the school’s work with parents and carers affects a range of outcomes for pupils.

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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.

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The evidence used to inform the judgements included discussions with you, your staff and governors, meetings with parents and pupils, and scrutiny of a range of school documentation.

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The overall effectiveness of the school’s links with parents/carers and its impact on the outcomes for pupils are good.

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The impact of parental involvement on outcomes

The impact of parental involvement on outcomes is good.

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The impact of parental involvement on outcomes

 The great majority of parents are committed to working in partnership with your school which they view as a close-knit, welcoming and inclusive community that is continually looking to improve. This has a positive impact on the progress that pupils make in their learning and in their personal development and well-being.  Your school has successfully involved parents in supporting their children to attend school regularly. Attendance continues to improve for groups and individuals and was above average during the autumn term.  There is a high level of trust between parents and teachers. Good communication means that many issues and concerns can be dealt with quickly and successfully, often at an early stage.  You have made successful changes to both consultation events and reports as a result of parental feedback. Parents say that they are well informed about their children’s progress and are impressed at the depth of

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The impact of parental involvement on outcomes

knowledge teachers have of their children.

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The impact of parental involvement on the quality of provision

The impact of parental involvement on the quality of provision is good.

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The impact of parental involvement on the quality of provision

 Parents make an excellent contribution to the curriculum. They often take on leading roles; for example, when organising theatrical productions, art projects, cooking and gardening clubs, and organising the coaching of your very successful swimming squad. Parents also actively support the many educational visits and opportunities to learn outside the classroom and have been closely involved in promoting healthy eating.  Parents often work alongside their children and assist in class. There are well formulated plans to extend these opportunities further, in particular through a project led by your deputy headteacher.  Your school offers parents regular opportunities to learn about the curriculum and current methods of teaching and learning, notably in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT). Family learning events are also well-established and often well-attended.  Consultation with parents was instrumental in enabling your school to

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The impact of parental involvement on the quality of provision

produce the well received ‘year group booklets’. These provide parents with valuable information about the curriculum and their child’s learning.  You and your staff actively seek to find out information about pupils when they join the school. Consequently, transfer and transition arrangements are smooth and successful.

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The impact of the parental involvement on inclusion

The impact of the parental involvement on inclusion is good.

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The impact of the parental involvement on inclusion

 Your school has a well-embedded strategy of early intervention that involves working closely with parents and outside agencies. This ensures that those pupils who are vulnerable or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive prompt support.  A consistent and flexible approach to working with parents means that strong relationships develop between the home and school, frequently ensuring that pupils who are at risk of falling behind make progress at a similar rate to their peers.

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The impact of leadership and management on the involvement of parents is good.

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parents

 Under your clear leadership, all staff enthusiastically share the responsibility for working successfully with parents. You know your parent community very well and welcome them into the school building at the start and the end of the day. Parents and pupils alike address staff by their first name and this distinctive feature of your school’s work helps to create an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust.  There are few hard-to-reach parents. Nevertheless, your school has effective systems for identifying these individuals. You support these families sensitively and on a personal basis so that the best outcomes for pupils can be achieved.  Regular communication with parents is good and this is supported by a range of media. The school is currently developing a managed learning environment (MLE) that will provide parents with up-to-date and accessible information about the curriculum and pupils’ progress. The

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school is right to see this as a priority.  Parents are regularly surveyed and consulted. Parental views are often used effectively to shape decision-making and to improve the quality of learning enjoyed by pupils.  Governors are closely involved with your school’s work with parents. Their accurate evaluations and ongoing consultation with parents underpin your insistence that parental engagement is given a high priority.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 extending further the opportunities that parents have to spend time in school and to work alongside their children in lessons  developing the MLE as a means of providing parents with up to date and accessible information about the curriculum and their children’s progress.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop the impact of the work of parents and carers in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

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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