The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You lead by example and always put the pupils’ needs first. You were appointed in September 2015, following a period of significant change and instability in the school leadership. You have quickly established a committed leadership team to secure improvements. You wasted no time in commissioning an external review of the school to establish its strengths and weaknesses. You used the outcome of the review to implement effective plans which delivered good outcomes for pupils. Since the last inspection, you have improved the quality of teaching in key stage 1 and the guidance all pupils receive to help them improve their work. To achieve this, you established a partnership with 11 other schools in the local authority, drawing on best practice to improve, among other areas, the school’s curriculum and how it is taught. Working with these schools has ensured, for example, the accuracy of teacher assessment at the end of key stage 1. Pupils take pride in their school and of the varied roles they hold in supporting others. They talk fondly about how they help improve aspects of the school as pupil governors. Pupils had the opportunity to work with adults in designing the key stage 2 playground. They recently presented to the full governing body about their success in securing an accreditation for their work focused on encouraging other pupils to reduce their sugar intake. In addition, there are young interpreters who act as translators for pupils and parents who speak English as an additional language. Pupil ambassadors support younger pupils in the playground, saying they make sure ‘every pupil gets to enjoy their play’. You and other leaders do not shy away from areas that need to improve further. You have rightly identified the need to improve the progress of the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils in reading and mathematics. There are signs that improvements are taking place, but you and leaders remain focused on making sure that these remain key priorities for all in school. Safeguarding is effective. All staff that I spoke with recognise and understand the vital role they play in making sure that pupils are safe and secure in school. The record of checks on the suitability of staff to work with children is well maintained and meets requirements. You make sure that effective checks are made on newly appointed staff before they join the school, including references that reassure you of their suitability. Governors ensure that safeguarding arrangements are robust and that staff training is up to date. Pupils feel safe at school. They demonstrated understanding of how they keep themselves safe at school, or online. When browsing the internet, they say they know what age-appropriate content is. When at school, they say the web-filtering support that is in place protects them. They are also confident that if they have any worries or concerns, they can talk to any adult in school. School leaders provide pupils with opportunities in the curriculum to learn about keeping themselves safe. Safeguarding records are detailed, up to date and fit for purpose. A safeguarding team leads the school’s work with a wide range of external agencies. The team ensures that children and families access the necessary protection and support. Inspection findings In our initial discussion, we identified reading as a key line of enquiry. In 2016, progress in reading overall was in line with the national average. Disadvantaged pupils made better progress than other pupils nationally. However, very few pupils achieved the greater depth standard. You were aware of this and you have put in place a number of changes in the way you teach reading in key stage 2. You have introduced short activities aimed at developing pupils’ comprehension skills. In some classes, pupils regularly answer questions of increasing difficulty about what they are reading. You also reviewed your delivery of guided reading. You ensure that it provides more opportunities for pupils to develop the skills of inference and deduction. Work in books and in reading records shows that pupils benefit from these activities, as their responses become more accurate over time. There is evidence of the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, making progress because of these changes. However, this varies from year group to year group and needs to 2 be more consistent. Similarly, the 2016 mathematics results show that by the end of key stage 2, all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, made progress in line with the national average. Very few pupils, however, reached the greater depth standards. We agreed to look at this as a key line of enquiry. You have already started to address this. Pupils in Year 6 receive ‘Chilis’, challenging activities which serve as extensions when they have finished their main task. Too often, however, the most able pupils, and the most able disadvantaged, do not practise and consolidate mathematics skills. They jump from one topic to another too quickly. Consequently, they do not demonstrate deep understanding of mathematical concepts, and hence are not achieving the greater depth standard. Another line of enquiry focused on the progress pupils make in reading and writing in key stage 1. While, overall, pupils made better progress than their peers nationally in 2016, disadvantaged pupils lagged behind other pupils in reading and writing. You were quick to identify this and you have effectively addressed it. I listened to this group of pupils read. They read age-appropriate books fluently and some of them even attempted more challenging books quite successfully. They use a wide range of strategies to work out words that are unfamiliar to them. They read aloud with expression, using punctuation to guide their intonation. The most recent phonics screening check shows that disadvantaged pupils have made progress in their reading. In their work in books, pupils write across a wide range of genres frequently. They write poems, stories, information articles, diary entries and other forms of writing. Their spelling skills are age-appropriate and they use grammar accurately. In teaching writing, teachers give pupils opportunities to develop their vocabulary and to practise punctuation. They apply these as they write extensively in their books. The final line of enquiry asked whether leaders are taking appropriate action to improve the persistent absence of disadvantaged pupils. We also looked at the attendance of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This was because the rate of persistent absence of these groups of pupils was higher than the national average. Extended family holidays abroad negatively affect attendance rates, but school leaders are aware of these and monitor them closely. You have carefully analysed the attendance information and worked closely with families and external agencies to address this. As a result of your sensitive, robust work to support the families of pupils at risk of missing education through absence, attendance for these pupils has improved this year. Persistent absence rates have been reduced by half. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: teachers challenge all pupils, particularly the most able and most able disadvantaged pupils, to make strong and sustained progress in reading so that a greater proportion exceed the expected standards the most able and most able disadvantaged pupils receive opportunities to practise and 3 consolidate mathematics skills, deepening their understanding so that they achieve the greater depth standard. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Greenwich. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Edison David Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this short inspection, I discussed the work of the school with you, the deputy headteacher, and with middle leaders. I also met with the school business manager and looked at recruitment files. I also considered responses to Parent View and the staff survey. I met with a group of pupils to discuss their experiences in lessons, the extent to which they feel safe, and also their views on learning and behaviour in general. I held discussions with the local authority representative, and the head of school improvement for children services in Greenwich. I met with five governors, who were able to provide me with additional information. I also considered documentation provided by the school and information posted on the school’s website. I looked at recruitment files, the single central record, and the analysis of pupils’ attendance. Together with school leaders, I visited classes to observe learning and I looked at samples of pupils’ work in reading, writing and mathematics. I listened to pupils read from across the ability range.