Beatrix Potter Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Beatrix Potter Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 March 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in December 2014. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your senior leadership team (SLT) are honest in your evaluation of the school and you have clear and strategically sound plans to secure further improvements. The middle leaders are a strength of the school.

Through careful tr...aining and support from the SLT, they have ownership over school initiatives to deepen progress as well as high expectations of the areas they lead. A culture of positive challenge is provided by the governing body, which supports and holds the SLT to account. Governors have a clear understanding of areas of focus for the school and assist the senior team in its drive for improvement.

Parents, carers, pupils and staff are happy with and in the school. Pupils are polite, kind and articulate and value each other and the people around them. This is part of the ethos of the school and is shown through the 'Rights Respecting Gold School' status.

Pupils feel they have a voice and are confident to debate and discuss sensitive issues which are pertinent to young people today. The previous inspection report asked the school to focus on improving the quality of teaching to raise the achievement of disadvantaged pupils in reading and writing. The school has been successful in this.

The 2018 key stage 2 test results showed that disadvantaged pupils made similar progress to their peers nationally in reading and writing. Additionally, the previous inspection report asked the school to ensure that the progress of boys was accelerated in writing. The school has been largely successful in this and outcomes for boys in writing have improved.

Even so, there is still some work to do to improve outcomes for all pupils in writing. Leaders need to continue to address this. Safeguarding is effective.

The leadership has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Leaders and governors understand their statutory responsibilities to keep children safe and see this is a high priority. All staff employment checks have been completed.

Records show that referrals to external agencies about vulnerable pupils are appropriate, timely and followed up. All staff understand the latest guidance given in 'Keeping children safe in education'. Online safety is a high priority and school leaders work closely with pupils and parents on this issue.

The school uses tools such as assemblies and curriculum time to ensure that pupils know how to keep themselves safe. Staff are aware of safeguarding procedures and issues that are particularly relevant to the pupils. If they are concerned about a pupil, they know the correct action to take.

Inspection findings ? I was interested to explore what the school is doing to raise standards in mathematics for disadvantaged pupils. The 2018 key stage 2 test results showed that this group of pupils did not make as much progress as their peers nationally in mathematics. I visited lessons, looked at pupils' books, and met with middle leaders and senior leaders to discuss how effectively the pupil premium funding is being used.

• As a result of your comprehensive monitoring, you have focused on developing the teaching of reasoning skills and mastery in mathematics. Teachers have been well trained on this initiative and leaders have ensured that there is a consistent approach to lessons. Leaders supplement these actions with careful use of the pupil premium to develop both social and emotional skills.

This means that pupils are ready to learn and focus on specific mathematical skills through bespoke interventions. There are still some differences in attainment for disadvantaged pupils, but they are diminishing. ? I was also interested to explore how effectively pupils were making progress in the wider curriculum.

I did this because the school's own evaluation indicated that the curriculum offer was something of which they were particularly proud. ? I found that pupils experience a broad and balanced curriculum, which allows deep learning of the subjects studied. The combination of strong teaching and systematic leadership means that pupils' knowledge and skills relevant to the particular subject areas are routinely developed over time.

The curriculum is linked to the local context of the school, making it meaningful to the pupils. For example, after pupils showed an interest in the significance of the local First World War memorial, the school tailored the learning of history to feed pupils' curiosity. Pupils were able to develop their understanding of this significant event and what it meant to local people.

Pupils' exercise books show they make strong progress over time across all curriculum subjects. ? Finally, I considered what the school is doing to ensure that the dip in progress in 2018 is addressed, particularly in ensuring strong progress in writing. I did this because the 2018 key stage 2 test results in reading and mathematics showed that progress was not as strong as in previous years.

Additionally, key stage 2 test results in 2016 and 2017 showed that pupils did not make as much progress in writing as they did in reading and mathematics. ? I found that leaders know and understand the reason for the dip in progress in 2018. Leaders know all pupils well and as such understand what each pupil needs to do to make progress.

This enables leaders and teachers to put support in place where required so all pupils can learn effectively. Pupils' exercise books and the school's own monitoring shows this is having an impact and outcomes are improving. ? I found that leaders at all levels have a clear understanding of the issues in writing and have implemented an appropriate plan to raise standards.

Leaders have placed an emphasis on writing across the curriculum and the impact of this initiative can be seen, especially in key stage 1. Even so, as leaders acknowledge, progress in writing is not substantial and sustained across all year groups. Furthermore, exercise books show that some errors in spelling and punctuation exist and the work on improving writing has not had a sustained impact in the older year groups.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? pupils make substantial and sustained progress in writing over time, particularly in the older year groups, building on the initiatives that are now in place. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Wandsworth. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Amy Jackson Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I met with you, other senior leaders, teachers and staff. I also met with school governors and spoke to the local authority link inspector by telephone. I scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school's evaluation of its own performance, information on the pupil premium and the register of the checks made on staff.

I spoke to pupils and evaluated the views of the 68 pupils who completed the inspection questionnaire. I visited lessons across the school and looked at pupils' work. I evaluated the views of the 133 parents who completed Ofsted's Parent View survey and of the eight staff who completed the staff questionnaire.

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