Greenslade Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Greenslade Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 27 February 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 February 2015. 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 leadership team have developed a very inclusive school where all pupils can thrive. You are building the capacity of senior and middle leaders to improve the school even further.

Parents, carers and staff praise all aspec...ts of the school's work. Parents spoken to, and those who responded to Parent View, highlighted the strong pastoral care and support provided by leaders and staff. You ensure that the school is an orderly community where pupils behave well and look after each other.

As a result, relationships are warm and based on mutual respect at all levels. Governors know the school well and are effective. They are supportive, but also challenge school leaders where they believe the school can do even better.

Leaders and governors accurately evaluate the school's performance to identify strengths and areas for development. You have addressed the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection effectively. The most able pupils are now being challenged to attain the higher standards at the end of both key stages.

You have introduced greater analysis and assessment of pupils' needs. As a result, the majority of the most able pupils now make better than expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. However, the school does recognise that further work needs to be done to improve the attainment and progress of boys in writing.

This is a school where leaders know each individual pupil's needs and abilities. As a result, all pupils, including those with complex needs, are well supported to achieve the best they can. Parents typically are very grateful for the inclusive provision and regard the school as 'an extended family'.

Greenslade Primary School is a school that knows its community well and puts children and their families at the heart of all that it does. Safeguarding is effective. School leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

Staff and governors have a good understanding of safeguarding issues and concerns in the local community. Staff training is thorough and is kept up to date. Records show that swift and determined action is taken to protect children should the need arise.

The single central record is compliant with statutory requirements. The pupils to whom I spoke all report that they feel safe in the school. They can all identify adults in the school to talk to if they have any concerns.

Pupils are aware of how to keep themselves safe online. For example, Year 6 pupils explained in some detail the steps they would take when researching or doing homework online. Parents are kept well informed, which helps them to keep their children safe when online at home.

Inspection findings ? At the start of the inspection, we agreed to focus on pupils' achievement in writing. In the 2018 writing assessments, pupils' progress in writing was weaker than in reading. You identified improving pupils' outcomes in writing as a key area for development.

• Leaders have tackled improving writing robustly and effectively. In the early years, teachers help children improve their letter formation and mark-making skills. Teachers use traditional stories, fairy tales and rhymes to promote children's enthusiasm in early writing.

In the Reception class, children can compare the differences between four classic stories and record their ideas in a variety of formats. In key stage 1, teachers ensure that pupils rapidly develop their handwriting skills and practise cursive handwriting. Staff choose texts carefully to engage boys in developing their early writing skills.

Teachers encourage pupils in Year 1 to apply their phonics knowledge to write simple words and sentences. In Year 2, teachers introduce pupils to writing in different styles, including book reviews and story writing. Standards of handwriting are high in the school.

• In key stage 2, teachers focus on developing pupils' vocabulary skills so that they can apply these in their writing. In Years 4, 5 and 6, pupils are proud of their special books where they draft and edit their story writing. They speak with enthusiasm and pride about the books they made retelling an African legend.

• Leaders have identified the need for pupils to develop a stronger knowledge of English grammar, punctuation and spelling. As a result, pupils in key stage 2 now have more opportunities to write at length and in a wide variety of genres. ? The next area we looked at was how leaders are raising outcomes in science across the school.

You have identified concerns over the depth of pupils' scientific knowledge. You are currently improving the science curriculum in order to place greater emphasis on developing science skills and knowledge across the curriculum. As a result, all classes in key stage 2 cover science in their topic books.

Where appropriate, teachers integrate science into other areas of learning, such as art and design. Pupils in Year 6 speak of how much they enjoy science and proudly share their science books and investigation work on forces and levers. ? The quality of science work is particularly strong in Year 4.

For example, the standard of pupils' work on the classification of living creatures is very high. Teachers take every opportunity for pupils to integrate information and communication technology, art and scientific enquiry, and pupils produce individual work of high quality. Displays of pupils' work in the corridors demonstrate links being made across science investigations, imaginative writing and high-quality artwork.

Teachers teach pupils in Year 6 to record accurately and interpret scientific information so that they can draw graphs, form hypotheses and construct fair tests. ? However, in some classes both the content and coverage of science is weaker than in others. In these classes, teachers enable pupils to undertake some investigation work and practical activities on topics such as electricity, states of matter and the solar system.

However, these activities do not match the depth of coverage that is demonstrated elsewhere. ? Finally, we looked at the broad and balanced curriculum on offer across a range of subjects. Pupils say how much they enjoy learning about a wide range of subjects.

Parents also say how much they appreciate that the school ensures that their children benefit from a range of opportunities, for example in drama. Staff provide children in Nursery and Reception with a wide range of opportunities and experiences that support their progress in all the early learning goals. ? Leaders' curriculum planning and implementation ensure that no child misses out on opportunities provided in music, sports and art.

In music, pupils learn the guitar, the ukulele, keyboards and percussion instruments. Art displays around the school show a wide variety of pupils' work and model making, including painting, art history and book making. Teachers choose themes which link to pupils' writing.

For example, in key stage 1, pupils write about the Great Fire of London while designing and making models of buildings of that era in London. Leaders ensure that the history curriculum covers a variety of topics, from the Stone Age to space explorers. However, in some classes, coverage and content of geography is weaker.

You and senior leaders are currently reviewing the humanities curriculum to ensure that pupils' geography skills are further developed. ? The curriculum also encourages pupils to 'respect – inspire – achieve', values which are known and shared by the whole school community. Teachers promote these values strongly through pupils' study of world religions and other cultures.

This enables pupils to understand values in context. For example, Year 6 pupils can speak in depth about their knowledge of Buddhism. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teaching of the science curriculum is consistently strong for all year groups in the school, so that pupils' learning is deepened and they develop their scientific skills ? more opportunities are provided for pupils to deepen their learning in geography.

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 Sean Flood Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I held discussions with you and other senior and middle leaders.

I spoke with a representative from the local authority and held a meeting with five governors, including the chair of governors. I spoke with pupils informally in class and around the school and met with a group of Year 6 pupils. I also spoke to parents.

I observed pupils' behaviour in class, in the playground and as they moved around the school. I scrutinised pupils' work in a wide range of subjects. I heard pupils read in all phases and spoke with pupils about the books they read.

I also visited the Nursery. I made visits to all classes, alongside senior leaders. I examined the school's progress information and assessment records.

I scrutinised a wide range of documentation related to safeguarding, welfare and attendance. I looked at behaviour and bullying incident logs. I considered the responses of 31 parents to Parent View, a staff survey, the responses of 13 pupils to Ofsted's online surveys and the school's own surveys of parents' views.

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