Haimo Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Haimo Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 13 March 2018, 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 September 2013.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have set high expectations for what pupils can achieve.

These expectations are based upon your ethos: 'Finding solutions seeking excellence'. You also seek to provide 'an exciting, well-structured and stimulating learning environment; an... education in which all of our children develop into resilient, independent and confident individuals with enquiring minds and a love of learning.' One of the strengths of the school is the pupils' attitudes to learning.

They work hard to support each other. Members of the school council have been active within the local community. They have used their democratic right to challenge the local council to improve road safety around their school.

They see the school as a 'family'. Pupils are polite, resilient, independent and take a pride in their school. You provide clear direction for the school's future improvement.

All parents and carers spoken to are very supportive of the school. They recognise that the school is 'amazing'. One parent commented that 'the effort that the school in general and teachers in particular offered to my child is indescribable.'

You focus strongly on academic success as well as opportunities for pupils to participate in an increasingly broad range of learning activities. You appreciate that you serve a community and have created a learning environment that promotes your core values. Your curriculum meets the needs of all pupils because : you are constantly reviewing its effectiveness.

You have established a strong senior leadership team. This team is determined to do the best for all the pupils in the school. Together, you have led the effective improvements in teaching.

You have addressed the aspects for improvement that were identified in the previous inspection. You have improved the quality of teaching in all subjects in the curriculum and strengthened partnerships with parents. You have identified the appropriate priorities to continue to improve the school.

Leaders rightly identified that there are gaps in learning by the end of Year 6 in reading for certain groups, for example disadvantaged pupils and pupils whose first language is not English. You put in place a full range of strategies to support pupils in the classroom and in additional sessions. For example, you have set reading challenges each term, assessed each child's reading age to better measure progress, and in each class you have established a stimulating book corner where pupils can sit quietly and read.

Although such strategies have been successful in improving progress for all pupils, the library area is not used well. It does not sufficiently support reading initiatives across the school. The quality of teaching and learning continues to be a focus for the leadership team in its drive to ensure that classroom practice is of consistently high quality.

You agree that attendance is low and too many pupils are persistently absent. Governors have a good understanding of the school. They use a range of information effectively to challenge school leaders.

They ensure that their regular visits to school enable them to see first-hand the work of school leaders. The recent achievement of the Governor Mark demonstrates that there is highly effective support and challenge to the school. Safeguarding is effective.

Leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are effective and records are complete. All checks on the suitability of staff to work at the school are in place. Staff and governor training is up to date, and this has covered how to spot when pupils may be at risk of radicalisation or female genital mutilation.

Staff and governors understand the current guidance. They take this responsibility seriously and are effective at all levels. A culture of vigilance has been established to keep pupils safe.

Staff know how to raise any concerns they have about a pupil's welfare using the effective school system. Leaders work well with families and external agencies to ensure that pupils receive well-targeted support, as required. Your inclusion team operates well to address any concerns about pupils' well-being.

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, including when using online technology. The school's website provides a link for pupils and parents if there are concerns about cyber bullying. Parents and pupils agree that the school is a safe place to learn.

Inspection findings ? I looked at the actions that the school has taken to improve pupils' performance in reading across the school. This was because in 2017 attainment in reading was low for all pupils by the end of Year 6. At the end of Year 2, attainment at the higher standard was below the national average for all pupils.

In 2016, attainment at the end of Year 2 for key groups at both the expected and higher standards was well below the national average. The school has recognised this, and ensuring that all pupils make good progress in their reading is a priority for leaders. ? On our visits to lessons we saw that children in the Nursery Year are encouraged to practise their speaking skills and to talk in full sentences.

Stimulating displays reinforce important vocabulary. Children in the Reception Year use their 'Reading Garden' to share stories. Displays are linked to quality stories which engage everyone.

Children are enthusiastic in their daily phonics sessions. In key stage 1, pupils regularly act as characters from their class text and are asked questions by their peers. This helps them to better understand how characters in the story felt in a certain situation, for example whether they were upset or terrified.

During the inspection, pupils listened attentively to each other throughout this activity. ? The additional strategies you have introduced have been effective. They rightly concentrate on improving pupils' comprehension skills.

For example, in key stage 2, whole-class reading enables pupils to carefully consider a text, looking for specific information. Teachers emphasise the need for pupils to find the 'evidence' before interpreting it and making choices. Pupils then have to use this information to explore questions in greater depth.

For example, in Year 6, pupils study a text on 'The Great Plague'. They have to find the worst year of the plague, what the plague orders were and how these orders prevented the plague from spreading. As a result, pupils have a greater understanding of what they have read and can use the information to answer challenging questions.

Year 2 and Year 6 pupils that I heard read are making good progress. They read with confidence and fluency. Their knowledge of phonics helps them read unfamiliar words.

• For the second line of enquiry we agreed to look at how the school's curriculum supports diminishing differences between disadvantaged pupils, particularly the most able, and others. This was because at the time of the last inspection the progress of pupils eligible for the pupil premium was inconsistent. From 2015 to 2017, disadvantaged pupils did not perform as well as others.

Leaders are aware of the need to focus on the progress of these pupils. ? You have revised support for these pupils to ensure that it is effective. For example, pupils were able to improve their writing skills as part of workshops during a 'Most-Able Pupils Writers' Day'.

You and your team have reviewed the curriculum to ensure that the quality of teaching in foundation subjects matches that in English and mathematics. You have raised expectations. The most able pupils are now challenged more so that more of them achieve the higher standard at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2.

Teachers' questioning is effective in deepening understanding for all pupils. There is a greater emphasis on practical activities, particularly in mathematics and science. This, along with quality texts which appeal especially to boys, engages all pupils.

The school's breakfast club supports targeted pupils in a range of activities. Senior leaders systematically monitor the progress of all pupils, particularly most-able disadvantaged. Evidence from work sampling shows that this group make good progress in English, mathematics and topic work, especially in science.

• Finally, I looked at how leaders' actions have helped improve attendance and reduce the proportion of persistent absentees. This was because attendance was below the national average in 2017 and was low for specific groups in 2015 and 2017. Leaders have identified attendance as a priority.

Leaders have high expectations and have ensured that strategies are in place for attendance to improve. ? There are displays to encourage good attendance. Each week, the class with the highest attendance is celebrated in assembly.

The school regularly celebrates those pupils with good attendance. Incentives are provided on a daily basis to those classes with full attendance. There is a greater emphasis on working closely with parents, especially when their children first start school.

A group of parents have been recruited to work with senior leaders to improve attendance. Senior leaders' work is supported by the attendance advisory officer. This enables the school to prioritise those pupils with low attendance.

• The senior leadership team monitors attendance information and ensures that low attendance is followed up. Although there have been some individual successes, attendance remains below that nationally and persistent absence remains too high. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? overall attendance improves and persistent absence reduces for all pupils and especially key groups ? progress in reading is further enhanced through better provision in the school's library.

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 Richard Barnes Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I carried out the following activities: ? met with you and other senior leaders ? held a meeting with members of the governing body ? met with the local authority representative ? listened to pupils read ? held a meeting with a number of parents ? reviewed a range of documents, including the school's self-evaluation and improvement plans and information about pupils' progress and attendance ? scrutinised a range of pupils' work ? reviewed the school's single central record, pre-employment checks and safeguarding procedures ? scrutinised the school's website ? considered six responses to Ofsted's online survey and Parent View ? considered 31 responses to the staff survey ? considered 49 responses to the pupil survey ? visited lessons in classes with members of the leadership team.