Beis Yaakov Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Beis Yaakov Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 15 May 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 March 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

Since your appointment as headteacher in September 2017, you have used the knowledge and experience of your governing body well. Together, you have identified, addressed and reviewed actions for improvement following the last inspection. You..., your leaders and governors have an accurate view of the strengths of the school and areas that need further improvement.

You have made sure that school plans are based on a detailed analysis of the school's most recent performance information and external reviews. Recent plans for improvement focus on specific, measurable actions to further improve the quality of teaching and pupils' outcomes. You and your governors work effectively with the local authority and benefit from support for those new to headship.

You have reviewed the staffing structure of the senior leadership team and how information is gathered to demonstrate how well pupils achieve. You ensure strong collaboration between secular and non-secular staff teams and have high aspirations for every pupil. You and your senior leaders analyse the progress of pupils and pupil groups well.

Where issues are identified, leaders hold teachers to account by checking pupils' progress regularly. Leaders have identified where teaching, or pupils' progress, in any year group is not as strong as elsewhere. Subsequently, they have put measures in place to address this.

For example, subject leaders for literacy and mathematics have worked alongside teachers to identify pupils who may not be sufficiently challenged. Mathematics and literacy leaders have been instrumental in supporting staff to raise their expectations of what pupils can do. They are accurate in their evaluation of strengths and areas for future development.

Professional development opportunities successfully support staff to improve their subject knowledge and to understand what strong pupil progress looks like, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics. Parents and carers who completed Ofsted's online questionnaire were overwhelmingly positive about the school's values, leadership and staff. They value the way in which their children are supported.

You and your team have created a warm and caring environment where pupils respect each other and learn well together. Pupils confidently articulate the importance of respect for all. They have a clear understanding of the range of cultural influences that have shaped their heritage and the heritage of others.

The school's curriculum is broad and balanced. Pupils enjoy coming to school and the vast majority attend regularly. A wide range of opportunities are available to them.

For example, the school's termly magazine gives older pupils the opportunity to interview those working at the school from other countries. In this way, they learn about different cultures and the different jobs people do. The curriculum provides many opportunities for pupils to learn how to stay healthy and safe.

Pupils feel safe. They have full trust in the adults who look after them and said they could confidently share their worries if the need arose. Safeguarding is effective.

The well-trained safeguarding team, comprising leaders across the secular and non-secular departments of the school, works exceptionally well together. It has made sure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of high quality. Governors play an active part in ensuring that the school meets all its duties and that staff are aware of the latest guidance.

Consequently, the attention paid by all staff to keeping pupils safe is exemplary. A real culture of care extends across the school. Systems and structures are very robust, and early help and support are provided swiftly.

Any queries or concerns are followed up immediately. Inspection findings ? In this short inspection, we focused on particular aspects of school life. We explored how the school ensures that the needs of the most able are met, especially in mathematics.

We considered why reading is consistently strong at key stage 1. We also looked at the contribution made by the school towards pupils' preparation for life in modern Britain. ? Leaders have high expectations that pupils and staff show respect and tolerance for all.

This supports the school's vision to weave Torah values and British values into every aspect of the school experience. Leaders have checked that the school's curriculum ensures that pupils are well supported to participate in, and contribute positively to, life in modern Britain. Named leaders, who champion the promotion of British values, map where each aspect will be delivered in every year group.

Opportunities are provided for pupils to vote and engage in democratic processes and to understand the importance of the rule of law. ? The curriculum provides opportunities to explore the concept of individual liberty through opportunities to study key moments in history. For example, pupils read Dr Martin Luther King Jr's 'I have a dream' speech and compose their own.

Pupils have a good understanding of the different types of people and families and the many cultural traditions within and beyond their community. Leaders and governors have worked with a local secondary school leader to provide parental workshops and teaching for older pupils on 'growing up'. ? The teaching of phonics is very effective, and additional adults support phonics teaching well.

This is because staff are well trained, knowledgeable and confident. Pupils practise reading sounds and words suitable for their level of understanding. Sessions provide many opportunities for pupils to consolidate learned skills, practise their sight-reading and learn new sounds and words.

• Pupils use their knowledge of phonics to write confidently and for a range of audiences and purposes. Because of good phonics teaching, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonic screening check in Year 1 has remained well above national averages. ? The high proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard or above in reading at the end of key stage 1 continues to reflect the school's strong teaching of early reading.

Recently, leaders have reviewed and restocked the school's library provision. Teachers' use of new, carefully chosen class texts provides pupils with greater exposure to high-quality writing. Pupils' writing books show how this supports greater challenge for all, including the most able writers.

However, it is too soon to gauge the full impact of this recent initiative. ? At the start of the academic year, you and your leaders began a review of the teaching of mathematics to ensure that it is routinely of a high quality. Leaders have implemented a new approach to the mathematics curriculum.

You have provided training from an external mathematics specialist to make sure that staff use the mathematical resources and are confident in the new approach to teaching. Teachers apply their recent training well and implement planned opportunities for mathematical reasoning and problem-solving. They identify pupils who are most likely to achieve the higher standards.

New resources support teachers to plan more challenging learning opportunities. ? Expectations of what pupils can achieve have risen. This is the result of training and support provided by an external consultant and mathematics leaders.

Teachers have benefited from opportunities to check the accuracy of their assessment of pupils' work with colleagues in and beyond the school. However, leaders are aware that the most able pupils are not routinely set tasks that challenge their thinking sufficiently. For example, when this happens, they are set activities which involve the completion of more problems or which revisit learning in which they are secure.

This limits opportunities for them to further deepen their mathematical understanding. ? Pupils told the inspector that they really enjoy their learning and lessons. They particularly appreciate the recent changes to the library and the introduction of more interesting and challenging texts in literacy lessons.

A small number of pupils said that, at times, they find their work in mathematics too easy. There is a need to ensure that there are greater levels of challenge for the most able, especially in mathematics and writing. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? current improvements are embedded so that the most able pupils are appropriately challenged, especially in mathematics and writing, and a greater proportion achieve the higher 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 Barnet. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Jean Thwaites Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, your safeguarding team and staff who lead on the promotion of British values, including the principal and the deputy head of Kodesh.

I met a group of staff and had a meeting with the joint leaders for mathematics and English. I spoke to three governors, including the chair of governors, and held a meeting with a representative from the local authority. I met with the senior finance officer who oversees the school's single central record of the checks made on staff.

We visited lessons together to observe teaching, and I looked at pupils' work in their books. I spoke to pupils about their learning and views of the school. I reviewed a range of documentation, including records of your checks to keep children safe.

I also considered leaders' evaluations of the school's performance and records of pupils' achievement. I took account of the 197 responses to Parent View, the Ofsted online questionnaire, including 104 free-text responses and correspondence from two parents. I considered the school's own most recent questionnaire to staff and pupils.

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