Mayfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Mayfield Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 8 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 June 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 have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified previously, and demonstrated good development in all areas. Attendance is now line with the national average. Standards in writing at the end of key stage 2 are above the nation...al average, and progress is well above the national average.

Pupils have planned opportunities to improve their work. We agreed that the school now has different priorities for improvement. You and your leaders have detailed plans that outline the next steps.

There is a strong sense of teamwork between leaders, and staff are supportive of you and each other. The school's vision statement, 'striving together for a better future', permeates the school community. Families speak highly of the school and work very closely with staff to support their children.

I saw parents and carers helping their children with their work alongside teaching staff as part of early morning learning. Both parents and children told me how much they valued this experience. Parents on Ofsted's Parent View questionnaire used words such as, 'friendly', 'approachable', 'vibrant' and 'inclusive' to describe the school and its staff.

Pupils also spoke warmly about their school and told me that they particularly value their teachers and the respect shown among pupils. Throughout the day, I saw pupils behaving well and showing their care for each other. The school's environment is impressive.

The new building provides a stimulating and positive climate for learning. Displays show the rich experiences that your children enjoy, and clearly from which they learn. Governors provide strong direction to the school.

They work closely with leaders to plan strategically. Equally, they challenge you and your leaders about the impact of your actions on areas that need improving. Governors know the school well through their regular monitoring visits.

Safeguarding is effective. The culture of safeguarding in the school is strong. Leaders, including the school governors, have ensured that safeguarding is a shared responsibility.

There is a robust recruitment process that includes systematic checks on staff, which are recorded on the single central record. Staff and governors receive regular training and this has included sessions on female genital mutilation, contextual safeguarding and peer-on-peer abuse. The school works closely with external agencies and refers pupils as soon as any concerns arise.

Leaders know their families well and work very effectively to ensure that children are safe. Pupils told me that they feel safe in school. They are taught well through the personal, social and health (PSH) education provision and assemblies about keeping themselves safe.

This has included learning about staying safe online and 'stranger danger'. Pupils say that bullying is rare in school and that when it does happen, staff deal with it quickly and well. Parents confirmed that their children are kept safe in school.

Inspection findings ? We first agreed to look at the effectiveness of leaders' work to raise standards in the early years foundation stage. We chose this because the number of children gaining a good level of development has not been consistent over the last three years. In 2017, the percentage was close to the national average; however, in 2018, it was significantly below it.

• Leaders have accurately identified the need to improve provision in Nursery and Reception. They have reviewed the curriculum, and with teaching staff have made improvements that are beginning to affect children's development. For example, Nursery children are introduced to phonics much earlier.

As a result, children are more confident to sound out words aloud. They also have language and number learning experiences throughout the day. These are carefully interwoven into activities as part of a well-planned and sequenced curriculum.

• Parents of children in Reception value their involvement during the weekly parent learning morning. The ones I spoke with said how their children talk at home enthusiastically about learning phonics and their reading, writing and number activities in school. The children told me how much they like working with their parents in school.

We saw the impact in writing books, where children are making good progress from their starting points. In particular, the most able children are writing in full sentences. ? This year, leaders have promoted independent learning in Reception classes.

Now more children do writing and number work independently. We saw clear steps of development from the start of the year with their writing and number skills. You and your leaders recognise that there are still some gaps in the development of children who enter the school with learning needs.

You are intent on implementing further changes in the curriculum to fully address the gaps early on in a child's school experience. ? Next we agreed to look at how well the school ensures that pupils in key stage 1, particularly girls, reach the expected standard in writing. In 2018, pupils' attainment in writing at the expected standard was below the national average and in the bottom 10% of schools.

Girls' achievement in writing, in particular, was well below the national average. ? The school is focused on raising attainment in writing and reading at key stage 1 and leaders are determined in their approach. The writing curriculum is planned for pupils to build on their earlier learning as they develop skills and gain new knowledge.

Work in books shows that teachers plan well for pupils to write for different purposes and to build on earlier writing skills. An example of this is report writing, where pupils draw on their prior knowledge of technical language and apply their skills in using a variety of sentence structures. Overall, pupils, including girls, are progressing well with their writing from their starting points.

However, there are missed opportunities to stretch pupils further by enabling them to start on more challenging activities where they can apply their prior learning at a higher level. ? Attendance at the key stage 1 weekly family morning is consistently high. The atmosphere during the session I saw was positive and there was a genuine sense of learning together.

Parents said that they particularly appreciate the information shared with them about how to support their child with their writing at home. Pupils recognise how their teachers help them with their writing and value the feedback given against their steps to success. They take pride in their work and consistently write neatly.

• Finally, we looked at the wider key stage 2 curriculum and the contribution it makes to pupils achieving a higher standard in reading. The curriculum is broad and balanced and leaders have detailed plans showing the sequence of skills and knowledge development. Reading is specifically included in wider curriculum plans.

• Pupils read a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction texts, including some at a more challenging level, as part of their learning in all areas of the curriculum. For example, pupils read a novel alongside local author autobiographies when studying the history of their local area. The language learned and the knowledge gained through reading texts at a higher level are clearly shown in pupils' writing.

• Pupils are eager to read and take pride in the number of books they have read. They are able to discuss and give an opinion about their reading in different subjects. High expectations are set for pupils to reach a higher standard in reading and this is shown in the challenging individual books and the shared texts that pupils read.

Pupils rise well to the challenge of reading more difficult texts. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers and leaders build on the current improvements in writing at key stage 1 to provide a greater consistency in high-quality practice ? provision for children in the early years foundation stage continues to improve with the intent of raising standards further. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Ealing.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Janice Howkins Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I met with you, your deputy headteacher and two assistant headteachers, two teachers, the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and a local authority governor. I spoke with a local authority adviser.

I made joint visits to lessons with you and your assistant headteacher. I evaluated pupils' work with you and two assistant headteachers. I held discussions with groups of pupils, as well as talking to parents.

I took account of 53 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View. A range of the school's documentation was considered, including information about pupils' achievement, the school improvement plan, and the school's self-evaluation. I reviewed safeguarding checks, policies and procedures, and information about attendance and exclusions.

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