Myatt Garden Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Myatt Garden Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 26 September 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 2014. This school continues to be good. You and your leadership team have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

One of the areas for improvement from the previous inspection was to improve the use of outdoor spaces in Reception and Nursery by planning activities that deepen learning. You have successfully addressed this improvemen...t area and as a result, more children than nationally reach a good level of development at the end of their Reception Year. The second area for improvement was to increase the rates of progress in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils eligible for additional funding.

Since the last inspection, you have introduced a range of strategies to help pupils achieve well in school. These strategies are working well in some parts of the school, but there is a need to sustain this work so that disadvantaged pupils are well prepared for their secondary school. You continue to develop the Myatt Garden vision for a broad and rich curriculum.

During the inspection, leaders spoke to me with enthusiasm for their subjects and how these could be taught in interesting ways. Displays in classrooms and corridors reflect the importance placed on wider curriculum subjects, such as history, geography and personal, social, health and economic education. I observed an art workshop in key stage 1 during which one pupil told me, 'I love art because you can always find a way of making a mistake into something fantastic.'

Throughout the school, pupils are encouraged to contribute their opinions through the curriculum council and the school council. Pupils are confident and self-assured learners who are happy to talk about how their teachers help them to improve their work. Parents and carers appreciate the breadth of experiences on offer for their children.

Your leaders and governors understand pupils' needs well and provide effective care and support. During the inspection, several parents wrote to express their gratitude to you and your staff for making Myatt Garden a 'special place with an exceptionally happy and positive atmosphere.' Safeguarding is effective.

You and your leadership team ensure that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. All necessary checks are carried out on staff, volunteers and visitors. You have successfully created a culture of vigilance, underpinned by regular training for all staff and governors.

Staff are alert to any signs of abuse or neglect. Leaders recognise that the use of social media is a risk to pupils and take appropriate action. Inspection findings ? The inspection focused on a number of key lines of enquiry, one of which was how effectively leaders addressed the drop in phonics in 2017.

• You and your staff have worked on a number of strategies to improve the teaching and learning of phonics and reading. For example, the school offers support for early reading through engaging reading areas in Nursery and Reception. Families are welcomed to stay and engage in activities every morning and during 'stay and play', to watch phonics lessons.

The school has good relationships with parents and this helps some children to get the early help they need. ? You have further developed the consistent teaching of phonics across the school and all staff have had access to professional development in this area. ? Teachers track pupils' progress and know their next steps for learning, which are addressed in subsequent reading and writing lessons.

Individual catch-up or pre-teaching sessions are offered to any pupils who need additional help. ? The school has invested in additional reading books for Nursery, Reception and key stage 1. These books reinforce the phonics aspects taught in lessons, so children and pupils can practise their reading at home.

This seamless learning has resulted in pupils feeling more confident with new concepts. Teachers make sure that all children have the opportunity to read regularly. ? As a result, 93% of Year 1 pupils reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check in 2018.

• We also looked at how leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as others, with a focus on writing. This was because you identified that, although writing at key stages 1 and 2 is broadly in line with national expectations, this is still an area of focus for disadvantaged pupils. ? You have carefully considered the content of the English curriculum and identified the key skills that pupils need to master to develop their writing.

Teachers now have more accurate information about what pupils are learning. They take this prior attainment into consideration when planning for learning. ? You have developed the school's extensive programme of curriculum visits to focus on new vocabulary and introduce interesting contexts for pupils' writing.

One such visit for a topic on 'Loving London', which pupils had suggested, involved going on a boat and identifying some of London's famous landmarks. Pupils talked enthusiastically to me about this visit and what they learned about the geography and history of London. Teachers plan each visit carefully, so that the vocabulary for each topic is explored.

We saw examples of pupils using their topic vocabulary confidently in their writing. ? Leaders draw on the teaching expertise that exists within the school. As a result, teachers discuss good practice and model this in their classrooms.

Camera technology allows effective teaching techniques to be captured and shared among staff. ? You have introduced varied ways of teaching writing. For example, we observed an English lesson based on drama, where pupils considered a character's emotions.

This helped them connect with their own feelings and select more ambitious vocabulary choices. We also observed the use of story maps to help pupils remember how different kinds of writing can be developed. ? Children's outcomes at the end of Reception demonstrate that disadvantaged pupils make progress in writing.

There was evidence of pupils editing their writing to improve it and the writing in their books was of a good standard. However, you have identified that the school needs to further improve in this area. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? they continue to close the gap in progress and attainment for pupils in receipt of additional funding, so they achieve as well as others nationally ? the teaching of writing is developed further for disadvantaged pupils, so a greater percentage reach the expected and higher score by the end of key stage 2.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Lewisham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Joanna Brinkley Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and phase and subject leaders.

I held a meeting with governors. I scrutinised pupils' work in English. I visited lessons in Nursery, Reception, and key stages 1 and 2 to observe learning.

I talked to pupils about their learning throughout the day as I visited lessons. I analysed 39 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, and 38 responses to Ofsted's online staff questionnaire. I scrutinised documentation, including the school's self-evaluation and improvement plans, pupils' attendance information, documentation related to safeguarding and the school's assessment and behaviour information.

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