St Ignatius RC Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of St Ignatius RC Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 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 May 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

Together with governors, you have established a shared vision that makes pupils' welfare central to everything you do. You have continued to develop a team of skilled leaders and teachers who are effective in promoting pupils' progress. You,... together with leaders, have tackled the priorities from the previous inspection and have ensured that pupils learn well and make progress.

At the time of the last inspection, you were asked to ensure that teachers have high expectations of all pupils so that pupils make stronger progress. You have ensured that steps taken to improve the quality of teaching have been fully understood by staff. The staff's highly positive response in their survey shows their good morale.

Consequently, during the inspection it was evident that teachers are confident in using the school's new approaches to teaching, for example in writing. In addition, the school improvement plan is clear in its intentions and is regularly monitored by leaders and governors. The curriculum is rich and informative and enthuses pupils with a love of learning.

Pupils speak with great interest about the different topics they study, such as the Romans and 'Mysterious Materials'. Teachers plan an engaging curriculum, which includes wide provision for trips to places of interest and a range of visitors to school. The school serves a rich and vibrant multicultural community.

Pupils are fascinated by their similarities and differences but also recognise that 'we are all part of one big family'. Leaders' work to engage the community is significant and effective. Pupils are delighted that they celebrate their own culture and that of others.

For example, pupils in Year 5 visit the local mosque, gaining an understanding of the significance of the place of worship in the Muslim religion. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team ensures that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

Leaders and governors ensure that policies and procedures, including those for the safe recruitment of staff, are up to date. All staff and governors receive regular training. As a result, staff and governors are clear what to do if they have a concern about a child.

Pupils are taught about safety, including in the use of the internet. Pupils can name members of staff they can confide in if they have a problem. Pupils are realistic and recognise that there were a few incidents of bullying in the past but say that is not the case now.

They value the opportunity to raise concerns and say these are dealt with promptly. Concerns from pupils relating to bullying are dealt with by senior leaders and, as a result, all pupils are aware of the severity of bullying. All parents who responded to Parent View agree that pupils feel safe at school and recognise that teachers make time for individual support for pupils.

Inspection findings ? During our initial discussions, we created key lines of enquiry for this inspection. Although attainment of pupils in key stages 2 and 1 has improved in recent years in reading, writing and mathematics, boys do not achieve as well as girls. You and leaders have quickly addressed this by ensuring that the curriculum has been redesigned.

In English, boy-friendly texts have been introduced and the focus in mathematics teaching is on improving conceptual understanding. You also have effective tracking systems in place, which inform teachers of how secure pupils' understanding is. This information helps teachers decide what they need to teach pupils next.

• Work in books shows that pupils take pride in their work. Handwriting is neat and their presentation is of a good standard. Teachers have successfully implemented strategies to improve pupils' understanding of the need to structure their writing.

As a result, pupils now confidently write effectively across a range of text types, including reports and instructions. In mathematics books, it is evident that pupils are securing a sound understanding of number and mathematical sequences. However, teachers do not provide pupils with enough opportunities to apply their understanding to solve word problems.

These changes to approaches in teaching and evidence as seen in books are contributing to ensuring that boys are performing as well as girls. ? We also considered how effective leaders' actions have been in improving outcomes for pupils who qualify for pupil premium funding. Published information about pupils' outcomes indicates that, although this group of pupils has made good progress in recent years, their progress in mathematics is not yet in line with that of other disadvantaged pupils.

Leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils are now a focus of teaching across the school. Improved tracking of these pupils and targeted workshops for those who are underachieving are having a positive impact on their achievement. Disadvantaged pupils comment on the positive impact of the free resource packs they received in enabling them to better practise their mathematical skills at home.

However, despite these successes, the impact of leaders' and teachers' work to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils is not consistent across the school. ? Finally, we considered the attendance of pupils. Leaders work closely with families, aiming to encourage and establish strong attendance.

Their efforts are well judged and have met with some success, although attendance continues to be below the national average; for example, this year, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has halved. Nevertheless, despite the efforts of school leaders, some parents do not share leaders' high expectations of pupils' attendance. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? pupils have more opportunities to apply their mathematical skills to problem-solving ? they build on successful strategies and continue to improve the achievement of disadvantaged pupils ? the school's work to improve attendance results in pupils' attendance being at least in line with the national average.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Archdiocese of Westminster, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Haringey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Danvir Visvanathan Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I carried out the following activities during the inspection: ? a scrutiny of the single central record, recruitment checks and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection, including the school's safeguarding policy and other policies relating to governance, pupil behaviour and attendance ? meetings with the headteacher, other senior leaders, vice chair of the governing body and a local authority representative ? a review of the school's self-evaluation documents and improvement plans ? observations of learning across the school, and a scrutiny of work in pupils' writing, mathematics and wider curriculum books ? observations of pupils in a range of situations, including at break and lunchtime ? conversations with a group of pupils, and with pupils in lessons, in the playground and in the dining hall ? review of the six parent responses to the free text facility in Parent View, 39 responses to the pupil questionnaire and 13 responses to the staff survey.

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