St John’s Walham Green Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The shared values of 'courage, compassion and wisdom' run through the life of the school. Pupils' behaviour is impeccable. Beginning in early years, children are taught to manage any disagreements and how to be an emotional 'first-aid kit' to others when they need help.

Bullying is rare, and pupils understand how to raise concerns if needed. Pupils know who their trusted adults are, and they are taught how to stay safe, including when online. As a result, pupils feel safe and are kept safe at school.

Pupils benefit from the wide extra-curricular offer. All pupils can develop their talents through the musical clubs available, which include two choirs and five school ba...nds. Pupils enhance their leadership skills through a range of roles as worship leaders, class representatives, travel ambassadors and playtime guides.

Pupils contribute to their local community through fundraising for initiatives such as the 'sweater swap', promoting the importance of reducing waste.

Leaders are very ambitious for pupils, and they are motivated to achieve these goals through the positive approach to learning at the school. Pupils work hard and achieve highly.

Their successes are reflected in the outcomes they reach across the curriculum, including in national assessments.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils follow a rich and broad curriculum that matches, and in places exceeds, what is expected nationally. In each subject, and the areas of learning in early years, leaders have set out what pupils need to know and can do towards ambitious end goals.

This helps pupils build a depth of secure understanding in different subjects that they draw upon when tackling new and more complex ideas. For example, in music, pupils learn to write down rhythms using the correct notation for quavers, crotchets and minims. Pupils then apply this knowledge when reading music to play the recorder.

This means that older pupils can confidently play chords on the ukulele, reading from tab notation. Similarly, in computing, by Year 6, pupils confidently apply what they have learned about coding to debug more advanced programming and design their own games. Assessment is used effectively.

Teachers are alert to gaps in understanding that may arise and address these swiftly so that they do not persist.

Children in early years are safe, happy and secure in a stimulating and caring environment. The curriculum is well designed and enables children to practise and embed important knowledge, skills and understanding.

The outdoor area is specifically designed to provide opportunities for children to develop strength, stamina and courage. For example, the climbing frames get progressively higher over the course of the year, supporting children to develop their core and gross motor skills. Adults interact with children positively, extending their language at every opportunity.

The focus on songs, rhymes and rhythm when drumming a beat, for example, supports children's wider learning as well as the development of social awareness such as turn-taking and self-control.Reading is at the heart of the school. Leaders have thought carefully about the curriculum so that pupils read classical as well as contemporary texts.

Older and younger pupils enjoy and benefit from the regular opportunities to read to each other. Children in Reception begin learning to read as soon as they start school. All staff receive training to support them in teaching the phonics programme with precision.

Leaders swiftly identify pupils who are not keeping up with the programme and provide appropriate support. As a result, pupils become accurate and fluent readers, helping them to fully access the broader curriculum.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are swiftly identified.

Staff are ambitious for pupils and receive training to support them to make appropriate adaptations to their teaching. Some pupils receive a more bespoke curriculum to help them secure the foundations they need. As a result, these pupils make strong progress against their personalised targets and achieve well from their different starting points.

Pupils' wider personal development is exceptionally strong. The curriculum is designed to help pupils to understand important concepts such as equality. They learn about different families, cultures and communities.

For example, through links to a school in Zambia, pupils consider similarities and differences and understand the importance of being global citizens through the environmental choices they make. Extra-curricular opportunities are carefully chosen to help pupils embed their learning across the curriculum. For example, the school's choirs give pupils opportunities to perform at prestigious London venues, and all pupils have opportunities to share their learning in the termly 'showcase'.

Behaviour in lessons and around the school is excellent. Pupils' interactions with adults and their peers are respectful and courteous. The outdoor area provides a range of activities to encourage creative play, including ball games, music and a vegetable garden.

As a result, pupils feel happy at school and enjoy attending. Leaders have worked hard to ensure that attendance and punctuality continue to be high so that pupils do not miss any learning.

Those responsible for governance fulfil their statutory duties well and are united in the school's vision of being 'change makers'.

Staff, including those at the start of their careers, are incredibly positive about their work. They value the support they receive from leaders to develop professionally, including securing accredited qualifications.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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