Ofsted Information

Downsview Community Primary is an inclusive and welcoming school. Pupils relish the opportunities they have to learn and play together. Many come into school happily each morning, keen to get the day started. Staff welcome pupils in a warm and friendly way. They look after pupils very well. Pupils are valued members of the school community. They feel safe and secure. Pupils are confident that staff will listen and deal effectively with any concerns that may arise. While pupils enjoy school, many still do not attend regularly enough.

Pupils work hard in lessons and take pride in their work. Staff ensure that classrooms are orderly and purposeful places to learn. This means that pupils can get on with their work without interruption. Breaktimes and lunchtimes are happy, social occasions. Pupils enjoy these opportunities to catch up with friends, joining in enthusiastically with supervised games. Pupils are friendly and well mannered. They treat each other with kindness. Pupils speak of different cultures, beliefs and backgrounds with interest and respect. Bullying is rare at this school.

Pupils are keen to meet the expectations that staff have for their achievement. Variations in how well the curriculum is taught means that pupils do not achieve as well as they should. While pupils with barriers to their learning, such as those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are supported well, the outcomes for pupils at this school are below those published nationally. This means that some pupils are not as prepared for their next steps as they should be.

The school takes every opportunity to create an environment which enables pupils to broaden their horizons. It ensures that pupils learn how to celebrate and take pride in their achievements, both in and out of school. Pupils enthuse about the wide range of activities and clubs available. These include drama, football and puzzle club. The annual residential trip for pupils in Year 6 is a highlight of the school calendar.

Children in the early years thoroughly enjoy their time in school. Well-established routines help children to settle quickly. Staff demonstrate warm and caring relationships with children, so they feel comfortable and secure. Children are eager to learn and behave very well. They enjoy each other’s company, join in with activities confidently and chat happily about what they are doing.

The early years curriculum builds well on children’s starting points. Staff know the children well. They use this knowledge to ensure that the curriculum is adjusted in response to children’s individual needs. This ensures that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, access the curriculum successfully across all areas of learning. Children in the early years achieve well. They are prepared for the next stage of their education.

A focus on the basic foundational knowledge of reading, writing and mathematics is evident throughout the early years. For the most part, staff use high-quality interactions effectively to explore and develop children’s language skills. Reading is given a high priority. Children are taught phonics knowledge from the outset. Staff successfully promote a love of reading through a wide range of carefully selected texts.

Leaders have established effective systems to share information with parents and carers.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for all pupils, regardless of their background or ability. They identify pupils’ individual needs swiftly and accurately. Leaders make sure that staff have the information needed to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. They work collaboratively with external agencies to tailor the support provided, drawing on specialist advice, such as that provided by speech therapists or the educational psychologist.

Overall, pupils with SEND and those who have other barriers to their learning or wellbeing are supported well. Staff benefit from regular training which deepens their knowledge of specific needs, such as social, emotional and mental health needs. They use successful strategies to support individual pupils and generally adapt teaching well where required. Leaders monitor pupils’ learning and wellbeing closely. They use this to make appropriate adjustments where necessary. Leaders have forged positive relationships with parents and carers. For example, the school’s family liaison officer plays a valuable role in providing support for parents, signposting them to specialist advice where necessary. They ensure that the school’s pupil premium strategy is implemented effectively. This is helping to reduce barriers to pupils’ learning.

High expectations for pupils’ behaviour underpin school life. Leaders ensure that staff follow a consistent approach to managing pupils’ behaviour. Consequently, pupils behave well in lessons, during breaktimes and around the school. They demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and listen carefully to their teachers. This ensures a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Pupils are confident about asking staff for help and trust them to deal with any concerns, including bullying or discriminatory behaviour. The school identifies and supports pupils who need additional help to manage their behaviour effectively.

The school’s welcoming, inclusive atmosphere fosters a strong sense of belonging. The school’s values include, kindness, inclusivity and resilience. These are reflected in pupils’ positive attitudes to school, their friendly relationships with each other and their respect for staff.

Pupils have a keen sense of right and wrong. They understand the importance of treating everyone fairly. They speak sensitively about different religions and feel that their own beliefs are respected. Pupils develop an appreciation of the fundamental British values. Opportunities such as voting for school councillors help them to understand democracy and the contribution they can make to the school community.

Pupils take on roles within school which help them to develop a sense of personal responsibility. This process starts in the younger year groups where pupils learn to collect books, give out resources and tidy up. Roles gradually build in complexity and responsibility as pupils move up through the school, culminating in positions such as house captains and head girl and boy. Pupils relish these opportunities, carrying them out sensibly, maturely and with understandable pride. Leaders take actions to ensure that all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are able to participate fully and appropriately in the school’s personal development programme. As a result, pupils are well prepared for their move to secondary education and later life.

The school’s updated personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme ensures suitable coverage of a range of topics and themes. Relationships, sex and health education complies with statutory guidance. Overall, the PSHE programme is taught well and generally develops pupils’ knowledge. For example, pupils learn how to keep safe, including online safety, and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In early years, carefully chosen activities, such as the upcoming trip to London, contribute well to children’s wider experiences and to their enjoyment of learning.

Pupils’ achievement in national tests, including in mathematics and reading, has been below the national average over time. While some pupils currently in school achieve well, a notable group continue to experience gaps in their learning which hinders their progress. This means that many pupils are not well prepared for their next steps in education.

Leaders’ actions to improve teaching in the past year have started to address some of these gaps. The introduction of a new writing programme has ensured that pupils are starting to achieve more.

The outcomes of the Year 1 phonics check are improving. Leaders are rightly prioritising support for disadvantaged pupils, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and others who face barriers to learning and wellbeing.

Achievement for disadvantaged pupils is beginning to show signs of improvement in their outcomes for reading, writing and mathematics. There is still further work to do to ensure all pupils across school achieve as well as they should.

Leaders and governors are united in their determination to provide a high quality of education that improves the life chances of all pupils. They demonstrate a clear moral purpose and have created a friendly and supportive atmosphere in school. Leaders have taken robust action to improve the school’s work in the past year. Developments have included the introduction of a new curriculum and improvements to teaching and behaviour. These are starting to have an impact in raising achievement and improving attendance. Leaders and governors have high expectations. They prioritise pupils’ best interests when making decisions about future developments for the school.

Governors work well with leaders to set the strategic direction of the school. They have a clear understanding of their roles and meet their statutory duties. Well-established systems for monitoring the school’s performance ensure that governors have an accurate view of the school’s performance. They ask challenging questions and hold leaders to account. Governors are clear about the further improvements needed to ensure the curriculum is consistently delivered well and that pupils’ attendance continues to improve.

Leaders ensure that all staff benefit from continued professional development. They take suitable steps to help staff to manage their workload and wellbeing. As a result, staff feel valued. They speak positively about changes that have taken place during the past year and feel included in these improvements. Staff feel that communication within the school is a strength. Parents and carers are positive about the school and recognise the improvements that have been made.

Pupils do not achieve as well as they should because of variation in teaching across subjects and year groups. Some staff do not have sufficient subject knowledge to ensure that the curriculum is adapted well enough to meet pupils’ needs. This leads to variation in how well pupils access the curriculum and achieve. Leaders have established a professional development programme for staff which has strengthened teaching in the past year. Although this work is still at an early stage, leaders have implemented suitable actions that are beginning to strengthen the teaching of reading and writing.

Leaders continue to have high expectations for all pupils. They have a clear understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching in the school. The introduction of a new curriculum ensures learning is broad and engaging. The curriculum outlines the knowledge and skills pupils should learn and remember. This content is appropriately sequenced so that learning builds on what pupils have learned previously.

Leaders have established a consistent approach to teaching pupils the technical vocabulary they need in different subjects. This is making a positive difference to pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills, which continue to improve. Pupils at an earlier stage of reading benefit from suitable support which enables them to catch up quickly.

Many pupils do not attend school regularly enough. Consequently, attendance has been below the national average over time, including for disadvantaged pupils and for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders are working constructively to address this. They are keeping a careful check on individual pupils’ attendance. Leaders have strengthened engagement with parents, the local authority and specialist agencies to understand and address barriers to regular attendance. There are encouraging signs of ongoing improvement in attendance for some pupils, including those with SEND. These improvements have not yet been sustained over a sufficient period of time to ensure they are having noticeable impact.

• Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is adapted and delivered consistently well across the school, so that all pupils achieve well across all subjects and year groups.

• Leaders should maintain a sharp focus on attendance to ensure that pupils’ attendance continues to improve and persistent absence reduces further.

• Leaders and governors should continue their robust approach to monitoring and quality assurance so that their well-thought-through improvement priorities have a positive impact, particularly on pupils’ achievement and attendance.