Self-Evaluation Form October 2020
Five Elms Primary School is a co-educational school for 3-11 year-olds in Barking and Degenham Local Education Authority.
There is a stable and strong leadership team in place with an experienced headteacher, two deputy headteachers and one assistant headteacher.
The school is located in the Heath Ward, Barking & Dagenham, (listed as the fifth most deprived local authority based on rank and 20th on the list of authorities with most income-deprived households, taken from The English Indices of Deprivation, Sept 2019, Statistical release from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.) There are 445 pupils on roll (census October 2020) including the 3-4 year old Nursery. The school admits 60 pupils in Reception each year and 40 Nursery children (12 FT, 14 AM & 14 PM). https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/deprivation-in-barking-and-dagenham for local IDACI information including Heath Ward where the school is located.
Five Elms is larger than the average-sized primary school. The school hosts and leads a Additional Resourced Provision for Deaf & Complex needs (N-Y6). There are 20 places, with currently 16 of these places filled. These are included in the pupil numbers above. The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium, is higher than that found nationally (29%), as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language (62%). The school serves a diverse population, with 15 out of 17 possible ethnic groups attending. The largest ethnic group being of White British heritage (27% IDSR 2019). More pupils than average leave or join the school at other than the usual times throughout the year.
Significant Groups (2019/2020 information from IDSR)
- The percentage of pupils with SEND support is 13.7%, the percentage of children with an EHC Plan is 4.6%. Both these percentages are above national average (EHCP significantly above)
- 62% of pupils are learning English as an additional language (EAL) – National Average is 21%
- 29% of pupils qualify for Pupil Premium (National average is 23%)
- The school has a high level of deprivation (quintile 5 of all schools)
At the last OFSTED Inspection (March 2017), the school was judged to be Good is all areas. The areas for improvement mentioned in the report were:
- Ensure that teachers consistently challenge the most able pupils, to maximise their rates of progress by:
- Intervening promptly to provide the appropriate level of challenge in mathematics at key stage 1 an in English at key stage 2
- Building on pupils’ prior learning and abilities from the start of activities.
- Further improve children’s outcomes in the early years by developing the outdoor provision to succesffuly reflect the indoor learnin gin the classroom.
The most recent IDSR highlights that both Reading and Maths progress in KS2 has improved between 2018 and 2019 and in 2019, 55% of pupils achieved the high standard in the KS2 GGPS, which was significantly above national and in the highest 20% of all schools.
Actions taken
Since September 2018, the, following changes and actions have been implemented:
- Reading – introduced core texts in every year group and initiated a process of reading curriculum planning driven by Question Level Analysis
- Reviewed curriculum, rewritten medium term plans for many subjects, addressing vocabulary and sequence of learning to ensure the progression of learning through the school.
- Reviewed classroom display and layout in order to optimise the learning environment and ensure it meets the needs of learners more effectively
- Achieved Arts Goldmark (Oct 18), Science Quality Mark (Oct 19), ESafety Mark (Oct 17, Oct 20)
- Bronze Healthy Schools achieved Sept 2018
- Developed SEND provision in school house for mainstream autistic children January 2019
- Introduced free breakfast provision for all pupils in the school from Nov 2018
- Careers programme for KS2 began April 2019
- YesFutures building resilience programme with disadvantaged Y4 and Y5 children April – Dec 2019
- Structured conversations (AfA initiative) to engage parents of disadvantaged children/ lower attainers from April 2019 – October 2020.
- Bow Arts 3 year partnership with local artists began Sept 2018
- Mental health and wellbeing programme, Mind Up, implemented Y1-6 Sept 2019
- Votes for Schools programme delivered weekly to engage children with current affairs and topical issues via their online debate platform.
- Developed parental engagement strategies in EYFS, via homework clubs and workshops, and via cultural/social school events celebrating diversity.
Next steps
- Achieving at least national average for outcomes at all measurable stages and ensuring sustainability of this
- Ensure progression across the curriculum allows children to develop fully as well-rounded, academically able citizens for the future.
- Develop the internal learning environment to facilitate good learning and support children’s language development.
- Improve the skills of support staff to ensure the needs of pupils are met more effectively.
- Develop parental engagement in order to raise parental aspirations and learning expectations of all children.
- Improve attendance.
- Develop the Governing Body role in determining curriculum intent.
- Develop a robust blended and remote learning curriculum to ensure continuity of learning for all children.
Overall effectiveness: |
We judge the overall effectiveness of Five Elms Primary School as good. This is because: The quality of education is good.
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The Quality of Education |
We judge the quality of education at Five Elms Primary School as good, and feel the actions being taken have led to sustained improvement across the last three years and provide the school with the capacity to further improve children’s achievement. The strengths of the quality of education are: Intent
Implementation
Impact
In order to secure a good judgement: Maintain the current curriculum provision and continue to improve outcomes for pupils so they are consistently meeting national standards. In order to achieve an outstanding judgement, the school needs to focus on:
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Behaviour and attitudes |
We judge behaviour and attitudes at Five Elms Primary as good. The strengths of behaviour and attitudes are: Pupils behave respectfully towards each other and school adults.
In order to achieve an outstanding judgement, the school needs to focus on:
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Personal Development |
We judge the quality of personal development, at Five Elms Primary School as good. The strengths of personal development are:
In order to achieve an outstanding judgement, the school needs to focus on:
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Leadership and management |
We judge the quality of leadership in and management of Five Elms Primary School as good. The strengths of leadership and management are: Leaders share a clear and ambitious vision for providing high quality education and collaborate to ensure curriculum provision is reviewed and implemented to give pupils the best curriculum experience.
In order to achieve an outstanding judgement, the school needs to focus on: Strong succession planning to develop future leaders both at middle and senior levels.
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The quality of early years education |
We judge the quality of Early Years education at Five Elms Primary School to be good. The Early Years curriculum is ambitious and designed to give children, particularly the most disadvantaged, the knowledge, self-belief and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. Coherently planned and sequenced, it builds on what children know and can do, towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for their future learning. Low levels of speech and language on entry, identified through Speechlink, drive a sharp focus on ensuring that all children acquire a wide vocabulary and communicate effectively. Lessons focus on language development and acquisition at every stage of Early Years education. The school’s approach to teaching early reading and synthetic phonics is systematic and ensures that all children learn to read words and simple sentences accurately by the end of Reception. The school has the same academic ambitions for almost all children. For children with particular needs, such as those with SEND, their curriculum is designed to be ambitious and to meet their needs. Children benefit from meaningful learning across the curriculum. Staff are extremely knowledgeable about the areas of learning they teach. Learning needs of the children are promptly identified and met via the curriculum planning. Staff create an environment that delivers our ambitious curriculum. The resources are chosen to meet the children’s needs and promote learning. Outdoor learning is considered as valuable and important as classroom based practice in order to provide children with a wide range of rich experiences. The curriculum and care practices promote and support children’s emotional security and development of their character. Leaders and staff are particularly attentive to the youngest children’s needs. By the end of Reception, children have the personal, physical and social skills they need to succeed in the next stage of their education. Most children achieve the early learning goals, particularly in mathematics and literacy. Outcomes in wider areas are good. In order to achieve an outstanding judgement, the school needs to focus on:
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