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Quotes from The Inspection Report
for
Whitmore Primary School in London, which took place in
October 2009.
Larger than the
average primary school, Whitmore draws its pupils mainly from
the local area. A very large majority of pupils come from
minority ethnic backgrounds and most speak a home language other
than English, Turkish being the predominant mother tongue. Just
under a third of the pupils are at an early stage of learning
English, and many join the school unable to speak English at
all. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs
and/or disabilities is well above average. The school has a high
proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational
needs, ten of whom are taught in the Autism Resource Provision
as well as being integrated into mainstream classes. Just under
half of the pupils are entitled to free school meals, which is
much higher than average. The school has a high turnover of
pupils, especially between Years 3 and 6.
Pupils' achievement
is satisfactory in relation to their very low starting points.
Progress in reading has shown a marked improvement in response
to new teaching methods. Attainment in writing and mathematics
is beginning to rise as new initiatives are implemented. In many
cases, pupils' attainment is limited by their grasp of more
complex language, particularly when interpreting texts and
mathematical questions. The most recent assessments show a
strong trend of improvement in Years 3 and 4, and data show that
the previous Year 6 made up a lot of lost ground during their
final year, especially in reading.
New schemes for
teaching literacy, numeracy and science are accelerating
progress but their full impact on attainment has yet to work
through to Year 6. |
