News2nd July 2021
Ark Swift Primary Academy continues to be a good school, according to a newly published inspection report.
Education watchdog Ofsted said: “School leaders, governors and staff work together well. The planned curriculum reflects their ambition for pupils. It matches the breadth and scope of the national curriculum.”
Ofsted praised the school’s strength in their early years’ provision saying, “The teaching of early reading starts in Nursery. Early years staff are expert phonics teachers. They share this expertise so that everyone follows the same approach. By the end of Year 2, most pupils are fluent readers. Weaker readers get lots of extra help. They use their phonics skills to work out unfamiliar words.”
The in-person inspection took place on 25th and 26th May 2021. Ofsted inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and spoke to the headteacher and other senior leaders.
Oftsed noted the school’s extra-curricular activities: “Pupils get to widen their learning beyond the classroom. They have a variety of after-school clubs to choose from. Leaders look beyond the school to extend all pupils’ wider development. For example, pupils have opportunities to work with West London Zone and Queens Park Rangers Football Club.”
The report mentioned that Ark Swift’s leaders had built “…. a close-knit community. All staff work together to help pupils get the most from their time at school. Expectations of all pupils are high.”
The report also remarked on the support provided to pupils after the recent lockdown, “When pupils returned after the national lockdowns, teachers checked what pupils had forgotten. For example, teachers noted that Year 6 pupils struggled with long division. Teachers broke this concept down into small steps. This reinforced earlier learning, such as rounding up and inverse multiplication.”
Headteacher Daniel Upfield said: “I am immensely proud that we have retained our status. All of our staff have worked extremely hard and are dedicated to providing the best for our pupils.
“Our focus is to provide a warm environment for our pupils to learn, grow and develop as our aspirations are high. The last year has been very unsettling, so we gave careful thought to ensuring pupils continued to learn a range of subjects and catch up with key learning after the latest lockdown.
“We work closely with other schools in the Ark network benefit from their knowledge and experience. This enables us to secure great outcomes for our children and the wider school community.
“We are supported by a fantastic parent community and by our governors, so I am confident that Ark Swift will continue on this positive trajectory.”
The Ofsted report is available on their website here.