Downfield Primary School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

Primary
PUPILS
450
AGES
2 - 11
GENDER
Mixed
TYPE
Community school
SCHOOL GUIDE RATING
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Can I Get My Child Into This School?

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This pupil heat map shows where pupils currently attending the school live.
The concentration of pupils shows likelihood of admission based on distance criteria

Source: All attending pupils National School Census Data, ONS
0300 123 4043

This School Guide heat map has been plotted using official pupil data taken from the last School Census collected by the Department for Education. It is a visualisation of where pupils lived at the time of the annual School Census.

Our heat maps use groups of postcodes, not individual postcodes, and have naturally soft edges. All pupils are included in the mapping (i.e. children with siblings already at the school, high priority pupils and selective and/or religious admissions) but we may have removed statistical ‘outliers’ with more remote postcodes that do not reflect majority admissions.

For some schools, the heat map may be a useful indicator of the catchment area but our heat maps are not the same as catchment area maps. Catchment area maps, published by the school or local authority, are based on geographical admissions criteria and show actual cut-off distances and pre-defined catchment areas for a single admission year.

This information is provided as a guide only. The criteria in which schools use to allocate places in the event that they are oversubscribed can and do vary between schools and over time. These criteria can include distance from the school and sometimes specific catchment areas but can also include, amongst others, priority for siblings, children of a particular faith or specific feeder schools. Living in an area where children have previously attended a school does not guarantee admission to the school in future years. Always check with the school’s own admission authority for the current admission arrangements.

3 steps to help parents gather catchment information for a school:

  1. Look at our school catchment area guide for more information on heat maps. They give a useful indicator of the general areas that admit pupils to the school. This visualisation is based on all attending pupils present at the time of the annual School Census.
  2. Use the link to the Local Authority Contact (above) to find catchment area information based on a single admission year. This is very important if you are considering applying to a school.
  3. On each school page, use the link to visit the school website and find information on individual school admissions criteria. Geographical criteria are only applied after pupils have been admitted on higher priority criteria such as Looked After Children, SEN, siblings, etc.

How Does The School Perform?

Good
NATIONAL AVG. 2.09
Ofsted Inspection
(15/01/2019)
Full Report - All Reports
40%
NATIONAL AVG. 60%
% pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics



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Progress Compared With All Other Schools

UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Average (About 67% of schools in England) Above Average (About 6% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 9% of schools in England) UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 10% of schools in England) Below Average (About 9% of schools in England) Average (About 67% of schools in England) Above Average (About 6% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 8% of schools in England) UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 10% of schools in England) Below Average (About 11% of schools in England) Average (About 59% of schools in England) Above Average (About 11% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 9% of schools in England)
Downfield Road
Cheshunt
Waltham Cross
EN8 8SS
01992629598

School Description

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your staff have established a calm, happy and purposeful environment for pupils to learn in. As a result of effective leadership, the school has improved further since the previous inspection, when it was also judged to be good. You and other leaders work effectively together with shared aims to ensure that pupils are well cared for and achieve as well as they can. This collaborative ethos extends beyond the school to the many external partners you work with. This includes the local authority and charities who bring further expertise, time and resources to help you in your ambitions to improve pupils’ outcomes even further. For example, work with the local authority has helped you and other leaders to improve aspects of early years provision so that the proportion of pupils reaching a good level of development has increased. Charities have provided pupils who would not otherwise have access to high-quality reading opportunities with individual personal support and free books. As a result, more disadvantaged pupils than previously read regularly. In key stage 1, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading is increasing. Leaders have reviewed the curriculum to ensure that it supports the specific context of the pupils and families that the school serves. This includes above-average numbers of pupils who speak English as an additional language, pupils in receipt of the pupil premium and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). You use a wide range of emotional, social and behavioural support strategies. These effective interventions often utilise expertise from within school, including from the SEND pastoral team and leaders of the speech and language base. External agencies bring effective additional capacity and resources to support families. As a result of your drive to reach all pupils and their families, the strong relationships between members of the school – and the good teaching and the behaviour in lessons and around school – are often impressive. Learning is not disrupted and pupils who need specialist help receive it quickly. One parent commented, ‘Downfield School is an exceptional school. My son never feels left out or different.’ Another said, ‘I cannot thank the school enough for the support that they have given me.’ Teaching is typically good and pupils respond well to their teachers. They benefit from a well-considered curriculum with a clear focus on high-quality reading. This helps pupils to develop a broad vocabulary and to understand more challenging texts. Pupils use the new words they come across in their writing, and this too is improving. Pupils listen carefully, engage in their work and are supported effectively by adults in the school. Despite the school’s good work and continued focus on identifying and filling gaps in pupils’ learning – particularly in the basic skills of spelling and handwriting – there remains a continued challenge to ensure that some pupils in key stage 2 meet the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics. This is particularly true for boys. This was an area for improvement at the previous inspection and remains a priority for a small group of pupils. Staff are keen to try new approaches to learning so that pupils can achieve the best that they can. Those who took part in Ofsted’s online survey during the inspection – and those who spoke directly with me – feel that their professional development is a priority for leaders. They also feel that the school is aspirational for its pupils and that staff are trusted to try things out in ways that are right for them and the pupils. The good practice that exists in the school is not always shared as quickly as it could be to ensure that as many pupils as possible benefit from the best teaching. For example, in some classes, resources and learning environments support pupils to understand expectations of spelling and handwriting. Pupils use these resources to form letters correctly and check words. This is not consistent across the school. At the previous inspection in 2015, the attendance of pupils was identified as an area for improvement. You and governors have worked hard to drive up levels of attendance across the school. This includes a stronger focus on individual rewards and an increased awareness by families of the importance of good attendance. While overall attendance was slightly below the national average in 2018, it has increased since the previous inspection and is currently improving strongly. There has also been a reduction in the number of frequent non-attenders. Strategies that the school is using are having a positive impact. For example, parents and carers are now regularly alerted to drops in attendance and the consequent impact on learning. Pupils with the very best attendance receive special acknowledgement and rewards. Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You have created a positive culture of safeguarding in the school. The single central record indicates that all required checks are carried out to ensure that staff are suitable to work with pupils. Governors and external consultants check that aspects of the single central register and safer recruitment are correct and records are kept meticulously. Staff are well trained, including in the ‘Prevent’ duty. They are clear on how to report concerns about pupils and many explained in the discussions that I had with them how useful the regular staff updates and weekly discussions are. These meetings help staff understand aspects of safeguarding that they may have had little experience of. New staff feel that this has helped them to feel confident in dealing with safeguarding concerns. Pupils say that they trust their teachers and feel safe at school. One pupil commented, ‘I can trust my teachers. They look after me.’ Pupils feel that they can ask for help if they need it. The curriculum supports pupils’ awareness of staying safe online, and older pupils are clear and confident in knowing how to respond to inappropriate or bullying messages or communications. Pupils say behaviour is good in school and the vast majority of pupils who responded to Ofsted’s pupil survey say that adults in school deal with inappropriate behaviour swiftly. Parents agree. Almost all parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire – Parent View – said that their children are safe in school. Inspection findings The school has a relatively high proportion of pupils whose first language is not English. It also has a greater-than-average proportion of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. I wanted to find out how well leaders understand and support the needs of these significant groups of pupils. In 2018, the progress of Year 6 pupils with SEND, those in receipt of the pupil premium and those who speak English as an additional language was in line with – or above – other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. This was an improvement on the previous year. Pupils in these groups currently in the school are also making strong progress because expert confident staff provide them with high levels of support. During lessons, teachers and other adults are effective in helping these pupils to achieve their best. Pupils receive personalised support in a range of ways, including from the on-site learning support base and from individualised online programmes.

Downfield Primary School Parent Reviews



unlock % Parents Recommend This School
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>66, "agree"=>33, "disagree"=>1, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>68, "agree"=>27, "disagree"=>2, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>49, "agree"=>45, "disagree"=>2, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>53, "agree"=>38, "disagree"=>6, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>2} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>54, "agree"=>43, "disagree"=>2, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>42, "agree"=>44, "disagree"=>9, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>3} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>46, "agree"=>45, "disagree"=>5, "strongly_disagree"=>0, "dont_know"=>3} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>37, "agree"=>27, "disagree"=>6, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>28} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>43, "agree"=>41, "disagree"=>5, "strongly_disagree"=>3, "dont_know"=>7} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>49, "agree"=>38, "disagree"=>7, "strongly_disagree"=>4, "dont_know"=>1} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>52, "agree"=>41, "disagree"=>5, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019
Yes No {"yes"=>94, "no"=>6} UNLOCK Figures based on 95 responses up to 05-02-2019

Responses taken from Ofsted Parent View

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