Setting

Mr G Lathem Hulbert Junior School Springwood Avenue Waterlooville Hampshire PO7 8ED

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Junior School

Thank you for the help which you, the staff and pupils of Hulbert Junior School gave when I inspected your school on 10 February 2011, for the time you gave to our phone discussions and for the information provided before and during my visit. I am grateful to school leaders for the detailed assessment data they provided during the inspection and to those pupils who met with me and who provided a helpful perspective on the school’s progress.

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Junior School

Since the last inspection the number on the school’s roll has increased. Several staff have returned from maternity leave.

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Junior School

As a result of the inspection in February 2010, the school was asked to address the most important areas for improvement, which are set out in the annex to this letter.

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Junior School

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school has made satisfactory progress in addressing the issues for improvement, and satisfactory progress in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement.

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Junior School

Satisfactory progress has been made in raising pupils’ attainment, particularly in improving their skills in writing. There is an increased focus on giving pupils greater opportunities for writing across the whole curriculum, and not just in literacy lessons. The school did not participate in the national assessments tests in 2010 but the teachers’ assessments showed improved results in both English and mathematics so that standards were closer to national figures. Analysis of the school’s current assessment data, the review of work in pupils’ books and evidence from lessons indicate pupils overall making expected progress towards their end-of-year targets. Pupils in Year 6 are making better progress than other year groups, reflecting partly the positive impact of additional interventions to support them. However, the progress being made by other year groups is more variable. It highlights the scale of

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Junior School

Tribal Group 1–4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0845 123 6001 Direct F 0845 123 6002 Direct email : sarah.cartlidge@ tribalgroup.com September 2010 Page 2 the task remaining to get good progress in all year groups so that national standards and progress rates can be achieved.

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Junior School

Assessment information is used well to allocate pupils to appropriate literacy and numeracy groups. Work is assessed regularly and pupils have a good understanding of what they have done well and what they need to improve, especially in their writing. Good examples were seen of teachers checking pupils’ progress in lessons. Opportunities were missed in some lessons to accelerate pupils’ progress, for example, by following up on pupils’ questions which were demonstrating higher- order thinking skills. Teaching assistants working with pupils withdrawn from classes demonstrated good impact on improving those pupils’ knowledge and understanding but the deployment of assistants in lessons did not always result in good progress for the targeted pupils.

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Junior School

School leaders monitor the quality of teaching and learning regularly and there is evidence of the positive impact of this work on the improvement in the quality of teaching since the last inspection, but it is not yet ensuring there is good progress in all classes. Good progress has been made with focusing curriculum planning on what pupils need to learn next, particularly in planning greater opportunities for pupils to improve their writing.

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Junior School

The local authority has taken effective steps to support the school, both in terms of monitoring the school’s progress against areas identified for improvement and in providing specialist consultancy support in areas such as literacy. The school works closely with a number of local schools and benefits from specialist teaching in modern foreign languages and through their provision of additional teaching staff, which enables smaller teaching groups to be created for literacy and numeracy.

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Junior School

I hope that you have found the inspection helpful in promoting improvement in your school. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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place in February 2010

 Lift the overall quality of teaching and learning to good by the end of the year, and raise pupils’ levels of achievement and standards overall, by focusing on:

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place in February 2010

 strengthening the use of day-to-day assessment to ensure the right challenge for all pupils;

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place in February 2010

 ensuring opportunities afforded by curriculum planning are always focused on what pupils need to learn next.

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