Bordon Junior School

Age group 7–11 Inspection date(s) 24–25 January 2012 Inspection number 379156 Bordon Junior School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 115864 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 379156 Inspection dates 24–25 January 2012 Lead inspector Hazel Callaghan

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Junior School category Community Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 229 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mrs Mandy Noke Interim Headteachers Mr David Strauss and Mrs Jackie Glover Date of previous school inspection June 2006 School address Budds Lane Bordon Hampshire GU35 0JB 01420 472145 Fax number 01420 476393 Email address admin@bordon-junior.hants.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. The inspectors observed 16 lessons taught by 8 teachers and a final-year teaching student and made other observations of pupils’ learning taking in total approximately 9 hours. Meetings were held with staff, representatives of the governing body, pupils and with two parents who asked to see the inspectors. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on- line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at a range of documentation including that linked to safeguarding, the school’s own self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, its records of pupils’ attainment and progress, pupils’ work and reports made about the school by Ofsted (interim monitoring letter) and the local authority. The team scrutinised 88 parental questionnaires and others returned by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This is a larger than average-sized school. The vast majority of pupils come from families of White British backgrounds, but there are a variety of minority ethnic groups represented within the school community, 10% of whom are learning English as an additional language. There is a higher than average proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs and a high proportion of pupils who face challenges in their lives that may make them vulnerable. Over 20% of pupils enter and leave the school throughout the year. This is partly due to the high proportion of families in the forces stationed nearby, who may only stay in the area for a matter of months, and partly to pupils changing schools. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The headteacher left the school last term to take up another post and two interim headteachers have been appointed on a part-time basis to support the school until the new substantive

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Information about the school

headteacher takes up post after Easter. The school inspection due in 2009 was deferred by Ofsted until after autumn of 2011. The school exceeds the floor targets set for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics significantly. The junior school is on the same site as Bordon Infant School and a children’s centre, both of which were inspected during the same week as the junior school. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a good school. It has high aspirations for its pupils’ academic and personal development and enables them to make strong progress in their learning to reach above-average standards of attainment. Pupils of all abilities and from all groups achieve well, usually better than their peers nationally, particularly in mathematics.  The school provides excellent support for pupils who face challenging circumstances in their lives so they settle to learning well.  The curriculum provides pupils with exciting and memorable activities which promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education very well.  High expectations, consistent approaches, and effective use of outside agencies and resources help those pupils with challenging behaviour to develop self- discipline, confidence and self-esteem, which is resulting in their much- improved behaviour.  Extremely strong leadership from senior leaders and the governing body, along

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Key findings

with effective distributed leadership at all levels, has enabled this school to improve significantly from its previous inspection.  Pupils’ progress is tracked effectively and potential underachievement tackled rapidly so that attainment is above average overall by the time pupils leave the school in Year 6. Pupils achieve well and make consistently good progress, which accelerates through the school in reading and mathematics. The good progress evident in writing does not develop until pupils are older, with the result that attainment in English is lower than mathematics in Year 6.  Teaching is good and teachers are skilled in motivating pupils’ interest in learning and the desire to do well. The teachers monitor pupils’ progress effectively, but, sometimes, the different types of assessment employed cloud the early identification of gaps in pupils’ learning. Planning does not always sufficiently ensure that the activities are aimed at these weaknesses,

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Key findings

particularly in writing in Years 3 and 4. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment in English so it reaches the same high level as that achieved in mathematics by enabling pupils to make more rapid progress in their writing in Years 3 and 4.  Increase the number of outstanding lessons by:  simplifying systems of assessment so that gaps in pupils’ learning are identified quickly and accurately when pupils start in the school  ensuring lesson plans take full account of pupils’ specific needs within the class so that gaps in learning are addressed  setting attainment targets for the end of the year that take full account of the capabilities of pupils, as well as their prior learning, so that opportunities to increase the progress of more-able pupils in particular are identified consistently in all lessons.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ attainment and rates of progress have increased significantly since the last inspection, when they were broadly average. Taken together, standards of attainment in English and mathematics are now above average, with mathematics being particularly strong over the last four years. Attainment in reading by the time pupils leave school is above average. All pupils, including those with special educational needs, those known to be eligible for free school meals, pupils from minority ethnic groups, and those learning English as an additional language, reach higher levels than their peers nationally. Pupils’ progress is significantly stronger than that seen nationally, with the result that any gaps between pupils’ attainment and that of all pupils nationally are closing rapidly, particularly for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Pupils make good progress through the school in reading and mathematics, but pupils’ writing skills are slower to develop in Years 3

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Achievement of pupils

and 4. Progress accelerates sharply in Years 5 and 6, however, so that all groups make better than expected progress overall from their various starting points in both English and mathematics.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils enjoy work that challenges their thinking. In a Year 4 class, for example, there was a buzz of discussion as pupils completed their work in mathematics successfully. Pupils are eager learners, particularly in Years 5 and 6. They are curious about the world they live in and work well together investigating ideas and new ways of working. They use their knowledge and skills well to make progress in all areas of their work. Pupils in Year 6, for example, worked together in pairs to investigate all the necessary information they required to inform their parents and carers about their planned visit to Hampton Court as part of their study of the Tudors. This required studying the prices for transporting adults and pupils, plus the entrance fee, which had various forms of discounts available. Pupils showed concentration and perseverance as they selected the data they needed logically from the wide range of

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Achievement of pupils

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

information available, to calculate the total cost for each child. Those pupils who join the school at different times through the year settle quickly and soon start to make similarly strong progress as their peers. Those pupils with significant barriers to their learning take longer to settle to their work, but, under the excellent support of all staff, sometimes with the support of outside agencies, they make good progress too, once they have gained confidence in their own abilities. The vast majority of parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire were very pleased with their children’s good progress. Parents and carers say they are helped to understand how well their children are doing and also feel they are making good progress.

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Quality of teaching

Parents and carers and pupils confirm the evidence from inspection that teaching is good and sometimes outstanding. Typically, lessons are well planned, activities engage pupils’ interest, and effective strategies are used to help pupils identify how they can improve. In a good English lesson in Year 5, for example, pupils were given good levels of support in recognising how they could improve their writing, with the result that pupils of all abilities developed a descriptive piece of writing which they could see was more exciting and would grab the interest of the reader.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers in the same year group, often, plan their lessons together and this usually works well, but, sometimes, activities are not sufficiently focused on the different needs of pupils in both classes. Gaps in pupils’ learning are not sufficiently focused upon, which slows progress in the lesson. Good teaching promotes pupils’ good learning successfully, but the outstanding lessons make learning exciting and challenge pupils to perform at the highest level because activities are absorbing and matched extremely well to the pupils’ needs. An outstanding lesson in English that was observed succeeded in all these areas. It proceeded at a brisk rate, enthused and engaged every pupil totally, extended the thinking of the most able and provided support for those who were less secure. Pupils were not only proud of the work they produced, but also equally proud of each other’s.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers use many strategies to help their pupils understand how well they are doing and how to improve. Marking is constructive and gives pupils a good understanding of how their work can be developed further. Many strategies help pupils understand how to be successful in their work, particularly in writing, and this, along with targets for the next stage in learning, is helping all pupils to make at least good progress over time.

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Quality of teaching

The curriculum is used well to promote pupils’ interest and there is a good emphasis on giving time for pupils to reflect on their ideas, to work together cooperatively, to meet new experiences and new people, so promoting effectively their spiritual, social, moral and cultural development. A wide range of additional activities in music, art and sport provide opportunities for pupils to find success in other areas of their learning. The extensive range of after-school clubs is well attended and very much enjoyed. The outside areas around the school have been developed extremely well to provide a diverse, stimulating and fun environment for learning. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Behaviour is good on the whole and pupils show good attitudes to their work and to each other. Pupils show respect for adults and for each other. They enjoy meeting new people and welcome pupils who are new to the school. Pupils are polite and the older pupils very mature in their attitudes when discussing behaviour in the school. They recognise that some children find it difficult to behave well and they say some do not concentrate, which can disturb their work. Parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire showed concern also, particularly about poor behaviour disrupting lessons. There is a significant proportion of pupils in the school who have behavioural and emotional difficulties and there have been a few temporary exclusions when staff felt that a child’s behaviour had been unacceptable. The school helps to fund an external facility, the Linden Centre, which is used very effectively to help those pupils who find difficulty in controlling their emotions. This

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

support has enabled pupils to develop their own strategies and learn self-control. Also, staff use strategies consistently to manage and adapt pupils’ behaviour. Together with strong relationships, effective care and support, pupils’ behaviour is improving rapidly. By the time pupils are in Years 5 and 6, inappropriate behaviour is infrequent. Pupils feel that bullying is rare and, when it occurs, teachers are quick to act and put things right. Racist incidents are infrequent and resolved promptly.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The vast majority of pupils say they feel safe in school and almost all parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire said they felt their children were kept safe at school. There is a strong school ethos about keeping safe and pupils have a good understanding of how they do so, showing understanding of issues such as the dangers of the internet, for example. Pupils recognise potentially dangerous situations well and use sensible precautions when dealing with them. Attendance is above the national average and pupils are usually punctual to school.

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Leadership and management

The pursuit of excellence in all of the school’s activities is demonstrated by an uncompromising and highly successful drive to help pupils reach good levels of achievement. This has been successfully achieved for all pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, over a sustained period of time. All leaders and managers, including the governing body, are highly ambitious for the school and lead by example. The interim headteachers are successfully continuing the drive for continuous improvement in their support of the deputy headteacher and all the staff. The governing body is well informed and very evaluative of its own work, as well of that of the school. It bases its actions on an accurate understanding of the school’s performance and is challenging leaders effectively so that the pace of improvements is maintained.

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Leadership and management

Key leaders’ clear focus on improving teaching and learning has resulted in teaching that is good and sometimes outstanding. The leadership team has improved the school significantly since the previous inspection. Areas for improvement have been Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

tackled successfully and many aspects of the provision improved. The curriculum provides for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very successfully and meets their needs, interests, and aptitudes well. Staff ensure there is no evident discrimination and very effectively promote pupils’ equal opportunities to achieve well. The school has highly successful strategies for engaging with parents and carers and provides high levels of support for families who are meeting challenging circumstances and those whose children have particular special needs or behavioural difficulties. Strategies to support these pupils have a strong impact on improving their personal and academic progress. Many parents and carers commented on the strong leadership and high levels of support given to pupils and their families. The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Bordon Junior School, Bordon GU35 0JB

Thank you for making us so welcome and answering our questions when we visited you recently. You and your parents and carers are rightly proud of your school and we agree it is a good school.

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Inspection of Bordon Junior School, Bordon GU35 0JB

Here are some of the things we found out about you and your school.

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Inspection of Bordon Junior School, Bordon GU35 0JB

 You all make good progress to reach standards that are above most pupils nationally. You do particularly well in your reading and mathematics.  You want to do well; most of you try hard and enjoy your work.  Behaviour is good overall, but some pupils have difficulties in concentrating in lessons and behaving well. They are supported very well and their behaviour has improved a great deal.  You feel very safe in school and have a good understanding of how to keep yourselves and others safe.  You are taught well and all your teachers work hard to make your lessons interesting.  The school is led extremely well and there have been lots of improvements.  The governing body and all the staff work hard to make your school even better.  The curriculum is exciting and you are rightly proud of the fantastic outdoor areas, where you can enjoy many activities and enjoyable lessons.

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Inspection of Bordon Junior School, Bordon GU35 0JB

Even though Bordon Junior is a good school we have asked your teachers and the governing body to do two main things to make your school even better.

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Inspection of Bordon Junior School, Bordon GU35 0JB

 Help you to make better progress in writing in Years 3 and 4 so that you reach the same good standards in English as those in mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Make teaching even stronger by ensuring any gaps in your learning are identified quickly, that your lessons help you to improve in these areas, and that the teachers ensure everyone, especially those who find learning easy, make the best progress possible.

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Inspection of Bordon Junior School, Bordon GU35 0JB

Thank you again for your warm welcome and we wish you well for the future.

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Inspection of Bordon Junior School, Bordon GU35 0JB

Yours sincerely Hazel Callaghan Lead Inspector (on behalf of the inspection team) procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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