Woodlea Junior School

Age group 7–11 Inspection date(s) 22–23 February 2012 Inspection number 379754 Unique Reference Number 119208 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 379754 Inspection dates 22–23 February 2012 Lead inspector Ruth James HMI

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 226 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Fred Heyworth Headteacher Julie Ault Date of previous school inspection 4 December 2008 School address Woodlea Road Leyland PR25 1JL Telephone number 01772 421992 Fax number 01772 454364 Email address bursar@woodlea.lancs.sch.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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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 after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Introduction

Ruth James Elaine Maloney Her Majesty's Inspector Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Fourteen lessons were observed and nine teachers seen. Inspectors also observed three intervention sessions. Meetings were held with parents, groups of pupils, governors and staff. 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 assessment and tracking data, policies and curriculum plans. Inspectors also considered an analysis of questionnaires from 73 parents and carers.

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Information about the school

The school is slightly smaller than the average sized primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals has risen recently and is now a little above average. The vast majority of the pupils are of White British heritage and very few have a first language other than English. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is slightly lower than that found nationally. The school holds a number of awards including the Healthy School Award, Green Flag award and ActiveMark. The school met the government’s current floor standards in 2011. 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

 The school provides a satisfactory education within a caring, supportive and engaging environment for pupils. The vast majority of pupils, parents and carers are very positive about the school. The school’s strengths include good attendance and behaviour, and the good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. The curriculum is good and teachers promote pupils’ self-confidence and self-esteem effectively, creating a good climate for learning.

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Key Findings

 The school is satisfactory rather than good, because achievement, teaching, and leadership and management are satisfactory. Although there are clear signs of improvement in teaching and rates of progress, the impact of changes have not been realised in the results of national tests at the end of Year 6.

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Key Findings

 In lessons, although examples of good practice were seen, teachers’ strategies to promote academic progress are not sufficiently refined and focused, so the pace of learning is not rapid enough. Teachers’ expectations of pupils are often not high enough. Teaching makes a significant contribution to the good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. Relationships are very good and in lessons pupils are typically enthusiastic and well motivated.

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Key Findings

 Attendance is above average, reflecting pupils' enjoyment of school. Behaviour is good both in lessons and around school. Bullying is rare and pupils feel safe. They are friendly and welcoming. They are encouraged to be reflective about their own behaviour and they show respect for each other and for adults.

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Key Findings

 Leaders and managers collect a wealth of data about pupils’ attainment and progress, which is analysed and used to target interventions. However, it is not always used with enough precision to ensure that all underachievement is tackled effectively, especially in class teaching.

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Key Findings

Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment so that the proportions of pupils gaining the expected levels and the higher levels in both English and mathematics by the end of Year 6 reach national averages.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to accelerate progress further by: - increasing the pace in lessons - making explicit the intended learning outcomes from activities - raising teachers’ expectations of both the quality and quantity of work pupils can produce - ensuring that all pupils are challenged to enable them to reach their full potential - improving the consistency of marking so that pupils understand how to improve and follow up advice.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Refine the use of assessment and tracking data by class teachers so that lessons are planned to meet the needs of all groups of pupils and to accelerate the progress of underachievers.

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Achievement of pupils

In lessons, pupils enjoy learning because of the varied activities and the good relationships they have with teachers and teaching assistants. Their positive attitudes make a good contribution to their learning. They are well motivated, keen to answer questions, readily tackle the tasks and activities set and collaborate well with each other. In a literacy lesson pupils enthusiastically discussed characters in a story, carefully explaining the importance of their different roles, and the teacher promoted deeper thinking by asking additional questions to encourage them to elaborate. In a mathematics lesson pupils worked well in groups, estimating and measuring the volume of various containers, and discussing and recording the results. Although historic national test data show that pupils’ attainment has been below average, for current pupils it is improving and is broadly average. Girls do not do as well as boys, especially in mathematics. As a result of interventions and an increased

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Achievement of pupils

emphasis in lessons, attainment in reading is broadly average. A large majority of parents and carers reported that their children are making good progress, but inspection evidence including assessment data, lesson observations, and work scrutiny, shows that although some pupils are making more rapid progress, overall it is satisfactory. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to that of their peers.

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Quality of teaching

Although the overall quality of teaching is satisfactory, there are some good aspects. Teachers and staff have built good relationships with pupils and lessons are conducted in a calm and purposeful environment that is conducive to learning. Teachers promote pupils’ moral and social development very effectively, for example by consistently applying the school’s behaviour policy and encouraging co-operation and teamwork. Teachers have imaginative ideas for lessons and seek to engage pupils in their learning and foster their enthusiasm and curiosity. Generally, there is a good balance between teacher-directed and independent work in most lessons. In the better lessons the teacher’s subject knowledge and clear explanations focus the lesson, there is a good level of pupil involvement in whole- class discussions, a good variety of activities and a brisk pace which together ensure that learning is effective. In satisfactory lessons, weaknesses include a slower pace and lack of

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Quality of teaching

challenge, especially for the more able. Interesting activities are often set which the pupils enjoy, but the intended learning outcomes are not explicit and teachers sometimes miss opportunities to reinforce and consolidate learning. Teachers’ expectations in terms of both the quantity and quality of work pupils are capable of producing are not high enough. Poor handwriting and spelling are often in evidence in books. Marking is not consistent and does not always make clear how pupils can improve their work. Teachers’ skill in monitoring individual progress during lessons is variable. Although some good examples of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance learning were seen, this is not consistent across the school. Teachers understand that they are accountable for pupils’ progress and assessment information is used to group pupils according to learning need. However, assessment of pupils’ learning during lessons is inconsistent, and opportunities to

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Quality of teaching

adapt teaching are sometimes missed. The vast majority of parents and carers regard teaching as good, but inspection evidence shows that this is not consistent across all year groups and subjects.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The behaviour seen in lessons and around the school during the inspection was consistently good, clearly demonstrating pupils’ strong social and moral development. Pupils are welcoming and polite to visitors and respond enthusiastically to questions about their school or their learning experiences. They display good attitudes to learning which make an important contribution to their achievement. They listen carefully, respond readily to questions and instructions, and readily settle to their work. They work well together in paired or group activities. Pupils are respectful towards each other and adults. They are particularly proud of their positions of additional responsibility. They have a good knowledge and understanding of what constitutes a safe situation for themselves and others. The school’s policies and strategies for dealing with any unacceptable behaviour are effective and well understood, with clear rewards and sanctions. Pupils perceive them to be fair.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Around school there is a calm and orderly atmosphere. Scrutiny of behavioural records and discussions with pupils confirm that behaviour in lessons is generally good over time. Exclusions related to unacceptable behaviour have declined significantly. Bullying of all types is very rare and pupils reported that it is dealt with effectively. Attendance is now high, because pupils enjoy school and want to do well. Punctuality is generally good. Pupils’ questionnaire responses confirm that they feel safe and that behaviour is good. The vast majority of parents and carers agree that their children are safe. Whilst a small minority of parental and carers’ questionnaires suggested that some lessons can be disrupted by poor behaviour, inspectors saw no instances of disruption to any lessons. Discussions with pupils about this and about bullying indicated that any incidents of unacceptable behaviour are rare and are dealt with in a timely and effective manner.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher, together with other senior leaders and governors, has set the school on an improving course. Evidence from a variety of sources points to an improved culture and ethos, a cohesive staff team, and a real commitment to raising attainment. Attendance has improved to above average. There are more opportunities for parents and carers to be involved in their children’s learning and education, including through project based homework tasks, and the positive responses to questionnaires show the impact of this work. The proportion of pupils gaining at least the expected levels in English and mathematics in national tests at the end of Year 6 has increased, but the pace of change has not been rapid enough and this figure remains below average.

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Leadership and management

Senior teachers collect evidence through a range of activities such as classroom observations and scrutiny of planning and pupils’ work. The contribution of subject leaders is developing. The quality of teaching is improving as a result of strategies such as coaching and peer observation. Although the school collects a wealth of data about attainment and progress, it is not always analysed with sufficient rigour or used with enough precision to plan actions to ensure that underachievement is eradicated.

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Leadership and management

The work of the school to promote equal opportunities and tackle discrimination is satisfactory. Strategies such as assertive mentoring are now being developed to improve the performance of different groups, including gifted and talented pupils, but there is a heavy dependence on interventions which involve removal of pupils from lessons so that they miss other work. Spiritual, social, moral and cultural education permeates all aspects of school life and is a strength. The curriculum is good. It is broad and balanced and some effective links are made between different subjects. Enrichment opportunities, such as visits, are used well to enhance learning.

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Leadership and management

Members of the governing body, including parent governors, have a good relationship with the headteacher and staff. They are developing their knowledge of the school and its work and undertaking training to enable them to carry out their duties as ‘critical friends’ effectively. Some are actively involved with the school as voluntary helpers. They are increasingly able to ask challenging questions and hold school leaders to account. They are keen to develop their role in monitoring and evaluating the work of the school. School leaders and governors ensure that arrangements to keep pupils safe are good and that child protection procedures are well understood by staff.

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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.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

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 ).

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

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.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

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 up 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

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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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Woodlea Junior School, Leyland, PR25 1JL

Thank you for the welcome you gave us when we came to inspect your school. We enjoyed talking with you and listening to your views. We would like to share with you what we have learned about your school.

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Inspection of Woodlea Junior School, Leyland, PR25 1JL

Your school is providing you with a satisfactory education. This means that some things are going well, but there are things that could be better.

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Inspection of Woodlea Junior School, Leyland, PR25 1JL

We were impressed with your good behaviour. You told us that you feel safe and that there is very little bullying. We were pleased to hear that you enjoy school because it is friendly and the staff are caring and supportive. Your teachers work hard to develop your confidence and to encourage you to reflect on your attitudes and behaviour. This helps you to develop mature and sensible attitudes. Your attendance is high.

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Inspection of Woodlea Junior School, Leyland, PR25 1JL

We found that teaching is satisfactory and that you make satisfactory progress in lessons. Teachers take care to plan interesting activities for you, including trips and visits.

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Inspection of Woodlea Junior School, Leyland, PR25 1JL

We have asked your headteacher and teachers to make sure that you achieve better results in English and mathematics by the time you leave the school. We want them to improve your lessons so that you learn as much as possible in the time available, to make sure that activities help you to learn effectively and are challenging enough, and that marking makes clear how you can improve your work. We have also asked them to use the information they collect from marking tests and assessments to help those of who could do even better or are having difficulty, to make better progress in lessons as well as through intervention groups.

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Inspection of Woodlea Junior School, Leyland, PR25 1JL

You can help by continuing to work hard every day. We wish you every success in the future.

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Inspection of Woodlea Junior School, Leyland, PR25 1JL

Ruth James Her Majesty's Inspector 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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