Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School

Age group 7–11 Inspection date(s) 25–26 April 2012 Inspection number 380668 Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 123489 Local authority Telford and Wrekin Inspection number 380668 Inspection dates 25–26 April 2012 Lead inspector Roy Bowers 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 Junior School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 237 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ruth Corrigan Headteacher Stephen Ashton Date of previous school inspection 21 May 2009 School address Avenue Road Newport TF10 7EA Telephone number 01952 386600 Fax number 01952 386601 Email address a3082@telford.gov.uk Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 2 of 12

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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. 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

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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 Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 3 of 12

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspectors observed guided reading sessions, heard pupils reading and observed 13 lessons taught by nine teachers. Meetings were held with staff, and both the Chair and another member of the Governing Body. Discussions were held with groups of pupils and parents and carers. The inspectors observed the school’s work, and looked at the school’s plans for improvement, assessment information, lesson plans, the school’s monitoring information, school policies and 74 questionnaires from parents and carers.

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Information about the school

The school is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of pupils supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is average. Most pupils are White British. The school meets the current floor standards, which set the government’s minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 4 of 12

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Information about the 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 which has improved significantly since the last inspection. Pupils make good academic progress and mature into responsible young people. The school is not outstanding mainly because teaching is not consistently good enough to promote outstanding achievement.

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Key findings

 Achievement is good. Since the last inspection pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 has risen steadily year-on-year and is now significantly above average. All groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, make good progress. However, the progress made by some of the more-able pupils is slightly slower. A few of the pupils who find reading difficult make slower progress in reading than others. This is because the teaching of basic reading skills is not structured sufficiently or implemented regularly and systematically enough.

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Key findings

 Teaching is mainly good and some is outstanding. In the best lessons, activities have an exceptionally clear learning purpose and are skillfully structured so that all groups of pupils receive sufficient challenge to make outstanding progress. In a few lessons the learning of some pupils, especially the more able, is no better than satisfactory.    Pupils feel safe and well-supported in school. Their very positive attitudes to learning and willingness to support each other help ensure that they are well- prepared for the future. Behaviour is typically good and disruption in lessons is very unusual.

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Key findings

 Staff training, together with regular and systematic monitoring of pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching, mainly account for the improved pupils’ achievement. Staff performance management and the sharing of good practice are given high priority. Plans for improvement are in place but they do not have measurable outcomes and are not focused sharply enough on improving pupils’ achievement. Pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development is good but their Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 5 of 12

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Key findings

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

cultural development is not as well developed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Improve pupils’ achievement, especially of the more-able pupils, and raise the proportion of good and outstanding teaching by:  extending best practice in the school to ensure that in, the majority of lessons, activities have a very precise learning purpose and pupils are guided carefully and systematically through small learning steps so all groups of pupils make outstanding progress  ensuring that in all lessons work planned for more-able pupils challenges them effectively so that they make at least good progress  ensuring that the programme for teaching basic reading skills is carefully structured and implemented regularly and systematically  providing pupils with more opportunities to develop their higher-order speaking skills  ensuring that all teachers’ marking provides pupils with clear advice on how to improve and pupils are given opportunities to respond and learn from their mistakes.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Improve leadership and management by ensuring that plans for improvement have measurable outcomes and are focused sharply on improving pupils’ achievement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Improve pupils’ cultural development by ensuring that they have a good awareness, knowledge and understanding of the diversity of cultures in the United Kingdom and globally.

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Achievement of pupils

Most pupils start school in Year 3 with skills in English and mathematics that are above those expected for their age. All groups of pupils, including disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, make good progress throughout the school. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 is significantly above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Parents and carers are correct in their view that pupils achieve well.

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Achievement of pupils

In most lessons, the work given to the higher attaining pupils is matched well to their needs. However, in a few lessons, they are given similar work to most other pupils and are not challenged sufficiently. Consequently, the progress of some of the more- able pupils is slower in some lessons than that of others. The improving trend in pupils’ achievement means that gaps between previously underachieving groups and all pupils nationally are closing rapidly and no longer significant. Disabled pupils and Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 6 of 12

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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

those who have special educational needs make good progress because they receive support at just the right level. Regular guided reading sessions in school, one-to-one support for reading from volunteer helpers, good use of book reviews and effective support from parents and carers help ensure that pupils develop good reading skills. Most pupils can identify key themes in their reading and describe characters, using the text to support their views. However, a few of the lower-attaining pupils in reading make slower progress than others. This is because the programme for teaching the basic reading skills of knowing the sounds that letters make and blending them together to make words is not structured sufficiently or implemented regularly and systematically. Pupils apply their writing and mathematics' skills well in other subjects. This help to promote their good achievement across the curriculum.

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Quality of teaching

In lessons, although there is the very occasional disruption caused by pupils with identified behavioural and emotional difficulties, teachers manage pupils' behaviour well through regular positive comments and rewards. Teachers provide pupils with many opportunities which promote their spiritual, moral and social development. In one lesson, pupils were captivated when learning about the functions of the parts of a flowering plant. One pupil said, ‘I never knew any of this before. I thought that flowers were just to make the world more beautiful’. Pupils’ well-developed social skills help them to work together collaboratively and extend each other’s learning.

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Quality of teaching

Where teaching is outstanding, teachers are exceptionally clear about what they want pupils to learn, pupils are carefully guided through small learning steps and the activities provide a high level of challenge for all groups of pupils. However, teaching is not outstanding overall because these features are inconsistent. For example, where teaching is good, activities are well structured to help pupils make good progress, but they are not always put together quite as well as those in outstanding lessons. In a few lessons, teaching does not build carefully enough on pupils’ current skills, knowledge and understanding and work given to the more-able pupils is not much harder than that of other groups of pupils. Disabled pupils and those with special education needs often receive effective support from skilled teaching assistants who guide the pupils carefully through their learning. For example, in one

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Quality of teaching

mathematics lesson on properties of 2-D shapes, lower attaining pupils worked exceptionally well with a teaching assistant who carefully guided their learning through shape-sorting activities, while the more-able pupils used their knowledge of shapes to solve more difficult problems.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers regularly mark pupils’ work and, in the best examples, clear learning steps are identified and pupils are given opportunities to respond and learn from their mistakes. However, this is inconsistent. In lessons, pupils are given many opportunities to discuss their work with others. They are keen to talk to their peers and describe clearly what they have learnt. However, teachers do not take the opportunities to develop pupils’ higher-order speaking skills, for example through presentations to larger groups. Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 7 of 12

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Quality of teaching

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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Quality of teaching

Most parents and carers who replied to the inspection questionnaire and who spoke to the inspectors think that their children are taught well. Inspection evidence supports their views. 

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are friendly and caring and say that they enjoy coming to school. In lessons, pupils work together well and support each other when necessary. Attendance is high and pupils arrive punctually.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most pupils and parents and carers report that there is typically a good standard of behaviour in the school and pupils feel safe. The school’s own behaviour records and monitoring by senior leaders support this view. Strong links with external agencies help ensure that pupils whose circumstances make them vulnerable receive the support they need. Pupils say that bullying is very rare and give examples of name- calling as the only bullying that has happened. However, they add that, once teachers are aware of any bullying, they deal with it effectively and quickly. Most of the pupils spoken to during the inspection could talk about the dangers associated with roads, water, the internet and some could talk about the negative impacts of cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying such as racism.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most pupils are highly motivated, enthusiastic to learn and are rightly proud of their achievements. They respond enthusiastically when given the opportunity to discuss their learning with other pupils or the teacher. For example, pupils enjoyed using their knowledge of persuasion techniques to try to convince their teacher that longer breaks between lessons would help them learn more effectively.

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Leadership and management

Since the last inspection, all senior leaders have successfully undertaken extensive training to improve their monitoring and evaluation skills. They are now all involved in lesson observations and feedback, checking on pupils’ work in books and analysing pupil progress data. Subject leaders know what needs to be done to raise achievement in their subjects and write plans for improvement. However, although the plans show the actions the school is to undertake, they do not focus on outcomes for pupils and do not have measurable ways through which the success of the actions can be monitored and evaluated.

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Leadership and management

Effective procedures to manage teachers’ performance and good-quality professional development have improved teaching from satisfactory to good. Members of the governing body are now more aware of their role in monitoring the work of the school and readily challenge senior leaders and hold them to account for pupils’ achievement. Improvements to assessments, rigorous tracking of pupils’ progress and the provision of support for individual pupils who are not on track to meet their Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 8 of 12

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Leadership and management

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

targets shows the school’s good commitment to promoting equality and tackling discrimination. These improvements and the resulting rise in pupils’ attainment since the last inspection demonstrate that the school has good capacity to improve further. Safeguarding procedures meet requirements and all staff have received appropriate training.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is enriched well by a wide variety after-school clubs and activities. Pupils’ spiritual development is nurtured effectively through music, arts and opportunities for self-reflection and discovery. Pupils were enthralled in an assembly when experiencing how materials can burn in different ways. Pupils’ social and moral development is promoted regularly through opportunities to talk to each other about their learning and through clearly defined boundaries of what is right or wrong. However, pupils’ cultural development is not promoted as well because there are few opportunities for pupils to develop good knowledge, understanding and awareness of the diversity of cultures in the United Kingdom and globally. Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 9 of 12

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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. Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 10 of 12

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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

Floor standards: the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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. Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 11 of 12

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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 Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior

Thank you for the warm welcome you gave to the inspectors when we visited your school recently. We were very impressed with your polite and courteous attitude and pleased to see the sensible way you behave around school. We enjoyed talking to you and hearing some of you read. We were very pleased to see that you take little time off from school. Well done!

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Inspection of Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior

You go to a good school and you make good progress. The teachers are very kind and helpful, and want you all to do your best. However, we want the headteacher and governing body to make your school even better and have asked them to make sure that:

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Inspection of Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior

 the majority of lessons are outstanding and that, in all lessons, those of you who find work easy are given more challenging tasks  those of you who find reading difficult are helped to become better readers  you are helped to develop your speaking skills to a higher level  all teachers mark your books in a way that gives you clear guidance on how to improve your work  some of the teachers who have special responsibilities in your school get even better at helping you make even more progress  all of you improve your knowledge of the ways people live in different parts of the United Kingdom and throughout the world.

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Inspection of Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior

You can help too by continuing to do your best and telling the teachers if your work is too easy or too hard.

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Inspection of Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior

Roy Bowers Her Majesty's Inspector Inspection report: Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School, 25–26 April 2012 12 of 12

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Inspection of Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior

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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