Hatfield Peverel St Andrew's Junior School

Age group 7–11 Inspection date(s) 12–13 July 2012 Inspection number 379003 Hatfield Peverel St Andrew's Junior School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 115102 Local authority Essex Inspection number 379003 Inspection dates 12–13 July 2012 Lead inspector Cheryl Thompson

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 215 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Derrick Louis Headteacher Chris James Date of previous school inspection 10 October 2006 School address Church Road Hatfield Peverel Chelmsford CM3 2JX Telephone number 01245 380131 Fax number 01245 382497 Email address admin@hatfieldpeverel-jun.essex.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. Inspectors observed 15 lessons taught by nine teachers. The work of learning support assistants, with small groups of pupils and individuals, was also observed. Meetings were held with staff, members of the governing body and groups of pupils. Inspectors heard a small number of pupils read in Year 3 and Year 6. Inspectors observed the school’s work, and looked at school evaluation documents, safeguarding documentation, data on pupils’ progress and development planning. Responses from questionnaires completed by 70 parents and carers were analysed, as well as those from pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This is an average-sized primary school and serves the village and surrounding area. Approximately a third of pupils live outside of the school’s catchment area. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The school has eight classes with two classes in each year group. The school meets the current floor standards, which set the government’s minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. The school has the national Healthy Schools Award and the Activemark for high quality physical education provision. The school works in partnership with a school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) consortium.

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Information about the school

Within the past two years, the school has had a complete change of governing body membership. 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. The school’s motto, ‘Enjoy, Respect, Achieve,’ is met very well. The strong leadership of the headteacher, deputy headteacher and senior teachers ensures an effective team approach to school improvement. The school is not outstanding because, although good, the quality of teaching is not leading to outstanding achievement, most notably in writing.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ achievement is good overall and outstanding in mathematics. Attainment is above average and considerably above in mathematics. Progress is good overall and outstanding in mathematics. The small minority of pupils, who begin Year 3 with weak levels of understanding of how to use letter sounds to read and spell (phonics), make satisfactory rather than good progress. Teachers do not have a clear idea of what these pupils know, or need to learn next and have not had enough training in how to teach phonics to ensure pupils’ good progress.

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Key findings

 Good teaching makes a strong contribution to pupils’ good all-round academic achievement, enthusiasm for learning and very well-developed personal skills. Pupils are very well prepared for their future education, except in the areas of handwriting and presentation of their work. In these areas, teachers are not always setting sufficiently high expectations.

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Key findings

 The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding. A very relevant curriculum and excellent relationships, based on mutual respect between adults and pupils, underpin pupils’ enthusiasm for their learning. Almost all pupils say they feel extremely safe in school and all are confident that, should they have concerns, any member of staff will help them.

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Key findings

 Leadership and management, including the management of performance, are good. Self-evaluation is good. There are good systems for checking on pupils’ and teachers’ performance although monitoring is not always rigorous enough to ‘unpick’ details of what is needed to raise good teaching to a consistently 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?

 Increase pupils’ rate of progress further in writing by:  providing training for staff to help improve their understanding of how to teach letters and sounds  assessing pupils’ knowledge of letters and sounds at their start in Year 3, in order to provide teachers with a secure understanding of their starting points and what they need to learn next  setting higher expectations for standards of handwriting and presentation.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of consistently outstanding teaching by:  monitoring the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning even more rigorously and regularly, to focus on the details needing improvement.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils achieve well in all subjects with outstanding achievement in mathematics where, this year, 14% of pupils attained Level 6 which is well beyond the expectations for 11-year-olds. There are no significant differences in achievement between different groups of pupils whatever their ability or gender. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to their peers. These findings endorse the views of the vast majority of parents and carers who consider their children are making good progress. Attainment on entry to Year 3 is usually above average and in some years significantly so. The school is successful in sustaining and building on pupils’ accomplished starting points so that, by the end of Year 6, attainment is significantly above average. For example, this year, in mathematics, pupils are over a year and a term ahead of pupils of a similar age nationally and, in writing, almost two terms ahead. In reading, pupils are ahead by

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Achievement of pupils

almost a year. Year 6 pupils read accurately and enthusiastically, explaining in detail why they like particular genres and authors

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make good progress overall and outstanding progress in mathematics. For example, in an outstanding lesson in Year 6, pupils worked out the costs of shares, and then re-calculated them in the light of the rise and fall in share prices. Writing is the area where progress, while good, is not so strong because of only satisfactory progress in Year 3. This slower start for a small minority is because there is no defined system for ensuring pupils continue to build on the programme of phonics they had been learning in the infant school. Consequently, these pupils are not able to make a good attempt to read unknown words or write the words they wish to use in stories and accounts. As pupils move through the school, progress in reading and writing picks up significantly, especially in Year 6, because pupils learn to make good use of dictionaries and thesauruses and teachers pick up on gaps in pupils’

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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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Quality of teaching

Teaching is good. The vast majority of pupils, parents and carers endorse this view. Classrooms are lively learning environments. Pupils are very involved in their learning because teachers use very effective questioning at a brisk pace. Across the school, teaching is particularly effective in mathematics because teachers have excellent subject knowledge which they use to make lessons fun and very challenging. Pupils say they ‘...love science and design and technology lessons...’ because they ‘...get to use great tools.’ Teachers complete detailed assessments so that risks are minimised for pupils to use saws and hot glue-guns to make their ‘buggies’. Inspection evidence shows that pupils’ excellent behaviour and awareness of safety ensure they use such equipment safely and successfully. Teaching for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is equally good. Teaching assistants provide sensitive

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Quality of teaching

support for pupils with high levels of need, always encouraging good self-esteem and independence.

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Quality of teaching

The great majority of teaching is either good or outstanding. A key strength in all teaching is teachers’ expectations that pupils will use the guidance provided to carefully assess their own work, and then set themselves targets to do even better. Excellent relationships between adults and pupils provide pupils with confidence to voice their opinions and ask questions. Teachers take appropriate opportunities to ask thought-provoking questions, as in a science lesson on sound, when pupils were asked how poor hearing would impact on daily living; at the start of their buggy- racing activity, pupils were asked to establish their racing rules. Such opportunities support pupils’ personal development well. There are three reasons that teaching is not consistently outstanding. First, the quality of teachers’ marking is variable. Pupils’ work is always marked but the level of guidance is inconsistent. Where marking is

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Quality of teaching

outstanding, pupils know exactly how to improve their work. On occasions, marking is more congratulatory than helpful. Second, teachers are not setting consistent, high expectations for pupils’ standards of handwriting and presentation so that pupils’ work does not always reflect their abilities. Third, while the teaching of reading and writing is generally good, teachers and teaching assistants lack detailed knowledge and expertise in how to teach the early stages of phonics to ensure pupils’ good rather than satisfactory progress in this aspect.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ behaviour around the school and in lessons is outstanding. Pupils are polite and friendly to those they know and welcoming to visitors. In lessons, pupils have very positive attitudes and take pride in working to the best of their capabilities. They work exceptionally well together and respect each other’s views and efforts; for example in Year 6’s buggy-racing competition, pupils discussed how they could make improvements to performance and congratulated the winners. Older pupils demonstrated a good understanding of the difference between need and want when they planed a seaside town. They discussed, with a great deal of humour, that while 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

it may be ‘great’ to have a water-park, there is a need for a car-park for the visitors. Such positive and mature attitudes make a significant contribution to learning. The views of most pupils, parents and carers indicate that this impressive standard of behaviour is the norm.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils know about different types of bullying, such as what is meant by cyber or racist bullying. They are confident incidences of bullying are very rare in the school and that, should they have concerns, any member of staff will help them. Pupils like taking on responsibilities, such as being talk-partners to Year 2 pupils in the infant school or members of the school council. They have an excellent idea of how to keep themselves and others safe. All parents and carers agree that their child is safe and looked after well at school.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance is consistently above average. Pupils say they ‘hate being ill’ and missing their interesting lessons and activities.

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Leadership and management

Leadership and management are good. Principled leadership, good management systems and high quality teaching by the senior team are at the heart of the school’s success. The headteacher takes advantage of appropriate training courses and ensures that all teachers are involved. For example, The headteacher, deputy headteacher and chair of governors undertook the local authority course, ‘From good to great’ and, from this, led a series of training sessions for staff. As a result, staff agreed the features of ‘good or better’ teaching and the criteria for judging the quality of teaching in the school. Consequently, all are aware of the high expectations for their performance. The involvement of the school in the SCITT partnership has also had a good impact on teachers’ skills of monitoring and judging the quality of teaching. The proportion of outstanding teaching across the school has improved considerably since the last inspection. However, the senior team’s good

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Leadership and management

monitoring is not always having the desired impact because they are not being rigorous enough to note details. For example, they take only a small sample of pupils’ books to scrutinise rather than a larger sample of, say, a given ability range.

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Leadership and management

There is a strong capacity for further improvement. Since the last inspection, the school has sustained significantly above-average attainment and developed its curriculum further to include more sporting and musical activities, and even more opportunities for gifted and talented pupils. Discrimination is tackled robustly and equality of opportunity is promoted effectively because the school knows exactly how well different groups of pupils are learning. The school’s system for tracking pupils’ progress is being used increasingly effectively to set even more challenging targets for attainment, and to hold teachers to account in ensuring pupils meet these targets.

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Leadership and management

The good and constantly developing curriculum provides a range of rich opportunities for very relevant learning. It contributes particularly well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, the recent Olympic theme has 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

developed pupils’ understanding of values and personal qualities such as resilience and perseverance.

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Leadership and management

The governing body is proud and supportive of the school and makes effective use of each member’s particular strengths, such as in finance. In a relatively short time, it has developed a good overview of the school’s strengths and areas to improve and has contributed effectively to improving consultation and communication with parents and carers. It ensures safeguarding systems follow recommended good practice and meet government 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 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.

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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.

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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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2JX

Thank you all for welcoming us to your school and for sharing your thoughts and ideas about it. This helped us to make our judgements about your school, which is providing you with a good education. The best things about the school are that:

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2JX

 you thoroughly enjoy school, make good progress and reach above-average levels of attainment, especially in mathematics  your behaviour is outstanding and you work and play very well together  everyone looks after you well and teachers make sure you have work to make you think hard  your headteacher, deputy headteacher and senior teachers lead and manage the school well.

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2JX

There are a few areas where the school can do even better. I have asked your headteacher, deputy headteacher, senior teachers and the governing body to:

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2JX

 make sure that teaching of phonics (linking letters and sounds) always helps you make the best progress  make sure that your teachers always expect you to do your best handwriting and set your work out neatly.

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2JX

You already make a good contribution to the life of the school. You are very positive about learning. We were very impressed with how welcoming you are to visitors and with your flute playing in assembly. You can help the school improve even further by continuing to work hard and always trying your best with your handwriting and presentation.

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2JX

Cheryl Thompson Lead 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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