Wood Green Junior School

Wood Green Junior School Hobs Road, Wednesbury, WS10 9BW

p.1

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

p.1

This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 There is not enough good teaching to ensure pupils make consistently good progress and leave with attainment that is above average.  Teachers do not always demand enough from the most able pupils, especially in mathematics.  Teachers do not always use information from assessments to set work that is well matched to pupils’ abilities.  Teachers do not insist on consistently high standards of spelling, punctuation and grammar.  The school’s leaders do not analyse data on pupils’ progress sufficiently quickly or in enough detail to draw up effective plans for improvement.  Checks on teaching do not focus enough on identifying why pupils’ progress varies as they move through the school.  The governors do not always challenge senior leaders’ views of performance, and are not involved early enough in drawing up plans for improving the school’s performance.

p.1

The school has the following strengths

 The school’s leaders take swift and effective actions to improve attendance.  Pupils who have a statement of special educational needs benefit from good individual support and make good progress.  Teachers manage behaviour well. Behaviour is good both in and out of the classroom.  The school provides well for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and keeps them safe.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 20 lessons. In addition, the inspection team made a number of other short visits to lessons, listened to pupils reading and analysed the work in their books.  Meetings were held with pupils, members of the governing body, a representative of the local authority and staff, including senior and middle leaders.  Inspectors met with parents and carers. There were no responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), but inspectors considered the views expressed by parents and carers through the school’s own surveys.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current progress and attendance, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour and documents relating to safeguarding.

p.2

Inspection team

David Driscoll, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Jennifer Cutler Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 The school is similar in size to most other primary schools.  A high proportion of pupils are supported through school action.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or belong to other groups for whom the school receives additional income (the pupil premium) is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school is part of a ‘hard federation’ with a local infant school, which means it shares the same headteacher and governing body. This school was not inspected at the same time as Wood Green Junior as it was found to be an outstanding school at its last inspection.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of good teaching and raise attainment to above average by July 2013 by ensuring that teachers:  set more challenging tasks for the most able pupils, especially in mathematics  make better use of information from assessments to accurately match tasks to pupils’ abilities  insist on high standards of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the rate at which the school improves by:  analysing data on pupils’ progress in greater depth and as early as possible  using the results to target checks on teaching to determine, and subsequently address, the causes of slower progress  drawing up more sharply focused priorities for improvement and plans to address them.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve governance by:  ensuring that governors challenge the senior leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance more rigorously  involving the governing body at an earlier stage in evaluating the school’s performance and planning for improvement.

p.3

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils join and leave the school with average levels of attainment.

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress varies as pupils move through the school. Pupils made good progress in Years 3 and 6 last year, for example, but progress was slow in Years 4 and 5. The pattern is not consistent as teachers change from year to year.

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress also varies for different groups of pupils. Boys make better progress than girls in some classes, while in others the reverse is true. Those pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium make good progress in Years 3 and 4, but slower progress in Years 5 and 6. These variations often balance out over time, and different groups make similar progress in the long run.

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The same variation is observed in the progress of pupils who are supported through school action or school action plus, because the work they are given is sometimes too hard or too easy for them.

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils with a statement of special educational needs consistently make good progress. They have dedicated teaching assistants who know their capabilities well and carefully adapt work to meet their individual needs.

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress is slower in mathematics than in English. The most able pupils are not always given sufficiently demanding work in mathematics, so they finish quickly and wait for others to catch up.

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils enjoy reading, but do not read widely beyond school.

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils have plenty of opportunities to write in different styles. They develop a wide vocabulary. However, basic errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar are not always corrected, so pupils continue to make the same mistakes.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Much of the teaching requires improvement, although there are some examples of good and outstanding practice.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers consistently manage behaviour well. They are quick to identify any pupil who is losing concentration and get them back on task.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Assessments of pupils’ attainment and progress are accurate. Teachers encourage pupils to assess their own work and that of their peers, so that they understand where they have made mistakes.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Information from assessments is not always used well enough to plan lessons or to adapt teaching as a lesson proceeds. For example, teachers use mini-whiteboards well to check which pupils understand a new topic in mathematics, but instead of moving them on to something new, some teachers insist that those who understand listen to the explanation again when it is given to those whose understanding is not secure.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The same task is often given to the whole class. It is pitched at the middle ability pupils, so the most able find it too easy and the least able struggle to complete the task.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers plan lessons well to build on the interesting starting points for topics. For example, pupils visited a tile works, made their own tiles and then used the results as a starting point for learning to write instructions.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Some pupils are unclear about what they are learning because the objectives for the lesson are not always precisely stated or referred to during the lesson.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have good attitudes to learning. They enjoy school and want to do well.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Most pupils concentrate well in lessons. Some, especially the most able, start to lose interest when the work is too easy for them. They do not disrupt learning for others, but start to lose concentration. They fidget and daydream instead of paying attention.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils arrive at school ready to work. They are calm and orderly around the buildings, and let off steam in a controlled way through vigorous activity at break times.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils respond well to the good opportunities provided for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 All groups of pupils get on well with one another. They respect those from faiths and backgrounds different from their own, and show a great deal of care towards disabled pupils.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils cooperate well in lessons. They discuss topics sensibly and respect the views of others. Pupils reflect quietly and thoughtfully when opportunities arise.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe in school. Bullying and incidents of discriminatory behaviour are rare, and tackled very effectively when they occur. No pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs have been subject to bullying, for example, and pupils who have been excluded do not reoffend.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Visitors are greeted warmly and politely. Pupils have good manners and are interested in other people and their experiences.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is improving every year, and is now average.

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although the school is improving, the pace of change is not rapid enough. The school’s priorities for improvement are too general, such as improving progress in writing, rather than focusing on which classes and groups require the greatest improvement.

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s leaders do not analyse data on pupils’ progress quickly enough or in sufficient depth. They know which classes make better progress than others, but not which groups within each class, so cannot be sure that they are fully promoting equality.

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The results of such analyses are not used to target checks on teaching to find out why some classes make slower progress than others. They are, however, used well to set targets for teachers’ performance management.

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Teachers who do not meet their performance management targets are not moved up the salary scale. However, they are not always provided with the necessary training that would allow them to improve their practice in specific areas. Teachers have not had the opportunity, for example, to observe best practice in mathematics.

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Data on attendance are analysed each week. The results are used well to target resources at individual pupils and, as a result, attendance is improving faster than the national average.

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The pupil premium is used well to boost the performance of eligible pupils in Years 3 and 4. It is spent on individual support and enabling such pupils to be taught in smaller groups. It is less effective in Years 5 and 6, where pupils remain in such groups even when it is apparent that they are not catching up with their peers.

p.6

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Staff morale is good. Teachers are keen to improve their practice and move the school forward.

p.6

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Parents and carers hold positive views about the school. The school’s leaders provide them with good information and take full account of their concerns when drawing up plans for improvement.

p.6

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The federation has provided many benefits in terms of sharing resources and expertise. However, in some areas the expertise of senior and middle managers has not been sufficient to improve performance to a similar level to that found in the partner school.

p.6

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Teachers moving from the infant school have not always had training on the different requirements for teaching older pupils. Senior leaders have not got to grips with the more extensive data.

p.6

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Staff from the local authority have visited the school to evaluate its effectiveness and provide support in ensuring the school understands and uses the Ofsted criteria for evaluating schools. They have rightly identified the need for better analysis of data, but their evaluation of the school’s performance is overgenerous.

p.6

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  requires improvement because the governing body is not involved in evaluating the school’s performance or planning for its improvement early enough  does not always challenge the senior leaders’ evaluations of its performance  ensures that statutory requirements are met, including those for safeguarding pupils  ensures that individual governors play a good part in the daily life of the school.

p.6

Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

p.7

Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

p.7

School details

Unique reference number 103913 Local authority Sandwell Inspection number 400670

p.8

School details

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

p.8

School details

Type of school Junior 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 Lesley Turner Headteacher Jane Burns Date of previous school inspection 14 June 2010 Telephone number 0121 556 0377 Fax number 0121 556 0630 Email address headteacher@woodgreen.sandwell.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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 .

p.8

School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

p.9

School details

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

p.9

School details

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

p.9

School details

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’.

p.9

School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.9