Wootey Junior School

Wootey Junior School Wooteys Way, Alton, GU34 2JA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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This is a good school

 Almost all pupils make good progress throughout the school in English and mathematics and reach above average standards of attainment by the end of Year 6.  The quality of teaching is consistently good. Lessons move at a brisk pace, provide plenty of challenge and thoroughly engage pupils.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. Pupils have highly positive attitudes to learning and make every effort to improve. Attendance is above average.  Pupils feel entirely safe within the warm, welcoming and purposeful environment.  School leaders and governors work very well as a team. Under the highly effective leadership of the headteacher, the school, the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement have improved since the previous inspection. There is a strong capacity to improve further.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The progress of some less able Year 3 and 4 pupils in reading and writing is hindered due a lack of confidence in phonics (the sounds letters make).  Not enough is done to reinforce correct spelling across all subjects.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 17 lessons, of which seven were joint observations with senior leaders. They listened to pupils reading and discussed their reading habits and preferences with them.  Inspectors discussed various aspects of the school with pupils and looked at a range of their work. They took account of the school’s data on pupils’ attainment and progress.  Meetings were held with representatives of the governing body, members of staff holding senior and middle leadership responsibilities, and a representative from the local authority.  During the inspection, inspectors took account of the 31 responses to the on-line Parent View survey, the school’s own recent parent and pupil surveys, and individual letters from parents. They took account of the 16 questionnaires returned by staff.  Inspectors looked at a number of documents, including plans for improvement, teachers’ plans, safeguarding arrangements, records relating to behaviour and attendance, governing body

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Information about this inspection

minutes and records of the school leaders’ monitoring of lessons.

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Inspection team

Rob Crompton, Lead inspector Additional inspector Eileen Chadwick Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is average in size.  Almost all pupils are White British and very few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, for whom the school receives additional funding through the pupil premium, is average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational need, is twice the national average. An average proportion of pupils are supported by school action. Pupils’ needs relate mainly to moderate learning difficulties, behaviour problems or speech and language difficulties.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate the progress of the lower ability pupils in reading and writing in Years 3 and 4, by: – ensuring pupils have a secure grasp of phonics – making more frequent reference to phonics and spellings during day-to-day lessons – refining pupils’ home/school reading journals to include a cumulative record of the letters and sounds pupils know and those they need to learn, and using this to provide a basis for individual support when listening to pupils read.  Improve spelling across the school by – encouraging pupils to apply their knowledge of phonics more consistently in order to increase the accuracy of their spelling – ensuring teachers reinforce a systematic approach to spelling in pupils’ written work across the curriculum.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 As pupils enter Year 3, their attainment is broadly average, although their writing skills are weaker than in reading and mathematics. They make good progress, particularly in mathematics, through Years 3 to 6, achieving above average standards in both English and mathematics. Notably, the proportion of pupils reaching or exceeding the expected levels in both English and mathematics is above average.  Pupils make at least the expected progress in reading and writing in Years 3 and 4, but some of the lower ability pupils struggle to make good headway because they lack the phonic skills to attempt reading and writing new words with confidence.  Progress through Years 5 and 6 is consistently good. A group of older pupils were keen to discuss their reading. They reflected maturely, with such comments as, ‘Films can never show images that you can create in your mind when you’re reading.’ Pupils write imaginatively,

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The achievement of pupils is good

drawing on the insights they gain from reading widely to construct sentences which engage the reader, are well constructed and grammatically correct.  A drive to improve handwriting skills has borne fruit as almost all pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 write using a flowing and increasingly neat joined script. Occasionally, mistakes in spelling detract from the overall quality of pupils’ written work.  Pupils in Year 6 are adept at using their very secure number skills when tackling mathematical problems, such as finding the perimeter and area of complex shapes or converting fractions into decimals and percentages.  Pupils with moderate learning difficulties or speech and language problems make good gains in their learning due to highly effective support. Sensitive guidance for pupils who have emotional or behavioural difficulties is very successful in enabling them to take a full part in lessons and to

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The achievement of pupils is good

make similar progress to their classmates.  Most pupils for whom the school receives additional funding through the pupil premium make at least the same progress as their peers. Indeed, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals reached better than the national average levels for all pupils in the last two years.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is rarely less than good and some is outstanding. Teachers are highly skilled in engaging pupils and sustaining their attention throughout lessons. They almost always pitch work at just the right level for pupils across the ability range.  Rather than keeping rigidly to their original plans, teachers are quick to adapt work during lessons to meet the emerging needs of pupils. This was evident during a lesson on time in Year 3. After setting a challenging problem, the teacher quickly found out which pupils had solved it and gave them further work, whilst gathering the rest together to provide further support.  Teachers make every effort to interpret the curriculum in ways that appeal to pupils. For example, in Year 5, pupils enjoyed adapting some of the similes and metaphors they found in The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. Subsequent plans included role-play and writing letters from

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The quality of teaching is good

the characters in the poem. Indeed, role-play and drama are widely used to promote pupils’ language development and writing skills.  Routinely, teachers set challenging targets for pupils, and pupils themselves are frequently involved in deciding their immediate goals. Teachers typically explain what good learning will look like in terms of ‘I can, I can also…’ and ‘I can even…’ This provides clear guidance about what is expected and successfully encourages pupils to attempt increasingly demanding tasks.  All classrooms include prompts for learning, examples of work in progress and displays that celebrate pupils’ achievements and serve as exemplars. Pupils are encouraged to adopt different strategies according to the task in hand, together with their preferred methods. Visual diagrams or mind maps provide a useful framework for pupils to develop methodical approaches to structuring stories, working in groups or solving mathematical problems, for example.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils with special educational needs and those for whom the school receives additional funding through the pupil premium, benefit from effective support. Teaching assistants, working with individuals or small groups, help them to build well on their starting points and keep a close eye on their progress. During whole class lessons, however, opportunities are sometimes missed, particularly in Years 3 and 4, to reinforce the phonic skills of pupils in the lower ability range. This means some do not develop the strategies to read and write unfamiliar words systematically.  Daily spelling practice and weekly tests are helping most pupils to improve the accuracy of spelling. For example, pupils in Year 6 rose to the challenge of identifying words, such as ‘definite’ and ‘parliament’, in which there are unstressed vowels.  Reading journals provide a good conduit for information between home and school. Some

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The quality of teaching is good

include cumulative records of pupils’ progress in learning and applying phonics, but this is not consistent through the school. The mistakes pupils make when writing for different purposes across the curriculum are picked up by teachers, but they do not always remind pupils to use their phonic skills to build up words systematically.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils behave exceptionally well. An atmosphere of mutual respect pervades the school and this is reflected in the responses to the staff questionnaire, the school’s surveys exploring the views of parents and pupils, and the views expressed on Parent View.  Pupils clearly enjoy and value their school and this is reflected in above average attendance rates. Their punctuality in the mornings is extremely good and they move around the school calmly and quietly to ensure punctual starts to lessons.  Pupils’ excellent attitudes to learning ensure that no time is wasted in lessons. This is due to teachers’ skilful management of behaviour. Teachers rarely have to reprimand pupils because they sustain a brisk pace in lessons and set tasks which challenge and often captivate pupils. Pupils across the school enjoy learning and cooperate well. By Year 6, they consistently adopt a highly mature and collaborative approach to learning due to the example set by teachers in

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

valuing everyone’s contributions. This was seen, for example, as pupils collaborated and shared ideas when asked to proof read and improve one another’s work.  Pupils say that bullying is not an issue, although they do learn about different types of bullying and, for example, how to stay safe when using the internet. They are adamant that they could turn to any adult in the school if they felt unsafe and that there are clear procedures that would deal with issues should they arise. A pupil survey in the summer had revealed some uncertainly about this and the school responded immediately.

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The leadership and management are good

 Since the previous inspection the headteacher, senior leadership team and governing body have been determined to raise standards. All staff are committed to ensuring all pupils do as well as they can. The school successfully promotes equality of opportunity, fosters good relations and tackles discrimination.  Improving teaching and learning is the top priority and staff benefit from very focused additional training. As a result, there has been a marked improvement in teaching and learning which has led to improved achievement. The local authority provides effective support in moving the school forward, but their current light touch involvement reflects the school’s good capacity to improve without outside help.  Accurate and honest self-evaluation, underpinned by the rigorous monitoring of teaching and the accurate assessment of pupils’ progress through each term, has led to a wide range of improvements since the previous inspection. The impact of these actions is evident in the

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The leadership and management are good

improvement in the pace of learning for the great majority of pupils and the rise in pupils’ attainment.  The curriculum is well-designed to ensure pupils develop their knowledge, understanding and skills progressively through the school. Planning for mathematics is particularly effective. School leaders are, rightly, reviewing the way phonics teaching is organised so all pupils can build on the skills they have as they enter Year 3.  Pupils’ personal development is supported effectively through regular discussions on social and moral issues. They are often asked to reflect on global issues and make a personal response. For example, displays on ‘What is happening in the World’ and ‘Black History Month’ are used to promote pupils’ understanding and empathy for people outside their immediate environment.  The governance of the school: – Members of the governing body have a very clear understanding of how assessment

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The leadership and management are good

information is used to identify strengths and relative weaknesses in pupils’ performance. This enables them to ask pertinent questions and means they are well placed to contribute to improvement planning and strategic development. They set well-founded targets for the headteacher which focus on improving the quality of teaching and raising achievement. Governors maintain a clear oversight of how teachers’ performance is managed and ensure that staff who are consistently effective in their leadership or teaching roles are suitably rewarded. They keep a sharp eye on the use of the pupil premium. They ensure that funds are targeted appropriately and seek assurances that the extra provision, for example additional staff, family support and booster groups, has a positive impact on pupils’ achievement.

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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

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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.

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School details

Unique reference number 116037 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 401552

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School details

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

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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 158 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ian McMullan Headteacher Heather Clarke Date of previous school inspection 16–17 March 2010 Telephone number 0142 082532 Fax number 0142 054345

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Email address

admin@wootey-jun.hants.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 .

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Email address

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.

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Email address

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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Email address

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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Email address

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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Email address

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

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