Setting

Carole Bishop Headteacher Peel Common Junior School The Drive Gosport Hampshire PO13 0QD

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Education act 2005 to Peel Common Junior School

Following my visit to your school on 25 th March 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Education act 2005 to Peel Common Junior School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in January 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the headteacher, the Chair of the Governing Body, the local authority district manager for education and senior leaders from the Pioneer Teaching School Alliance, a local school improvement initiative run by a designated teaching school. The school improvement plan was evaluated.

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Context

There have been no significant changes in staffing since the section 5 inspection of January 2013, which judged the school to require improvement. Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5359 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Email :christina.bannerman@tribalgroup.com

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Main findings

The sense of urgency about ‘getting to good’ has sharpened since the inspection. The school improvement plan has been rewritten, so that it details actions for improvement clearly, against measurable timescales and outcomes. Success is expressed in terms of the impact on pupils’ achievement. This is a significant improvement on the school’s position at the time of the inspection. The plan is now an effective tool for monitoring progress and evaluating the impact of actions taken.

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Main findings

The governing body has commissioned an audit of its work as a first step towards the recommended review of governance. A local authority governors’ services co- ordinator has set an initial audit of the work of the governing body against the inspection findings. This has resulted in a range of helpful recommendations and a second stage of the review is planned for the summer term. Governors have also undertaken training in how to interpret pupil performance data, so that they are better equipped to challenge the school about levels of achievement. Actions to make the governing body more effective are now integrated into the school improvement plan.

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Main findings

The local authority district manager has brokered a package of support from the Pioneer Teaching School Alliance, supported by funding accessed through the National Leader of Education programme. The focus of this work will be to develop strategic leadership and to train teachers, through its ‘Improving Teacher’ and ‘Outstanding Teacher’ programmes, to deliver consistently good or outstanding lessons. It is too soon to evaluate the impact of this partnership, which is in its early stages.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have begun to take effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 fully integrate the actions recommended by the external review of governance into the school improvement plan  ensure that improvement plans are robustly and regularly monitored and that clear systems to challenge poor performance support and underpin them  evaluate actions for improvement at an Ofsted ‘getting to good’ seminar, in order to learn from what has worked well in other schools.

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Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The headteacher has drawn effectively on the support provided by the local authority, especially in reviewing and redrafting the school improvement plan and in initiating a review of governance. Local authority officers know the school well and are monitoring its improvement closely. Partnership work with the teaching school alliance is well-targeted and appropriately integrated into the improvement plan.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Hampshire and as below.

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