Stoke Park Junior School

Stoke Park Junior School Underwood Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 6GR

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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

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

 There remains too much teaching which requires improvement. In these lessons, tasks are the same for all pupils and do not challenge them enough.  Pupils do not make enough progress across the school, particularly in their writing, because they do not always have enough opportunities to respond to teachers’ marking in their books.  Pupils are not given enough opportunities to be involved in checking whether they have reached the targets that have been set for them.  The feedback given to teachers has not always been specific enough to help them improve their teaching.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs do not make as much progress as they should because staff do not check up enough on the quality of extra help they receive. At times, these pupils are too dependent on the adults supporting them to know what they need to do next.  Teaching of phonics (linking letters and the sounds they make) is not well developed and

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

does not sufficiently support pupils’ spelling. This constrains their writing.  The teachers who lead subjects have not been as effective as needed in bringing about high quality of teaching and in challenging teachers to ensure the good progress of each pupil.

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The school has the following strengths:

 Most pupils make good progress in their reading. In mathematics, the progress of pupils is improving.  The topics that pupils study give them interesting experiences and opportunities to work together. They enjoy being at the school.  Pupils are keen to learn and respond positively when they are given opportunities to evaluate their work.  Pupils feel safe at the school and know how they can keep themselves safe. Their behaviour is good.  The new headteacher has quickly established an accurate view of the issues that need to be tackled and is well supported by governors in bringing about the necessary changes.  Governors have made sure that statutory requirements are met, and they have challenged leaders across the school to bring about more rapid improvements.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 25 lessons taught by 17 teachers, including some sessions where small groups of pupils were taught by teaching assistants. Some of these observations were undertaken together with the headteacher.  During the inspection, inspectors looked at the work pupils were doing in lessons, and over time in their books. Inspectors spoke with pupils about their learning and listened to them read. They met with teachers who lead subjects or aspects of the school, senior leaders and governors of the school. They also spoke informally to pupils and parents and carers. The lead inspector met with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents from the school, including: documents about keeping pupils safe; records of attendance; the self-evaluation of the performance of the school; documents tracking how well pupils are doing; and plans to bring about improvements.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors considered the 53 responses to the online survey for Ofsted, Parent View, as well as letters sent to the inspection team. They also took account of the views of staff at the school through a survey.

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Inspection team

Andrew Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Lily Evans Additional Inspector Margaret Faull Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average-sized junior school, with three classes in each year group. It is located on the same site as an infant school.  The headteacher took up his post in January 2013. There have been other recent changes in leadership regarding which teachers lead particular subjects.  Almost all pupils are of White British heritage and very few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is well above average. This includes those supported at school action, at school action plus, and those with statements of special educational needs.  The proportion of pupils who benefit from the pupil premium, which is additional funding available for those who are eligible, is broadly average. This includes pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children looked after by the local authority, and any children from

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Information about this school

service families. There are very few pupils at school from the latter two categories and none in the 2012 Year 6 cohort.  There is a resource centre located at the infant school on the same site, which is run by the local authority, providing support for pupils with speech and language difficulties. This provision is shared by the junior school, with pupils supported both in lessons and at the resource centre.  There is a breakfast club at the infant school and an after school club at the junior school. Neither of these is run by the junior school and were not part of this inspection.  In 2012, the school met the government’s current floor standards. These set the minimum expectations for the progress and attainment of pupils in English and mathematics by the end of Key Stage 2.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the proportion of good and outstanding teaching, and eliminate teaching which requires improvement, by:  giving pupils work which is more closely matched to their needs  making sure teachers more frequently check how well pupils have understood what they are learning, and adapt their explanations and the tasks pupils are doing in the light of this  developing the role of leaders across the school in checking the quality of teaching and giving teachers specific feedback so that they know exactly what they need to do to improve.  Increase the rate of progress that pupils make in their writing, and raise the standards reached, by:  developing pupils’ skills in phonics to support their spelling, particularly for older pupils  giving pupils more opportunities to respond to marking and evaluate their progress towards their targets  increasing the frequency and quality of the opportunities pupils have to write for real

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

audiences.  Improve leadership and management so that leaders at all levels check up on the progress of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, making sure that:  these pupils are encouraged to be more independent in tackling their work  the effectiveness of the support these pupils receive is checked regularly and quickly adapted or changed where necessary.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 When they join the school, pupils typically have skills and knowledge which are broadly in line with the expectations for their age. By the end of Year 6, standards over the last five years have been variable but the trend shows that they are average. Standards in writing have not been as strong as in reading.  The data in the school show that the progress of pupils requires improvement, particularly in writing. This is confirmed by inspection findings, especially through the work pupils do in lessons and the progress they have made in their books, which is not consistently strong enough. Progress in mathematics is accelerating.  The school’s approach to teaching phonics helps pupils to become confident readers but is not well developed to support their spelling and consequently their writing. Work in their books shows that, by the end of Year 6, pupils still spell too many common words incorrectly. Along

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

with inaccurate punctuation, this hampers their writing.  Pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium benefit from additional support from adults who have had extra training, for example in giving effective feedback to pupils on how well they are doing. As a result, these pupils make slightly better progress than other pupils in the school and reach average point scores in English and mathematics which are closer to those of similar pupils elsewhere than pupils who are not eligible.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to other pupils in the school but this means that some of them are not making up ground quickly enough. Until recently, the support they receive has not been checked on frequently enough and is not as effective as it needs to be. At times, they rely too much on the adults around them to tell them what they need to do.  The small number of pupils who attend the resource centre are well supported in developing

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

their speech and language skills because the teachers who support them are well trained. They make good progress in these aspects but their progress in reading and writing requires improvement. Progress in mathematics is better.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Lesson observations, work in pupils’ books and the school’s records of recent checks of the quality of teaching show that teaching is not currently strong enough to be judged good. While there is no inadequate teaching, there remains too much which requires improvement and this has slowed the progress pupils make.  Teachers have useful information about how well pupils are doing, and use this to plan tasks which are hard enough for pupils. However, there are too many occasions when all the pupils in a class are given the same tasks. This means work is too difficult or too easy for a few pupils, and some teachers do not pick up on this quickly.  Pupils get some opportunities to write for real audiences but this is not always the case. For example, Year 6 pupils wrote passionately about their investigations into the causes of the Second World War, but were not clear who they might be trying to persuade, or why.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 While there is usually a harder part of the task at the end, more-able pupils are too often expected to finish the other work first, limiting the time they have to do the work that challenges them.  Occasionally, in a few outstanding lessons, teachers give the most able pupils a great deal of independence, expecting them to organise themselves and decide how to tackle the tasks. For example, Year 3 pupils quickly decided how they might play a piece of music depicting a rain storm.  There is too much emphasis on rote learning of spellings rather than understanding how phonics skills are used to construct words when writing.  In the best lessons, teachers encourage pupils to use their targets, for example in writing, to help them focus the work they are doing, but this does not happen often enough. Pupils are aware of their targets and what they should be aiming to learn next, but do not have enough

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

opportunities to participate in deciding whether they have succeeded in this or when they should move on to a more challenging target.  Teaching of mathematics has been a focus of recent development and most is now good. Teachers are confident in their knowledge and there are clear, agreed strategies about which methods pupils are taught at each stage.  There are excellent relationships between teachers and teaching assistants, and with pupils, so that many lessons are enjoyable. Teaching assistants are very well informed about the subjects pupils are learning about, but sometimes give pupils support too quickly, before they have grappled with the tasks themselves.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils like the topics they are given to study and enjoy being at school. Their attendance is above average.  Around the school, in lessons and when on trips or visits in the community, pupils are very polite and cooperative. They say they feel very safe at school and that there are adults they can talk to if they are worried. Training about road safety, using the internet, and visits by the fire and rescue and the police community support officers mean that pupils are well informed about how they can help keep themselves safe.  Pupils enjoy tackling challenging tasks and working in groups to find out information and make sense of it. When they are reminded, they readily respond to the comments teachers make in their books, but they are not often enough given the opportunity to do so.  Pupils get along with one another very well and help each other to remember the expectations of the school. Bench buddies play an active role during break time, helping pupils to resolve

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

issues when they may fall out, or making sure everyone has someone to play with.  Pupils said that any kind of bullying is very rare at their school. They felt confident that any incidents would be dealt with quickly by the adults, if pupils could not sort it out themselves. They have a good understanding of the different types of bullying.  Almost all parents and carers indicated that they feel the school manages behaviour well.  The school has had particular success in helping pupils with behavioural issues to learn how to stay calm and make better choices when faced with difficulties. Other pupils are very tolerant of those who find good behaviour a challenge and pupils said that there is very seldom any disruption to lessons.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Over time, leadership has not been as effective as it needed to be in identifying why the pupils were not making as much progress as they should. Until recently, the school’s view about the quality of teaching has been too optimistic and has not been closely enough linked to the progress pupils make.  In the past, teachers who led different subjects did not have enough support to understand their role in checking the quality of teaching and learning and using that information to make changes, where needed, in order to improve pupils’ progress. These teachers are now being trained and given support but this is at an early stage. The leadership monitors carefully the progress and behaviour of those pupils who attend the speech and language centre.  The new headteacher has quickly established an accurate view of the school, has implemented effective strategies to identify pupils who may be struggling with their work, and begun to clarify

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The leadership and management require improvement

the roles of leaders across the school. In the short time he has been at the school, he has already had considerable impact in tackling key issues facing the school. The governors have been highly supportive in this.  The curriculum has been developed to give pupils interesting topics to study and they enjoy their work. The excellent assemblies and strong focus on developing pupils’ thinking skills mean that the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is very well provided for. The emphasis on playing a positive part within the community helps ensure all pupils have equality of opportunity and that any discrimination is tackled.  Parents and carers said that they feel they receive plenty of information about how well their children are doing, and appreciate the opportunities to find out about how they can help their children’s learning, for example through the recent Fun Maths Roadshow.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Together with the headteacher, the governors have made sure that all policies, procedures and training to make sure pupils are kept safe are given a high priority and are fully in place. They check that all adults understand their responsibilities regarding this.  The previous inspection grades mean that the local authority has provided the school with light touch support. More recently this has begun to increase, particularly in reviewing teaching and the quality of feedback given to pupils.  The governance of the school:  Governors have challenged the leadership of the school to increase the pace of improvement, and have worked with the new headteacher to make sure there is an accurate understanding of the issues facing the school. They are fully supportive of the changes that have already been implemented and have helped to make sure that plans to bring about further improvements are monitored frequently. They have undertaken training to make sure they

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The leadership and management require improvement

have a clear view of what data indicate about the performance of pupils. The procedures to review the performance of teachers so that the pay they receive rewards the best teaching have been recently updated so that these are linked more closely. Governors hold the school to account for the use of the pupil premium funding although this is recent.

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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 115871 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 421376

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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 312 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Olive Sumner Headteacher Matt Johnson Date of previous school inspection 14–15 July 2010 Telephone number 023 80612789 Fax number 023 80653212 Email address adminoffice@stokepark-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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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.

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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

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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

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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’.

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School details

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

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