Crich Junior School

Crich Junior School School Lane, Crich, Matlock, DE4 5DF

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Pupils make excellent progress and attainment by the end of Year 6 is very high in both English and mathematics.  Pupils read very well and develop a love of books. Their writing is accurate and full of lively descriptions. In mathematics, they apply their very well-developed number skills exceptionally well when solving real-life problems.  Pupils’ impeccable behaviour ensures they make the very best of time in lessons.  Pupils say how much they enjoy school because they feel very safe and extremely well cared-for. Attendance is above average.  Pupils speak very highly of their teachers, and say that teaching is outstanding and inspires them to succeed.  Teachers make learning fun and ensure that pupils of all ages and abilities in the class learn rapidly.  Teachers ensure that pupils aim high in their work and achieve the school’s goal of ‘Be the best you can be’.  Outstanding leadership by the headteacher is a

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

key reason for the school’s success. Her relentless drive for improvement means the school goes from strength to strength.  Very effective systems to manage teachers’ performance enable the headteacher to quickly rectify any possible weaknesses in teaching and raise achievement.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 11 lessons, of which four were joint observations with the headteacher. The inspector also made a number of brief visits to other lessons.  Meetings were held with pupils, parents, leaders of subjects, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  The inspector took account of the 20 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) at the time of the inspection.  He observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including records of the progress of every pupil, planning and monitoring files, behaviour records and documents relating to attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Terry Elston, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a much smaller-than-average primary school.  The proportion of the pupils eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is below average.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage and very few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those supported through school action and at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs, is average.  Pupils are taught in two classes. There are too few pupils for any comment on how well the school compares to the national minimum floor standards to be meaningful.  The school has recently achieved the ‘Food for Life’ Gold award.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make the most of pupils’ enthusiasm for writing by:  giving them more opportunities for high-quality writing in all subjects  providing more exciting tasks, including stories, that capture their imagination and stimulate their writing.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils are very proud of their achievements and parents say how pleased they are with their children’s progress. One parent, typical of many, summed up the provision well by saying, ‘My child has a fantastic foundation from which to launch herself’.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 With such small numbers, pupils’ attainment on entry to the school varies from year to year, but is generally a little above average. Pupils rightly feel they make rapid progress, and attainment is rising rapidly. In 2012, attainment overall was very high and over a year ahead of pupils nationally in both English and mathematics. The current pupils in Year 6 are continuing this trend and are working at levels four terms ahead of other pupils in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils enjoy reading and become engrossed in their books. They are highly skilled at skimming texts in books and on the internet to gain information quickly about their topics. Pupils make their writing interesting for the reader by using imaginative words and, when given the opportunity, thinking of exciting endings for their stories. Their factual writing is of high quality, and their accounts of a visit to a local stately home and a Buddhist centre showed a very good eye for detail.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 In mathematics, pupils show excellent skills when calculating quickly in their heads. They enjoy many opportunities to solve problems, and one group of gifted mathematicians relished working on independent tasks, such as the creation of systems to conduct school surveys and the writing of detailed computer programs. Pupils make equally rapid progress working with shapes, and one class attained very high levels learning how to present ever more complex figures on a graph.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils also achieve exceptionally well in creative subjects. For example, their art and design work is outstanding, their singing is of a very high standard and nearly three quarters play a musical instrument proficiently.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make excellent progress in both English and mathematics. They benefit from outstanding teaching by teachers and skilled teaching assistants in the small classes, who make very good use of their accurate assessment of these pupils’ difficulties. Pupils grow in confidence and enjoy increasing opportunities to work independently.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The school uses its pupil premium funding to provide individual tuition, group work and extra reading and number sessions for the small number of pupils. There are too few pupils to comment on their achievements without them being identified.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The pupils, as well as the parents who responded to the online questionnaire, agree that teaching is exceptional. The evidence gained during the inspection confirms this.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 In typical lessons, teachers plan very carefully to ensure the work is challenging yet achievable for all pupils. They use teaching assistants very well to teach groups and ensure they know exactly what to do to get the best out of their pupils.  Pupils greatly appreciate the way teachers make many lessons exciting. For example, one class, who were learning how to write clear instructions, were given the job of teaching a member of staff how to tackle a computer program. They soon learned how precise their instructions must be and made excellent progress towards their goals.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers show an exceptional knowledge of the subjects they teach. The teaching of reading skills is particularly good, ranging equally effectively from lessons about basic word-building skills to showing pupils how to conduct their own research and explore the characters in a story.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 In writing, teachers prepare pupils very well for the task and have high expectations of the quality of their work, particularly in English lessons. Much of the writing, however, is factual and pupils say they would like more chances to write exciting stories and make the best of their talents.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 In mathematics, teachers give pupils excellent opportunities to solve problems involving shape and number, and pupils relish these challenges because they have very good basic number skills. The outstanding provision for talented mathematicians gives these pupils opportunities to tackle challenges more commonly offered in the fourth year of secondary school.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers and teaching assistants work extremely well together to teach disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Pupils find the work challenging but achievable and, while these pupils are supported well in their learning, they have good opportunities to work independently.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers’ marking is very helpful to pupils because it offers praise for their successes and clear guidance on how to do even better.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ outstanding behaviour is an important reason for their academic success. They have a deserved reputation in the community for their courtesy and good manners.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 In lessons and around the school, pupils keep to the rules because adults make them very clear. Pupils listen carefully in class and persevere with challenging work. They work very well in groups and are always ready to accept views different from their own.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Incidences of bullying or racist acts are very rare and pupils say how proud they are of the way this small school ensures that all feel free from any form of harassment. Outside, they play happily with pupils of all ages and make sure that the less confident ones are included in their games.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils thoroughly enjoy school and say how they look forward to the exciting lessons they receive. They are extremely punctual and attendance rates are consistently above the national average. Pupils know how to stay safe and speak knowledgeably about the potential dangers of using the internet and the impact of cyber bullying. They gained much from creating their own posters that explained clearly to other pupils how to ensure their safety when sending or receiving text messages and emails.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils thrive on the many opportunities provided for them to take responsibility and develop their leadership skills. For example, pupils tend the school garden enthusiastically, care for the chickens and lead the choir and orchestra.  Pupils reflect deeply on important issues and show an accurate understanding of life in other countries. They develop an excellent awareness of right and wrong and know clearly how their actions can affect others.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is highly respected as a leader by pupils, staff and parents. She has a sharp eye for what needs improving and manages change at a sensible pace. This helps to create a strong sense of teamwork where all are working towards common, challenging goals. As a result, the school has built well on the strengths identified at the last inspection and is set to improve further.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is supported well by staff, many of whom have leadership roles. They communicate well as a team and evaluate the provision with rigour and accuracy. They use data well to identify and resolve any aspects of teaching that require attention, promptly and effectively.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Teachers’ performance is evaluated extremely well. Annual reviews of their teaching provide very good feedback on their work and guide them towards good training to hone their skills further. The headteacher’s evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning through regular observations of lessons is rigorous and provides valuable guidance to teachers on how to teach better.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority has supported the school well in recent years but is used less by the school now that achievement is so high.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders show an excellent commitment to providing equal opportunities for all pupils. Their thorough analysis of the achievements of different groups, such as boys and girls and those known to be eligible for free school meals, enables them to quickly provide support to any pupils who are underachieving.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Safeguarding systems are robust and meet all requirements. These are reviewed regularly by the leaders and the governing body.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school has an excellent partnership with parents. Their comments to the inspector and responses to the on-line questionnaires were very positive, particularly in terms of the school’s leadership, the quality of teaching and their children’s progress.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Pupils find the activities planned for them interesting, and they enjoy the excellent balance of academic work and creative opportunities to enhance their talents in music and art. The broad topics include very good opportunities for pupils to develop their reading and number skills to the full, but these are less developed in writing, where some tasks require too little of them.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school gives pupils many opportunities to reflect on issues such as the beauty of nature, the need to take care of others and how people in other cultures live and worship.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  The Governing Body has a good understanding of the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement, gained through regular visits, meetings with the headteacher and staff and observations of lessons. Governors have the skills and confidence to hold the leaders to account. They know how the school compares with others and take a full part in its improvement. They ensure safeguarding requirements are met and are closely involved in the evaluation of teachers’ performance and its impact on their pay. They know what is being done to reward good teaching and tackle any underperformance. Training for governors is comprehensive and matched well to the needs of this school. Governors have a good awareness of the school’s budget. For example, they know how the pupil premium is spent, why it is allocated in this way and the impact it has on pupils’ academic and personal development.

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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 112534 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 403185

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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 49 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Chris Hand Headteacher Cheryl Julian Date of previous school inspection 14 February 2008 Telephone number 01773 852384 Fax number 01773 852384 Email address info@crich-jun.derbyshire.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

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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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