Moat Farm Junior School

Moat Farm Junior School Brookfields Road, Oldbury, B68 9QR

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils make good progress from the time they enter the school to the time they leave, and they leave with skills in English and mathematics that are broadly average.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs and those pupils for whom the pupil premium provides support make good progress in their learning as a result of additional support and tuition in small groups and individually.  Teaching is consistently good throughout the school and some is outstanding. Teachers question the pupils skilfully to establish what they know about their topics and plan learning activities that ensure they make good progress.  Pupils feel safe in lessons and around the school.  Pupils’ behaviour is good. Pupils’ show positive attitude towards their learning. In lessons they are polite and considerate of others’ opinions.  Leaders and governors know the strengths of the school and effectively prioritise those areas

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

to improve.  Leaders monitor the quality of teaching closely, and regularly provide training to develop aspects of teaching. Teachers and leaders have performance management targets that are challenging and linked to pupils’ achievement.  The range of subjects and topics that pupils study is wide and varied.  Partnerships are strong and benefit the pupils in the school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not leading to outstanding achievement.  Teachers expectations of what can be achieved by pupils are not always high enough.  Teachers’ written comments in pupils’ books do not always tell pupils exactly what they need to do to improve and pupils are not routinely allowed time to respond to these comments.  The homework that is set does not always link sufficiently closely to the topic pupils are learning.  The outstanding teaching in the school is not shared frequently enough with all staff.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 21 lessons, including two that were seen jointly by either the headteacher or deputy headteacher. Every teacher was observed teaching and inspectors made several other short visits to lessons.  Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils, both formally and informally about aspects of their school life, and looked at a range of pupils’ work.  Discussions were held with senior leaders, subject and year group leaders, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body, a member of the Moat Farm Junior School Trust and two representatives from the local authority.  A range of documentation provided by the school was considered, including that relating to attendance, pupils’ attainment and progress, safeguarding, the school’s own evaluation of its performance and school development plans.  Inspectors took account of 18 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), the views of parents gathered at the school gate and 23 responses to the questionnaire that staff were

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Inspection team

Clare Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Terence Payne Additional Inspector Edgar Hastings Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average-sized junior school.  A smaller proportion of pupils than usual, but a majority of pupils, are from White British backgrounds. Indian pupils form the next largest group, a higher proportion than average. There is a range of other minority ethnic groups.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported at school action is above average. The proportion who are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those in local authority care, and those who have a parent in the armed forces) is above the national average.  The school operates a staggered intake for new pupils. Three-quarters of its new pupils join in

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Information about this school

Year 3, with the remaining quarter joining at the start of Year 4. From September 2013, it is intended that all admissions will be at the start of Year 3. A small proportion of pupils join the school in other years.  The ‘Albion Foundation’ resource is alternative provision used occasionally by the school if any pupil needs personalised support to improve their focus on learning in school.  The school has been a ‘Trust School’ from June 2011, working in partnership with Barnardo’s Midlands, Sandwell College, and West Bromwich Albion Foundation.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching so that all pupils make rapid progress in their learning in all subjects throughout the school by:  ensuring that marking of pupils’ work consistently includes comments that tell pupils exactly what they need to do in order to improve their work, and that pupils are routinely given time to respond to these comments  making sure teachers’ have high expectations of how quickly all pupils can learn and these are clearly communicated in lessons  setting homework that is clearly linked to the topics pupils are studying  sharing the existing outstanding practice in the school regularly and routinely with all staff.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 From their varied starting points, pupils make good progress throughout the school and leave Year 6 with standards in reading, writing and mathematics that are much like most eleven-year- olds. Pupils of all groups make the same good progress, whatever their ethnic background.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 School data shows that pupils’ attainment is rising further, with the proportion of pupils expected to gain the higher Level 5 in both English and mathematics also set to rise, because the school leaders rigorously check and improve the quality of teaching.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 School information shows that those pupils who are in the school for the whole of their Key Stage 2 education make good progress in their learning over a longer period and therefore achieve better than those who join the school later than in Year 3.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled students and those who have special educational needs learn well in the school. They have a wide ranging needs that are quickly identified by teachers and specialist staff, and they benefit from additional support and small group tuition to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. Teachers carefully track how well they are achieving in reading, writing and mathematics and as a result these pupils are making good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The attainment of those pupils for whom the school received the pupil premium funding was two terms behind for English, and two and a half terms behind for mathematics at the end of Year 6 in 2012, and these pupils made progress in these subjects that was just behind their classmates. The school is using its pupil premium funding effectively this academic year to provide, for example, additional teaching to develop literacy and numeracy skills and employing higher level teaching assistants to develop pupils’ self-esteem and wellbeing. As a result, eligible pupils are now making good progress which is comparable to other pupils in the school, and are on track to attain results that equal their peers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils enjoy reading, and benefit from school leaders’ plans to expand the range of books available. Reading books are regularly reviewed by teachers to check that they are appropriate and develop pupils’ skills in reading. Pupils are able use a range of strategies to read unfamiliar words and demonstrate a good understanding of the texts they read. Teachers encourage pupils to read regularly, both at school and at home.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils who use the Albion Foundation are provided with good support that enables them to make improved progress at school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The good progress of all groups demonstrates that school leaders ensure that all pupils have equal opportunities to all aspects of school life and there is no discrimination.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is consistently good throughout the school, with some examples of outstanding teaching. This has led to pupils in the school making good progress in all aspects of their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers quickly identify pupils’ strengths and areas to develop in their writing, reading and mathematics skills when they join the school, and effectively develop these skills using additional support where necessary.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Activities are planned in detail to enthuse and interest the pupils so they have lots of opportunities to develop their numeracy and literacy skills. For example, pupils in Year 6 designed a jingle to advertise the Space Centre following their visit the day before, using a range of communication skills to share their ideas with the class.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers question their pupils skilfully to establish how much they understand about the topics they are learning, encouraging detailed answers after allowing pupils time to reflect and share their answers with others. Consequently teachers adapt their teaching so that pupils can quickly move on to the next activity with no learning time lost.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The best teaching enables individual pupils to be aware of exactly what they are expected to do and their teacher’s highest expectations of how quickly they can learn and how well they can achieve. In less effective teaching, these expectations are not made explicit for all pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs benefit from additional specialist support both in lessons and in small groups, where learning activities are carefully planned to build on their existing knowledge and understanding.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly and pupils enjoy reading the comments on their work. However, written comments do not always tell the pupil exactly what to do in order to improve their work, or allow sufficient time for the pupil to respond to the teacher’s comments.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Homework is set, but it is not always clear how this links with the lessons that have just taken place in order to reinforce learning at home.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe in lessons and around the school. They appreciate how the school helps them to be safe outside of school, for example, teaching them about road safety and how to use the internet safely.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that incidents of bullying are rare, and are dealt with effectively by the school. They are clear that there is always someone to talk to if they need to. Pupils are taught about the various kinds of bullying that pupils of their age might meet, for instance cyber bullying.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Teachers have high expectations of behaviour, and are consistent in applying these to all pupils. Those pupils who need more support with their behaviour receive it from teachers and teaching assistants and improvements in their behaviour is closely monitored, and as a result, the number of fixed term exclusions have reduced over the last year.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour in lessons is good. They are keen to learn, listen closely to each other and to adults, and are motivated to do their best. Only occasionally, when teaching is not motivating, does attention wander. They particularly enjoy the opportunity to receive raffle tickets for good work and participation in lessons for a chance to win a small reward at the end of the week.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy coming to school, as reflected in their attendance which is consistently above the national average. They are punctual to school and enjoy their rewards for their good attendance and punctuality.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy the positions of responsibility that they can take on, for example the school council offers the opportunity to give the views of pupils in their class, and playground buddies help to make sure that at playtimes everyone plays sensibly with each other, and that everyone has someone to play with.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ positive attitudes to learning and good behaviour are rewarded by the school’s ‘good to be green’ programme which encourages all pupils to think about their actions and how they affect others.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 These positive views of behaviour are supported by parents, pupils and staff.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders know the strengths of the school, and effectively prioritise areas to improve in order to make the strongest impact on pupils’ achievement. For example, recent changes in how mathematics is taught have meant that pupils are now making consistently good progress in mathematics across the school. The consolidation of previous strengths and continuing improvements confirm that the school is well-placed to improve further.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders at all levels check the quality of teaching, and use the analysis to review how teaching can be improved further. For example, lesson observations indicated that staff would benefit from training on how to question pupils effectively, and the benefits of this is seen within the good and outstanding lessons observed during the inspection. However, the features of the outstanding teaching that exists in the school are not yet routinely shared with all staff.

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The leadership and management are good

 Staff are set challenging targets which are closely linked to raising pupils’ achievement, and these targets are reviewed regularly. Staff are rewarded for their performance appropriately and underperformance is not tolerated.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school works well in partnership with other institutions. The Trust partners offer their expertise for the benefit of the pupils, for example, part of the pupil premium funding is used to provide an after school club run by the Albion Foundation where selected pupils develop their numeracy skills by applying these to new scenarios related to football.

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The leadership and management are good

 The wide range of topics and subjects offered is a strength of the school. Each year group has the opportunity for weekly ‘curriculum enrichment’ which is an afternoon of subjects such as languages, music, drama, gardening, and basketball which develop literacy and numeracy skills. Many of these are taught by specialists either from the ‘Trust’ partners or from elsewhere. Consequently pupils develop their confidence in applying their skills to new situations that these topics provide.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority provides good support including an annual review of the school’s performance, quality of teaching and school improvement priorities.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors work alongside the ‘Trust’ board for the good of the school. Governors have strong systems in place to support the school in its continuing improvement. They know how well pupils are achieving and have a clear plan for how to support the headteacher in his development of teaching so that more is outstanding in the school. They check that the targets the headteacher sets for teachers are challenging and that leaders at all levels are held accountable.  Governors manage the school’s finances well so that they know how the pupil premium is spent and are tracking the impact of this on pupils’ achievement. They are actively involved in the school, visiting often and engaging in discussions with staff. They keep their skills and knowledge up to date so they can ask pertinent questions relating to pupils attainment and progress from the data available to them.  Governors ensure statutory requirements are met, including safeguarding.

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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 103948 Local authority Sandwell Inspection number 412933

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 448 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Janet Wyer Headteacher Chris Evans Date of previous school inspection 28 April 2010 Telephone number 0121 5521215 Fax number 0121 544 1776 Email address chris.evans@moatfarm-jun.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 .

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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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