Wirksworth Junior School

Wirksworth Junior School Wash Green, Wirksworth, Matlock, DE4 4FD

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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 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 in English and have achieved above average results in national tests. The teaching of English is very effective. Pupils enjoy reading a wide range of books. They write well across a range of different topics.  In 2012, the number of pupils making the expected progress in mathematics was below that seen nationally. Rapid improvements in the mathematical activities offered and well- focused leadership have resulted in pupils making good progress in mathematics in all year groups.  Teaching is often good and there is some outstanding teaching. Lessons are often interesting and enjoyable. Pupils work together effectively to discuss ideas and to improve their work.  Pupils behave well in lessons and at break and lunchtimes. They enjoy coming to school and are proud of being there. They feel safe and secure in school.  The headteacher and governors have worked with determination to ensure that the school

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

continues to improve. Leaders have improved teaching and accelerated pupils’ achievement, particularly in mathematics. They have ensured that the quality of education provided is good. The school’s overall effectiveness is better than at the time of the previous inspection.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 A small amount of teaching requires improvement, primarily because some teachers spend too long introducing an idea, concept or topic and do not allow enough time for pupils to practise their skills. This means that the pace of learning is occasionally not fast enough. Some marking is not robust and teaching assistants are not always used effectively.  Although the progress of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is good overall there are still a few who have not caught up with other pupils in the school. Leaders are not properly evaluating the effectiveness of the suitable strategies used, or robustly tracking the progress of the small number of pupils whose attainment and progress is behind that of others in school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed eight lessons. Four of these were joint observations carried out with the headteacher. A ‘nurture group’ session was seen.  The inspector held meetings with members of the governing body, staff and pupils, and talked to a representative from the local authority.  The inspector listened to pupils reading during lessons.  The inspector observed pupils’ work in all classes and looked in detail at a sample of work from each year group.  He studied a range of documents including: the school’s own evaluation of its work; plans for the school’s future development; records of the monitoring of the school’s work, including evaluations of lessons; a recent local authority review of the school’s work; safeguarding policies and records; the school’s analysis of data on pupils’ progress and attendance information.  Twenty-four responses to the on-line parent questionnaire (Parent View) were analysed along

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Information about this inspection

with information gained from a recent school survey of parents’ views.

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Inspection team

David Bray, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than average. There are currently 145 pupils on roll and they are taught in five classes.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is average. An above average proportion are supported at school action plus and have a statement of special educational needs.  The vast majority of pupils are White British and they all speak English as their first language.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is below average. The pupil premium is additional government funding for those known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after.  The school meets the government’s current 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?

 Improve teaching further by reducing the small amount that requires improvement and increase the amount that is outstanding by:  ensuring that all lessons proceed at a fast pace and reduce overly-long teacher explanations  using all teaching assistants in an effective and consistent way  improving marking so that it always gives good quality feedback on what must be improved and ensure pupils respond to comments, and any advice given, so that they can adjust their work and improve their learning

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that the progress of all pupil premium pupils is good by:  evaluating the effectiveness of current strategies to identify what is working well and what actions must be taken to bring about further improvement, particularly to accelerate pupils’ progress quickly  ensuring leaders at all levels track the progress of pupil premium pupils more rigorously to clearly identify those who are falling behind.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils achieve well, especially in English, and have reached above-average standards by the time that they leave school. The school has focused on improving achievement in mathematics as one of its key priorities, because in 2012, progress in the subject was not good enough. The school’s records of how well pupils are learning in mathematics, along with a detailed scrutiny of pupils’ work in the subject, show that the achievement of pupils has rapidly improved and all pupils are now making good progress in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2012, most pupil premium pupils attained results, in English and mathematics, that were five terms behind other pupils in school. This small group achieved well in English, given their original starting point, but their progress in mathematics was slower and similar to other Year 6 pupils. Year 6 achievement was not generally typical of pupil premium pupils in other years, which was good in both subjects. This academic year their achievement is good in English and mathematics and the gap between their attainment and other pupils in the school is narrowing. The majority are catching up; however, a very small number are not. The school has devised a range of suitable strategies, using additional funding, to ensure this group are appropriately supported in their learning and encouraged to attend school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils with a statement of special educational need are making good progress because they get the individual support and advice that they need to improve their academic and personal skills. Almost all pupils identified as requiring school action or school action plus support are also making good progress because the strategies used to support and guide their learning are effective in helping them to develop their reading, writing and numeracy skills at a good rate. The school has worked hard to ensure that all pupils identified as having special educational needs benefit from good quality individual education plans which clearly identify the learning objectives to be achieved and the actions required to ensure individuals achieve well. The school works well with outside agencies to support the learning of all pupils with special educational needs.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school’s success in ensuring that all groups of pupils do well shows that it is promoting equality of opportunity successfully.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The rising standards and progress pupils make in English and mathematics means they are well equipped for the next stage of their education.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is mostly good and a small amount is outstanding. As a result, pupils learn at a good rate as they move through the school and their achievement is improving. Staff have revised the school’s calculation policy in order to improve the teaching of mathematics and this is resulting in good achievement in the subject. Reading is taught well through guided reading sessions and the quality of writing has improved through an effective focus on writing in a range of styles, across different subject areas.

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The quality of teaching is good

 A small amount of teaching requires improvement because lessons are not sufficiently well paced. This is mostly caused by some teachers taking too long to introduce the lesson and not allowing sufficient time or scope for pupils to practise their learning or fully discuss ideas and the concepts taught.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers are mostly clear about what pupils need to learn, and in the best lessons explain this in a careful way without spending too long on introductions. Teachers are mostly effective in identifying what pupils must do to succeed and pupils have targets, which are used to help them evaluate their own progress. On occasions targets are not updated regularly enough.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Learning often includes the opportunity to discuss ideas with another pupil, or as part of a small group, in order to help with the understanding of an idea. Learning is most effective where the teacher ensures that there is a very clear amount of time available to consolidate and extend learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers are good at using a variety of tasks, activities and resources to make learning interesting. For example, in a Year 6 science lesson pupils worked outside to discover links in a food chain. Each pupil represented a link in the chain and had to find their link and use thread to bind themselves to another pupil in their chain.  In another very effective lesson the teacher enabled pupils to gain a very good understanding of ‘personification’ by imagining how things they had done that morning might have a human characteristic. The quick pace of this lesson, supported by effective questioning, meant that pupils made rapid responses and developed their work very effectively. They found the activity very engaging.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most teaching ensures that work is well matched to pupils’ range of ability and lessons often include specific tasks which are matched to individuals’ specific needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils often receive helpful verbal feedback on their progress in lessons, and some written feedback is of high quality. This practice is not consistent. A few opportunities to inform pupils about what must be improved, and guidance on what pupils should be aiming for are missed. Pupils are not always routinely expected to respond to teachers’ comments and act on the advice given.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants are often effective in supporting learning and run successful intervention or nurture groups. On a few occasions teaching assistants are too passive because their contribution to the lesson has not been sufficiently well planned or considered, especially at the start of a session.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils respond well to the school’s consistently high expectations for their behaviour. Their behaviour and attitudes to learning are good. Pupils get on well with adults and each other. They are very friendly and are supportive of each other.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are keen to learn and take pride in their work. They like coming to school and several commented that they are able to learn effectively.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school has effective arrangements for promoting good behaviour. Pupils are clear about what would happened if behaviour is not good enough and the rewards system is used well to promote positive behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that they feel safe and secure. They have a good understanding of different kinds of bullying. They say it does not occur and are confident that if it did the school would deal with it effectively.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils understand about the different types of bullying that can take place and have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe when using the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Almost all parents are positive about the school and say that their child is happy, kept safe and makes good progress. Staff who completed the Ofsted questionnaire agree.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and governors have a strong commitment to improving the school and have a realistic view about how well it is doing and are driving improvement effectively. The leadership of teaching and learning has been good. As a result, the achievement of pupils has improved steadily and the strong focus given to improving mathematics provision has resulted in pupils making much better progress in mathematics in every year group this academic year.

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The leadership and management are good

 The quality of teaching is evaluated regularly and this has enabled the school to improve teaching through effective feedback. However, not enough teaching is outstanding and there is still a little that requires improvement

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The leadership and management are good

 Performance management is used effectively to ensure that the staff give sufficient time and attention to key priorities.

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The leadership and management are good

 The areas for improvement identified at the time of the last inspection have been tackled systematically and progress in rectifying important weaknesses has been good.

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The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding arrangements meet current government requirements. The school takes care to ensure that adults working in the school have been suitably vetted and are appropriately qualified and experienced. Discriminatory practices are not tolerated.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has identified the school as a medium level priority. It has supported the school adequately to evaluate its performance fairly and accurately and to improve the quality of teaching, learning and leadership.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum promotes pupils’ personal development well. The use of topics such as ‘waterworld’ makes learning interesting and relevant for pupils. Pupils use their literacy and numeracy skills well in a range of subjects. The school offers a good range of trips and clubs that extends the curriculum and broadens pupils’ horizons.

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The leadership and management are good

 Action planning to improve the learning and attendance of the majority of free school meals pupils has been effective. Leaders have identified that the progress of a small number of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is too slow and planning has not been adjusted quickly enough to bring about rapid improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors have a good range of skills and experience which they use to challenge and support leaders effectively. Governors are rigorous in their questioning about how well the school is doing and are ambitious for it to improve further. They know about the quality of teaching and its impact. They understand how performance management can be used to challenge and support the school and ensure that they get sufficient training to suitably carry out their statutory responsibilities. Governors ensure salary progression is based on staff effectiveness. Although governors have information about the strategies adopted to support those eligible for the pupil premium, they have not ensured that they have sufficiently detailed information on the progress of the few who are falling behind and the impact of the plans used to bring about improvement.

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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 112652 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 400082 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 145 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Steve Johnson Headteacher Lesley Grover Date of previous school inspection 11-12 April 2011 Telephone number 01629 822457 Fax number 01629 822457 Email address info@wirksworth-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

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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