Alderman Jacobs School

Alderman Jacobs School (Academy Trust) Drybread Road, Whittlesey, Peterborough, PE7 1XJ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected 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

 The standards that pupils reach at the end of Years 2 and 6 are no better than average. This is because the rate at which pupils learn in lessons is often slowed by teachers taking too long to introduce and explain work.  Teachers are not precise at matching the difficulty of the work to individual pupils. When teachers ask questions, pupils are not challenged at the right level.  Teachers give pupils too much direction in their work, so they do not have the chance to work by themselves or think for themselves.  Pupils are not clear about the levels of work for which they are aiming or how to achieve them.  The level at which pupils are learning are not recorded often or accurately. The success of new ideas and methods are not judged efficiently.  Teachers do not get the individual support and training they need because the quality of teaching is not checked against the actual progress of pupils.

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The school has the following strengths

 The new team of school leaders and teachers with extra responsibilities have started many new ways of working. They are having a positive impact. There has not been time for the whole school to adopt them.  Pupils’ behaviour and attitude to learning are good. They are keen to learn in lessons. Pupils say they feel safe in school.  The Early Years Foundation Stage gives pupils a good start to school. All children get the skills needed to start Key Stage 1, especially in literacy.  Themed lessons that happen in the afternoons capture pupils’ imagination and interest. Teachers use materials creatively.  Teachers use some drama techniques that help pupils to learn effectively as well as bringing enjoyment into the lessons.  Parents have lots of opportunities to come into school to share in and celebrate their children’s work.  Pupils have a strong voice in the school. The school council persuaded school leaders to

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The school has the following strengths

provide opportunities for more-able pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 21 lessons. Several of these were done jointly with members of the school leadership team. They looked at pupils’ books and listened to them read.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, teachers, school leaders and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors considered the views of 47 parents and carers who responded to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  A range of documents were considered, including minutes of the governing body meetings, the academy’s self-evaluation, safeguarding documents and policies.

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Inspection team

John Hucker, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Ronald Cohen Additional Inspector Mary-Jane Edwards Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Alderman Jacobs School has about twice as many pupils as an average primary school.  The proportion of pupils funded by the pupil premium is average. The pupil premium is funding provided to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or who are in the care of the local authority.  A very large majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is slightly less than the national average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  Alderman Jacobs School (Academy Trust) converted to become an academy on 1 April 2011. When its predecessor school, Alderman Jacobs Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be outstanding.

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Information about this school

 The headteacher has been supporting The Ashbeach School. The deputy headteacher at Alderman Jacobs has been seconded to act as headteacher at Ashbeach temporarily.  The school meets the government’s floor standards. These are the minimum standards expected for schools.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching by:  being more precise at setting work of the right difficulty for each pupil, including when asking questions to make pupils think harder about their work  reducing the length of time that teachers talk at the start of the lessons and the amount of teacher-led work so that pupils have more time to work by themselves  sharing with pupils what they need to aim for and how they can try to achieve those aims.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by:  ensuring that teachers record how much pupils have learned more often and more accurately, so that the success of new ideas and methods can be judged more effectively  checking any judgement about how good teaching is against how quickly pupils actually progress in their learning, so that teachers get more specific help to improve pupils’ learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Last year, the pupils’ results in English and mathematics were below the national average. The school’s own information shows that, this year, pupils will do no better. The school has focused on improving the skills of the teachers in mathematics. Standards in mathematics are now higher than in English.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The amount that pupils learn from Year 1 to Year 6 is broadly as expected. However, this year, pupils made less progress than expected in several year groups. This is because teachers were not skilled in judging the rate at which pupils were actually improving and believed the progress their classes were making was good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils supported by the pupil premium left last year about one term behind other pupils with regard to how much they learned in both English and mathematics. This is a smaller gap than is found nationally. However, in most year groups, they are learning at a slightly slower rate, so the gap is increasing.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils at school action receive specialist support and reach the same levels as similar pupils nationally. This is also true of pupils at school action plus or with a statement of special educational need. Their progress is a little slower than other pupils at the school.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with levels of skill that are low for their age. They make good progress and by the time they enter Year 1 their skills are similar to what is expected for their age. The children enjoy the challenge of new learning and happily make it part of their play within the security of the Reception classes.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers are not precise at setting work of the right difficulty for each pupil. Teachers do not ask individual pupils questions to make them think harder. They tend to ask general questions and take answers from pupils with their hands up.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers often spend too much time talking. This does not leave enough time for pupils to work by themselves or think for themselves. This limits progress, especially for the more-able pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils are not given an accurate view of how well they are learning or what they need to do to reach higher levels of work. Although they do not equip pupils with this longer term view teachers do give good advice about what to do next.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers choose ideas and materials that interest pupils. They bring in people who can talk about recent history. When possible, they take pupils out to visit places and events that are connected to the class theme. In one Year 6 poetry lesson, the teacher started with a poem that was a puzzle. Everyone tried to work it out. The teacher’s solution surprised and delighted everyone, including the inspector! This led to the pupils working hard to create their own poetry.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of marking is quite high and improving. In the best examples, pupils have a chance to respond to the teachers’ good advice and the books show a conversation between teacher and pupil that shows the pupil’s growing understanding and skill.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Teachers provide experiences that give children skills and understanding which make them keen to practise or discover more. Teaching is not yet outstanding because the outdoor environment is not developed or used well enough to continue and extend the children’s learning indoors.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers use some drama techniques to help pupils become more involved in their learning so that they remember more effectively.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are courteous and respectful to adults and each other around school and in classrooms. They are kind and helpful.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say there is very little bullying and it is dealt with very quickly and effectively. They know about different kinds of bullying, including internet bullying, and they know what to do if it happens.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In lessons, pupils show a positive attitude to learning and each other. They are keen to help each other. Where teaching is weaker, pupils sometimes lose focus on the lesson.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy school and feel safe. They all attend regularly. There have been no exclusions for over a year.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are proud of their school council. They feel it makes a difference. School leaders give all pupils opportunities to give their opinions and pupils feel they are listened to. Pupils make choices about the themes that they study.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Most parents agree that their children are safe, happy and well cared-for in school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 School records show that behaviour for the vast majority of pupils is good. The school has effective methods for supporting pupils who have difficulty with their own behaviour. This has meant that an increasing number of such pupils are moved into Alderman Jacobs from other schools, often during the school year.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 School leaders do not make sure that teachers record how much pupils have learned sufficiently often or accurately. This has led to a lack of good judgement about which new ideas and methods are effective.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 School leaders do not check the quality of teaching against the progress pupils are making. Leaders do not recognise where teaching requires improvement and so they do not give teachers the individualised training and support that leads to pupils making better progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has recognised a range of improvements that teachers need to make. They have shared the best practice of good teachers. They have increased the number of times a year that pupils’ learning is recorded. They have appointed staff to new positions to improve the teaching of different groups of pupils. These changes have not had time to improve standards for all pupils but do support the view that the school has the capacity for improvement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 There is no discrimination within the school and leaders have a commitment to providing equal opportunities. They are working towards ensuring all pupils make as much progress as they should through improved teaching.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage is good and ensures that children make a good start to their learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school provides well for the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It is seen in lessons and the varied out-of-school activities provided. The pupils have a genuine voice in the school and their own learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although it is an academy, the school has a close relationship with the local authority. The authority requested the support of the headteacher for a struggling school. A deputy is now working there for part of the week as acting headteacher.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The majority of parents and carers agreed with the positive statements about the school expressed in Parent View. Events like Dad’s Day bring in over 150 parents. The school also has coffee mornings, parents’ evenings and courses for parents. The parents, teachers and friends association is very active.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has a strong chair who has an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Governors are keen to be better and they attend courses to help them understand the school’s information. They have made sure that they meet all safeguarding and other requirements. Governors fully support the headteacher and all she is trying to achieve. At the same time they hold her to account and link pay progression to pupil progress. Teachers have moved up the pay scale or to more responsibility according to merit. The budget is managed efficiently and money is directed to where it will have most impact on how quickly pupils learn. They have an accurate understanding of how the Pupil Premium is spent and are monitoring its effectiveness.

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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 136653 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 412082

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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 Academy converter School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 567 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Darren Purell Headteacher Kay Corley Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01733 202403 Fax number 01733 205981 Email address office@aldermanjacobs.cambs.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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