Horsell CofE Aided Junior School

Horsell CofE Junior School Meadway Drive, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4TA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 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

 Pupils do not make as much progress as they should in reading, writing and mathematics across the school.  The quality of teaching is inconsistent. In some lessons there is too little challenge for pupils because the work is too easy.  Work in pupils’ books shows that some teachers have low expectation of what pupils can do and pupils do not know how they can improve their work.  Teachers do not make enough use of assessment information to plan or to adapt work to make sure pupils can make good progress in acquiring new skills.  New middle leaders have not yet developed their skills to monitor and challenge weaker performance.  A small minority of parents and carers do not believe that their children are taught well or are making good progress. A minority do not believe that the school is well led and managed.  School leaders have not yet secured teaching that is consistently good across the school.  School governors have not held school leaders

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

sufficiently to account for the dip in pupils’ progress over the past three years.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils behave well in and around the school. They feel safe in school because they know that adults are on hand to sort out any minor issues that occasionally arise.  Pupils enjoy school and this is reflected in their attendance, which is above average.  The curriculum is broad and balanced and provides an interesting range of additional activities that contribute positively to pupils’ enjoyment.  Pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is significantly above average at the end of Year 6.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well through an enriched programme of activities.  Leaders and managers have a broadly accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and are taking actions to bring about the necessary improvements.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 28 lessons or parts of lessons, several of which were carried out jointly with senior leaders. They looked at work in pupils’ books and they listened to pupils in Year 3 and Year 6 read. They also attended an assembly.  Meetings were held with senior leaders, four governors, groups of pupils and a representative from the local authority.  Among the documents scrutinised were plans for school improvement, minutes from governing body meetings, information about pupils’ learning and progress and documentation regarding the safeguarding of pupils.  The views of 107 parents and carers were considered through the online survey Parent View and inspectors received a letter from one parent. Staff views were taken into account by analysing the 34 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Joy Considine, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Keith Homewood Additional Inspector Avtar Sherri Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than the average sized junior school.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ learning and progress.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium is lower than average. This is additional funding provided by the government to support pupils who, in this school, are known to be eligible for free school meals.  About a third of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and who have special educational needs that are supported at school action is broadly average and the proportion that are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also broadly average.  There have been significant changes to the teaching team and the leadership team since the previous inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good by:  monitoring pupils’ progress and adapting work promptly when pupils find it too easy or demonstrate they can do it so that pupils make rapid progress  ensure that pupils correct and improve their work in response to teachers’ marking.  Improve pupils’ achievement so that pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics across the school by ensuring:  all teachers take into account what pupils have already learnt and can do when planning work  more opportunities are provided for pupils to apply their skills, particularly in mathematics, to real life situations in which they are required to solve problems.  Improve leadership and management by:  developing the skills of middle leaders so that they are more effective in checking the quality of the work of other teachers  working with governors to provide parents and carers with a greater understanding of the

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

work of the school and how they can support their children’s learning and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Not all pupils achieve as well as they should in reading, writing and mathematics across the school. Although their attainment is significantly above average at the end of Year 6, some pupils do not make enough progress in these subjects from their starting points. Scrutiny of pupils’ work shows that some teachers have low expectations and pupils do not produce as much work as they should.  Systems to record pupils’ progress and track the achievement of all groups of pupils are now embedded. This shows that rates of progress for most groups of pupils are improving and that remaining gaps are rapidly closing, demonstrating that pupils have equality of opportunity. Some teachers do provide additional challenge for more able pupils and this helps them to make good progress.  Pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding are rapidly catching up with their classmates. This is because the additional funding has been used to provide tuition to help them overcome their

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

difficulties. However, they are still about a term behind other pupils in mathematics and two terms behind other pupils in reading and writing, according to the most recent statutory assessments.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are now increasing their rates of progress. Teaching assistants provide good support to these pupils in lessons by explaining what they need to do to complete their work.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language make better progress than their classmates. This is because there are good systems in place to assess their level of language development and to provide them with appropriate support and guidance to help them to learn English.  In Year 3, pupils are enthusiastic readers and most have developed the skills to read confidently and fluently. Occasionally their reading books are too easy for them and this slows their progress. By the end of Year 6, pupils read widely and often and discuss their reading, using the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

text to support their opinions.  Scrutiny of pupils’ written work shows that their handwriting is poorly formed and the presentation of their work is untidy. Their punctuation and spelling are mainly accurate, but their work shows limited word choices. This is because teachers do not provide enough examples of published writing to show pupils how their own writing may be improved.  Not all pupils make enough progress in mathematics because some work is too easy for them and at other times there is a lack of clarity about what they are expected to learn. Although pupils practise their number skills, there are too few opportunities for them to use these skills to solve written problems in which they have to analyse information and apply the correct numerical procedures and this slows their progress

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching over time requires improvement because it is not yet consistently good across the school, and consequently not all pupils make sufficient progress.  Occasionally, work is pitched at too low a level and is too easy for pupils. This is because teachers do not make sufficient use of assessment information when planning. There are times when learning does not build on what the pupils already know and have learnt and so pupils do not reinforce and extend their learning.  Pupils discuss and share their ideas in those lessons in which teachers provide opportunities for them to talk about their work and this helps them to learn. Some teachers adapt work in response to what pupils say, but this good practice is inconsistent across the school.  Most teachers use imaginative ideas to capture pupils’ interest and this inspires pupils to behave well. In a Year 4 literacy lesson, the teacher showed the pupils a video clip of an erupting

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

volcano to stimulate their imagination to write a poem about a dragon. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed this and produced writing of good quality.  Where learning is best, pupils work hard because teachers provide tasks that are exciting and challenging and which make them concentrate. For example, in a Year 6 literacy lesson, pupils had to work out where to insert the correct punctuation in a paragraph. This prompted a lively discussion because there were several different ways in which this could be done.  Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly and they provide helpful comments to show pupils how they can improve their work. However, pupils continue to make the same mistakes and do not put advice into practice, such as the inclusion of a greater range of vocabulary. This is because there are too few occasions for pupils respond to teachers’ marking by correcting and improving their own work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They enjoy school and this is reflected in their positive attitudes and above average attendance. They are polite and courteous to each other and adults. They say that most pupils behave well and that lessons are rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. Records kept by the school show few reported incidents related to poor behaviour.  Pupils get on well together, regardless of background. They say there is no discrimination and that all pupils are treated fairly and have equal opportunities to join in with all activities provided by the school.  Occasionally, when the pace of learning slows or activities are too easy, pupils become fidgety and start to chat among themselves and do not complete their work; this is why behaviour is not outstanding.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Consequently, pupils feel safe in school. Pupils have a good understanding of different types of bullying, such as that related to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

race, gender and e-safety, but they say it rarely happens. They say that helpful adults are always on hand to sort out any minor disagreements that very occasionally arise.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe from dangers outside school. They know how to stay safe on the roads and understand the dangers from substance abuse, including tobacco and some drugs.  Most parents and carers who responded to the survey agreed that their children are happy, behave well and that the school keeps their children safe.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because they have not yet secured good rates of progress for pupils across the school. School leaders are reflective and strive for improvements. New members of the leadership team are bringing a greater consistency to the work of the school. Consequently, pupils’ achievement is improving.  Senior leaders regularly check the quality of teaching through formal lesson observations and more informal ‘drop ins’, and provide guidance to teachers about how they can improve their work. They have addressed weaker teaching through the management of teachers’ performance and consequently there is currently no inadequate teaching. Teachers understand that their progression on the salary scale is dependent on the quality of their work and that only the best teaching is rewarded.  Middle leaders, new to their roles, check the work of teachers by looking at planning and work in

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The leadership and management require improvement

pupils’ books. However, they have not provided clear enough guidance to teachers about how this aspect of teaching may be improved. Consequently weaknesses in planning have not yet been addressed The curriculum is broad and balanced and promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. A stimulating range of additional activities, including cookery, dance and swimming, is offered, together with a well-planned programme of visits to local places of interest to add to pupils’ enjoyment of learning. The new Primary School Sports Funding has been used to employ a specialist teaching assistant to support the school’s already rich curriculum for physical education. This is helping pupils to understand the importance of staying fit and healthy.  The school has responded well to the medium level of support provided by the local authority.  Although school leaders have improved communications with parents and carers, a minority

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The leadership and management require improvement

believes that the school is not well led or managed. Inspectors found that, although leadership overall requires improvement, current leaders are taking appropriate actions to lead the school and improve its effectiveness. The majority of parents and carers would recommend the school to others.  The governance of the school:  Governors know that pupils’ attainment is significantly above average, but they are not fully aware that pupils do not make enough progress and so they have not held senior leaders to account for the dip in progress over the past three years.  They fulfil their statutory responsibilities. They monitor finances effectively to ensure that funds such as the pupil premium are wisely spent to raise achievement for those eligible pupils. They have a rolling programme in place to ensure that all policies are monitored and reviewed regularly to maintain the smooth running of the school. They hold school leaders to

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The leadership and management require improvement

account to ensure that the quality of teaching improves to be consistently good. They understand that systems to check the performance of staff are in place and that teachers’ progression on the salary scale is dependent on their performance in the classroom. They check that systems to keep pupils and staff are safe are robust and contribute to safe and orderly school community.

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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 125201 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 430611

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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 Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 7  11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 340 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Pauline Stanmore Headteacher Jessica Steele Date of previous school inspection 20 June 2012 Telephone number 01483 761531 Fax number 01483 776210 Email address office@horsell-junior.surrey.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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