Churchfields Junior School

Churchfields Junior School Churchfields, South Woodford, London, E18 2RB

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher and senior leaders provide the school with strong leadership and management. They have very high expectations of both staff and pupils.  Pupils reach exceptionally high levels in reading, writing, mathematics, punctuation, grammar and spelling by the time they leave Year 6.  Pupils from all backgrounds work well together, resulting in a harmonious school community. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and are not worried about bullying. They have an excellent understanding of how to keep safe.  The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. They are kind and helpful and like learning together. They enjoy being at school, attend regularly and are punctual to lessons.  Teaching is outstanding. Staff share leaders’ very high expectations of pupils. Lessons are skilfully planned to enthuse, motivate and engage pupils and to develop in them a love of learning.  Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work is thorough, with

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

clear guidance on what pupils need to do to improve their work. This makes a significant contribution to pupils’ exceptional rates of progress.  The school has developed an excellent curriculum which is rich and varied. Pupils successfully learn to be responsible members of the school and the wider community.  Pupils benefit from many stimulating and inspiring activities which promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The governing body strongly supports the school and challenges the school’s leaders when necessary. This has contributed to sustained improvements.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors conducted a number of inspection activities jointly with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher. These included observing classes and looking at work in pupils’ books. The inspectors also attended assembly and listened to pupils read.  Inspectors spoke with pupils about their views on learning, behaviour and how the school keeps them safe.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, other members of the senior leadership team, subject leaders, members of the governing body, a representative from the local authority and the school’s adviser.  Inspectors observed behaviour at breaks and lunchtimes, around the school and during assembly.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of school documents including the school development plan, behaviour logs, policies, monitoring files, self-evaluation reports and those about safeguarding measures.They also looked at the school’s own records of pupils’ progress and documents related to the pupil premium

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Information about this inspection

funding.  The inspectors took account of 99 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and two letters from parents. They also spoke informally to parents in the playground and took account of the school’s own parent survey.  The inspectors analysed 33 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Monica Raphael, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are supported through the pupil premium is below average. This is additional funding provided for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or in the care of the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  The headteacher has been in post since the last inspection, when the school was being rebuilt.  The school provides a breakfast club as well as a number of after-school clubs.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the excellent practice in providing opportunities for pupils to apply their literacy and numeracy skills is extended to all subjects.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The meaures taken by the school’s leaders since the last inspection have resulted in rapid and sustained improvements in teaching and pupils’ achievement. Governors and senior leaders ensure that all new staff appointed to the school share their ambition for the highest possible standards and have created an ethos where pupils know that their views are valued and acted upon.  School leaders have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses based on a clear understanding of what is working well and how quickly pupils make progress. The school development plan sets out clearly the areas needing improvement.  Middle leaders play a significant role in checking that pupils continue to make outstanding progress across the school. They support senior leaders in scrutinising the work in pupils’ books every week to ensure a high standard is maintained.  The information on the quality of learning and teaching, and that about pupils’ achievement is closely tied

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The leadership and management are outstanding

to the targets set for teachers. Teachers are held to account for their targets and any pay rises are related to the progress of pupils in their classes. All staff are managed effectively and high quality training is provided to help them do their work to the best of their ability.  Leaders ensure that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is given a high priority. Pupils benefit from an extensive range of extra-curricular activities, trips and visits which provide them with rich experiences.  The curriculum is motivating, inspiring and engaging, and develops in pupils a love of learning. Pupils embrace the following values promoted by the school: think; never give up; ask questions; take responsibility; work together; and learn from mistakes. British values are also promoted. During ‘Parliament week’, pupils learn about living in a democratic society and about right and wrong. Good

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The leadership and management are outstanding

religious education helps pupils understand different religions.  Leaders ensure that all pupils have an equal opportunity to succeed. The pupil premium funding is used, for example, to ensure the progress made by disadvantaged pupils matches that of other pupils in the school.  The primary sport funding has been used effectively to increase pupils’ participation in a range of local sporting activities and to employ specialist instructors and coaches to teach gymnastics, physical education and dance. This is leading to high achievement in these areas and is helping teachers to improve their teaching.  The local authority offers ‘light touch’ support to this school and values the support it is able to offer the local authority in return.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet all statutory requirements.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  Governors are highly effective. They know the school’s strengths and weaknesses well and share the ambitions of the senior leadership team. Governors are extremely well trained and bring a range of professional skills, knowledge and expertise to the school. They have an accurate picture of how the school’s performance compares with national figures. Governors ensure that the school’s leaders are accountable for its performance and set challenging targets which match the needs of pupils. They receive information about the teachers’ performance and how they are rewarded and helped to improve. The governing body has an accurate and well-informed view of the quality of the school’s work through governors’ visits to the school and from the headteacher’s reports. They ensure the pupil premium spending is used effectively to improve pupils’ achievement.  The governors take their responsibilities for the safeguarding of pupils very seriously and make sure

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The leadership and management are outstanding

that arrangements are robust and meet statutory requirements.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  Pupils have positive attitudes and are highly engaged in, and motivated by, their learning. As a result, they achieve well and make rapid progress. They present their work in their books to a high standard and respond to teachers’ instructions quickly. Pupils show a high level of respect for each other and for adults and visitors to the school.  Pupils enjoy coming to school, want to learn and enjoy demonstrating newly acquired skills. In a music assembly, for example, pupils played instruments to complement the singing and had clearly made exceptional progress in this aspect of music.  Pupils move around the school in a calm way, returning to class quickly after breaks, lunchtimes and assemblies so that no time is lost.  Pupils have a well-developed sense of responsibility which supports their moral and social development. They happily take on the roles of pupil advocates, learning counsellors, ‘techie angels’ and club and sports

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Behaviour

leaders. They understand the value of money and know that it is good to help others and to be kind.  The school has a range of strategies to support positive behaviour and promote good attitudes to learning. Pupils say that bullying, name calling and racist incidents are rare.  Pupils’ attendance is higher than the national average and there have been no recent fixed-term exclusions.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. For example, junior travel ambassadors help pupils to realise the health benefits of walking to and from school and to know how to keep themselves safe on the road. They also suggest new ways to make the area around the school safe. A ‘Day-Glo’ day raises awareness of safety during dark mornings.  Pupils know about different forms of bullying, such as bullying over the internet, persistent name-calling and racist name-calling, and how to deal with them. They say that they feel safe at school and know whom to speak to if they need help.  Pupils say that they know how to keep themselves safe when using the internet because they have been taught about these things and to always ‘Think before you click’.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers plan and teach lessons that effectively engage pupils and enable them to make rapid and sustained progress. The quality of teaching is extremely good across all year groups and the use of specialist teachers for art, dance and physical education helps pupils to make outstanding progress.  Teachers expect all pupils to succeed.The quality of relationships between teachers and pupils is excellent and pupils are confident about contributing to discussions and asking questions.  Teachers mark pupils’ work in great detail and pupils respond quickly to the advice they receive about how to improve their work. Pupils check their own work and their classmates’ work with confidence. They make decisions together about what they need to learn next and when to ask for help. Teachers have created an ethos where taking risks and making mistakes are seen as part of learning.  The teachers check pupils’ work and plan subsequent lessons in a way that ensures that all pupils,

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

including the most able, are suitably challenged.  The teaching of mathematics has improved significantly since the last inspection as a result of the adoption of successful new approaches. Pupils are now achieving as well in mathematics as they do in writing and reading. Similar plans have now been put in place to speed up pupils’ progress in reading.  Teachers have secure subject knowledge and use questioning effectively to check and develop pupils’ understanding.  Teachers ensure that pupils are developing their literacy and numeracy skills in English and mathematics lessons, but these skills are not then applied as well as they might be in some other subjects.  Additional adults provide high quality support to disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. They work closely with teachers and share information about pupils’ learning.

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The achievement of pupils

 Almost all pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics, and high numbers make outstanding progress from their starting points.  The attainment of Year 6 pupils in 2013 and 2014 was significantly above average in national tests. Inspection evidence confirms that the current Year 6 pupils are working at exceptionally high levels in reading, writing and mathematics.  The proportions of pupils making the expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics from their starting points are above national averages.  The most able pupils make at least the expected progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics, with a high proportion making more than the expected progress in writing and mathematics.  The progress of disadvantaged pupils is in line with that of pupils nationally. The school’s rigorous monitoring of their work enables gaps to be indentified and additional support put in place. In 2014, the

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The achievement of pupils

gap between the attainment of eligible pupils and others in the school was approximately one term in mathematics, two terms in reading and one and half terms in writing, and this is narrowing. When compared with other pupils nationally, disadvantaged pupils at Churchfields are around two terms ahead in mathematics and one term ahead in writing. They are half a term behind in reading.  Regular and rigorous tracking, combined with pupil progress meetings, enables leaders and teachers to identify any groups or pupils who may be starting to fall behind. Where this is found to be the case, further support is quickly put in place. Additional support is provided for the most able pupils in reading, helping them to achieve at the higher levels.  Pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. This is shown by the quality of work in their books, the challenging targets that have been set and pupils’ responses to

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The achievement of pupils

their teachers’ feedback.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make outstanding progress from their starting points. The school ensures that there is a good relationship with the parents of this group and that support from external agencies is well matched to pupils’ needs. Leaders, teachers and support staff monitor pupils’ progress closely. Teaching in class, or in intervention groups, is precisely targeted, so by the time pupils leave the school, their attainment is often similar to or above the national average.  Pupils reach high standards in physical education, art, dance, gymnastics and music, because the teaching of specialist staff is inspirational.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 133935 Local authority Redbridge Inspection number 444293

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 479 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Deon Wilson Headteacher Ms Wendy Thomas Date of previous school inspection 4–5 March 2010 Telephone number 020 85044650 Fax number 020 85592358 Email address admin.churchfields_jun@redbridge.gov.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 and 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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