St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School

St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School Belle Vue Road, Old Basing, Basingstoke, RG24 7DE

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher and senior leaders provide strong direction and effective leadership. All staff know their contribution is valued and they are proud to work at St Mary’s. Leaders make a good overall impact on the quality of teaching.  Pupils achieve well and large numbers leave Year 6 with very good skills in reading and writing.  Teaching is usually good or better. Where teaching is not consistently good, leaders provide effective support and development for teachers.  Teachers plan interesting lessons which excite pupils. They make good use of links between different subjects so that pupils develop a broad range of skills and knowledge.  Governors hold leaders to account well by asking challenging questions and checking for themselves that what they are told is accurate.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is extremely good, because teachers plan lots of experiences and opportunities in these

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

areas.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe is outstanding. Leaders, governors and staff carry out their roles and responsibilities very well with regard to safeguarding.  Pupils behave well, feel very safe and enjoy coming to school. They speak passionately about the school community being ‘one family’, in line with the school’s motto.  Parents are very positive about the school and appreciate all the good work the staff do to make sure their children are safe, happy and well educated.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching does not always meet the needs of lower ability and more able pupils well enough, particularly in mathematics. This means pupils do less well in mathematics than reading and writing.  When teaching is less effective in meeting pupils’ varied needs, pupils are less engaged and their behaviour and progress slips.  In some lessons pupils do not know what to do next and are not always given enough time to improve their work.  Leaders’ checks on teaching are not always rigorous enough in checking that the needs of all pupils are being met. Inspection report: St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School, 4–5 February 2015 2 of 9

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 16 lessons, four of which were joint observations with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. The inspectors also made some shorter visits to classes, listened to pupils reading and scrutinised pupils’ work.  Meetings were held with staff, members of the governing body, groups of pupils and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of parents’ comments, including informal discussions, a letter and 88 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Questionnaires, completed by 32 members of staff, were also considered.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of school documentation, including the school’s information on pupils’ progress, the school improvement plan, minutes of governors’ meetings and documents related to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Louise Adams, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Richard Johnson Additional Inspector Inspection report: St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School, 4–5 February 2015 3 of 9

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Information about this school

 St Mary’s Church of England Junior School is a larger-than-average primary school, set in a rural part of Basingstoke.  The percentage of pupils eligible for the pupil premium (government funding to support disadvantaged pupils) is below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is well below average.  After the last inspection the school was without a substantive headteacher for two years. The current headteacher has been at the school for four years.  Approximately half the teaching staff are new teachers or have only taught for one year.  The school meets the current government floor standards for pupils’ achievement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of teaching by:  strengthening teachers’ subject knowledge in mathematics so teachers can identify and correct pupils’ misconceptions  making sure that teachers plan activities that are well matched to the needs of all groups of pupils, particularly in mathematics  ensuring pupils know what they need to do next and are given time to improve their work.  Make sure leaders’ checks on classroom practice are consistently rigorous, so that common issues are identified and tackled quickly. Inspection report: St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School, 4–5 February 2015 4 of 9

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is passionate about the school and is determined to make it as good as it can be. Her strong vision and commitment ensure that all staff provide very good care and support for all pupils.  Leaders at all levels know what they need to do to help the headteacher to improve the school. Through useful coaching and well-planned support, the leadership team members, including those new to their posts, are carrying out their roles well.  The systems for checking teaching are largely effective, resulting in good teaching. The training and support for new and less experienced teachers are focused and relevant, so all teachers are improving and know what they need to do next. However, some whole-school aspects of teaching, such as checking all pupils’ needs are met, are not checked regularly enough, so action to tackle inconsistencies is not as fast as it could be.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a particular strength of the school. In many

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The leadership and management are good

lessons pupils are encouraged to consider other people’s perspectives or reflect on current issues around the country and the world. Pupils’ awareness and consideration for others are evident in the work on display and their good conduct towards all members of the community and visitors to the school.  The pupil premium grant is used well to provide a range of personal and educational opportunities, which meet the needs of individuals. This means that these pupils achieve well.  Sport has been an area of considerable strength over a number of years. Pupils benefit from excellent opportunities to take part in wide a range of sports, helped through astute use of the government’s sport funding.  Leaders and teachers are developing a new and exciting creative curriculum to teach the new National Curriculum. Teachers make effective links across different curriculum subjects to interest pupils and broaden their skills and knowledge.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders make sure all pupils have equal opportunities. They track how well pupils are doing, use this information to predict what they can achieve, and make sure they do so.  Leaders and teachers promote British values well. Democracy is promoted through pupils having an active voice through the school council, and current affairs are frequently discussed in lessons.  Procedures for managing teachers’ performance are systematic and rigorous. Targets set are measurable and there is a clear link between how well pupils achieve and decisions about pay increases.  The local authority and diocese provide effective support for the school, in terms of guidance, training and visits to the school.  All statutory requirements for safeguarding are met to a high standard. The school takes very seriously its responsibility to keep pupils safe. It carries out checks on every single adult who comes into contact with

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The leadership and management are good

pupils and has completed the recently introduced checks for all members of staff.  The governance of the school:  Governors provide good challenge and support to school leaders. The Chair of the Governing Body provides clear direction for governors so that they understand their role and carry it out effectively. Governors ask relevant questions of leaders to hold them to account. They receive good information about teaching and pupils’ achievement, but recognise the need to check more carefully what is being done to improve mathematics. They check the accuracy of the information they are given by spending regular time in classes and around the school.  Governors have a good overview of teachers’ performance and consider recommendations from the headteacher regarding pay.  Governors check that the pupil premium grant is used effectively to support disadvantaged pupils.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils, both in lessons and around the school, is good. At times, inspectors observed outstanding behaviour, such as during assembly when the pupils were sat in silent reflection and prayer.  In lessons the great majority of pupils enjoy learning and want to do well. However, on occasion a few pupils do not sustain their focus on work, or start to chat. This is usually when activities are not well matched to their abilities or did not capture their interest.  The school’s behaviour management policy is used well by staff all the time and pupils say they like the Inspection report: St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School, 4–5 February 2015 5 of 9

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Behaviour

warning system of red, amber, and green. They state that staff are ‘always fair’.  Pupils say that name calling or any kind of bullying is very rare and, if it happens, it is taken seriously and dealt with very quickly. Incidents are recorded appropriately and, where action is taken, the incidents are followed up well by staff.  Almost all parents agree that behaviour is good and that bullying is dealt with effectively. Two parents contacted inspectors directly to inform them that their children had experienced bullying at other schools, but say it does not happen at St Mary’s.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. All necessary training and checks on volunteers are carried out promptly and rigorously.  All staff understand their roles and responsibilities for safety and safeguarding.  The school provides a safe environment for its pupils. The curriculum is very effective in helping pupils to know how to keep themselves safe. Pupils spoke confidently about internet safety and how to keep themselves safe on line.  Pupils’ enjoyment in coming to school is reflected in very high attendance.  Pupils feel safe and are confident that they know who to talk to if they are worried about anything.  The school takes sensible action to ensure pupils are punctual to school, although a small group of parents does not ensure their children are on time.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is usually good, and sometimes outstanding. This is particularly the case for experienced teachers. It is good to see that the most effective teachers work closely with newer and less experienced teachers to develop their skills.  Reading is taught well through class lessons and pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure during independent reading sessions. Older pupils, who are trained to be librarians, help pupils change their reading books during break times. Pupils talk enthusiastically about their love of reading and feel confident that they are good readers.  Writing is taught well using links with other subjects, including science, history and design and technology. Teachers plan motivating and engaging tasks, which encourage pupils to write for a range of purposes. Much of the writing in books was of a very high standard.  Teaching in mathematics is less consistently effective. Leaders have taken some sensible action to tackle

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The quality of teaching is good

weaknesses in the subject. However, inspectors identified that some teachers’ subject knowledge is not as secure as it needs to be to identify and tackle misconceptions in pupils’ understanding. This means that pupils are not achieving as well in mathematics as they do in reading and writing.  In almost all lessons, teachers plan different work for the less and more able pupils. However, this work is sometimes not at the correct level for all pupils, so they do not learn as much as they should.  The teaching of music and French is outstanding. The specialist teachers ensure that every lesson enables all pupils to make progress. These lessons support the pupils’ cultural development extremely well.  All work is marked in line with the school’s policy. Some of the comments help pupils to know how to improve their work, but not all. Similarly, while some teachers plan enough time for pupils to make

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The quality of teaching is good

improvements, this is not always the case.  Teaching assistants provide good support for pupils’ learning, working with groups or individuals in lessons or outside the classroom. Some less experienced teachers do not plan what they want the teaching assistants to do so, in a few classes, not all adults’ time is used as well as it could be.  The teaching of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is carefully tailored to meet their needs. This means that almost all pupils are on track to make at least the expected progress.

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is good

 Pupils achieve well across the school because the teaching is good.  In reading and writing, pupils make very good progress and achieve very well from their different starting points. Achievement in mathematics is broadly in line with the national average, except for the most able pupils who do not make as much progress as their peers nationally.  In 2014, when Year 6 pupils who were eligible for the pupil premium grant left, they were working at levels approximately two terms behind other pupils nationally in reading and mathematics; in writing they Inspection report: St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School, 4–5 February 2015 6 of 9

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is good

were a term behind. In reading, writing and mathematics they were working approximately a year behind their peers in school. However, these pupils had made good progress from their starting points, given their individual circumstances. Current pupils are also making good progress, but from higher starting points, and are on track to achieve in line with their peers in school.  The progress of most disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is strong. Once again, the results at the end of Year 6 last year show that not all pupils made as much progress as pupils nationally, but made good progress given their individual circumstances. This year, pupil progress information indicates that almost all these are making expected progress.  The achievement of more able pupils is good overall, but with greater strength in English than mathematics. In the 2014 statutory assessment tests in reading and writing, a large majority of pupils

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is good

achieved the higher levels, but only half did so in mathematics. This is because teaching in mathematics is less well tailored to more able pupils’ needs.  Pupils achieve particularly well in sports because the school ensures all pupils have many opportunities to participate in a range of activities. They manage the selection of sports teams carefully to make sure all pupils, who want to represent the school in competitions, have opportunities to do so.  Achievement in music and French is also very high because of the high quality teaching in these subjects.  Much of the work in pupils’ books is of a very high standard. This is particularly the case in writing books and learning journals. The work shown in mathematics is more variable, as is the standard of presentation. Inspection report: St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School, 4–5 February 2015 7 of 9

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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. Inspection report: St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior School, 4–5 February 2015 8 of 9

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School details

Unique reference number 116350 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 453230

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 7 − 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 361 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andree McLean Headteacher Caroline Welch Date of previous school inspection 6 February 2009 Telephone number 01256465092 Fax number 01256358195 Email address adminoffice@st-marys-jun.hants.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 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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