Crofton Anne Dale Junior School

School report Crofton Anne Dale Junior School

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Cuckoo Lane, Stubbington, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 3PH

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leadership and management are good. Leaders at all levels have sustained and improved teaching and pupils’ high standards in reading, writing and mathematics since the previous inspection.  Governors have increased their skills in effectively challenging leaders. This has recently supported leaders in their drive to secure more outstanding teaching and better achievement.  All groups of pupils make good progress from their various starting points and achieve well. School information shows more rapidly improving progress in the last year.  A substantial number of the most able pupils are now reaching levels that are much higher than their peers nationally, by the end of Year 6. This is particularly the case in mathematics and is an improvement since the previous inspection.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress because of well- organised provision for their needs. Teaching

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

assistants are highly skilled and support pupils’ learning needs particularly well.  Extra funding is being used well to support disadvantaged pupils. As a result, the gap in attainment is reducing between these pupils and others.  Teaching is good, with some that is outstanding. Pupils acquire good literacy and numeracy skills, knowledge and understanding. This prepares them well for secondary education.  Behaviour is outstanding. Pupils demonstrate a real eagerness to learn because lessons are exciting and tasks are challenging.  A high level of mutual respect exists in the school between all adults and pupils. Relationships are excellent and, as a result, behaviour around the building and in lessons is exemplary, as are attitudes to learning.  The school’s safeguarding procedures are rigorously applied, ensuring that all pupils are kept very safe. This is also the view of parents.  Pupils say they feel very safe in school. They

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

thoroughly enjoy all that is on offer. Consequently, their attendance is above average.  The school’s values and beliefs, encapsulated in ‘Striving for the Best in Everyone’, are clearly visible in the way staff promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Although their progress is improving in response to better support, disadvantaged pupils are not yet attaining as highly as other pupils.  Teachers do not always give pupils sufficient guidance on how to improve their work. This sometimes slows their progress.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors looked at pupils’ learning in 22 lessons and observed 13 teachers. Teaching assistants were observed working with individual pupils and small groups. The acting headteacher and acting deputy headteacher accompanied the lead inspector for some lesson observations.  Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ work across a range of subjects and classes. They talked to pupils about their work and heard individual pupils from Years 4 and 6 read.  A wide range of documents was scrutinised, including systems for checking progress, records relating to behaviour and attendance, safeguarding procedures and the school’s analysis of how well it is doing and how it plans to improve. Records of checks on the quality of teaching were examined along with records of visits to the school made by the local authority.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, school staff and groups of pupils. Individual

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Information about this inspection

pupils were spoken to in lessons and around the school. A phone call took place with the school adviser from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the views expressed in 105 online responses from Parent View, informal meetings with parents and carers at the school during the inspection and two letters from parents.  Inspectors also took account of the results of 41 questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Anna Sketchley, Lead inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 Crofton Anne Dale Junior School is larger than the average-sized junior school.  The proproportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is lower than the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is below that found in most schools. This is additional government funding provided to give extra support to those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and to children who are looked after.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.  The school organises a breakfast club by invitation for some pupils eligible for the pupil premium.  There are also breakfast and after-school clubs close to the school site, but these are privately run and

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Information about this school

were not a part of this inspection.  The school is currently led and managed by an acting headteacher.  Following the retirement of the headteachers in the infant and junior schools on the site, the junior school federated with the infant school in July 2014. A new executive headteacher for the federated schools has been appointed and takes up her post in April 2015.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that disadvantaged pupils make even better progress by rapidly embedding the recently introduced new strategies so that they attain as well as their peers, especially in writing and mathematics.  Make sure that the school’s marking policy is applied to equally good effect throughout the school, so that pupils know how to improve their work.

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The leadership and management are good

 The drive and ambition of all leaders since the previous inspection have ensured that the school has sustained the pupils’ high attainment. It has continued to rise year on year and rates of progress for all groups are faster than previously. Governors have developed their skills in challenging themselves and school leaders in a successful bid to become more effective.  Over the last year, during a period of considerable change, new acting leaders have stepped up to the mark well and have paved the way successfully towards moving the school even further forward. Leaders’ strong focus on improving the quality of teaching has resulted in pupils’ achievement rising quickly. Effective support from the local authority has also helped the school to develop a rapid pace of improvement.  Excellent relationships, mutual respect and good and sometimes outstanding teaching result in pupils being eager to learn. This provides a very positive climate for learning where exemplary behaviour

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The leadership and management are good

flourishes.  Performance management to check the quality of teaching is used rigorously. Teachers are very clear about the fast rates of progress set for pupils and the standard of teaching required to meet these expectations. To ensure that targets are met, the quality of teaching is examined regularly through lesson observations and scrutiny of pupils’ books and teachers’ planning.  Subject leaders are fully involved in this process, working effectively to deliver help to teachers and teaching assistants. They quickly provide support where necessary, especially in the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. This has resulted in a rapid rise in standards in mathematics since the previous inspection.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are very well supported. Some pupils have very complex needs but they are never discriminated against and are provided with an equal opportunity to

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The leadership and management are good

thrive and learn as well as all other pupils. Evidence of this was provided by one parent who commented, ‘From day one [my child] has been treated equally to all other pupils. I would recommend this school to all families with special needs children who wish for them to attend mainstream school.’  The school has taken positive steps to improve the way it uses additional funding to quicken the progress of disadvantaged pupils. However, strategies have not been in place long enough to ensure that these pupils reach the same high standards as other pupils. The breakfast club for these pupils is especially successful. They attend every day, thoroughly enjoy the social occasion and, as a result, are ready to learn.  Leaders demonstrate a secure knowledge of curriculum development in line with new national curriculum requirements. Subjects are well planned and enriched by visits, which are followed up by interesting

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The leadership and management are good

learning opportunities through which pupils regularly practise reading, writing and mathematics. Links with an inner city, multi-ethnic school and a Chinese club run by a parent are examples of ways in which the school is helping pupils to develop an understanding of the diverse cultures that exist in modern Britain. Imaginative opportunities to study other cultures across the wider world are found in pupils’ ‘pen-pal’ correspondence with a school in Ethiopia.  Learning about British values and democracy is well promoted through work as a ‘Rights Respecting’ school, class charters, the school council, the celebration of Martin Luther King Day and a study of the Scottish referendum.  Leaders have ensured that extra sports funding has been well used to equip all teachers with the skills to teach a wide variety of sports, dance and gymnastics. Pupils’ involvement and enjoyment in after-school activities and competitive sport have improved significantly. When spoken to by inspectors, pupils

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The leadership and management are good

demonstrated a good understanding of how to live a healthy lifestyle.  The safeguarding of pupils fulfils all requirements. Governors and leaders regularly review safeguarding procedures to ensure that the school’s well-developed systems for pupils’ safety are strictly adhered to at all times.  Comments gathered during the inspection, complimentary letters and the results of the parent questionnaire demonstrate that the vast majority of parents are highly satisfied with the school. The school engages with parents very well, as shown by the recent mathematics workshop.  The governance of the school: Governors demonstrate a strong commitment to the life and work of pupils and staff and the school’s improving performance. Governors are linked to subjects and specific areas for development. They make regular visits to the school and, as a result, are very aware of the school’s strengths and areas for

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The leadership and management are good

improvement. The information they gather and the skills they have enable them to ask challenging questions as well to support developments. Through careful scrutiny of school performance data they are able to keep abreast of the progress of different groups of pupils and how well they are doing. They use this information to rigorously monitor the quality of teaching. Governors are very aware of how the performance management of teachers is used to tackle underperformance and to reward good teaching in relation to pupils’ progress.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. School records show there have been no exclusions since the previous inspection. Any breaches in behaviour are minor and are carefully logged. Racist incidents, bullying and seriously challenging behaviour are extremely rare.  Pupils’ conduct and behaviour around the school are impeccable. Pupils walk in an orderly manner and use the stairs very safely. They show respect, courtesy and good manners. This leads to a very calm transition between classes and when going outside. Despite enjoying ‘Red Nose Day’ and a very exciting ‘Bake Off’ assembly during the inspection, behaviour was exemplary.  Peer mediators play an important role in ensuring that pupils get on well together on the playground, especially the younger ones, so that it is a friendly social occasion for everyone.  When asked if they enjoyed school, pupils replied with a resounding ‘Yes!’ They attend very regularly and

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Behaviour

show their eagerness to learn in lessons. During the inspection, pupils were observed fully engaged in their learning and there was no low-level disruption of any kind. This supports their good achievement.  Adults’ act as excellent role models for pupils. This is reflected in the way pupils treat each other and promote a ‘Rights Respecting’ community. Consequently, the school is a very happy and harmonious place in which to learn.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils say they feel very safe in school, giving examples of the lanyards that all staff wear, the locked school gates and doors with keypads. Pupils on ‘office duty’ at lunchtimes remarked on how safe they felt.  Pupils told inspectors ‘there was a little bullying in the past, but there is absolutely none now’. They talked of numerous assemblies about bullying, what it is and how to deal with it. They are very clear about what to do if there is a problem, knowing that they should ‘tell a trusted adult’. Pupils could discuss how to use the internet safely. They know that discriminatory language is wrong and never tolerated in school.  Pupils are fully involved in safety routines, for example, regularly checking whether or not the play equipment on the playground is safe to use and discussing risks when going on school trips.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is good and sometimes outstanding. Teachers have high expectations of both work and behaviour. Classrooms are always ready for learning and no time is wasted. This provides a very good atmosphere where pupils work hard at their tasks, even when unsupervised.  Interesting and thoughtfully planned, well-organised lessons capture pupils’ interest and imagination. Pupils know exactly what they are expected to learn because teachers share the learning objective with them at the beginning of the lesson. Pupils listen very carefully to instructions and concentrate well.  Teachers’ good subject knowledge means that the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics are well taught. Their skilful questioning enables them to probe pupils’ understanding and adjust tasks when they are either too easy or too hard.  Teachers ensure that pupils learn a wide range of skills to help them read and understand challenging

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The quality of teaching is good

texts and write well for a wide range of purposes and audiences. Pupils were observed quickly learning to recognise parts of speech by looking for prepositions, verbs and adjectives in their reading. Pupils’ writing skills develop well because of practising these skills. They look for the exciting and adventurous language used by authors so they can replicate this in their own writing.  Helpful information on the classroom walls and the use of practical equipment in mathematics all support pupils well in the numeracy tasks they are set. During the inspection, pupils were observed using practical equipment to make squares when learning about square numbers. They rapidly became secure in the concept because they could ‘see’ the square number in front of them. As a result, the most able pupils were quickly ready to move on to a challenging investigation of the relationship between square numbers and prime numbers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Where marking is consistent with the school’s policy and is effective, it makes a significant contribution to pupils’ understanding of what they can do to improve their work. However, comments that some teachers make do not give pupils sufficient guidance so that they do not make the rapid progress of which they are capable.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are well catered for. Teachers and highly trained teaching assistants offer one-to-one support. Modifications to both the curriculum and the classrooms mean that these pupils learn confidently in class alongside their peers.  During lessons, extra intensive teaching help for disadvantaged pupils in mastering basic skills is beginning to ensure that these pupils make accelerated progress and attain the same high standards as other pupils.

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is good

 Since the previous inspection, when attainment was well above average, standards have continued to rise. In 2014, standards in Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics were significantly above the national average. School information shows that pupils currently in Year 6 are working at levels above those expected in all subjects.  A considerable number of the most able pupils are working at a level much higher than is expected in mathematics and a few are reaching similar high levels in reading and writing. This is an improvement since the previous inspection. These most able pupils are making outstanding progress. This was evident in a lesson when pupils studying probability were involved in an investigation of the likely outcomes when throwing dice. As the learning progressed, they confidently explained why probability varied as the number of throws increased.  In 2014, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 was four terms behind other pupils in the school

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is good

in mathematics and writing, and three terms behind in reading. Compared with other pupils nationally, disadvantaged pupils were three terms behind in mathematics and writing and two terms behind in reading.  School information for this year shows that strategies to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils are beginning to make a difference. Some interventions have not been in place long enough for there to be significant impact. However, in the current Year 6, the gap between other pupils in the school and disadvantaged pupils is narrowing. This group of pupils are assessed as being one term behind in reading, writing and mathematics.  The gap is also closing in Year 4, for example, where disadvantaged pupils are half a term behind in reading and closer to a term behind in writing and mathematics.  Disadvantaged pupils are now making accelerated progress and catching up quickly with other pupils. All

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is good

other pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, make at least good progress from their starting points.  Pupils are well prepared for secondary education.

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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 115880 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 448787

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 371 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jackie Stewart Headteacher Jane Jones Date of previous school inspection 3–4 February 2010 Telephone number 01329 662087 Fax number 01329 667829 Email address Headteacher@croftonannedale-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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