Guillemont Junior School

Sandy Lane, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 9ES

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 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 is a very strong leader who has worked tirelessly and very successfully since the previous inspection to help the school improve.  Other leaders and the governing body support school improvement well. All leaders and governors are highly ambitious for the school and constantly look for ways to improve it further.  Procedures for checking the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement are very effective. Since the previous inspection, improvement in these areas has been rapid. The school is well placed to improve further.  Teaching in reading, writing and mathematics is good throughout the school. Consequently, pupils are strongly committed to learning.  Pupils achieve well. Their progress has accelerated well over the past year. As a result, attainment is rising quickly and is well on course to exceed that of previous years. In reading, current Year 6 pupils’ attainment is already above the levels

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

expected for their age.  The gap between other pupils’ and disadvantaged pupils’ attainment is closing rapidly.  Behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. Relationships with adults and between pupils are very positive. Pupils enjoy school and work hard.  The school pays good attention to pupils’ safety and welfare. Arrangements to support pupils with behavioural, social or emotional needs are strong and very effective.  Pupils who attend the Resourced Provision for Speech, Language and Communication Needs (Language Unit) achieve well and successfully take part in all aspects of school life. The majority reach the levels expected in reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave.  Governors fulfil their statutory duties successfully. Through a well-designed programme of visits, they are effectively informed about teaching quality and pupils’ achievement. Governors hold leaders to account well on these aspects.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Attainment in writing has not improved as well as attainment in reading and mathematics. Fewer pupils reach or exceed the levels expected for their age in writing.  Teachers do not always check that pupils fully understand new learning.  Lower attaining pupils are not always given sufficient advice on how to learn new skills.  In mainstream classes, not enough emphasis is placed on ensuring disabled pupils and those with special educational needs acquire good basic writing skills.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 14 lessons or parts of lessons, of which two were joint observations with senior leaders. In addition, the inspection team made a number of other short visits to group or individual activities designed to help pupils who have fallen behind to catch up.  Inspectors observed the work of the Language Unit and listened to a small number of pupils read. They scrutinised a sample of pupils’ written work and visited some extra-curricular activities, including the before- and after-school club.  Meetings were held with pupils, members of the governing body and staff, including senior and middle managers. A conversation was held with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 73 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View). They also spoke to a small number of parents bringing their children to school.  Responses from the 24 staff questionnaires were analysed.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed other aspects of the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents, including the school’s records on current pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. They looked at documents related to planning, monitoring and safeguarding. Inspectors also looked at performance management documentation.

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Inspection team

Diane Wilkinson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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Information about this school

 Guillemont is a larger than average-sized junior school with three classes in each year group.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is above the national average.  The school has a specialist Resourced Provision for Speech, Language and Communication Needs (Language Unit) which admits up to 20 pupils. Currently there are 21 pupils on roll.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is also below average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is below average. This funding is to provide extra support for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and to children who are looked after.  The governing body provides a before- and after-school club for pupils. Pupils aged six years old or over from other schools are able to attend the after-school club. This club was also inspected.

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Information about this school

 The Orchard Nursery uses a room at the school. This is run by a private provider and was inspected separately.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.  There have been a higher number of staff changes than is normally seen since the previous inspection.  When Guillemont Junior School was inspected in February 2014, it was judged to have serious weaknesses. Subsequently, the school was inspected on two occasions. At the last monitoring inspection, the school was judged to be making reasonable enough progress .

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement to outstanding, and ensure that:  when pupils answer questions, they are encouraged to explain their answers to demonstrate their depth of understanding  sufficient advice is always provided to help the lower attaining pupils understand new learning  progress in writing is accelerated so that as many pupils reach and exceed the levels expected for their age as they do in reading and mathematics  in the mainstream classes, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs gain good basic writing skills, such as handwriting and spelling.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher’s strong determination underpins the school’s success in ensuring that pupils receive a good quality education. To achieve this he has made sure that the school has very effective systems in place to help check and improve its work.  Astute new leadership appointments have been made both from within and outside the school. As a result, the new deputy headteacher and the subject leaders for English and mathematics support school improvement well.  Other leaders, for example year leaders and the Language Unit leader, make an effective contribution to development work. There is a strong culture of constantly checking the effectiveness of improvement strategies and adjusting these when needed. Leaders are well aware of where further improvement is required and have started to tackle these areas, especially in writing. This gives confidence that improvement will continue.  Good account is taken of recent curriculum changes. Activities enhance learning well, especially in English

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The leadership and management are good

and mathematics. Pupils also benefit from good learning opportunities in other subjects such as art, history and geography. Additional work for pupils who need the support improves their achievement well. Well-planned activities for pupils in the Language Unit ensure these pupils benefit from their education.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and commitment to British values are promoted successfully. Pupils are well informed about diversity in British society. They respect and value different cultures and beliefs. Pupils have strong moral values, develop good social skills and recognise the importance of democracy. Their cultural development is considerably enhanced through music and drama activities.  The sports fund grant is used effectively to provide access to a wide range of activities such as Junior Play Leaders for the Language Unit pupils, sports coaching for pupils and staff, and multi-activities sessions.

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The leadership and management are good

Pupils benefit from the expert coaches and increased expertise of teachers. Pupils’ participation in, and enjoyment of, sport have improved as a result.  The school is strongly committed to providing equality of opportunity, fostering good relationships and discouraging discrimination. As a result, a very close check is kept on individual pupils’ academic progress and behaviour.  The additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used to very good effect to support their academic and personal needs. Partly used for in-class support and learning resources, the main focus this year has been to provide one-to-one support that meets the needs of individual pupils. This has been highly successful in ensuring that they make much better progress now than in previous years.  Procedures to safeguard pupils are rigorous and effective. They fully meet requirements, including in the vetting of staff and in child protection.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school works effectively with parents to support their children’s learning. Parents are appreciative of the school, recognising the hard work that has gone on to improve their children’s education. Although a small minority of parents are concerned about the information they receive on their children’s progress, inspection evidence shows that this is better than that seen in the majority of schools.  The local authority has provided very strong support since the previous inspection. Subject leadership and governance have improved considerably as a result. Local authority officers’ advice is used to very good effect by school leaders to help accelerate progress and raise attainment. Local authority managers agree that much less support is needed in the future.  The governance of the school:  Governors fulfil their statutory duties well. Their good knowledge of the school’s strengths and weaknesses is enhanced by regular visits. Governors hold leaders to account well for the quality of

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The leadership and management are good

education and they support school improvement strategies effectively.  Governors successfully oversee the management of staff performance. Governors’ effective checks ensure they are well informed about teaching quality. They are rigorous in ensuring only good performance is rewarded.  Since the previous inspection, governors’ expertise in the analysis of information has increased especially well. They have a very clear understanding of how well the school is doing, successfully comparing its performance with others locally and nationally.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. In lessons and around school, pupils consistently behave well.  Improved teaching has a marked impact on behaviour in lessons. Excellent relationships between adults and pupils mean the latter want to please their teachers and work hard to do so. However, the open nature of the building means that occasionally the noise level is too high and this can occasionally distract pupils from their learning.  Attitudes to learning are very positive, so that even pupils who find learning difficult persevere to do their best. Attendance levels are rising and are above average. Incidences of poor attendance are decreasing.  Pupils get on well together and work effectively in paired or group tasks as a result. In the playground and around school, they show good consideration for one another. Relationships between pupils from different backgrounds, religions or cultures are very positive. Pupils are well prepared for life in a diverse and

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Behaviour

tolerant society.  The behaviour of pupils who find it difficult to constantly behave well successfully improves over time. Effective support strategies, for example drama therapy, help pupils to control their behaviour in difficult situations.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils are effectively looked after, including in the well-run before- and after-school club.  Pupils are very aware of what is expected of them in school and consistently follow the rules in place to help keep them safe.  Pupils report that bullying incidents are rare and, if they do happen, are dealt with successfully. Pupils exhibit a strong disapproval of any type of bullying such as homophobic or racial bullying. There are few exclusions.  Pupils are well informed about ways to help themselves keep safe. They are aware of the hazards that they might experience when using the internet and are well aware of how to deal with them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Strong support for teaching since the previous inspection has resulted in very effective improvement in this area. A successful programme of training, coaching and checks on teaching has ensured that the teaching in reading, writing and mathematics is now consistently good across the school. Teachers at the beginning of their career or who are new to the school are very well supported.  Pupils benefit from a uniform approach. This is seen in the teaching of mathematics in the way that different skills such as mathematical calculation are taught effectively. This helps pupils to build on their skills well as they move up the year groups.  Well-planned lessons help pupils working at different levels to make good progress. The challenging targets set inspire pupils to do well.  Teaching in the Language Unit is consistently good. Staff are skilled at helping the pupils to gain the oral language, writing and reading skills they need for their future.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the younger mainstream classes, staff are very ambitious for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. However, in writing lessons, this sometimes means that teachers move these pupils on too quickly without checking on their understanding. Some pupils’ work shows that not enough emphasis is placed on ensuring they acquire good handwriting, grammar and spelling skills.  Pupils who need help in reading are given activities with an effective focus on phonic skills (the sounds letters make). Those who need help in mathematics benefit from activities based on calculation skills. As a result, they quickly catch up with their classmates in these aspects.  Most adults explain and demonstrate new learning effectively, using very well chosen resources to help pupils understand. However, on a small minority of occasions, not enough information or advice is provided for lower attaining pupils and they are not clear about what is expected of them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Throughout lessons, teachers check pupils’ progress well, intervening effectively when individuals or a group of pupils need extra support. On these occasions, teachers are good at questioning pupils to help them understand. However, not all staff ensure that pupils can explain their reasons for giving an answer. This limits staff awareness of pupils’ understanding.  Assessment of pupils’ progress is regular and accurate. Teachers take good account of this to adjust lesson planning and provide extra support where required. The quality of marking is very good. Pupils respond positively to this, not often repeating the same errors.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ progress has improved considerably since the previous inspection and is now uniformly good in all classes and in the special resource base. Consequently, all groups of pupils, whatever their needs or talents, achieve well.  As a result of pupils’ good progress, attainment levels are rising quickly. By Year 6, they are broadly average overall and well on course to be better than in the previous four years.  In reading, attainment has risen swiftly this year. School information shows that it is on track to be above average by Year 6, with a greater proportion of pupils than is seen nationally attaining the levels expected for their age. Pupils are competent readers and easily understand what they read.  Attainment in writing, although improved well, is not as good as in reading, largely because pupils’ skills were weaker last year. However, more pupils now make good progress in writing and attainment is

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The achievement of pupils is good

broadly average.  By Year 6, most pupils write competently in different formats such as persuasive letters or newspaper- style reports. Their use of language to engage the reader is effective and their grammar, spelling and punctuation are good. Presentation of their work has improved well.  Pupils in the Language Unit achieve well in all subjects. In writing, there is a strong focus on ensuring that these pupils acquire good basic writing skills before they learn more complex ones.  The achievement of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs in the mainstream classes is good. However, in the younger classes they do not make as good progress as pupils in the resource base in acquiring basic writing skills.  Achievement in mathematics, which was a significant cause for concern in the 2014 national assessments, has been completely turned around. Across the school, pupils consistently achieve well and their

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The achievement of pupils is good

attainment is rising rapidly. By Year 6, attainment in mathematics is now broadly average and better than it has been for the last four years.  Pupils’ knowledge of place value and their calculation skills are very secure. By Year 6, pupils confidently work with measures and data, and solve mathematical problems. Nearly half of Year 6 pupils now exceed the levels expected for their age in mathematics.  The most able pupils achieve well and consistently reach attainment levels above those expected for their age.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language achieve well. Once they have gained a good understanding of English, most reach at least the levels expected for their age. Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds achieve well.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve well and are now closing the gap rapidly on their classmates and on other pupils nationally. Their excellent progress in reading this year ensures they have closed the gap on other

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The achievement of pupils is good

pupils nationally and are only a term behind their classmates whose attainment is above average. Disadvantaged pupils are two terms behind other pupils nationally in writing and mathematics. They are two terms behind their classmates in mathematics and one term behind in writing. However, the gap is much smaller than it was in 2014.

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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 116157 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 462653

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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 330 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Clive Norris Headteacher Denis Foster Date of previous school inspection 26–27 February 2014 Telephone number 01252 666846 Fax number 01252 666848 Email address adminoffice@guillemont-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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