Hanham Abbots Junior School

School report Hanham Abbots Junior School

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Creswicke Avenue, Hanham, Bristol, South Gloucestershire, BS15 3PN

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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 primary headteacher and the head of the junior school work well together. They provide strong leadership. They have high expectations for the school and have successfully ensured that the quality of teaching continues to be good.  Senior and middle leaders have identified what needs to improve so that the school can become even better.  The governing body is highly effective. Governors know their school well and hold senior leaders to account for continued improvement.  From their low starting points pupils make good progress in each year group and achieve well. Standards at the end of Year 6 have improved and are now in line with the national average in reading, writing and mathematics.  Teaching is generally good. Teachers provide interesting and challenging learning activities for pupils. Teachers encourage pupils to work hard and persevere.  Pupils behave well. They are polite, well mannered

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and courteous. They demonstrate respect for each other and the adults in school.  Pupils are very well cared for. Relationships between adults and pupils are highly effective. Spiritual, moral, cultural and social education is good.  Pupils are kept very safe on the school site and are given excellent guidance. They therefore know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations.  Skilled teaching assistants provide a very good level of support, enabling pupils with additional needs to make good progress.  Attendance is high and continues to be above the national average for primary schools.  Parents and carers are very pleased with the school. A very large majority would recommend the school to others.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 In a very small number of classes, a few pupils do not remain consistently focused on their learning and therefore their progress slows.  Pupils are not always given enough opportunities to use and apply their good mathematical knowledge to real-life problems.  The checks made by senior and middle leaders are, on occasions, not rigorous enough to promote outstanding teaching.  In a some classes, teachers’ marking and feedback do not always show pupils how to improve their work and time is not always given for them to act upon the guidance in their books.  Pupils do not always present their work neatly.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors visited 26 lessons. Eight of these were observed jointly with the primary headteacher and the junior headteacher.  The inspectors heard pupils read, examined work in their books, attended assemblies and observed activities in the playground.  The inspectors held discussions with pupils, the primary headteacher and head of the junior school, senior and middle leaders and members of the governing body.  The inspectors held a meeting with representatives from the local authority.  Inspectors examined a range of documents, including a summary of the school’s own checks on how well it is doing, the school’s plans for improvement, reports provided by the primary and junior headteacher for the governing body and the minutes of meetings of the governing body. They also looked at documents showing how the quality of teaching is evaluated, the school’s information on pupils’ progress, and records

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Information about this inspection

relating to pupils’ safety, behaviour and attendance.  The inspectors analysed 120 returns to the online Parent View questionnaire and spoke informally to parents and carers to seek their views.  The inspectors considered the views of 37 staff who returned questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Chris Chamberlain, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Hanham Abbots Junior School is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who receive the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils in the care of the local authority and those known to be eligible for free school meals) is much lower than the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is slightly lower than average.  The large majority of children are from White British backgrounds.  In 2014, the school met the government’s floor standards, which set minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  This school and Samuel Whites Infant School are both part of the Hanham Primary Federation which was formed in September 2013. The primary headteacher leads both schools. The junior headteacher is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise teaching to outstanding levels by:  making the checks on the quality of teaching more rigorous to ensure that all teachers use the most effective strategies to accelerate pupil progress and raise standards  increasing the opportunities for children to apply their mathematical knowledge and develop their understanding through increasingly complex and varied problems  ensuring that marking and feedback for pupils always enable them to improve their work  ensuring that every pupil pays careful attention and is consistently focused on their work  ensure pupils in all classes take care over their handwriting and presentation to produce work of the highest quality

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The leadership and management are good

 Effective collaboration between the primary headteacher and head of the junior school, as well as their determination and their professional and enthusiastic approach, have ensured that the school has continued to improve since the last inspection. The school’s self-evaluation is accurate and its capacity for continued improvement is strong.  Senior and middle leaders are effective. Their skills have improved because of the support they have received from the primary headteacher and head of junior school. They have developed helpful action plans from their analysis of pupils’ progress data and from their monitoring of the quality of teaching. Middle leaders sucessfully identify pupils who require additional support if their progress slows. However, on occasions, leaders need to ensure that monitoring is even more rigorous so that there is even greater sharing of the most effective teaching strategies to accelerate pupil progress enabling the quality of

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The leadership and management are good

teaching across the school to become outstanding.  The school works hard to ensure that all groups of pupils have equality of opportunity and that there is no discrimination. The school uses the pupil premium funding effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make good progress. Specialist teaching, intervention programmes and learning support have all ensured that disadvantaged pupils are well supported and are catching up with their classmates.  The school’s curriculum is stimulating and so pupils are keen to be in school. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education. The school has developed links with schools across Europe through the Comenius project. This has given pupils the opportunity to find out about life in different European countries through visits and regular communication.  Adults in school provide excellent care and guidance for pupils. Pupils understand democracy because of

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The leadership and management are good

the opportunities they have in school, such as voting f for members of the school council. Recently pupils have been encouraged to suggest and vote on the names for temporary classrooms on the school site. Pupils understand that tolerance is important and demonstrate respect for each other. Spiritual, moral, cultural and social education is effective and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.  The school monitors pupils’ attendance well. Systems for ensuring high levels of attendance are very effective. As a result, pupils’ attendance is above the national average.  The school uses the primary school physical education and sports premium successfully. Pupils’ participation levels have increased in after school clubs and sporting tournaments . The school provides a wide range of opportunities for pupils to play sport beyond those in the daily timetable. The school employs sports coaches to teach physical education (PE) and sport. This ensures that pupils receive high-

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The leadership and management are good

quality teaching and develop an effective range of skills.  Arrangements for safeguarding pupils are fully in place and are very effectively applied by staff to ensure pupils’ welfare, health and safety.  A very large majority of parents and carers agree that the leadership and management of the school are good.  This good school receives a low level of support from the local authority.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is highly effective and knows the school well. Governors are keen to listen to the views of parents and carers, staff and pupils through organised coffee mornings, parent questionnaires and drop-in sessions. Governors challenge senior leaders by asking well-informed questions. They undertake regular training and are able to evaluate the performance of the school, including the achievement of different groups of pupils, against national figures. Governors are well informed through detailed reports and effectively evaluate the impact of pupil premium funding as well as the sport and PE grant. Governors have specific curriculum responsibilities. They undertake curriculum visits and hold meetings with teachers who coordinate subjects so that they can develop their knowledge of the school. Governors ensure that statutory safeguarding requirements are fully met. They audit safeguarding

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The leadership and management are good

regularly and use the outcomes to make further improvements. Governors monitor the school budget effectively. The governing body holds the primary and junior headteachers to account by setting challenging targets for them based on the needs of the school. Governors understand how pay decisions are made and how teachers are supported if they require further development.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils demonstrate respect for each other and the adults in school. They readily hold doors open for adults, greet staff and visitors, and are very keen to talk about their school. They look smart in their uniform and wear it with pride  The vast majority of pupils are enthusiastic learners. They want to do well and make rapid progress. They have very positive relationships with adults in school because of the excellent level of support that they receive.  Pupils are mature and sensible. Pupils say that behaviour is good and that any bullying is dealt with swiftly. They know that they can talk easily to the adults looking after them if they are worried or unsure. They are very clear about the many different forms that bullying can take.  The school’s records show that there have been no permanent exclusions for several years. Other records show a very low number of instances of poor behaviour. The school has an effective range of systems for

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Behaviour

promoting good behaviour.  Behaviour is not outstanding because in a very small number of classes a few children do not concentrate fully on their work or produce work that is carefully presented and sometimes chat instead of working as hard as the majority do.  The very large majority of school staff and parents and carers agree that behaviour is good.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  Pupils are kept very safe on the school site. There is controlled access into all school buildings. Detailed records are held to ensure that appropriate background checks are made on all adults in school.  Risk assessments are thorough and monitored by senior staff and the local authority. This ensures that pupils are kept safe when in school, on day trips or on residential visits.  Pupils have a very good understanding of e-safety because of the effective teaching of this area of the curriculum. Pupils can readily explain the importance of keeping personal details safe online and how important filters are in keeping pupils safe when using the internet in school.  Pupils are kept very safe in school because adults have regular training and apply their knowledge and skills well. Leaders also audit provision for pupils’ safety to ensure that the school’s systems are

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Safety

consistently up to date with current regulations.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school. Almost all parents and carers who spoke to inspectors or who completed the online questionnaire agree that their child feels safe in school.  Pupils know so much about keeping safe in a wide range of situations because the oldest pupils have ‘life skills’ training from a range of professionals including the fire service.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is consistently good. Evidence in pupils’ books shows that they make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics because of good teaching.  The very large majority of parents and carers who spoke to inspectors or completed the questionnaire agree that teaching is good.  Pupils make effective progress because teachers organise their time effectively in lessons. They teach specific skills and knowledge to different groups of pupils and give tasks that challenge and match their ability. Teaching assistants support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities effectively so that these pupils also make good progress.  Pupils feel confident with the adults in school and they are happy to have a go when learning new skills. They know that if they make a mistake they will be well supported by adults.  Teachers plan effectively and check pupils’ understanding during lessons. They readily change their

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The quality of teaching is good

activities if children find them too easy or too difficult to ensure that pupils make good progress.  Where learning is at its best, teachers make sure that pupils know how to improve their work and are given time to make those improvements. This does not yet happen consistently well across the school.  In mathematics, the pupils are given time to practise the skills and knowledge that they have learnt. However, in some classes, children do not have sufficient opportunities to develop their mathematical reasoning and apply their mathematical skills in solving problems. do not move quickly enough from practising calculations to being able to apply their skills to real-life problems.  Teachers have good subject knowledge and use questioning successfully to extend pupils’ learning. Teachers regularly ensure pupils know what they have to achieve in their learning to be successful  Teachers make learning enjoyable, for example, by organising a VE Day tea party for members of the

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The quality of teaching is good

local community or by building models of Stonehenge. Because of this pupils are keen to learn.  Reading is very effectively taught in the school. Pupils make rapid progress and say that they enjoy the systems in place to promote reading. They practise reading regularly at home and have opportunities in school to develop their comprehension skills.  Writing is taught well. Pupils have opportunities to apply their writing skills and knowledge across the curriculum. For example, some younger pupils wrote a letter of complaint to the Prime Minister using their persuasive writing skills. The teaching of handwriting is weaker and does not ensure high standards of presentation in all classes.  Homework is used very successfullly to support learning in school.

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The achievement of pupils

 . Pupils enter the school with skills and knowledge below the national average and sometimes significantly below. By the time they leave the school in Year 6 standards are now securely in line with national averages because progress has accelerated and is now good. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education.  The progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs has accelerated because of the good level of support they receive. These pupils now make good progress.  The most able pupils also make good progress because of the additional challenge that they receive in lessons. The proportion of pupils attaining the highest available levels at the end of Year 6 is now in line with the national average  Across the whole school, disadvantaged pupils make similar rates of progress to other pupils. In some year groups, the rates of progress of disadvantaged pupils are more rapid than those of other pupils and

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The achievement of pupils

so there are no gaps in attainment in these year groups.  In 2013, the progress of disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 was similar to that of others nationally. The gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and others in school and others nationally was less than half a term in reading, writing and mathematics.  In 2014, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 was very low. Half of these pupils had special educational needs. Half of the group joined the school later than at the usual time. Because of this, the achievement of this group was not as strong as in the previous year. The gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and others in the school was two terms in reading, just over three terms in writing and slightly more than two terms in mathematics. The gap between disadvantaged pupils and others nationally was nearly three terms in reading, just over four terms in writing and slightly less than four

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The achievement of pupils

terms in mathematics.  Pupils’ presentation of their work is not always good enough across the school. Not all pupils always take a pride in their work and handwriting is not taught consistently well in each year group.

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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 109016 Local authority South Gloucestershire Inspection number 450345

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 382 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rhona Phelps Primary Headteacher Mike Coyne Date of previous school inspection 29–30 June 2010 Telephone number 01454 866576 Fax number 01454 866578 Email address hanhamabbots@hanhamprimaryfederation.org 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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