Greenway Junior School

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Leadership and management require improvement. Significant staffing difficulties have impeded the pace of improvement, and led to a lack of coordination and leadership resilience resulting in a period of decline.  Positive actions by new leaders to check and fully address weaknesses in teaching in some year groups have not had time to secure good teaching and achievement across the school.  Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because their progress is not consistent. There is an over-reliance on pupils ‘catching up’ in all three subjects in Years 5 and 6 where teaching is strongest.  Teachers’ expectations are not high enough and teachers do not provide enough challenge for pupils. As a result pupils in some year groups do not make enough progress.  Coaching for teachers, especially those with less experience, is not yet securing all the improvements necessary to overcome underachievement.  Not every teacher has the subject knowledge or

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

skills they require to adjust tasks in lessons to ensure that pupils are fully challenged. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they could.  Teachers do not always make sure that pupils focus sufficiently on their tasks.  Pupils’ handwriting and presentation skills are not always good enough, especially in Years 3 and 4.

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The school has the following strengths

 Governance has improved and is now strong. Governors have begun to tackle effectively significant staffing issues and weaknesses in teaching and achievement over the past year.  Senior leaders have worked hard to establish new partnerships with local schools. They are successfully using these new links, together with advice from external consultants, to help them improve the school’s performance.  Achievement is improving and pupils in Year 6 now make good progress.  The school fulfils all safeguarding requirements and pupils feel safe in school. Parents agree that children are looked after and kept safe in school.  Pupils are well behaved, polite and respectful and get along exceptionally well together. They enjoy coming to school and their attendance is good.  The school’s successful work to establish their five core values into its life and work underpins pupils’ strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural

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The school has the following strengths

development.  The school promotes an understanding of democracy and British values very well.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors looked at pupils’ learning in 21 lessons and observed the work of 10 teachers. Teaching assistants were seen working with individual pupils and small groups. The acting headteacher, assistant headteacher and headteacher-designate accompanied inspectors to most of the lessons seen.  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 read.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documents, including systems for checking progress, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and safeguarding procedures. Inspectors also examined 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.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, school staff and groups of pupils. Individual pupils were spoken to in lessons and around the school. A telephone conversation took place with the

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Information about this inspection

school’s consultant from a government-recognised programme for school improvement.  Inspectors took account of the views expressed in 83 online responses from the online questionnaire ‘Parent View’ and informal meetings with parents at the school during the inspection.  Inspectors also took account of the results of eight questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Anna Sketchley, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Greenway Academy is larger than the average-sized junior school.  The proportion 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. The pupil premium 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 breakfast and after-school clubs and these were included in this inspection. There is also a privately run nursery on the school site which was not a part of this inspection.  The school is currently led by an acting headteacher. A new headteacher has been appointed from

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Information about this school

September 2015. There have been significant staff changes, especially to senior leadership, in the last academic year.  There has also been a high turnover of governors within the governing body.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Provide consistently good or better teaching across the school to secure good progress for all pupils, especially in Years 3 and 4, by:  ensuring that pupils are set more challenging work, particularly the most able pupils, to increase their rates of progress  improving teachers’ subject knowledge and skills to enable them to check learning during lessons and reshape tasks where necessary so that all pupils achieve as well as they can  making sure that all teachers set high expectations and insist that pupils focus thoroughly on their learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise pupils’ achievement in writing by improving pupils’ handwriting and the presentation of their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that leaders at all levels rigorously check the quality of teaching and its impact upon pupils’ progress and swiftly provide help for teachers to improve where necessary.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because leaders have not yet secured consistently good teaching and learning across the school. Some pupils are not making the rapid progress of which they are capable.  Strategies to improve the quality of teaching are not yet being used by all teachers. Leaders have not yet been wholly successful in ensuring that all pupils in each year group make good progress.  Where teachers do not have high expectations, the climate for learning in some lessons is too lax and pupils are not always expected to produce work to a high enough standard.  The acting headteacher and assistant headteacher form a strong partnership and, with the help of governors, have taken decisive and effective action to improve teaching in the past year. Issues from the previous inspection are now being tackled robustly, despite significant staffing difficulties.  Leaders have recently built much stronger partnerships with other local schools, especially the local infant

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The leadership and management require improvement

school. This new culture of sharing the expertise around them is also helping the school to improve its performance.  Middle leaders, especially for mathematics and English, have readily taken and acted upon advice from national consultants. This has resulted in eradicating some weaknesses in teaching, but strategies have not been in place long enough to improve the quality of teaching quickly enough. This means that some pupils do not make the progress they could.  Teachers’ confidence is growing, but a considerable number are relatively new to the profession. Not all teachers have the skills they need to ensure that all pupils, especially the most able, are appropriately challenged to make the best progress, particularly in writing.  Until very recently, leaders’ checking of the quality of teaching was not rigorous enough. This has resulted in pupils underachieving. A new and robust process is now in place to support teachers and help them

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The leadership and management require improvement

develop the skills they need. The school’s leaders have been robust in ensuring that teachers are in no doubt as to the standard of teaching required and the progress pupils are expected to make.  The curriculum is well planned. It includes exciting themes such as looking at the achievements of notable people in ‘The Great, The Brave and The Bold’, and ‘Mission to Mars’. Themes such as these are used well to link subjects together and provide creative and memorable learning experiences for pupils.  Additional funding is now being used well to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils. The gap between other pupils nationally and those in the school is closing rapidly by Year 6 because of good teaching and support in later year groups.  New leadership of the provision for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is ensuring that the progress of these pupils is improving.  Opportunities for pupils to learn about democracy and the importance of British values are very well

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The leadership and management require improvement

planned. Special days to launch themes such as ‘Do the crime pay the time’ and a ‘British Values Day’ teach pupils very clearly about such important issues as the rule of law and individual liberty. All of these experiences, together with voting for their classmates to be school councillors and anti-bullying ambassadors, offer them valuable opportunities to learn about democracy.  Learning about other cultures that influence life in Britain today is also well promoted through, for example, the school’s ‘Diversity Week’ and visits to local places of worship such as the Sikh temple, the Gurdwara. Lessons are also arranged around the school’s five core values of ‘compassion, courage, integrity, respect and aspiration’, and pupils learn why these are important to all who live in Britain. These activities promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.  The school ensures that no pupil is discriminated against and all are provided with equal opportunities in

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The leadership and management require improvement

all that is offered.  The principle of fair play is seen very clearly in the way that some of the extra funding for sport has been used. Sport is a strength of the school, but it was noticed that this was particularly so for boys. As a result, some of the funding was specifically used to increase girls’ enjoyment of, and confidence in, sport. Outcomes show that the programme has been very successful. Initial findings show that girls’ enjoyment has risen from 66% to 90% and their confidence has increased from 50% to 80%. Funding is also used wisely to equip teachers with extra sports skills, and to develop pupils’ understanding of how sport can contribute to leading a healthy lifestyle.  Leaders, especially governors, have improved the procedures to safeguard pupils. All safeguarding requirements fully meet requirements to keep pupils safe.  Comments gathered during the inspection, including two complimentary letters from parents, and

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The leadership and management require improvement

feedback from the parent questionnaire, showed that the majority of parents are satisfied with the school. Some parents did raise concerns about the regularity of homework, and some did not feel they were given enough information about the progress their child was making. Inspectors looked into these issues and found that plans are already in place for September to revise the homework policy and the way the school reports on pupils’ progress to parents.  Breakfast and after-school clubs are well run and managed and very much appreciated by parents.  The governance of the school:  During the past year there has been considerable turbulence within the governing body resulting in the appointment of a number of new governors. However, governors have carried out their duties very rigorously. They provide much support to leaders and together they have ensured the smooth running of the school, despite significant staff changes. During this time of change they have also challenged

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The leadership and management require improvement

the school in an effort to bring about faster improvement. New governors have brought valuable skills from the world of work and also honed their governance skills by attending training. This is enabling them to thoroughly check the school’s performance. Governors now have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. They check information about pupils’ progress and know that although achievement is improving there is still more to do. Governors receive information about teachers’ performance and are knowledgeable about how this is linked to pupils’ progress. They also have a good understanding about how this is used to eliminate weak teaching.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Bullying and challenging behaviour are exceptionally rare. Pupils walk calmly and safely around the extensive site. Pupils are exceptionally polite and courteous towards one another and respectful to all adults. They are a delight to talk to. There have been no incidents of racial harassment. School records and observations during the inspection show that pupils’ behaviour around the school is typically very good.  Pupils get on very well with each other on the playground. They play harmoniously together and demonstrate the core values of compassion and respect for one another by happily inviting each other to join in their various games.  Pupils enjoy the responsibilities they are given as members of the school council, librarians and classroom monitors. They appreciate the opportunities they are given to influence some decisions about school improvements. This makes a significant contribution to their personal development and helps to prepare

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Behaviour

them well for secondary school.  During the inspection no low-level disruption was seen in lessons. Behaviour is not outstanding because the youngest pupils often do not work hard enough in lessons or demonstrate a real thirst for learning. This is due to pupils often not being sufficiently challenged by their teachers, although they say they enjoy learning.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Parents fully support this view.  Pupils have a clear idea of what constitutes bullying and are very aware of the many forms it can take. They say there is no bullying in school, and the ‘anti-bullying ambassadors’ ensure that there is always someone on hand to help should there be a need for sorting out minor disputes. Pupils are also confident that adults will always help if they cannot resolve a problem. They feel very happy and safe in school, a view which is supported by their good attendance.  The school ensures that pupils receive good guidance with regard to staying safe on the internet. For example, pupils receive good advice through visits by the local police which is reinforced in school assemblies and lessons.  All visitors and staff are appropriately checked, and safeguarding systems are rigorously adhered to.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is not yet consistently good enough, especially in Years 3 and 4, to enable all pupils to make sufficient progress and reach the standards of which they are capable.  Teachers’ expectations in some classes are too low. Teachers do not always expect or ensure that pupils do things sufficiently quickly or that they pay appropriate attention. Consequently, some learning time is wasted. Work is often not challenging enough, particularly for the most able pupils, and this means that some pupils are not expected to work hard enough.  For example, pupils of varying ability were observed marking time with unchallenging tasks while reading silently or practising handwriting and spellings for a substantial amount of time. These pupils also perpetuated mistakes due to poor coordination in their writing, and their wrong copying of spellings not being corrected.  Some teachers do not display the subject knowledge or skills to plan challenging activities or to adjust

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

tasks in lessons for pupils when they are either too easy or too hard. This was seen in a mathematics lesson during the inspection where a similar task was set for all pupils in the group. Even though some pupils were finding the task much easier than others it was not adjusted to suit their needs and ensure that they made the fastest possible progress.  There is insufficient insistence on pupils doing their best and producing neat work. Some teachers accept poor handwriting or poorly set out work in mathematics so that pupils do not learn to take a pride in the presentation of their work.  Pupils responded really well to challenging questions from teachers and teaching assistants about the books they were reading. This extended pupils’ understanding, vocabulary and speaking and listening skills very well.  In most lessons pupils are clear about their tasks and know what they are to learn.  Teachers mark pupils’ work thoroughly, indicating what pupils must do to improve. Most pupils respond

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

positively and correct their errors, helping them to make suitable progress.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported well by teachers and skilled teaching assistants. A small group of pupils were observed confidently improving their speaking and listening skills while talking about the kind of books and authors they liked to read. In their answers to teachers’ questions they showed that they were able to develop and articulate their opinions.

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requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because pupils do not make consistently good progress throughout each year group across the school. Underachievement in some classes in Years 3 and 4 means that some teachers have to help pupils to catch-up quickly in Years 5 and 6 in order to meet national expectations.  Pupils join the school with standards in reading, writing and mathematics that are typical for their age. Standards in the Year 6 national tests in 2014 were above average for mathematics, but average for reading and writing. This shows that these pupils did not make good enough progress throughout the junior years.  This year school information and evidence gathered during the inspection show standards in mathematics and reading to be increasing. Reading is showing signs of considerable improvement. Writing standards remain close to those typical nationally.  Although the progress of the most able pupils is inconsistent across the school, this year a good

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requires improvement

proportion of them are demonstrating higher levels of skill than is typical nationally in both mathematics and reading by the end of Year 6.  Pupils’ improved progress is especially evident in reading and mathematics. School information shows that, this year, the percentage of pupils making expected progress, and more than expected progress, in reading and mathematics is above that expected nationally. The percentage of pupils making expected progress in writing, however, is below that expected. The percentage of pupils making more than expected progress in writing is closer to national expectations.  The concerted effort leaders have made to improve the quality of teaching and learning this year is beginning to make a difference. However, there is still much to do to secure more even and improved achievement across the school.  The 2014 national test results showed that, compared with other pupils in the school, disadvantaged

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requires improvement

pupils were four terms behind in mathematics, two terms behind in reading and three terms behind in writing. Compared with other pupils nationally the picture was similar.  Inspection evidence gleaned from pupils’ work and school information for this year show that disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 are now making improved progress from their starting points by comparison with other pupils nationally. The school is using funds well to support this group of pupils and the gap between their attainment and that of other pupils in the school has narrowed considerably. Pupils are now one term behind other pupils in the school in reading and writing and two terms behind in mathematics. Compared with other pupils nationally their attainment is similar in reading, one term behind in writing and two terms behind in mathematics.  The achievement of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs has improved and this

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requires improvement

year, by the end of Year 6, it is in line with that expected nationally. The adoption of a scheme to help them make quicker progress with reading and writing has been particularly successful. Across the school, some pupils in this group have very complex needs but they are now well supported. For example, exceptionally skilful teaching led to a group of six pupils making excellent progress in the improvement of their social and emotional skills.  By Year 6, pupils’ achievement and personal development are now preparing them well 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 138492 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 462357

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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 Academy Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 359 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Brian White Headteacher Simon Cannon Date of previous school inspection 10–11 July 2013 Telephone number 01403252013 Fax number 01403271840 Email address office@grennwayacademy.co.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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