Dereham, Toftwood Community Junior School

Dereham, Toftwood Community Junior School 38 Westfield Road, Dereham, NR19 1JB

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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

 The school has not made enough improvement since the last inspection.  The proportion of pupils making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics has not been high enough.  While there is some good practice, not all teaching is consistently good yet.  School leaders’ checks on the school’s effectiveness do not look closely enough at the progress being made by pupils and the quality of teaching.  School leaders’ plans to improve the school are not well enough focused on raising pupils’ achievement.  Teachers are not always clear enough about what they want pupils to learn, particularly when developing writing skills.  In lessons, teachers do not give pupils enough opportunities to practise and consolidate their skills.  Teachers’ marking and feedback in pupils’ books do not always help them to understand how they can make further improvements to their work.  Teachers do not always use the information they

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

have about their pupils’ abilities to plan lessons which meet their differing needs.

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The school has the following strengths

 This is a happy school where pupils feel valued.  Pupils behave well and have very good attitudes to learning. They say they feel safe and are well looked-after.  The rates of progress made by pupils in reading, writing and mathematics are beginning to improve.  The school has a well-earned reputation for excellence in physical education.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The new curriculum is well planned, and is enriched with a wide range of interesting activities, visits and visitors.  The recently reconstituted governing body understands the school well. Governors support and challenge senior leaders. As a result, they are becoming an effective force in improving the quality of teaching and raising achievement.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 16 lessons or parts of lessons, including some seen jointly with a senior leader. One inspector also observed an assembly.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and other leaders, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. Inspectors also held meetings with pupils, and had informal discussions with them around the school. Inspectors listened to pupils read, and talked to them about their reading habits. They also scrutinised samples of pupils’ workbooks.  A range of documents was examined, including development plans, the school’s evaluation of its performance, and documentation related to pupils’ progress, behaviour, attendance, child protection and safeguarding. Inspectors considered the information on the school’s website and also reviewed the management of the pupil premium funding and the primary school sports funding.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors took account of the 36 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, and sought the views of 12 parents they met informally at the start of the school day.

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Inspection team

Stephen Palmer, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger-than-average sized junior school, with three classes in each of the four year groups.  The majority of pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well below average, and very few speak English as an additional language  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium is lower than average. This is additional government funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is much higher than average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards. These are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.  The school has achieved The Association for Physical Education Quality Mark with Distinction.  The school shares a campus with The Fred Nicolson School, a special school for pupils with complex

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Information about this school

needs, and with Toftwood Infant School. These schools are inspected separately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ rates of progress by:  making sure that teachers are always clear about what they want pupils to learn  offering pupils more opportunities to practise and consolidate their skills in lessons  ensuring that feedback and marking are well focused on improving pupils’ learning  using assessment information effectively to set work which enables all pupils to make good progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and the drive for school improvement by:  making sure that leaders conduct rigorous checks on teaching which concentrate on its impact on pupils’ progress  ensuring that plans to improve the school are focused sufficiently on raising achievement  sharing existing good practice so that all teachers can learn from the best.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior and middle leaders, including those with responsibility for subjects, have not yet had a strong enough impact on improving teaching and raising pupils’ achievement. However, the headteacher and deputy have created an orderly school community where good behaviour is the norm, where there are good relationships between pupils and staff, and where effective teaching and learning can take place.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have established appropriate systems for checking pupils’ progress and teachers’ effectiveness. However, they are not using these checks to pinpoint precisely enough what teachers need to do in order to improve pupils’ learning. Their plans for improvement do not specify targets for pupils’ achievement by which to evaluate success.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The pupil premium funding is used effectively to increase disadvantaged pupils’ participation in school activities, and to improve their self-confidence.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Following the previous inspection, the local authority put in place appropriate support. This has had some positive effect on helping leaders to understand how they can improve, but the support has not yet been sufficient to secure good achievement for pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is improving. The coordinator monitors carefully these pupils’ progress, identifies appropriate programmes of support as required, and gives advice to staff in their planning. He ensures that key information about each pupil is passed on effectively at the end of the school year to ensure that pupils settle in well in their new classes. As a result, these pupils now feel well supported.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The subject coordinators use information about pupils’ progress well to identify areas for improvement. For example, recent assessments have shown that progress in mathematics is not as strong as in reading or writing, so mathematics has been identified as an area which needs to improve in the next action plan.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The well-planned curriculum topics engage pupils well. They enjoy a range of activities which enrich their learning. For example, a visit to the Tate Gallery promoted their interest and understanding of art. Pupils also have opportunities to go on residential visits, which promote cooperation and self-reliance. Invited visitors stimulate pupils’ interests and experience. For instance, during the inspection a professional author engagingly spoke to pupils about his work, and encouraged pupils by example to develop their own writing skills. In addition, strong links with a school in Malawi give pupils extensive opportunities to communicate with children who have different experiences from their own.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well developed. Displays around the school encourage them to reflect on moral values, to take responsibility for their own actions, and to show kindness towards others. Opportunities to participate in elections, to take on responsibilities and to learn about other faiths and cultures prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school effectively promotes tolerance and respect for the views, beliefs and values of others. Therefore, pupils have a good understanding of British values, which are reflected in their good behaviour, positive attitudes and strong relationships. Equality of opportunity is central to the school’s values, and discrimination is not tolerated.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school uses primary sports funding very well to increase significantly the range of sporting opportunities and to promote inter-school competitions. In addition, a gymnastics coach has been employed effectively to offer demonstration lessons through which teachers’ expertise has developed. The school has been successful in promoting healthier lifestyles.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Safeguarding arrangements are effective and meet requirements.  The governance of the school:  The recently reconstituted governing body has a clear understanding of its role, and is becoming increasingly effective.  Governors have established routines for the management of the headteacher’s performance, and have a good understanding of the headteacher’s management of the performance of teachers. They are aware that teachers’ pay is linked to their performance.  They are active in finding out about the school’s effectiveness. Individual governors have visited to check on the progress of aspects of the school improvement plan, as well as to look at work in pupils’ books and to talk to pupils about their learning. They have also carried out surveys to gauge parents’ views.  They have a good understanding about the data on pupil achievement and hold leaders to account.  They have received training in safeguarding and finance from the local authority, and have undertaken

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The leadership and management requires improvement

an audit of their skills so that they may offer more effective support.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. The school is a happy community, where pupils work and play well together.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are polite and friendly. They are mindful of each other as they move around the school, and older pupils acting as prefects enjoy taking responsibility for others’ safety and well-being.

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Behaviour

 Almost all pupils have positive attitudes to learning, and work hard on the tasks given to them. They are keen to share ideas with each other as they learn. However, on occasions, they do not take enough care over the presentation of the work in their books. Because of the additional support they receive, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs also try hard in lessons, and are keen to learn.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have a good understanding of the principles of democracy through elections to the school council, and a recent vote for the ‘school mayor’.

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Behaviour

 Attendance is above average, and has improved this year.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ behaviour is managed well. The behaviour policy is consistently applied by staff and is well understood and supported by pupils. Records about the very few instances of poor behaviour indicate that the school dealt with them appropriately, and that the actions taken led to improved behaviour.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. 

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Safety

 Pupils feel well looked after in school and trust adults to keep them safe. They know that they will be listened to and helped if they are worried or upset. Parents agree that the school keeps their children safe.

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Safety

 Pupils say that there is very little bullying in the school. If it does occur, they know how important it is to tell someone, and any incidents are dealt with promptly. Pupils have a good understanding of different types of bullying, including cyber-bullying and racist or homophobic name-calling.

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Safety

 Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, but particularly when using the internet.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Progress in pupils’ books and the school’s assessment information indicate that the quality of teaching over time is not consistently good.  Teachers do not always use the information they have about pupils’ differing levels of ability when planning lessons. As a result, in some lessons the work is too easy for some of the pupils and too hard for others.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The feedback and comments teachers provide in pupils’ books are not specific enough to help them move forward with their learning. Although teachers have inserted target sheets for pupils to monitor their progress throughout the year, they have not always reviewed these on a regular basis.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers do not always give pupils enough opportunities to practise the skills they are teaching, especially in writing. As a result, pupils do not make the progress they are capable of, and at the end of lesson teachers have little evidence about what pupils have achieved.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In successful lessons, teaching engages pupils with well-structured tasks that are challenging and whose aims are clear. Consequently, pupils acquire skills, knowledge and understanding rapidly.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are good relationships between adults and pupils. Pupils say how much they enjoy their lessons and want to do well, because they receive a lot of praise and encouragement. Teachers manage pupils’ behaviour well, and all are enthusiastic learners. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs receive appropriate extra support to enable them to focus on their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers usually plan suitable work for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Teaching assistants support this process well and during lessons they modify the work to ensure it suits the pupils’ needs fully.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of reading is good. Pupils’ phonic knowledge helps them to read unfamiliar words. Teachers ensure that pupils read frequently and that they read regularly to an adult in school. Many pupils are enthusiastic readers, and can talk confidently about what they have read.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers are giving increased attention to developing pupils’ grammar, punctuation and spelling. Marking to correct errors in these is effective in some, but not all, classes.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In mathematics, pupils are effectively taught calculation skills and the main mathematical operations. However, teachers did not always make pupils aware of how these skills could be applied for practical purposes.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils enter the school with levels of attainment which are higher than the national average. In 2014, standards at the end of Year 6 were broadly average. The current Year 6 pupils will leave with levels in reading and mathematics which are broadly average, and with slightly above average levels in writing. Their progress throughout the school is, therefore, no more than that expected nationally.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The proportion of Year 6 pupils who have made more than expected progress throughout Key Stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics is lower than the national average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Most pupils currently in Years 3, 4 and 5 are on track to meet their targets, with a small number of pupils in each year group exceeding them.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In 2014, the Year 6 pupils supported by the pupil premium made less progress than other pupils nationally. The gap between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and that of other pupils nationally in mathematics, reading and writing was smaller than in previous years. However, they were still about three terms behind the standards of other pupils nationally in mathematics, and four terms behind in reading and writing. The gap between disadvantaged pupils in the school and their classmates was three terms in reading, four terms in writing and two terms in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Throughout the school, the progress of disadvantaged pupils in this academic year is slightly better than that of their peers. Recent improvements in the support for disadvantaged pupils is beginning to close the gap in their achievement compared with that of the rest of their class, though over time this improvement has not been rapid enough.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make better progress in reading and writing from their different starting points than their peers, but weaker progress than the rest of the pupils in mathematics. This is also evident in the work of pupils currently in Year 6 and in the data collected about their progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Of the most-able pupils, the proportion who reached standards above those expected for their age in 2014 in reading, writing and mathematics was slightly lower than the national average. In 2014, a lower proportion than average attained Level 6 in mathematics in the national tests. In the current Year 6, nearly all of the most able pupils are on track to make expected progress, and to attain standards above those expected for their age.

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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 120987 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 462061

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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 Junior School category Community Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 357 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Linda Birt Headteacher Robin Turner Date of previous school inspection 16 July 2013 Telephone number 01362 694919 Fax number 01362 694919 Email address office@toftwood-jun.co.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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