Setting

Mr Hugh Rawson Headteacher The Chandler CofE Aided Junior School Middlemarch Roke Lane, Witley Godalming Surrey GU8 5PB

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Aided Junior School

Following my visit to your school on 13 November 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Aided Junior School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in June 2015. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. At its previous section 5 inspection the school was also judged to require improvement.

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Aided Junior School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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Evidence

During the visit, I met with you, your senior leadership team and members of the governing body to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I held a phone conversation with a representative from the local authority and I scrutinised documents, including the school’s action plan and local authority reports. I also briefly visited lessons with you, to see teaching and learning and to talk to pupils. Ofsted

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Evidence

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Context

Since the last inspection one quarter of the teaching staff has left and been replaced. The leader responsible for disabled pupils and those with special education needs (SENCo) is leaving at the end of this term. The Chair of the Governing Body has stepped down and the previous vice-chair has taken up this role.

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Main findings

Your newly defined vision for a school which provides ‘world-class’ education, and in which all pupils have a chance to shine, is compelling. You are building firm foundations for achieving this. You have set suitably high expectations for teachers and pupils alike. You have tweaked your ‘non-negotiables’ to reinforce your expectation that pupils will receive regular, sharp guidance on what they need to do to improve. Pupils now have time set aside each day to make improvements or tackle more stretching tasks. Pupils also now receive clear guidance on how to present written work. Your frequent checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ work, coupled with a programme of regular staff training, is helping to ensure that your expectations are met and that teaching is improving. On our visits to lessons, we saw pupils working on suitably challenging tasks. Typically, they were learning well. Pupils’ work was, in the main, well presented. Teachers were making sure that

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Main findings

pupils understood what and how successfully they were learning, and what they needed to improve on. You recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that these approaches lead to rapid improvements in pupils’ achievement. Presently, not all teachers are checking that pupils have responded or improved their work in the right way. Spelling mistakes are being identified, but not always corrected. Pupils re-doing mathematical calculations are not always showing their working in the way the teacher has requested. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 have gaps in their knowledge and skills as a result of previous poor teaching. This is posing a barrier to their achieving highly by the end of Key Stage 2. Sensibly, you have tested these pupils to gain accurate information about precisely what they need to catch up on. Part of each day is now suitably dedicated to helping pupils do this.

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Main findings

Your new assessment approach is easy to follow. A helpful grid sets the skills and knowledge each pupil should master during each year, for each different aspect of mathematics and English. Teachers now regularly record where pupils are on this journey. Teachers and leaders can see at a glance how well pupils are learning and what their next steps should be. As a result, leaders are now better placed to check the accuracy of assessments and hold each teacher to account for the progress of their class. Encouragingly, this approach can be easily adapted for assessing and checking pupils’ progress in other subjects. You are now well placed to secure strong assessment practice across the school.

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Main findings

The actions listed in your new school development plan are appropriate. They are clearly focused on establishing systems and approaches that will bring effective teaching and lead to strong achievement. Rightly, you have identified that if improvement is to be rapid, many of these actions must be completed this term. However, the plan does not define the increasing impact these actions must have on teaching and achievement by the spring, summer and beyond. As a result, you are not well placed to evaluate the success of the plan over time.

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Main findings

The governing body has responded well to the recommendations of the review, undertaken shortly before the previous inspection. It has reduced the number of sub-committees, to help streamline its work. A governors’ action plan helpfully sets out the next steps for their development. Governors have a good understanding of the actions you are taking to bring improvements and the reasons for these. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Governing Body meet with you regularly to review progress. However, they are currently hampered by a lack of targets for increases in pupils’ achievement over time, which they can judge progress against. Rightly, they are anxious to see these in place.

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External support

You value the support of the local authority. Your leadership partner visits regularly and provides useful challenge. She also makes sure that you can access the support needed to help move the school forward. Regular reviews, such as a recent, sharp review of writing, have helped you identify what needs further attention. A special educational needs adviser is being provided to help you ensure suitable leadership and provision for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Subject leaders attend local subject network meetings which help them keep up to date and learn about best practice.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Surrey. It will be published on the Ofsted website.

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