West Byfleet Junior School

West Byfleet Junior School Camphill Road, West Byfleet, Surrey KT14 6EF

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 Senior leaders and governors, with effective support from the local authority, have ensured that the school has made great strides forward since the previous inspection. Senior leaders have high expectations and a determined focus on improving teaching and learning. Team spirit is high amongst staff and they share leaders’ ambition to make the school outstanding.  School leaders monitor the quality of teaching rigorously and provide effective training for teachers. Teachers follow the school systems closely, for example when marking pupils’ work. Teaching has improved significantly, resulting in good achievement for pupils.  Governors know how well the school is doing. They provide good support and are tenacious in holding leaders to account.  The school maintains good systems to safeguard children. Pupils feel safe, secure and valued.  Pupils make consistently good progress in all years in their learning and attain high standards. Pupils

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This is a good school

who have special educational needs or disability are well supported and make good progress.  Pupils enjoy coming to school and are proud of their achievements. They willingly take on extra responsibilities, such as being a ‘buddy’ to younger pupils. They attend regularly, work hard and behave well.  Pupils enjoy a balanced range of subjects, enhanced well by clubs and trips out of school. They have good opportunities to carry out investigations in science. Music and sport are given a high priority. Pupils develop a good sense of fairness and respect for others.  Most parents said the school has improved in most aspects and that teachers were easy to talk to and helpful.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always check quickly enough how well pupils are coping, resulting in a few pupils persisting with unsuitable tasks for too long.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to practise and develop their skills in mathematical reasoning.  Parents are not receiving important information about events and changes in the school day quickly enough.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching further by ensuring that teachers always check that pupils are engaged in tasks that are suitably demanding.  Provide more opportunities for pupils to develop their skills in mathematical reasoning in order to improve their progress.  Improve leadership and management by ensuring that parents are informed promptly of any changes in the school day that affect their children.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 School leaders were galvanised into strong effective action following the previous inspection. Governance has been modified and school leadership structure improved, with greater clarity and focus on the areas that need to improve.  Senior leaders are ambitious, dedicated and highly focused on continuing the improvement in the quality of teaching. Leaders have established high expectations of staff and pupils. Teachers share the school leaders’ drive to make the school outstanding and work well as a cohesive team with a common aim. Consequently, year on year, pupils have made better progress in all subjects.  Senior leaders have developed a clear plan for further development based on an accurate knowledge of the school’s strengths and what needs to improve. Good progress has been made in addressing the recommendations from the previous inspection report. For example, pupils’ writing has improved, subject

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

leaders frequently see teachers in lessons and check the quality of pupils’ work, and governors robustly challenge leaders over the school’s performance.  Subject leaders are well supported to enhance their leadership and management skills. The headteacher has restructured the leadership team to capitalise on teachers’ strengths, giving subject leaders more responsibility to promote effective teaching and holding them to account for pupils’ progress. Teaching quality is checked regularly and rigorously and the close-knit teaching team share ideas for good teaching practice. Any underperformance is tackled promptly.  A well-organised programme of training, including observations of fellow teachers and visits to other schools, maintains the focus on ways teachers can improve their own practice. Also, pairs of teachers work together to research ideas for more effective teaching. As a result, teaching has improved and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

pupils’ progress is improving quickly.  The school has developed appropriate methods to assess and record pupils’ achievement against the new national curriculum. School leaders, alongside teachers, regularly check how well pupils are doing and ensure that any who may be falling behind are given extra help. Experienced and skilled teaching assistants work successfully with identified pupils in class and in small groups or one-to-one activities.  The school is committed to eliminating all forms of discrimination and ensuring equality of opportunity for all pupils to succeed. This is exemplified by the care taken in looking after pupils who have special educational needs or disability and the effective support for pupils who speak English as an additional language. These groups of pupils are making good progress in their learning.  Pupils are provided with a broad and balanced range of subjects, with an appropriate emphasis on

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

numeracy and literacy. Pupils’ interests were canvassed to develop a number of interesting topics. Music and sport enjoy high profiles at the school. For example, all pupils have the opportunity to play a musical instrument, such as the recorder, clarinet and ukulele, and they take part in well-organised physical education sessions led by specialist coaches. Pupils have good opportunities to learn to swim. They learn about nature in adventurous activities in Forest School, while science is taught discretely and has a focus on practical work and investigations that pupils enjoy. More-able pupils, including Year 6 pioneers, often work with their peers from other local schools on more-challenging activities. Trips and a wide range of clubs enhance pupils’ experience even further.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well through assemblies, lessons and its general ethos. Full advantage is taken of the opportunities to consider and practise the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

fundamental British values, such as democracy, during ballots for the school council and developing class charters. As a consequence, pupils’ behaviour is good and pupils are being well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The school has benefited from support and challenge from the local authority. A good range of timely and effective training has been provided to improve teaching, governance and leadership skills. Staff and governors have appreciated the involvement of the local authority, which recognises that the school only needs ‘light touch’ support now.  By engaging a specialist sports coaching company, the school is using the primary sports funding well to help pupils develop their skills and provide a good range of opportunities for sports clubs and sporting competitions. More pupils participate in sport now and are more active than before.  Pupils premium funding is used effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve well. The school

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

ensures that eligible pupils can take advantage of trips and clubs and that they are well supported by teaching assistants to improve their academic performance.  Most parents say the school has improved noticeably since the previous inspection and that teachers are easy to talk to and helpful. Parents commented on the usefulness of coffee mornings in explaining the work their children were doing. However, a common complaint was poor communication about events and changes in the usual school structure. Some parents of pupils with special educational needs, although satisfied with the provision their children were receiving, wanted to be told more quickly when their children were getting extra support.  The governance of the school – Following reconstitution and a review of its structure and effectiveness, the governing body has become leaner and very sharply focused on moving the school rapidly forwards. Governors keep a

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

close eye on how well the school is doing, particularly pupils’ progress, through reports from leaders and their own focused visits. They offer a good balance of strong challenge and support. – Governors make sure that finances are managed well. They ensure that the pupil premium and sports funding are used effectively and that performance pay for staff is warranted. – The governing body is well aware of its statutory responsibilities. Governors ensure that all safeguarding and health and safety arrangements are fit for purpose and compliant with current legislation.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The school takes good care of pupils. Concerns about pupils’ safety are followed up promptly. Staff are suitably trained in safeguarding procedures and regularly quizzed to make sure that safeguarding remains a top priority. Pupils say they feel safe at school and most parents concurred with this view.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teaching has improved and is now good throughout the school. Teachers work well as a team to improve their practice. Their approach to planning is consistent and they meet the school’s expectations of teaching.  Classrooms are calm, purposeful places. Teachers have established good relationships with pupils and manage their classes well. Pupils listen to their teachers and settle to work readily. They enjoy learning and find most lessons fun. For example, Year 4 pupils were seen working enthusiastically and productively editing and redrafting the teacher’s short story.  Pupils get on well together and are given many opportunities to share their ideas in small groups or with the whole class. Pupils listen carefully to one another and have time for reflection. Teachers often ask probing questions to make pupils think harder, such as in mathematics, when pupils have to explain how they arrived at their answer.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teachers usually explain concepts in ways that pupils can understand. For example, pupils in Year 6 quickly understood how to plot given coordinates on a graph using the idea of the number of steps up or down the stairs or along the corridor. As a consequence, pupils understand what to do and stick at their tasks.  Teachers have responded to the recommendation to improve the quality of teaching from the previous inspection. They have higher expectations of more-able pupils and are providing them with challenging activities.  Homework builds on learning in the classroom well. Pupils have regular reading, spelling and mathematical exercises, together with extended projects, such as an information booklet for a Year 4 topic, the Polar Region.  Teachers consistently provide pupils with clear advice on how to improve their work. They mark pupils’ exercises regularly and indicate what pupils have done well and the next steps they should take. Pupils

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

usually respond to the advice given and they say it helps them make better progress.  Teaching assistants are very effective in supporting pupils who have special educational needs or disability. They liaise with teachers regularly, including providing feedback on how well the supported pupils have done.  Teachers know how well pupils are doing and plan suitable activities to build on their prior learning. On occasions, some pupils find the given task too difficult or too easy. Not all teachers check quickly enough that the planned activity is appropriately demanding.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupil’s personal development and welfare is good.  The school keeps pupils safe. Pupils report that they are well supervised and feel cared for and secure at school. They know about e-safety and how to cross the road safely and have learned how to keep themselves healthy through exercise and diet. They enjoy the sporting activities available and the opportunity to develop their swimming skills.  Pupils know what bullying is and the different forms it can take. They say bullying is rare in school. They know they need to tell a teacher if they see any bullying and they are confident teachers would quickly put a stop to it.  Pupils show consideration for others and are polite. They show self-confidence and are articulate, with good vocabularies. They have pride in their work and they are careful about the presentation in their books.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils know the school rules and how they should behave. They are clear about the rewards and sanctions and are keen to earn house points for good work or behaviour. The way they behave explains the school’s calm and purposeful ethos.  Pupils show concern for others. For example, some enterprising pupils prepared toast for playtime sales to raise money for charity. Pupils are proud of their school and are keen to take on extra responsibilities, such as running the snack bar or helping in the library. Year 3 pupils were seen at lunchtime helping to clear tables and keep the hall tidy.  Pupils say they like their teachers and most lessons are fun. Most pupils enjoy coming to school and attend regularly. Attendance figures show that attendance is at the national average. School records show that there are relatively few incidents of misbehaviour and they are handled effectively.

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Behaviour

 Pupils conduct themselves well as they move around the school. Older pupils act as ‘buddies’ to younger ones, helping them to settle in and learn the school routines. Pupils enjoy playtimes and, although many are excited, their play is not too boisterous. Most lessons run smoothly, though occasionally, when activities are not interesting enough, a few pupils lose concentration.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Since the previous inspection, pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics has improved each year. In 2015, Year 6 pupils made consistently good progress and attained well above the national average in all three subjects. School information about pupils’ performance and current work seen in pupils’ books show that pupils are continuing to make good progress.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability are making good progress due to well-targeted extra help from skilful teaching assistants in small-group or one-to-one sessions. Pupils who speak English as an additional language also get effective extra support and are helped to make similar progress to their classmates.  More-able pupils have regular opportunities to attend lessons on Saturday mornings at a secondary school in subjects such as English, mathematics and languages. They often work with similar pupils from other schools on more-challenging activities. More-able pupils are making good progress.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 The number of disadvantaged pupils in each year group fluctuates. In Year 6, in 2015, the number was too small to draw any meaningful conclusions about how well they achieved. Generally, disadvantaged pupils across the school make similar progress to their peers.  The school’s focus on writing has been successful in raising pupils’ standards. Pupils have good opportunities to write in different styles, to talk in preparation for writing and to edit and redraft their work. They take pride in the presentation of their work, develop good handwriting and act on advice for improvement. The emphasis on improving pupils’ grammar, punctuation and spelling through homework and in lesson activities has resulted in high standards in these areas.  Pupils enjoy reading and read widely and often. They regularly borrow books from the well-organised library and make good use of the book corners and reading spaces around the school. Guided reading

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Outcomes for pupils are good

sessions ensure that pupils engage with high-quality texts, share opinions and improve their fluency, comprehension and expressiveness. The bookmark scheme gives parents guidance on how to support their children’s reading at home.  Pupils’ work in their science books shows they often investigate science concepts practically. Year 5 pupils showed they had a good knowledge of how to carry out experiments when they were fully engaged investigating the best material for brakes on a bicycle. They could point out how to make their test fairer and that measurements needed to be repeated for greater accuracy.  Pupils enjoy mathematics. They are developing their knowledge of mathematical terms and vocabulary well and have good opportunities to solve problems. Manipulatives are used well to support understanding. For example, Year 3 pupils were developing a good understanding of subtraction when borrowing from the tens column by using number blocks. However, there are not enough opportunities

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Outcomes for pupils are good

for pupils to develop their mathematical reasoning.

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School details

Unique reference number 125081 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 10002307

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School details

This inspection 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 235 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ruth Murton Joint Headteachers Lesley Lawrence Telephone number 01932 348 961 Website www.westbyfleetjunior.org.uk Email address office@west-byfleet-junior.surrey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 9−10 February 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average junior school. It has two classes in each of Years 3 to 6.  Most pupils are White British and the remainder come from a wide range of ethnic groups.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium (extra government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or children who are looked after by the local authority) is below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is around the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors, frequently accompanied by the headteacher, observed pupils in all year groups engaged in a range of activities in different subjects. They looked at pupils’ written work in all years and spoke to pupils about their learning.  The inspection team held meetings with the headteacher and other school leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and two other governors. An inspector spoke to a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils and, informally, with other pupils in lessons and around the school. An inspector listened to pupils in Year 3 reading and spoke to them about their reading habits.  Inspectors examined several school documents. These included the school’s evaluation of its performance and its improvement plan, notes of governors’ meetings, information about pupils’ progress and attainment, evidence about the quality of teaching, and records relating to behaviour, safeguarding

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Information about this inspection

and attendance.  Inspectors took account of the 74 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, the views expressed informally by parents as they arrived at school and 30 responses to the online questionnaire for pupils. The team analysed 15 questionnaires returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Jim McVeigh, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Barbara Chevis Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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