Horsell CofE Aided Junior School

Horsell Church of England Junior School Meadway Drive, Woking, Surrey GU21 4TA

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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

 This school is much improved. Teaching is now consistently good as a result of the decisive actions the headteacher has taken.  Pupils attain well. Standards are above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers motivate pupils to want to do their best.  New assessment systems ensure that teachers have a clear picture of how well pupils are doing so that they can act quickly to prevent pupils from falling behind.  Leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils catch up and achieve well during their time in the school.  Governors are ambitious and effective. They spend funding wisely to help pupils to attain well.  Pupils attend regularly and enjoy all that the school has to offer. They speak highly of the wide range of interesting opportunities planned for them.  Pupils’ personal development, behaviour and

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This is a good school

welfare are good. They are confident that any adult will solve their concerns quickly and ensure that they are well looked after.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Leaders do not monitor teaching and learning across the whole curriculum with the same rigour as in English and mathematics. Their evaluations sometimes miss ways that the school could improve further.  Some teachers do not challenge the most able pupils as well as other pupils in the class.  Some parents feel less confident in leaders’ actions, despite the improvements that make it a good school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management by ensuring that leaders: at all levels, evaluate the school’s work more precisely, so that they have a sharper focus on what the school needs to do to improve further apply the same rigour to monitoring teaching and learning across the curriculum, particularly in science, as they do in English and mathematics communicate more effectively with parents.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that teaching consistently provides high levels of challenge for the most able pupils.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher has worked well with the leadership team to ensure greater consistency in the quality of leaders’ monitoring. Her methodical and stoical leadership during a period of change has ensured that teaching has improved. Consequently, pupils attain well across the school.  Leaders have successfully introduced new assessment processes. As a result, everyone has a clear and accurate view of how well pupils attain against expected standards. This helps teachers to adapt work well to meet the needs of pupils who most need to catch up.  Leaders use additional funding carefully to ensure that disadvantaged pupils who are supported in reading, writing and mathematics make good progress.  Leaders have high expectations, setting appropriate performance targets for teachers. As a result, teachers receive helpful feedback which guides them to improve. Attainment across the school continues to improve. Some teachers would benefit from more precise guidance, particularly in meeting the needs

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

of the most able pupils.  Leaders’ use of primary sports funding promotes healthy lifestyles. Pupils are proud of their high level of success in a number of competitive sports where they regularly outperform local schools in football and netball matches. They have good opportunities to learn new skills in a wide range of sports, including less common pastimes, such as tri-golf and water polo.  Leaders have fully implemented the new national curriculum. However, the quality of teaching is variable in some subjects, particularly science. Despite the school’s recent investment in training for the subject leader and in new resources, all leaders are not yet ensuring that pupils consistently develop their skills in scientific enquiry across classes.  Visits and interesting activities enrich the curriculum and are used well to capture pupils’ interest. For example, pupils appreciate cookery sessions used to promote healthy lifestyles and apply their skills at

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

the ‘Rainforest Cafe’ during an event for parents. Pupils speak enthusiastically about the time they dressed up to learn about the Battle of Bosworth, re-enacting the conflict on the school field. Likewise, parents value being able to share in these activities. Some of them appreciate their involvement in exhibitions for parents, which showcase the talents of their children in, for example, the choir and orchestra.  The school’s Christian values thread through the ethos and culture of the school. Pupils connect these to wider British values and they have good opportunities to put them into practice. Opportunities to participate in projects such as ‘You’re hired’ focus pupils’ attention on which career they would like to follow. In turn, this helps them to identify the necessary skills needed, so that they are motivated to achieve well. Leaders support pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural development well. Pupils help

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

others beyond the school and are justifiably proud of achieving the ‘Woking in Bloom’ school award to improve the local area.  Local authority support has made a difference in improving the quality of teaching in mathematics. Leaders confidently check on the consistency of teaching across the school and give good advice to improve the opportunities for pupils to solve problems. As a result, pupils apply their mathematical skills in problem-solving activities more regularly than in the past.  Leaders are ambitious for further improvement. However, their evaluation of the school’s work is not sharp enough to identify some key priorities, such as the progress that the most able pupils make in lessons.  Most parents who contributed to the online Parent View questionnaire are confident that their child is happy, safe and well looked after. Leaders do acknowledge that some parents remain dissatisfied and are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

unsettled by recent changes in the leadership structure and levels of communication.  The governance of the school Following an external review, governors wisely reorganised the way they work to align closely with the school’s priorities. This helps governors to keep a better check on how leaders are improving the school. As a result, governors understand what needs to be done. For example, they know how improvements in teaching are helping the lowest attaining pupils to catch up. Governors are aware that they and other leaders do not yet have the confidence of the vast majority of parents. They have taken steps to improve communication and involve parents more in school life, but recognise that more needs to be done. Governors are ambitious and understand some of the key performance indicators, such as results at the end of key stage 2. They visit the school frequently to meet pupils and staff and see for

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

themselves how staff are implementing changes. They are less clear about how different groups of pupils are achieving across the school. Governors manage finances well. They understand the link between teachers’ pay and performance and make well-informed decisions after considering the recommendations of leaders. Governors recognise that past performance indicates that more needs to be done in the school to close the gaps between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and that of their classmates.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Governors make useful and regular checks on procedures. They ensure that leaders appoint staff to focus on the welfare of the most disadvantaged pupils so that they are well looked after. Procedures are well understood by staff, and the headteacher does not falter when referring concerns promptly to other agencies to ensure that pupils are safe. As a result, pupils say that they are well cared for.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Good teaching is ensuring that more pupils now make better progress from their starting points than in the past. Teachers’ high expectations of what most pupils can do mean that they attain well across the school.  Where teaching is most effective, teachers’ confidence and good subject knowledge ensure that pupils receive precise guidance. Teachers show pupils what to do and what they are aiming for, so that they have higher expectations of themselves and they work hard to reach these goals. Pupils talk about what they know already and how this will help them to learn new things.  Teachers demand that pupils use adventurous vocabulary and technical skills in writing. Pupils have good opportunities to change their work to improve it. Pupils value this guidance. In one lesson, an older pupil described how she had added a rhetorical question and subordinating conjunction to create impact. She shared her efforts with the class: ‘We laughed, well wouldn’t you? We laughed until we were so sore’.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Pupils clapped spontaneously, respecting her contribution.  Teachers support the lower attaining pupils and those who have special educational needs or disability well. They spot pupils’ misunderstandings quickly and help them to learn from these and try out new skills, so that they gain confidence to have a go at something new. Parents of these pupils value this support.  Teachers keep a close eye on how well pupils are reading and, as a result, pupils make good progress. Leaders use precise assessments in reading to intervene quickly for those pupils falling behind to help them catch up. The most able pupils enjoy reading and confidently apply the skills they have been taught, for example in interrogating texts to deepen their understanding of authors’ techniques. Pupils are well supported at home to apply skills taught in school.  Teachers check pupils’ understanding throughout lessons. They set tasks that capture pupils’ interests

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

and help them to apply their skills. For example, in Year 6, pupils construct mathematical problems for each other to solve and apply their knowledge. The most able pupils relish these opportunities to grapple with challenging problems to make them think. Leaders have not yet ensured that they consistently guide staff to do this well across the school. There are missed opportunities for greater challenge in some classes.  Occasionally, the most able pupils wait for others to contribute to shared classwork and for teachers to guide pupils working at lower starting points when they could get on more quickly. Pupils’ workbooks in mathematics suggest that pupils sometimes spend too long consolidating their skills, when they could move through tasks more quickly.  Teaching is inconsistent in some subjects, for example in providing opportunities for pupils to develop their scientific skills. Pupils notice this. They want opportunities to apply what they know more often, as

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

they do in other subjects. Leaders are not yet monitoring some subjects with the same rigour that they do for English and mathematics.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Parents say that their children are happy in school and that they are well looked after. Pupils thoroughly enjoy coming to school and are particularly positive about the school’s extra-curricular opportunities. They participate enthusiastically in judo, badminton and orchestra and speak keenly about their commitment to extend their day and learn new skills.  Pupils are confident that the adults in school keep them safe and deal quickly with any problems that they have. Parents support this view. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, in particular on the internet. They know about water safety and are proud of applying these skills when using the school’s pool.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils eagerly welcome visitors to their school and take pride in describing their work. They conduct themselves well around the school and contribute to their class code of conduct. Pupils collaborate well and show respect and sensitivity when listening to each other’s contributions in class.  Pupils have shared their views with leaders and, as a result, increased the opportunities they have to lead clubs for each other at breaktimes.  Pupils work hard to produce appropriate amounts of work over time in their books. This has improved since the last inspection.  Overall, above-average attendance has been sustained since the previous inspection. Disadvantaged pupils do not attend as well as other pupils in the school.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 In 2015, the proportion of pupils who achieved the standards expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 was above that seen nationally. Pupils in the school attain well and work in books supports this.  Likewise, in the past more pupils attained the highest standards in reading, writing and reading than seen nationally. Leaders’ actions to improve teaching are sustaining this high attainment.  Last year, progress in mathematics accelerated. More pupils are now making expected progress and attain well. Leaders have ensured that teachers show pupils how to improve and support them to explain their reasons, so that they understand what they are doing and become adept at solving their calculations quickly.  Pupils attain well in reading and make good progress. They are supported well to build fluency and read a range of books. Teachers carefully check on their skills and make quick adjustments to guide pupils when

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Outcomes for pupils are good

they fall behind. The most able pupils value the opportunity to read challenging texts and broaden their knowledge of different authors.  Standards have remained high in writing. Pupils regularly improve their writing and make good progress as a result of the helpful advice teachers give them. They speak highly of this support. Leaders have ensured that teachers consistently apply the guidelines for feedback so that pupils across the school get the same opportunities to benefit from this.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics, in line with their classmates. They are supported well in lessons by adults who guide them to build their confidence to test out their ideas, including when they work with a specialist teacher. As a result, they are making better progress than in the past.  Disadvantaged pupils are catching up with other pupils during their time in the school. Leaders ensure

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Outcomes for pupils are good

that teachers attend closely to these pupils’ needs and adapt their teaching so that they make the same progress as their classmates.  In the past, not all of the most able pupils made enough progress in mathematics. Improved teaching is helping these pupils to make good progress, as they do in reading and writing. Pupils make better progress when they have to grapple with challenges and think hard about how to solve a problem using the skills they have been taught. These opportunities are not yet consistent in all classes.

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School details

Unique reference number 125201 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 10009212

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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 Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 7  11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 357 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Pauline Stanmore Headteacher Jessica Steele Telephone number 01483 761531 Website www.horsell-junior.surrey.sch.uk Email address office@horsell-junior.surrey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 15  16 January 2014

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Information about this school

 This school is much larger than the average-sized junior school.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ learning and progress.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding is lower than average. This is additional funding provided by the government to support pupils who, in this school, are known to be eligible for free school meals.  Most pupils are of White British heritage. Less than a third of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is below the national average.  Since the previous inspection, four assistant headteachers, who each lead a year group, have joined the leadership team.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 13 lessons, across all year groups, eight jointly with school leaders. Pupils were also observed being taught in small intervention groups.  Meetings were held with pupils, the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, six governors including the chair of the governing body, and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors looked at a range of pupils’ work, heard pupils read, observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school and at breaktimes, and talked informally with pupils.  Inspectors considered the view of parents, taking into account the 150 responses on the online parent questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also considered 117 free-text question responses submitted by parents. The lead inspector took one telephone call request from a parent to gather their view during the inspection. Responses to 31 online questionnaires completed by staff and by seven pupils were also

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Information about this inspection

taken into account.  Inspectors also scrutinised a range of documents, including those to do with safeguarding, behaviour and attendance, minutes of meetings of the governing body, records of visits by the local authority, information about pupils’ outcomes supplied by the school, the school’s evaluation of its own performance, and the school improvement plans.

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Inspection team

Susan Aspland, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Krista Dawkins Ofsted Inspector Kate Redman 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

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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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