Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Chris Read Angel Road Junior School Angel Road Norwich Norfolk NR3 3HS

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School

Following my visit to your school on 5 July 2016, 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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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in February 2016. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. At its section 5 inspection before the one that took place in February 2016, the school was also judged to require improvement.

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School

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

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, with subject leaders for English and mathematics, with pupils and with a representative of the local authority. A telephone meeting was held with the chair of governors. The school’s post-Ofsted action plan was scrutinised along with a range of other school documentation. Lesson observations were carried out in all classes present during the day and pupils’ work was scrutinised.

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Context

Since the section 5 inspection when the school was judged to require improvement, there have been no major staffing changes. For September, you have appointed a new assistant headteacher who will work in both the infant and junior schools, and a new class teacher.

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Main findings

You and your governors accepted the outcomes from the previous inspection, facing head-on the areas for improvement. You have sought out additional advice and support, including from the local authority and beyond, to support you in moving the school forward. At the same time you have taken staff with you, involving them in creating plans and implementing them. This has created a strong sense of shared purpose and drive among staff and a determination to improve.

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Main findings

Your action plan is closely focused on the issues identified by the previous inspection. It sets out clearly the steps you are taking to address these issues and provides clear markers showing what you expect to achieve as the year progresses. This plan is reviewed regularly by you and your governors to check that actions are being taken in a timely manner and to evaluate the impact of these.

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Main findings

You have provided middle leaders with more opportunities to develop their subjects. By restructuring your meetings, you have now ensured that the subject leaders for English and mathematics meet with year leaders, setting out the key areas for each year group to work on, and following these up regularly. This is helping to establish greater accountability. You in turn now hold subject leaders to account for fulfilling their part of the improvement plans. However, for some leaders, such as the leader for special educational needs or disability, there is scope for further development of the role. You have yet to ensure that he has a clear view of provision for these pupils across the school and that his expertise is used fully to support teachers in meeting the needs of all pupils.

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Main findings

By drawing together information from lesson observations, work scrutiny and assessment outcomes, you have ensured that there is a much greater focus on the impact that teaching is having on learning. This shift away from looking at single lessons to evaluate teaching and learning over time is providing you with a better, more rounded picture of what is working well and what needs further improvement.

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Main findings

You have set up better systems for joint working between the infant and junior schools. There are more joint meetings with staff from each school and this is helping to establish a better understanding by teachers of what pupils are capable of when they join the school.

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Main findings

The quality of teaching is improving because your systems for checking teaching and holding teachers to account are more rigorous. Your more cohesive approach to pupil progress meetings is ensuring that all teachers are very aware of your expectations. You ensure that groups, including the less able and disadvantaged pupils, feature strongly within these meetings so that teachers maintain a strong focus on ensuring all pupils make good progress. You are aware that teaching remains inconsistent, and that this is reflected in the variable quality of work in pupils’ books. You recognise that some teachers are not, for example, using assessment well enough within lessons, and that the needs of less able pupils are not being sufficiently well met in some classes. You have put in place support plans where these are needed and are tackling under-performance rigorously. Pupils are highly positive about the school. They say that teachers help them to

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Main findings

understand their lessons. They know the school’s approach to marking and feedback and say that this helps them know how well they have done. This is also evident in pupils’ books where comments made by teachers are used by pupils to improve subsequent work.

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Main findings

Governors continue to support the school well and have become sharper in their focus on what is working well and what needs improvement. They ask challenging questions of leaders. They expect subject leaders to meet with them to explain what they are doing and the impact their actions are having. Governors have recognised that leadership capacity needed to be expanded. Consequently they have agreed the appointment of a joint senior leader to work across both schools from September to enable your deputy headteacher to focus more of her time on improving teaching and learning.

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External support

The local authority has provided good support for senior leaders and governors, as well as working effectively to develop the skills of middle leaders. Using a coaching model, advisers are helping leaders to identify clearly how they will secure improvements. In so doing, the local authority is helping to expand the capacity of the school to move towards good by the time of the next inspection.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Norfolk. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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