Cavendish Close Junior Academy

Cavendish Close Junior School Deborah Drive, Chaddesden, Derby, Derbyshire DE21 4RJ

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders, including governors, have failed to establish a culture of high expectations for staff and pupils. The school has not made the improvements required following the last inspection.  Poor teaching over time has led to pupils making inadequate progress in a range of subjects including reading, writing and mathematics. There is little sign of improvement in pupils’ current workbooks.  Teachers’ assessments of what pupils can do are not accurate. They set work for pupils which is often too easy or too hard.  Teachers do not provide pupils with effective feedback.  Leaders do not provide teachers with good guidance for teaching different subjects, especially reading. Pupils’ work does not extend their knowledge, develop their curiosity or capture their interest in learning.  Sometimes pupils misbehave in lessons. Usually this is because they are bored or because adults’ expectations are not high enough.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Disadvantaged pupils make poor progress because leaders and governors are not ensuring that the pupil premium funding provides the support that these pupils need to achieve well.  The attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is particularly low. Too many pupils are regularly absent or arrive late for the start of the school day.  A significant minority of pupils report that bullying is not dealt with effectively.  Governors have not ensured that leaders follow government guidance on how to keep pupils safe. This puts pupils’ safety at risk.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The interim executive headteacher, who had only been in post for one day, has begun to grasp the school’s priorities. He has wasted no time in starting to address important issues, including safeguarding.  The majority of pupils say that they enjoy school. Pupils are well mannered.  Pupils appreciate the wide range of sports clubs and the opportunities to play in competitive games with other schools.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Urgently improve the effectiveness of leadership and management and ensure that: – safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements – all staff and governors share an uncompromising focus on securing rapid improvement and the very best outcomes for all groups of pupils – all staff and governors understand their responsibilities and are given the support and challenge needed to carry out their work effectively – there is a system for checking that the most able pupils are making at least good progress from their starting points – pupil premium funding is used effectively to improve pupils’ progress – teachers are provided with clear and effective guidance on how to teach reading – the curriculum plan ensures that pupils build on their knowledge so that they achieve age-related expectations in a range of subjects – staff are equipped to address all forms of bullying, including gender-based bullying

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– the school website is up to date and meets statutory requirements – governors hold leaders to account for the impact of their actions.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that all groups of pupils make at least good progress in reading, writing, mathematics and science by ensuring that: – staff have consistently high expectations of what all pupils can achieve – teachers’ assessments are accurate and are always the starting point for planning lessons – high-quality feedback helps pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding.  Improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, by: – improving pupils’ attendance and reducing late arrivals, especially in respect of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities – planning stimulating lessons that engage pupils’ interests and lead to good behaviour and progress for all groups of pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be further improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have not successfully tackled the areas for improvement identified in the last inspection. All aspects of the school are now inadequate.  There are no strong signs of improvement because leaders do not have a clear and effective strategy that has the commitment of the whole team.  Performance management for staff has not improved the quality of teaching or the effectiveness of leadership. It has failed to motivate, support, challenge and hold staff to account for their impact on outcomes for pupils. This is partly because leaders who carry this work out have not been sufficiently trained to do so.  The pupil premium funding is not used effectively. Leaders were slow to organise the external review of this area recommended at the last inspection. Since then, leaders have not taken good account of the review’s recommendations. The specific barriers faced by disadvantaged pupils are not being addressed.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have not provided staff with the good guidance, support and challenge needed to make accurate assessments against the new national curriculum. Recent assessments of pupils’ achievement are overgenerous. Leaders have an inflated view of the school’s effectiveness and weaknesses in teaching and learning have not been recognised or acted upon.  Curriculum planning is weak. Teachers do not have clear guidance on how to plan different subjects so that pupils make good progress.  Leaders do not have a way of checking that the most able pupils are making good progress from their starting points. As a result, leaders do not have a clear idea of how well teaching is meeting these pupils’ needs.  The school does not have a robust means of identifying pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Progress for these pupils is poor. Leaders, including governors, are not making sure that the funding for these pupils is providing

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

good value for money.  Leaders do not provide staff with clear guidance for the teaching of reading. Consequently, the teaching of reading is not leading to good progress.  The school offers a good range of extra-curricular activities. However, leaders do not check to see whether any groups of pupils are failing to benefit from what is on offer. Pupils report that there are few opportunities on offer for Year 3 and Year 4.  The leadership of behaviour and attendance is being strengthened, but it is too early to see clear, sustained impact from this work. Until recently, leaders did not have robust ways of analysing and following up on incidents, including bullying.  The physical education and sport premium funding has increased opportunities for pupils to take part in competitive sports, including through a range of extra-curricular activities. These improvements have happened because the leader responsible for this

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

funding has a clear vision for success. He believes there is ‘always room for improvement’, so he checks to ensure that his actions are making enough difference for different groups of pupils.  Displays around the school show that pupils are learning about British values. Most pupils can explain the importance of tolerance and respect. Pupils say that ‘it means you accept everyone’. However, pupils who spoke to inspectors were not confident that some pupils with particular characteristics would be treated with respect. The school’s work to promote British values and to secure pupils’ understanding of equalities is underdeveloped.  The school has been dependent on a large amount of support from the local authority and from other schools. Leaders have not made best use of this support so there have not been any lasting improvements in outcomes for pupils. The local authority has now brokered support from an interim executive headteacher. He has begun to grasp the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

important issues and is taking appropriate actions.  Many parents who spoke to inspectors, and the small number who responded to Parent View, expressed positive views about the school. Where parents had concerns about an issue in school, this usually related to incidents of poor behaviour or bullying.  Newly qualified teachers should not be appointed by the school. There is currently not enough capacity in the school to ensure that they would be well supported.

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Governance of the school

 Governors have not been effective in holding leaders to account.  Minutes from governing body meetings and governors’ visits show that governors have asked leaders challenging questions. However, these questions have not led to leaders taking the actions needed to bring about improvements.  Governors have not fulfilled their responsibilities in relation to the management of the pupil premium funding, the school’s website or the arrangements for safeguarding pupils.  Governors are determined that they ‘want what’s best for children’. Governors understand that significant and rapid improvements are needed in order to deliver good outcomes for pupils.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are inadequate.  Leaders have not ensured that staff training and the school policy are kept up to date. At the time of the inspection, some staff did not know how to report safeguarding concerns correctly or how to use the whistleblowing processes. This places pupils at unnecessary risk.  Leaders do not routinely keep careful checks on the pupils’ absence.  The interim executive headteacher has been very quick to identify that this area is a high priority. Within hours of being in school, he organised staff training to update the team on their statutory responsibilities for keeping pupils safe.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is variable across the school. Over time, the impact is inadequate due to poor leadership of teaching.  The school’s use of assessment to inform planning is ineffective. Inspectors saw many instances of work in books and in lessons that was not well matched to pupils’ needs. Pupils’ books from last year showed Year 3 and Year 6 pupils completed the same science worksheet about light. As a result, the Year 6 pupils did not deepen their understanding or develop their practical skills. Such poor use of assessment contributes to pupils’ weak progress across a range of subjects, especially for the most able, the lower-attaining pupils and those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Teaching does not challenge the most able pupils sufficiently. For example, when Year 4 pupils were learning to improve writing through the use of adverbs, the most able

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

pupils lost interest quickly because the work was too easy.  Too often, pupils are expected to fill in undemanding worksheets that only require one word answers. This weakness in the curriculum limits the progress of all pupils and especially the most able pupils.  The school’s marking policy is not followed consistently. Pupils’ workbooks show that teachers’ feedback comments rarely lead to improvements. Too many pupils are not achieving age-related standards.  There is no clear strategy in place for the teaching of reading. In the younger classes, teachers are often over reliant on parents to help pupils practise their reading skills. Older pupils’ reading books are not always challenging enough because teachers do not check book choices carefully. Such weaknesses in teaching have contributed to pupils’ poor progress over a number of years.  There are effective features of teaching within the school, especially in upper key stage

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

2. In Year 5, where pupils were studying ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the teacher carefully reshaped a question so that a pupil could use deduction skills to explain the meaning of ‘woe’. Both the teacher and teaching assistant used their strong knowledge of grammar and punctuation to help pupils write play scripts using colons and semi-colons correctly.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Inspectors found that a significant minority of pupils and parents do not feel that staff deal effectively with bullying.  Pupils have a good understanding of some types of bullying, including cyber bullying and bullying by text message. Pupils do not have the same good understanding of gender-based and homophobic bullying.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning are not consistently good. Often this is because work is not at the right ability level. Frequently, this leads to pupils distracting each other or sitting quietly and producing untidy work that is below their capabilities. Pupils’ poor behaviour is a barrier to their achieving age-related expectations.  The school’s work to promote pupils’ good physical development is a strength. During the inspection, pupils, who were on their way to take part in an inter-school ‘golf

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Personal development and welfare

football’ match, praised ‘the awesome sports teaching’. Pupils confidently explained how playing sports with other schools gives them valuable opportunities to meet other people and to learn from them.  Most pupils enjoy going to school. They thrive on opportunities to enjoy special responsibilities because these build their confidence and self-esteem. During the inspection, pupils who were about to be trained as lunchtime librarians were full of pride and excitement.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is inadequate.  Too many pupils and parents do not have confidence in the school’s ability to deal with poor behaviour, especially bullying. Over time, leaders have not kept a track of such incidents. Recently, the acting deputy headteacher has put checks in place to review and to follow up incidents more carefully. Early indications are that this is beginning to make a difference.  In 2015, attendance was below the national average. The attendance of pupils entitled to free school meals and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities was in the lowest 10% of all schools nationally. The number of pupils who were regularly absent from school was also above the national average in 2015. The school’s information about attendance for 2016 shows that attendance has not improved enough.  Although leaders report that the breakfast club is having a positive impact on

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Behaviour

punctuality, inspectors still noted a significant number of pupils arriving late in the mornings and missing the start of the school day.  Almost all pupils show good, independent and responsible behaviour as they move around the school and its grounds. Pupils like to be helpful and step aside to open doors for adults. Pupils welcome visitors with polite greetings, and confident and cheery smiles.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Weak and inconsistent teaching since the last inspection has led to inadequate progress for pupils across the whole school and across a wide range of subjects.  In 2014 and 2015, pupils’ overall progress at the end of key stage 2 was significantly below the national average. Reading was the weakest area. This is because leaders have not provided staff with sufficient guidance for teaching this subject.  Pupils’ workbooks from the last academic year and unconfirmed outcomes for the end of key stage 2 in 2016 show that pupils continue to make inadequate progress. Across a range of subjects, too many pupils are working below age-appropriate levels. The unvalidated key stage 2 outcomes for the 2016 assessments show poor progress and low standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils are ill-prepared for secondary school.  Since the last inspection, disadvantaged pupils have continued to make poor progress.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

This is because leaders have not successfully identified and addressed pupils’ barriers to learning and ensured that the pupil premium fund is used effectively. These pupils are not catching up with other pupils nationally.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not make good progress, because they often complete the same work as their classmates and are not given the help they need to do well. Sometimes these pupils are over reliant on help from teaching assistants. This is a barrier to developing good, independent learning skills.  School leaders do not have accurate assessment information about pupils’ current achievement. This is because assessments for all areas, except for Year 6 writing, are overgenerous.  The most able pupils are not making good enough progress from their starting points. This is because they generally get the same work as other pupils.  Progress in all subjects is generally slow, because teachers do not plan lessons that

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

move learning on quickly from pupils’ starting points.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address head@cavclosej.derby.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 2–3 July 2014

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Information about this school

 Cavendish Close Junior School is larger than the average-size junior school.  Most pupils are White British. Of the small numbers who are from minority ethnic groups, very few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and supported by the pupil premium is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.  The school runs a breakfast club.  The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the pupil premium strategy or the curriculum.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  The headteacher was absent during the inspection. The deputy headteacher was on maternity leave.  The school is currently being led by an interim executive headteacher, supported by an

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils learning in all classrooms. Some observations were carried out alongside the interim executive headteacher and the acting deputy headteacher. Inspectors also attended an assembly, examined pupils’ work in books, and considered test and school assessment information. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at playtimes, lunchtimes and around the school.  Inspectors met with two groups of pupils, talked to pupils informally and listened to pupils read. Inspectors held meetings with staff, leaders, two governors and a local authority representative.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start and end of the school day. By the end of the inspection, there were six responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent view, which were too few to generate a report of the parents’ views. Inspectors also considered five parent responses to Ofsted’s free text service. In addition, inspectors

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Information about this inspection

took account of the school’s survey of parents’ views.  There were no staff responses to the Ofsted online survey.  A number of school documents were examined. These included the school’s evaluation of its own performance and local authority reports. Records relating to governance, staff performance management, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding were also scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Carol Smith, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Damien Turrell 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

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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

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Inspection team

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

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