Greenfields Junior School

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

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Mrs Emma Stacey Headteacher Greenfields Junior School Green Lane Hartley Wintney Hook Hampshire RG27 8DQ

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 7 March 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in January 2013.

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

You have worked positively and constructively with staff, governors, parents and pupils since your appointment in September 2015. You have renewed the school’s values and strengthened teamwork. You have established a shared vision for the school’s future, making sure that all staff and governors are clear about their role in the school’s development. The appointments of key leaders, including your assistant headteacher and inclusion leader, have brought further strength to the leadership team. The school is very well placed for the next stage in its journey of improvement.

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

Governors share your ambitions for the school and are just as determined as you are to ensure that all pupils achieve well. They appreciate the greater clarity you have brought to reporting the school’s work and your honest and professional approach. Parents speak enthusiastically about improvements in the school since your appointment. They are confident that you and your colleagues are moving the school in the right direction. One commented, ‘The school is on a journey. The headteacher has charted the route and is taking everyone with her’ – a sentiment echoed by many. Pupils are proud of the school and are polite and welcoming to visitors. Many welcomed me warmly during my visit, asking politely and with interest about my role. They were keen to tell me about their school and how much they love it. Their good behaviour and desire to do well make a strong contribution to the school’s positive, friendly atmosphere.

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

You have secured substantial improvements in the quality of teaching. You have ensured that leaders and teachers have much higher expectations of pupils’ learning than previously. You work productively with teachers, providing effective training to help them to develop their practice. Improvements in teaching contribute to the school’s increasingly confident and upbeat atmosphere.

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

You have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Your assistant headteacher has worked effectively alongside you and your team to establish robust assessment procedures. Teaching provides improved opportunities for pupils to reflect on and improve their work. Pupils have responded maturely and responsibly to increased expectations.

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

As a result of the changes you have implemented, pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and the most able, are achieving increasingly well. However, you recognise the need to make sure that disadvantaged pupils make rapid progress in order to catch up from previous underachievement. You know it is crucial that some disadvantaged pupils improve their attendance so they can benefit fully from the improved teaching on offer. You also recognise that the most able are not consistently stretched to the degree needed to maximise their achievement.

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

You and your team give pupils’ safety an appropriately high priority. You have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You make sure that suitability checks for staff are completed efficiently and that staff and governors are clear about what to do if they have a concern. Any pupils who may be at risk of harm are suitably supported. When needed, leaders work in partnership with other agencies to keep pupils safe. Leaders make sure that records are of suitable high quality and detailed.

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Short inspection of Greenfields Junior School

Pupils say that their teachers take good care of them and sort out any worries quickly, so that they feel safe and secure in school. You and your team give them regular reminders about what they can do to help to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet. You make sure the school site and equipment are safe and maintained effectively. All this contributes well to pupils’ safety and well- being.

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Inspection findings

 During my visit, I focused particularly on: whether all groups of pupils make sufficiently strong progress from their starting points, especially in writing and mathematics; to what extent leaders and teachers ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve well; how effectively senior leaders and governors use assessment information to support pupils’ learning and how thoroughly leaders and governors ensure that pupils are safe and attend well.  Developments in English and mathematics teaching during the past year have secured considerable improvements in the quality of pupils’ work. Most pupils make good progress in writing and mathematics and achieve increasingly well. They write well for a wide range of purposes and audiences and learn how to check and improve their work effectively. Pupils demonstrate an increasingly secure understanding of mathematical concepts as they move up through the year groups. They use a range of mathematical strategies to successfully tackle

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Inspection findings

number problems with increasing confidence.  In the past, some disadvantaged pupils have not achieved well. Leaders and governors are improving this aspect of the school’s work. They have tightened the use of pupil premium, to ensure a sharp focus on supporting pupils’ individual needs. The inclusion leader gives teachers good-quality advice about how best to provide extra help for these individual pupils. Leaders ensure that teachers have high expectations of all pupils.  Disadvantaged pupils in all year groups have made significant gains in their learning during the past year. Leaders and governors are determined to ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as other pupils, both in the school and nationally. They continue to focus on improving this aspect of the school’s work.  Leaders and teachers make good use of improved assessment procedures. They meet regularly to discuss pupils’ progress and plan teaching. Teachers typically

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Inspection findings

set tasks of suitable challenge which help pupils build on previous achievement. This supports good progress. However, the most able are not routinely set work that enables them to acquire deep knowledge and hone their skills to a high degree.  Most pupils attend school regularly and punctually. Pupils’ overall attendance is consistently at least in line with the national average. Leaders work very well with parents and agencies to support pupils’ attendance and well-being. They have secured some impressive improvements in individual pupils’ attendance, including pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, leaders recognise that some disadvantaged pupils do not attend regularly enough to achieve well. Leaders continue to focus on securing further improvements for these pupils and have suitable plans in place.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 disadvantaged pupils attend regularly and achieve increasingly well  the most able pupils make consistently strong progress.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

I met with you, your assistant headteacher and five governors, including the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. I also talked with a local authority representative. I visited all classes during the inspection some with you and others with the assistant headteacher. During these visits, I talked with pupils about their learning and looked at the work in their books. I also met with you and the assistant headteacher to look at a sample of pupils’ books across a range of subjects. I spoke with pupils during playtime and with parents informally at the start of the school day. I took account of 81 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I reviewed the school’s website and sampled a range of documents, including your summary of the school’s effectiveness, the school’s development plan and documents relating to safeguarding. I also looked at information about pupils’ learning and progress, notes of visits made to the school by the local authority and

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Information about the inspection

records relating to safeguarding and attendance.

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