Campsbourne Junior School

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

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Mr Jonathan Smith Headteacher Campsbourne Junior School Nightingale Lane London N8 7AF

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Short inspection of Campsbourne Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 10 October 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 May 2013.

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Short inspection of Campsbourne Junior School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. Following your appointment as headteacher in 2016, you evaluated the school’s work and took swift action to focus attention on improving pupils’ learning. You have worked closely with the governing body to build a new senior team and ensure that all leaders and staff understand the strategic vision for the school. You and your staff have worked together to share good practice and achieve greater consistency in the quality of teaching. As shown by conversations with parents and their responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, they appreciate the changes you have introduced.

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Short inspection of Campsbourne Junior School

You have worked well with governors and senior and middle leaders to tackle the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. These included strengthening pupils’ progress in English and mathematics. While teaching now provides pupils with more opportunities to apply their skills in English and mathematics through other subjects, this remains an area for development in the school.

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Short inspection of Campsbourne Junior School

The school has a rich, broad and balanced curriculum. This is supported by a range of opportunities and extra-curricular activities. These include a vibrant breakfast club, the jazz band and your well-designed space for forest schools that is accessible to all pupils in the school.

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Short inspection of Campsbourne Junior School

An example of the school’s innovative curriculum can be seen in the investigative approach to learning in science.Teachers are now more accountable for outcomes than in the past. However, we agreed that teachers and governors are insufficiently familiar with the use of data to inform planning and decision-making. This is another area for further development.

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Short inspection of Campsbourne Junior School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Senior leaders and governors fulfil statutory duties well to ensure that pupils are safe from harm. You ensure that training is up to date and staff are familiar with the most recent statutory guidance. Staff know and understand their responsibilities and carry them out extremely well.

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Short inspection of Campsbourne Junior School

Leaders, along with the school’s family liaison officer who has responsibility for safeguarding, work closely with families and other external agencies where pupils are potentially at risk of harm.

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Inspection findings

 To verify that the school remains good, my first line of enquiry focused on leaders’ actions to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils in reading and mathematics. This is because of the gap in progress between these and other pupils in stage 2 assessments.  You have introduced a range of strategies to promote more rapid progress for this group of pupils. These include, for example, deploying the lead practitioner for teaching and learning across the school. My observations in English lessons, including talking to pupils and scrutinising their books, confirmed that focused support for disadvantaged pupils is helping them make better progress. In addition, the quality of teaching in lessons and the new approach to the teaching of reading are having an impact on the quality of writing in the school for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged.  In mathematics, following lower than expected outcomes at the end of key stage 2 in

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Inspection findings

2017, the school has adopted a consistent approach to the teaching of mathematics across the school. This, too, is benefiting all pupils. Those who underachieve attend a morning ‘mathematics meeting’ with their teacher. This helps them to address misconceptions before the lessons, with guided support from adults. These sessions are particularly beneficial to disadvantaged pupils who are now making more rapid progress, as shown by the school’s assessment information.  The second line of enquiry focused on the effectiveness of leaders’ actions to improve girls’ reading. This was because the progress and attainment of girls did not meet national expectations at the end of key stage 2 in 2017. Your actions to improve girls’ reading outcomes are well considered. You have overhauled the school’s approach to the teaching of reading and have ensured the availability of appropriate and engaging texts to stimulate

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Inspection findings

the interest of girls as well as boys.  The third line of enquiry considered the effectiveness of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This was because your data at the end of key stage 2 in 2017 indicated that outcomes for this group were well below those of their peers nationally.  Provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is now a strength of the school. Senior leaders have a clear overview of provision and impact. Highly skilled support staff provide a range of interventions across the school. The school tracks the progress of these pupils robustly and targets support accordingly. Governors are now more aware than in the past of the actions taken to support this group of pupils.  Finally, the inspection focused on the effectiveness of leaders’ actions to address below- average attendance and persistent absence.  Staff know individual pupils well and monitor their attendance carefully, so they know the

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Inspection findings

reasons for a pupil’s absence and identify concerns promptly. The school’s ‘joined-up’ approach ensures that pupils who are not attending school as regularly as they should receive the right level of support. The pastoral manager works sensitively with families to understand their individual circumstances, for example where a pupil has a particular medical need that affects their attendance.  I found that leaders’ actions to reduce absence and persistent absence for all groups of pupils are proving successful. In addition, you and your team are quick to put in place additional support for pupils who have been persistently absent so they do not fall behind in their learning.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and governors should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 pupils have more opportunities to apply their English and mathematics skills across a range of different subjects  teachers and governors receive the training that they need to help them use performance data effectively for planning and decision-making.

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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 Haringey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I held a number of meetings with you and other senior leaders. Senior leaders also accompanied me on a series of visits to lessons. I held meetings with you and with representatives of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body. I also held meetings with the lead practitioner for teaching and learning, the family liaison and attendance officers, and the school improvement partner from the local authority. Informal conversations took place with a few parents at the start of the school day. I spoke to pupils in lessons, scrutinised their books with senior and middle leaders, and met with four pupils who took me on a tour of the school. I looked at a range of documentation. This included the school’s self-evaluation and summary improvement plans, external reviews of the school’s work, minutes of governors’ meetings, records of pupils’ attainment, progress and behaviour,

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Information about the inspection

and evidence of records to keep pupils safe and of their attendance. I took into consideration responses to Parent View and responses from teachers and pupils who took part in Ofsted’s online surveys.

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