Little Green Junior School

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

p.1

Mrs Janice Tearle Headteacher Little Green Junior School Lincoln Drive Croxley Green Rickmansworth Hertfordshire WD3 3NJ

p.1

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 9 November 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 July 2013.

p.1

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

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

p.1

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

You joined the school shortly after the previous inspection took place and have ensured that the school continues to improve. This is a happy and high-achieving school where pupils behave well and enjoy learning. Staff enjoy working at the school. Everyone who responded to the staff survey said that they are proud to work at the school.

p.1

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

Little Green’s pupils love their school too. They enjoy their lessons and the wide range of opportunities they are provided with, such as visits to interesting places. Pupils are given interesting work to do and enjoy the challenges they are presented with. Pupils feel well supported in their learning and say that ‘teachers always help us when we need help’. Pupils are polite, well mannered, confident and friendly. They have excellent attitudes to equality and to people who share characteristics protected by law. For example, pupils have excellent attitudes towards racism. In a meeting with me, pupils talked confidently and competently about people such as Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks, who they had learned about during Black History Month, and why they are so important.

p.1

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

Parents are highly supportive of the school and express great satisfaction with it. Of those who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, almost all said that they would recommend the school to others. Many parents chose to leave additional free-text comments in support of the school. Comments such as ‘my son loves his school and always looks forward to going every day’ and ‘the school provides a happy, calm and purposeful environment in which children can learn’ were typical.

p.1

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

You have ensured that the areas for improvement from the previous inspection have been tackled well. For example, the presentation of pupils’ work and the quality of their handwriting were cited as weaknesses at the previous inspection. Pupils now present their work very neatly and handwriting is well developed and clear. You know the school’s strengths and weaknesses very well and there is clear evidence that the school is continuing to improve. We agreed that there is still work to do to improve the quality of teaching in mathematics, and you have already started to work on this. We also agreed that a better system is needed to track the progress of some pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities.

p.2

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

The school’s leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. The school’s single central record of pre- employment checks meets statutory requirements. It is well maintained and reflects the school’s thorough approach to ensuring that only suitable people are employed to work with children. Governors check regularly to ensure that their statutory responsibilities are met.

p.2

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

Pupils feel very safe at Little Green Junior School. Pupils say that they are encouraged to talk to a ‘trusted adult’ and that there is always someone for them to talk to if they are worried about anything. Pupils are taught about other sources of help that are available to them, such as ‘Childline’. In a meeting with me, every pupil in the group was able to recite the charity’s telephone number off by heart.

p.2

Short inspection of Little Green Junior School

Pupils are very knowledgeable about bullying and what they should do if it occurs. They have been taught the acronym ‘STOP’ to remind them that bullying is something that happens ‘several times on purpose’. Pupils know that they must tell if bullying happens to them and to remember the message ‘don’t be a bystander’. As a result, bullying very rarely happens and, when it does, it is sorted out quickly.

p.2

Inspection findings

 I followed a number of lines of enquiry in order to check that the school remains good. Firstly, I looked at whether leaders are taking appropriate action to improve the progress pupils make in mathematics and whether current pupils are making good progress in the subject throughout the school. I chose to check this area after looking at the results of the key stage 2 national tests. A higher-than- average proportion of pupils reached the expected standard in mathematics and a similar proportion achieved the higher standard. Pupils’ average standardised score was above the national average. However, despite these strong results, pupils’ progress from the end of key stage 1 was below average.  Pupils join the school at the beginning of key stage 2 with notably high prior attainment. For example, of the current Year 6 cohort, 84% entered the school with above-average attainment in mathematics, and half of the pupils reached

p.2

Inspection findings

the higher level at the end of key stage 1. You do not use this as an excuse and are determined that all pupils will make the progress that they should.  Mathematics has already been identified as the school’s main priority for development during this academic year. A range of actions have already been carried out to improve teaching and learning in the subject, particularly the speed and fluency of pupils’ mental calculation skills and their ability to reason and solve problems. These actions are beginning to have an effect and pupils are now making better progress in mathematics.  The next area I looked at was whether disadvantaged pupils make the progress that they should. I chose to look at this area because disadvantaged pupils’ progress in mathematics was below average in 2017 and lower than it was in 2016, and their attainment was below the national benchmark. Disadvantaged pupils attained in line with the national benchmark in writing and above it in

p.3

Inspection findings

reading.  You have ensured that there is a good range of appropriate measures in place to support disadvantaged pupils. You know your pupils well as individuals and consider carefully the specific barriers that each pupil might face. So, for example, counselling sessions might be appropriate to support one pupil and one-to-one teaching sessions better for another. Disadvantaged pupils are making good progress throughout the school, with some making rapid progress.  The third line of enquiry was whether pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress. This area was selected because the published data for 2017 and 2016 showed that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make less-than- average progress.  Again, the school’s leaders know pupils very well on an individual basis. The number of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is small and you know pupils’ stories well. The SEN coordinator has successfully completed the national

p.3

Inspection findings

qualification for the role and leads this area effectively. Some pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities fit well with the school’s assessment and tracking system. Where this is the case, the school is able to demonstrate easily the good progress that these pupils are making.  The nature of some pupils’ SEN and/or disabilities means that their progress does not follow the same rates or patterns as the school’s standard assessment system. For example, good progress might be clear when comparing the targets on subsequent individual education plans, but less so when looking at his or her progress on the points-based system used to track the progress of all children. The school’s methods for tracking the progress of these pupils is not yet fully developed.  The final area that I checked was whether leaders have taken appropriate action to improve the attendance of specific groups of pupils and whether their actions

p.3

Inspection findings

are working. I chose to look at this area because the most recent published information on attendance, available prior to the inspection, showed that, although overall attendance was higher than average, it was below average for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and was particularly low for disadvantaged pupils.  The school has a good range of appropriate measures in place, both to encourage attendance and to tackle absence. For example, confirmation from a doctor is requested, where necessary, when a pupil is repeatedly absent for medical reasons. Meetings are held with parents to discuss persistent absence and to find ways forward to improve attendance. Pupils’ attendance has improved as a result of the school’s actions, in some cases dramatically so. For example, in one case, a pupil’s overall attendance improved by 20 percentage points as a result of the actions taken. No groups of pupils are disadvantaged by

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they:

p.4

Next steps for the school

 continue to improve teaching and learning in mathematics, particularly on fluency, reasoning and problem-solving, so that more pupils make significant and sustained progress from their starting points  develop clearer systems to track the progress of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities where the measurement of their progress does not fit well with the school’s standard approach.

p.4

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

p.4

Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I held meetings with you, other leaders and a group of governors. I observed teaching and learning, jointly with you and both of the assistant headteachers. I met with representatives of the school council, the eco council and the sports crew. I also spoke with pupils in their classrooms and as they moved around the school. I took into account the 145 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and 99 free-text comments from parents. I considered the 246 responses to the pupil survey and 20 responses to the staff survey. I scrutinised a range of school documents and looked at pupils’ exercise books.

p.4