Furze Platt Junior School

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

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Mr Mike Wallace Headteacher Furze Platt Junior School Oaken Grove Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 6HQ

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Short inspection of Furze Platt Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 16 January 2018, 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 June 2014.

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Short inspection of Furze Platt Junior School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in certain areas. This may indicate that the school is improving towards being outstanding. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Furze Platt Junior School

Since the previous inspection, pupils’ progress has accelerated rapidly. The majority of pupils, including those pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities, make strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, many pupils achieve standards above those expected for their age. Disadvantaged pupils’ attainment has also risen considerably.

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Short inspection of Furze Platt Junior School

Pupils enjoy coming to Furze Platt Junior School and say lessons are fun. They display a positive attitude to working hard. Pupils collaborate well on tasks and support each other in order to improve their work. The school’s broad and balanced curriculum is enriched with trips, visitors, clubs and many sporting opportunities. Parents and carers mentioned how happy their children are, with one commenting: ‘My son goes to school every morning with a happy heart, excitement and eagerness to start the day.’

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Short inspection of Furze Platt Junior School

You provide inspirational leadership and staff are proud to work in your school. Leaders, including governors, are ambitious for all members of the school’s community. All members of the senior leadership team have a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the school. You and your leadership team carefully examine all areas of pupils’ assessment information and school monitoring. This allows you to strive relentlessly for further improvement and even better outcomes. As one governor said, ‘Our headteacher is never satisfied. He always wants that next step.’ As a result, officers from your local authority use your knowledge and expertise to support other local schools to improve further.

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Short inspection of Furze Platt Junior School

You have identified precisely the school’s main strengths and those areas that could be further improved. For example, you are extending the strong assessment practice established in the school to include all subjects in the curriculum. Leadership tasks are shared effectively between middle and senior leaders. This has accelerated the rate of improvement across the school. Everyone is clear about how the school can improve even further and leaders are taking the right actions to make these improvements.

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Short inspection of Furze Platt Junior School

School leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of a high quality. Leaders have established strong relationships with external agencies. Any necessary actions are taken without delay. Staff are vigilant in following up any welfare concerns they have about a child. Governors regularly check that the school’s safeguarding processes are working well.

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Short inspection of Furze Platt Junior School

Pupils said that they feel safe in school and are confident that there is always someone to talk to should they have a problem. They told me that bullying is ‘not normal’ and that teachers would ‘stop it instantly’. Pupils show a strong understanding of how to keep themselves safe online. Parents speak of a nurturing and safe environment, where children develop and thrive.

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Inspection findings

 Your work to improve the progress pupils make in writing has been highly effective. Pupils’ books show that pupils are making rapid progress. There are many examples of writing at length to a high standard in subjects other than English. Assessment tasks are used highly effectively to identify next steps in learning for individual pupils. In addition, pupils edit their work diligently, particularly in the basic skills of grammar, spelling and punctuation. Pupils apply their knowledge of phonics well. Their handwriting and presentation of work are of a consistently high standard across all areas of the curriculum. The school makes good use of a local cluster group of schools to check the accuracy of teachers’ assessment.  Leaders have established a clear strategy to ensure that disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities achieve well. As a result, disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities make rapid

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Inspection findings

progress at Furze Platt Junior School. Vulnerable pupils are provided with a range of additional support to accelerate their progress, which teachers and leaders track and review carefully. Teaching assistants work highly effectively with pupils.  The previous inspection report asked leaders to ensure that consistent levels of challenge were provided, especially for the most able pupils. I saw clear evidence that teachers routinely challenge all pupils across the curriculum, including the most able. For example, in mathematics and science lessons, pupils are regularly given opportunities to reason and explain their understanding. Attainment is high in all year groups with increasing proportions of pupils attaining the higher standards. This is evident in the pupils’ books from across the curriculum. Pupils say they are challenged. While assessment is rigorous in English, mathematics and religious education (RE), it is still developing in other foundation subjects

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Inspection findings

such as French. You are rapidly building on the strong assessment principles built into your curriculum to ensure that assessment has a positive impact on the progress of pupils across all subjects and that all are appropriately challenged.  Governance is very strong. Through their regular visits to the school, governors have a secure understanding of the school’s strengths. They rightly seek to verify what leaders tell them. Governors stringently hold leaders to account about all aspects of school life, including pupils’ achievement and school finances. They carry out their statutory duties very effectively.

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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

 assessment systems continue to develop in order to track pupils’ progress even more closely across the curriculum, to match the good practice already found in English, mathematics and RE.

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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 Windsor and Maidenhead. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, your deputy and inclusion manager to discuss the school’s effectiveness. Together, we visited lessons to observe pupils’ learning, speak to pupils and look at their work. We also assessed the quality of pupils’ work in books. I met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body, and spoke to pupils about their school. I considered 88 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire and the accompanying free-text comments. I spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day. Staff and pupil questionnaires and two emails from parents were also considered. I spoke with a representative of the local authority. I evaluated the school’s safeguarding arrangements. A wide range of documentation, including your self-evaluation and improvement planning, pupils’ progress information and policies was examined.

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