Yeading Junior School

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

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Mrs Carole Jones Headteacher Yeading Junior School Carlyon Road Hayes UB4 0NR

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Short inspection of Yeading Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 27 February 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 October 2013.

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Short inspection of Yeading 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 Yeading Junior School

You are an established leader who leads with a clear moral purpose. The areas for improvement which were highlighted in the previous report have all been fully addressed. For example, you have made changes to the quality of teaching so that learners have enough time in lessons to complete tasks independently. Similarly, additional adults in the classrooms are used well and support learning effectively.

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Short inspection of Yeading Junior School

Parents told me that you, your staff and your governors are approachable and support their families well. Academically, the school has a range of strengths. For example, high standards have been maintained in writing, and pupils perform well in mathematics. Pupils have access to a stimulating curriculum, and many other opportunities are also provided. For example, the teaching of French is a strong and notable feature. Many outside visits are available to pupils, including a Year 6 residential stay. Pupils also enjoy visits by important national figures. For example, a very prominent senior politician recently visited the school. Such visits enhance the provision for the promotion of British values, the rule of law and democratic institutions. Additionally, the variety and range of extra-curricular clubs, including, for example, Latin, stimulate the pupils’ interests and are very popular.

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Short inspection of Yeading Junior School

Pupils say that they enjoy being part of the school’s community. They are happy to come to school and be with their friends. They trust school staff implicitly and know that they will be kept safe. A girl explained that new children are welcomed freely, no matter what their background or life experience. This example is typical of the thoughtful, generous and positive attitudes that pupils have. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They are friendly and polite, reflecting the school’s 10 character virtues which the school has embedded in its ethos: resilience, teamwork, compassion, respect, volunteering, pride, curiosity, reflection, dignity and determination.

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Short inspection of Yeading Junior School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of high quality. Staff manage pupils’ well- being meticulously. Leaders work with outside agencies and liaise with them quickly in order to secure strong support for children and their families. Leaders manage concerns sensitively and effectively. All staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of current safeguarding guidance and procedures. Pre-employment checks on adults working at the school meet statutory requirements. Staff training is up to date and their safeguarding practice is effective. Governors carry out appropriate checks on safeguarding during the school year.

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Short inspection of Yeading Junior School

There is a culture of vigilance where children’s welfare is actively promoted. Children are listened to and feel safe.

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Inspection findings

 The first focus for this inspection was to evaluate the effectiveness of measures taken to raise pupils’ progress in reading across the school. We agreed upon this because recent reading outcomes have been variable. In particular, standards in reading dipped in 2017 and you suggested that you had put in place effective strategies to address this.  A range of changes and improvements have begun to secure higher rates of progress. For example, you have introduced more challenging texts and materials for reading comprehension, and there is a stronger emphasis on teaching key skills of deduction, prediction and inference. In their books, the most able pupils clearly demonstrate sophisticated skills in literary construction in their writing. Because pupils write well, the improvements made to the teaching of comprehension enhance their ability to answer complex questions.  In their reading, pupils can incorporate concepts they have learned and can

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Inspection findings

describe these, using correct vocabulary. Older pupils understand and explain the meaning of ‘figures of speech’, such as, for example, ‘let the cat out of the bag’. They can predict what might come next in a text, how a character might feel or react, and how writers use devices, such as ‘cliff hangers’, which ‘grip’ the reader.  Evidence found in pupils’ books, and apparent through listening to pupils read, shows that current pupils, regardless of their starting points, make consistently strong progress. They read widely and often, with fluency and comprehension appropriate to their age, and develop secure knowledge, understanding and skills. We agreed that it would be appropriate to continue to focus on improving pupils’ reading skills still further.  Finally, the inspection focused on the effectiveness of measures to raise teaching and learning in mathematics. The school has a strong track record of teaching

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Inspection findings

mathematics. Historically, standards are high. However, we agreed upon this because there was a dip in standards in 2017, and you wanted to show the strong practice of the school in this subject now, along with the steps you had taken to ensure that standards remain high.  Through your, and your leaders’, careful monitoring, use of assessment information, maintaining of high expectations, and support of teachers, strong practice in the teaching of mathematics at the school has been firmly established.  Pupils swiftly develop skills of basic arithmetic and mathematical vocabulary. They use these skills freely and accurately to give answers which reflect the depth of their learning. For example, in Year 3 pupils are able to accurately calculate the perimeter of a range of two-dimensional shapes. In discussion, pupils can describe how they arrive at an answer. We agreed that pupils would benefit from further opportunities to work together to develop, use and apply

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Inspection findings

their skills and knowledge through more open-ended and problem-solving challenges.  In their workbooks, in discussions with pupils, and through evaluating displays of mathematical work, it is clear that all pupils, regardless of their starting points, are making substantial and sustained progress.

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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

 the successful drive to raise standards in reading is maintained and intensified  pupils are given more opportunities to use their skills and knowledge to solve problems and work on more open-ended mathematical challenges.

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

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Information about the inspection

The inspector carried out the following activities during the inspection: held meetings with the headteacher, an assistant headteacher and the deputy headteacher, the literacy and mathematics leaders, the safeguarding leader and the safeguarding social worker; had discussions with three governors, including the chair of the governing body, and a group of pupils, and had a telephone discussion with a local authority education adviser; observed teaching and learning in a range of lessons, including mathematics and English; evaluated rates of progress by looking at pupils’ workbooks, reading journals and displays; heard pupils reading; evaluated recent information about pupils’ progress; considered the views of parents through responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and had discussions with parents in the playground before school.

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