All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

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

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Mrs Tracey Brunton Headteacher All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School Leawood Road Fleet Hampshire GU51 5AJ

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 22 May 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 November 2013.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since arriving at the school in 2016, you have made a strongly positive impact on the school. Together with senior leaders, you have placed a sharp focus on raising expectations of what pupils can achieve and making sure that they feel safe and valued. Parents and pupils appreciate the way that everyone knows pupils individually and listens to their views and ideas. Leaders have instilled a strong set of values that all understand and embrace, creating a cohesive, purposeful school community.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

Pupils enjoy coming to school and flourish in the mutually respectful relationships that underpin the school’s work. Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning and work hard to meet teachers’ high expectations. Assessment systems not only help pupils to know exactly what is expected of them, but also enable them to set well-judged targets for themselves. Pupils know that there is always another challenge waiting for them if they find a task too easy or if they are ready to move on. This fosters a culture where everyone works hard and strives to achieve their best. One pupil explained: ‘We want to be the best we can be.’ Work in books is of a consistently high standard and reflects these high levels of expectation. This has successfully addressed one of the areas that inspectors asked leaders to improve at your previous inspection.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

You have rightly focused on ensuring that pupils are taught well. Teachers and support staff have regular opportunities to develop their skills and to learn from each other. As a result, staff reflect carefully on their work and discuss ways of further sharpening their practice. As well as developing staff within the school, senior leaders are outward-looking and support other schools through challenging periods.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

Pupils currently make good progress across the school and achieve high standards across the curriculum, including in reading, writing and mathematics. In the last two years, the proportions of pupils who achieved and exceeded the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics have been well above the national average. Improvements in outcomes for writing have addressed another issue that inspectors raised at your last inspection. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities also make good progress. However, you recognise that disadvantaged pupils do not consistently achieve as well as other pupils in school, especially in mathematics. You also agree that, although there have been improvements in disadvantaged pupils’ attendance, there is still work to be done on ensuring that they attend more regularly.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. One said: ‘If you walk through the school you can see the confidence beaming off the children.’ Several parents praised the way that leaders make adjustments so that all pupils can be fully involved, including those with medical needs or anxiety about some aspect of school life. Recently, leaders have made it easier for parents to email the school, so that any concerns can be noted quickly and acted on.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

Governors know the school well because they draw evidence from a range of different sources to reach their view, including regular visits to the school. They recognise the school’s strengths and challenge leaders to bring about further improvements. People with a range of skills and experience serve as governors, providing expert help and advice for school leaders.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

Pupils are safe in school. Senior leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding that everyone supports. Regular training for all staff provides them with a secure understanding of how to recognise and report any concerns about pupils’ welfare. Policies and procedures are securely in place, including checks on everyone who works at the school.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Aided Junior School

Staff are approachable and trustworthy. Pupils understand this and are confident that any concerns are sorted out quickly. Pupils have a strong understanding of bullying, including cyber-bullying, and say that it is quickly and effectively dealt with on the rare occasions when it does occur. Older pupils enjoy the responsibility that they have for taking care of younger ones. Year 6 ‘guardian angels’ look out for younger pupils at free times, making sure that everyone is safe and has someone to play with. ‘Young leaders’ organise a range of games and activities for other pupils in the school, ensuring that playtimes are typically happy and free of incident.

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Inspection findings

 During the inspection, I focused on three areas of the school’s work. The first was how well pupils achieve in mathematics. I looked particularly closely at how well disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are achieving. Teachers have strong subject knowledge and plan sequences of lessons that help pupils develop a secure foundation of mathematical knowledge and fluency. Pupils then apply this knowledge to solving increasingly challenging problems and activities which require mathematical reasoning. Staff assess pupils’ learning thoroughly and make any adjustments needed to help pupils achieve well.  Pupils are very reflective about their learning and can explain clearly how they have met and overcome challenges, especially in mathematics. They develop the resilience and determination needed to tackle obstacles in their work.  In most year groups, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or

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Inspection findings

disabilities are making good progress. This is allowing the difference between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others in school to diminish. However, in most year groups, disadvantaged pupils still do not reach the same high levels of attainment in mathematics as others in the school. In comparison with pupils nationally, disadvantaged pupils in most year groups also lag behind in achieving higher standards, particularly in mathematics and writing.  The next area I focused on was how well the school’s curriculum enables pupils to achieve in a range of subjects. Senior leaders rightly take great pride in the curriculum and the way that it engages pupils’ interest and sparks their curiosity. It provides a treasure trove of exciting learning opportunities for pupils, enabling them to achieve well across the curriculum. Middle leaders monitor how well each subject is being taught and they have plans to bring about further improvements.

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Inspection findings

 Reading plays a vital role in pupils’ learning in the school. Teachers use a wide range of interesting and exciting texts to bring the curriculum to life. Reading lists for each year give pupils a rich, varied range of literature to enjoy, including older, classic stories. Levels of attainment in reading are high, with the overwhelming majority of pupils achieving the expected standard. The proportion of pupils who achieve the higher standards is well above that seen nationally.  Teachers plan sequences of lessons that introduce pupils to new vocabulary and key ideas about a subject. Pupils then go on to apply this new knowledge in other subjects, including English and mathematics. Thought-provoking questions perform a vital role in catching pupils’ interest. For example, when studying the ancient Egyptians, teachers posed the question: ‘Is it ever right to take something that does not belong to you?’ In science, teachers are careful only to

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Inspection findings

ask questions that will make pupils think hard. One that pupils particularly enjoyed exploring was: ‘Why do raisins dance in fizzy water?’ This approach has given children a thirst for knowledge about the world, so that they ask questions for themselves and become inquisitive learners.  Leaders rightly take pride in the school’s strong provision for music and physical education. Pupils have many opportunities to participate in a range of activities and represent the school in a range of performances and competitions.  Finally, I considered the effectiveness of leaders’ and governors’ actions to ensure that disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities attend school regularly. In recent years, these pupils have attended less regularly than others in the school. Leaders engage actively with pupils and their families to stress the importance of regular school attendance, and they can point to

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Inspection findings

pupils who are in school much more regularly as a result. You also provided me with clear evidence that a small number of pupils with very significant needs are having a disproportionately negative impact on absence figures. Even with this taken into account, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, although now improving, is still less than that of other pupils.

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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

 a greater proportion of disadvantaged pupils reach the expected and higher standards, particularly in writing and mathematics  disadvantaged pupils attend school more regularly. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Guildford, 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 and the two deputy headteachers to discuss various aspects of the school’s work. I also met with six members of the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority on the telephone. I visited classes from all year groups, with you and the deputy headteachers, to observe teaching and learning, to talk to pupils, and to look at their work. I observed pupils’ behaviour around the school, including at playtime. Several pupils spoke with me on the playground at morning break. I also met with a group of 15 pupils, drawn from all classes. I considered 187 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as speaking to several parents at the beginning of the day. A range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation documents, school improvement plans, and safeguarding policies, procedures and checks were also taken into account.

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