Moss Hall Junior School

Moss Hall Junior School 187 Nether Street, Finchley, London N3 1NR

p.1

Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

p.1

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

p.1

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

p.1

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

p.1

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

p.1

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have only recently responded to the decline in pupils’ progress. Systems to check how well pupils are doing are not effective.  Leaders have not effectively communicated their vision for school improvements to staff or parents.  While leaders know that progress and attainment in mathematics is not improving, they have not been precise enough in identifying exactly what needs to be addressed.  Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities do not make good enough progress. This is because of inconsistencies in the support they are given.  The standard of teaching across the school is too variable for it to be good. Typically, insufficient account is taken of pupils’ different needs.  Boys do not achieve as well as girls. Occasional low-level disruptive behaviour from a minority of boys interrupts learning. Some boys do not demonstrate respect towards each other.  Disadvantaged pupils make slower progress

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

than their peers. Leaders and governors do not check that the pupil premium funding is spent effectively.  Governors are not able to question the effectiveness of leaders’ actions, because they are not given relevant information.  Pupils study the full range of national curriculum subjects. However, they do not always study them in sufficient depth for learning to be meaningful. This is especially the case for the most able pupils.

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have created an environment where pupils feel happy and are taught how to stay safe. Pupils value their education and attend regularly.  Pupils’ writing is improving. The proportion of pupils who reach above the expected standard has increased.  Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular activities, which, combined with the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) programme, prepares them well for life in modern Britain.  Leaders have recently introduced a whole- school reading scheme which is beginning to have a positive impact on pupils’ reading skills.

p.1

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by: – being more rigorous in the accuracy of self-evaluation and increasing the pace of change – providing a clear strategy for checking pupils’ progress, and for evaluating and improving pupils’ outcomes – ensuring that governors routinely check the appropriateness and effectiveness of leaders’ plans to improve the school – ensuring that the pupil premium funding is used effectively – ensuring that all pupils talk to each other appropriately and respectfully – improving communication with parents, particularly the parents of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by: – ensuring that teachers take account of pupils’ learning needs, particularly those who have SEN and/or disabilities – ensuring that teachers have consistently high expectations of all pupils, particularly in mathematics – ensuring that staff use appropriate strategies to challenge pupils to achieve their

p.2

What does the school need to do to improve further?

best, especially the most able pupils – eradicating low-level disruption in the classroom, especially of boys, so that it does not impede other pupils’ learning.

p.2

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders have not responded urgently enough to areas of the school requiring rapid improvement. They do not have an accurate enough understanding of the areas that need to be addressed. While leaders have developed an action plan to improve the quality of teaching, this is based on what other schools are doing rather than what is needed for the pupils at this school.  Leaders have not communicated their vision for improving the school clearly enough to staff and parents. For instance, they have introduced a weekly teaching and learning focus, but this is not followed consistently by all staff.  Arrangements for checking pupils’ progress are not accurate enough. As a result, leaders are not confident about how well current pupils are doing. Therefore, they are not able to ensure that all pupils make the progress of which they are capable.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve less well than their peers and pupils nationally. Although

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

leaders have a plan to improve their progress, it is the same as in previous years when it had limited effect. They do not check that additional funding for this group is used wisely.  Leaders have managed a period of staffing instability well. A high proportion of staff have left the school over the past two years. Staffing is now more stable. The leadership team has been strengthened with the appointment of a new assistant headteacher and a consultant to support the improvement of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.  There has been some improvement in communication between leaders and parents of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, and systems for supporting this group have also improved. However, there is still more work to be done to ensure that communication is consistently strong.  Leaders have implemented a broad curriculum, covering a range of subjects. Pupils study English, mathematics and science in depth. In other subjects, work is not always

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

challenging enough.  Pupils enjoy Physical Education (PE), and they have access to the school’s swimming pool. Leaders record how they use the additional PE and sport premium funding, but they do not routinely measure its impact.  Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is planned well across the curriculum. Pupils are offered a wide range of extra-curricular activities. They enjoy visiting local places of interest, such as museums and places of worship. This deepens their appreciation of life in modern Britain.

p.3

Governance of the school

 Governors are positive and supportive. They want the school to improve. However, they are not given sufficient information to hold leaders to account effectively.  Governors do not routinely check the appropriateness and effectiveness of leaders’ plans to improve the school.  Governors are aware that disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as their peers. They are keen for this to improve but have not evaluated how well the pupil premium funding is used. Plans that have not been effective in the past are being used again this year.  Governors have recently introduced governor-parent workshops. The workshops cover a range of issues, including secondary transition and the school’s approach to homework. Parents find the workshops helpful in supporting their children’s education.

p.3

Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders take their responsibility to safeguard pupils seriously. Staff recruitment procedures are robust, and leaders maintain up-to-date records of those currently employed in the school.  Staff receive regular training. They know how to keep pupils safe and follow the school’s procedures for recording and passing on concerns. Leaders keep accurate records, and their communication with external agencies is strong. Leaders take swift action and make timely referrals, when required.  Pupils are taught how to stay safe in school, when they are outside and when they are online. They are also taught how to keep others safe. Pupils say that they feel safe. Parents and staff echo this view.

p.4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school requires improvement. Teachers’ expectations of pupils are variable. This prevents them from making consistently good progress.  Teachers do not routinely consider the needs of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. This is because they do not always have the information they need. In some lessons, the information they have is used well, and teaching assistants are deployed effectively to work with pupils on a one-to-one basis. However, this is not always the case.  Teachers’ explanations are sometimes unclear. Consequently, pupils are not always sure about what they need to do, and then they make avoidable mistakes.  Teachers sometimes use questioning to check and develop pupils’ understanding, but this is not typical. Teachers tend to move on to new topics without being certain that all pupils have mastered the initial learning point. Some pupils become lost in their

p.4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

learning, and, subsequently, fall behind.  Leaders have recently changed their approach to teaching mathematics and now give additional time for pupils to consolidate their skills. Although all staff were trained in this approach last year, the training has not been provided to new staff. Consequently, there is an inconsistent approach to teaching mathematics across the school. In particular, work is sometimes too easy for the most able pupils, which hinders their progress.  Leaders have introduced a more accurate way of checking the quality of teaching. They visit lessons more frequently. These visits include more robust scrutiny of work in pupils’ books.

p.4

Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Leaders have introduced assembly themes promoting values such as respect and equality. However, they do not routinely monitor the impact that this has on pupils’ personal development and well-being.  Parents who spoke to inspectors, and those who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, had mixed views about their children’s experience of school and how situations are dealt with by staff.  Pupils typically enjoy positive relationships with each other. However, some pupils do not speak to, or treat each other, with enough respect. The school’s behaviour policy is underpinned by three key principles: respect, learning and safety. Staff and pupils understand the policy, but it is not always adhered to.  Pupils do not always take pride in their work. This is because what teachers expect from them is too variable.

p.5

Personal development and welfare

 Pupils are taught how to stay safe in a range of situations, and how to help each other stay safe, including when online.  Pupils say that they enjoy school, particularly the extra-curricular activities on offer. They are clear about who they can talk to should they have a concern. Pupils value the positive relationships that they have with school staff.

p.5

Behaviour

 Pupils’ behaviour requires improvement.  There is occasional low-level disruption by boys in some lessons. Pupils say that this affects their learning. Some pupils told inspectors that this disrupts their education too often.  Teachers’ expectations of pupils are not consistently high. Pupils are not always sufficiently challenged. When work is too easy, pupils complete it quickly and can become distracted.  Pupils attend school regularly, and few are persistently absent. Pupils are punctual at the beginning of the day. However, after breaktimes and lunchtimes, pupils move slowly to their lessons.

p.5

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Pupils’ progress is variable and requires improvement. Pupils’ provisional key stage 2 results for 2018 are similar to 2017, when progress in mathematics was below that of pupils nationally.  Work in pupils’ books shows that pupils make some progress over time, but this is too variable. Pupils do not develop their knowledge and skills as effectively as they should, in a range of subjects including mathematics.  The most able pupils are not given sufficient challenge across a broad range of subjects and this hinders their progress. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities do not achieve as well as their peers.  Leaders have a plan to improve the quality of teaching. It is beginning to work in some areas. For example, standards in writing are improving, and more pupils are able to write at a greater depth than previously. This trend of improvement in writing has been sustained for three years.

p.6

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Leaders have recently introduced a whole school reading scheme. Some pupils are benefiting from reading books that are well matched to their ability. This has improved their reading comprehension skills.

p.6

School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.7

School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

p.7

School details

Email address office@mosshalljnr.barnetmail.net

p.7

School details

Date of previous inspection 18 April 2018

p.7

Information about this school

 Moss Hall Junior School is a larger-than-average junior school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is in line with the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have a SEN statement or education, health and care (EHC) plan is above that of other schools.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as a second language is above that of other schools.

p.7

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited lessons to observe teaching and learning across a range of subjects. More than half of these observations were undertaken jointly with school leaders.  Inspectors reviewed pupils’ learning over time through scrutiny of pupils’ books, during visits to classrooms and in a meeting with school leaders. Inspectors also spoke with pupils about their experiences at the school, and they listened to pupils read from Years 4, 5 and 6.  Meetings were held with leaders to discuss their evaluation of the school’s effectiveness and the impact of their work. Discussions were held with members of staff, including those at the early stages of their teaching career.  Inspectors discussed aspects of the school’s work with governors and the local authority officer who is linked to the school.  The inspection team reviewed a range of documentation, including information about pupils’ progress and attainment, the curriculum, teaching and learning, safeguarding

p.8

Information about this inspection

records and procedures, behaviour records and attendance information.  Inspectors spoke to parents informally before and after school, and they took account of 228 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey for parents. Inspectors also considered the 27 responses to the staff survey, and 67 responses to the pupil survey.

p.8

Inspection team

Niall Gallagher, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

p.8

Inspection team

Dawn Titus Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

p.9

Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

p.9

Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

p.9

Inspection team

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.9

Inspection team

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspection team

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9