Exhall Junior School

St Giles Junior School Hayes Lane, Exhall, Coventry, West Midlands CV7 9NS

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders and governors have not improved the quality of teaching sufficiently since the previous inspection to ensure that all groups of pupils achieve consistently well.  Despite recent improvements, teaching does not develop pupils’ writing and mathematical skills consistently well across the school.  Some subject leaders are still developing the skills required to enable them to have an influence on teaching and learning across the curriculum.  The attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is below that of their peers.  Numerous staff changes have hampered the pace of development in the school during the past two years.  When teaching does not meet the needs of all pupils, some pupils lose concentration and disrupt learning. Some adults’ expectations of pupils’ behaviour are not high enough.  While most pupils behave well in and around school, a minority use inappropriate or racist

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

words and give too little thought to the effects of their words and actions on others.  The curriculum, while engaging, does not develop skills, knowledge and understanding across the wider curriculum in a planned, sequential way. Consequently, pupils do not develop deep enough knowledge or the necessary skills in these subjects.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Staff feel well supported by senior leaders and value the training they have received this year. They want the best for the pupils they teach.  Persistent absence is reducing. Leaders provide sensitive and individualised support to pupils with complex needs to attend school regularly.  Reading is a strength of the school. Pupils enjoy reading and make good progress so that they do well in the national tests at the end of Year 6.  Improvements in subject leadership and governance since the previous inspection have ensured that the school is well placed to secure the further improvements needed.  Governors understand their roles and are well informed. They support leaders well and have the skills to hold them to account effectively.  Leaders are diligent in their safeguarding duties. The safeguarding culture is strong.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise standards of leadership and management by:  embedding recent training for middle leaders to ensure that improvements in the quality of teaching are fully established in all year groups so that all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, make consistently strong progress  ensuring that the planned curriculum provides both depth and rigour, together with the enjoyment and interest it currently includes  improving attendance and punctuality for disadvantaged pupils.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that all teachers:  raise the level of challenge so that more pupils achieve the higher standards in writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6  give pupils enough time to review what they are learning so that they consistently correct errors and edit and improve their work  apply consistent and high expectations for standards across all areas of the curriculum.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ behaviour by making sure that:  all adults have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour in and around the school  all adults consistently adhere to the school’s behaviour policy to address pockets of inappropriate or intolerant behaviour promptly.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders and governors have not secured consistently effective teaching in all year groups. As a result, pupils’ rates of progress are uneven across the school. Some do not achieve as well as they should.  Senior leaders have eradicated a number of weaknesses in teaching since the previous inspection. As a result, teaching is improving. However, developments in teaching have been hampered by numerous changes in staffing and are not fully established in all year groups.  The most vulnerable pupils with SEND receive far-reaching care and support. The special educational needs coordinator is very effective in ensuring that the pupils in need of personalised support with their learning receive it swiftly. Leaders and external agencies coordinate support for pupils with SEND appropriately by implementing newly introduced education, health and care plans. Parents say staff are caring, supportive and make a difference for their child.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Work to support pupils with SEND is effective. Staff are well trained to deliver the support that these pupils need. Staff value each pupil with SEND as an individual and implement a range of strategies and provision. These include interventions for emotional development and a ‘Helping Hands’ programme in the nurture room. This integrated approach supports each pupil to grow and develop skills that give them success as a learner and the ability to cope within a social school situation.  Subject leaders are committed to playing their part in the school’s ongoing development. They are knowledgeable about teaching and clear about the need for further improvements.  Current training is supporting subject leaders to improve their skills and share their expertise. For example, the teaching of English and mathematics has improved this year because subject leaders have introduced agreed approaches that all staff are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

following. However, there are still variabilities in the quality of teaching and outcomes in English and mathematics across the school.  Leaders have engaged with external support for the school’s development since the previous inspection. For example, external advisers have worked constructively with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, governors and subject leaders to improve aspects of teaching, particularly in English and mathematics.  Peer to peer support has helped the development of the leader overseeing provision for disadvantaged pupils. This new leader shows secure knowledge of the barriers to learning that disadvantaged pupils face. As a result, a more cohesive approach to overcoming these barriers is being established. The pupil premium leader has recently become involved in pupil progress meetings with teachers and senior leaders. It is too early to see the impact of these actions on accelerating progress for disadvantaged

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

pupils.  Most of staff who responded to Ofsted’s inspection questionnaire worked at the school at the time of the last inspection. Nearly all these staff say that the school has improved since then. Additionally, most staff say that leaders use professional development to encourage, challenge and support teachers’ improvement. Newly and recently qualified teachers say they feel well supported by the deputy headteacher, who is their mentor. Regular meetings and individualised support and development opportunities have allowed them to address targeted areas for improvement.  Leaders ensure that good arrangements are in place for children who are looked after. They oversee each pupil’s personal education plan, to make sure that targets are appropriate and contribute effectively to a pupil’s personal and academic progress.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted. Pupils learn about

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

mental, emotional and physical well-being, healthy lifestyles and being considerate of one another. Many parents responding to Parent View believe that their children are looked after well and are safe in school. Yet, during the inspection, inspectors did not always see pupils showing consideration to each other, either in actions or words. Some parents and pupils who spoke to inspectors also raised concerns regarding poor behaviour and inappropriate language, which they say was not consistently dealt with.

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Governance of the school

 Governance is improving. Governors have a better understanding of the school’s work because they now explore with leaders the reasons why pupils achieve the outcomes they do. Governors visit the school to see at first-hand how it is progressing with its priorities. Following visits, they share informative reports with all governors. Governors are now challenging leaders more effectively about the impact of their work. This is contributing positively to the pace of change.  Governors understand the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in addition to the vast array of pastoral support the school offers and the effect that this has on pupils and their families.  Governors know the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Improvements in governors’ roles mean that they are much clearer about what to look for when visiting the school or when meeting leaders.  Governors are fully aware of their statutory duties for safeguarding. Staff are recruited

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Governance of the school

with careful consideration. Governors have attended relevant training.  Training and dissemination of skills across the governing body are improving their ability to challenge the headteacher on information and what it is telling them. They have recently become more aware of comparing the school’s performance to national averages. Most recent records of meetings show governors as confident, capable and competent challengers who can help the school improve.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Staff work closely with vulnerable families and offer timely support when it is needed. This includes working with other agencies and organisations in the best interests of the child.  As a result of effective staff training, staff have a good understanding about their responsibilities in relation to keeping pupils safe from harm. When staff have concerns, they report these to school safeguarding leaders without delay. Rigorous records are kept securely. There is appropriate sharing of information within school and with other agencies when necessary.  Leaders make appropriate pre-recruitment checks to ensure that staff are safe to work with pupils. Induction procedures are thorough and appropriate to roles and responsibilities.  Pupils say they feel safe in school and have someone to talk to if something is worrying them. Most parents and carers agree with this view, saying that their children are well

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Safeguarding

looked after in school. In response to the free-text element of Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, parents share a more mixed view. Some parents praise the school for the care that staff give their child while others raise concerns over pupils fighting, using inappropriate words and bullying behaviour.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it is not consistently good across year groups and subjects. Numerous staffing changes have adversely affected the progress of some pupils, particularly in writing and mathematics.  A mixed picture in the quality of teaching across the school means that not all pupils make the progress that they should. Sometimes teachers do not offer enough challenge. When pupils of different abilities complete the same work, it is sometimes too easy for the most able, while others struggle to complete the tasks or leave them unfinished.  In some classes, teachers carefully align work to pupils’ needs, and pupils give thoughtful responses to teachers’ probing questions. In these cases, teachers’ ongoing assessment ensures that they correct misconceptions quickly, enabling pupils to succeed and make good progress.  The strength of subject knowledge and effectiveness of teacher’s demonstrations vary.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

Some adults use questioning well to provide support and challenge, but this is not always the case. Misconceptions and errors in basic skills are not always picked up or addressed quickly enough.  Teachers’ efforts to raise standards in writing are starting to have an impact. Inspectors’ reviews of work in pupils’ books showed evidence of increasing challenge in the tasks set by many teachers, and more opportunities for pupils to write independently. Nonetheless, teachers’ expectations of pupils’ written work are still inconsistent. In some classes, pupils do not apply their spelling, punctuation and grammar knowledge effectively. Consequently, pupils do not make the strong progress they need in order to meet age-related expectations and, for the most able, the higher standards.  The teaching of mathematics has been a focus this year with a whole-school agreed approach being implemented. This has led to more effective teaching in mathematics

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

than in the past because teachers provide pupils with clear guidance and regular practice to consolidate their understanding and grasp essential basic skills. Increasingly, teachers get pupils to think mathematically and explain or demonstrate their reasoning.  While there is coverage of the national curriculum, there are noticeable variations in the quality of teaching in different subjects. In some subjects, such as science and the humanities, teachers do not consistently sequence lessons in ways that help pupils to build on their prior knowledge. As a result, pupils make variable progress across different subject areas.  Currently, not all teachers have high enough expectations for standards in science and foundation subjects. Many activities are stand-alone activities that are completed in isolation or do not make the links to prior learning explicit. They occupy pupils rather than challenge or develop their skills and understanding. There are limited

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

opportunities for pupils to develop their learning through extended writing. There is a lack of cohesive planning to ensure clear progression in learning in these subjects. In addition, some aspects of these subjects are not being covered during Year 6. Year 6 pupils told an inspector that they miss doing these subjects when they are preparing for national tests.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Most pupils responding to Ofsted’s online pupils’ survey say that they feel safe and secure in school. The work of the school’s nurture unit and facilities such as the rainbow room are particularly effective at supporting pupils who feel vulnerable or insecure and boosting their self-confidence and self-esteem.  Despite the good efforts of the welfare staff and other staff members, some pupils’ behaviour can cause unpleasantness during lessons and during breaktimes. Not all staff have raised their expectations of pupils’ behaviour.  Pupils enjoy a range of responsibilities, including delivering registers to classes each morning, registering pupils for lunches, giving out dinner cards and being a school councillor. As part of the school council, they make democratic decisions to improve the school, such as improving independent choice as to when to come in from playtime to

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Personal development and welfare

eat your lunch. They also meet visitors to discuss items that matter to them. For example, they met the local MP to discuss ideas and plans regarding local play areas and parks. The local MP expressed how impressed they were, not only with pupils’ ideas, but with the articulation of their views and how well they grasped the thorny issue between needs and available money.  In lessons seen during the inspection, Year 6 pupils were enjoying engaging in ‘Money Matters’ lessons. They could explain what they were learning and how it related to real-life contexts. They were also keen to tell inspectors about the ‘Fiver Challenge’ that they had recently completed. During these discussions, they demonstrated secure understanding of business plans, budgeting, profit and loss and floats, and stated, ‘We made twenty pounds but that’s not all profit, we’ve got to take the float out yet and then split the profit between the four of us.’

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils who spoke to an inspector said that they value the opportunities they are given to attend after-school clubs, including tennis, rounders, football, gymnastics and dance. They also spoke with enjoyment about the times when they read to their reading buddies. These moments are special to the pupils.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  In class, when teaching does not meet the needs of all pupils, some become distracted, chatter or disrupt by talking over the teacher or not participating in activities. Where this occurs, such behaviour interrupts and slows the pace of learning.  Two thirds of parents responding to Parent View reported that cases of bullying are rare. However, there were also concerns raised by parents and pupils about swearing or disrespectful language. Inspectors similarly observed behaviour from some pupils that showed a lack of respect for each other or staff and a lack of self-discipline.  Pupils’ overall attendance is just below the national average. There are specific, individual reasons for this and leaders engage in partnership work with a range of agencies to raise the profile of attending school regularly. As a result, persistent absence has reduced by half to be below national figures. Yet, absence for

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Behaviour

disadvantaged pupils has increased this year and punctuality is poor for a significant number of pupils.  The proportion of pupils who are excluded for a fixed period has been higher than the national average for schools with a similar level of deprivation for the past few years. Leaders are working to reduce this with an improvement seen so far this year.  Staff manage the needs and behaviour of pupils with complex social, emotional needs and SEND very well. The care, compassion and routines that are put in place around the whole child and their family are a testament to their motto of ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Inconsistencies in teaching cause variations in the quality of pupils’ learning and progress across the school. While developments in teaching during the past year have secured improvements in pupils’ learning, the overall picture of pupils’ progress remains uneven across the school.  In 2018, by the end of key stage 2, pupils’ rates of progress in writing and mathematics were below national averages. Teaching does not consistently challenge pupils to stretch themselves in writing and mathematics. As a result, although the proportions of pupils attaining the expected standards in writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 were broadly in line with the national averages, too few pupils attained the expected standards in reading, writing, mathematics combined. Too few pupils also attained the higher standards in writing and mathematics.  In 2018, by the end of key stage 2, pupils’ rates of progress in reading were in line

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

with national averages. Pupils attaining the expected standard in reading was just above national averages, as was the number of pupils reaching the higher standards.  Improved implementation of whole-school agreed approaches has started to raise teachers’ expectations and improve standards in mathematics and writing. Visits to lessons, pupils’ work and the school’s own assessment information provided evidence that the best teaching is helping pupils to make progress. In some classes, pupils are making up lost ground, but this is not consistently so across the school.  In some subjects, some pupils in some year groups make strong progress. For example, Year 4 pupils’ work in science books showed a comprehensive write up of an investigation, with the scientific process and the use of subject-specific vocabulary. However, in too many classes across all year groups, wider curriculum subjects are taught inconsistently. This is because pupils do not have enough opportunities to study

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

subjects in depth before they move on to other things. As a result, pupils make very variable progress in these subjects.  Leaders ensure appropriate identification and support for pupils with SEND, and a range of interventions and support is offered to help improve their outcomes. Despite the variability of teaching, strong leadership ensures that effective interventions by skilled teaching assistants enable pupils with SEND to make progress from their starting points.  All children who read to an inspector reported that they enjoy reading. The provision for reading is extensive. A range of initiatives, including reading buddies across all year groups, guided reading in class, and reading heroes hearing pupils read on a one-to- one basis all support children to develop enjoyment of reading. Pupils also visit the local library. As a result, all pupils across all year groups are making progress and a

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

higher proportion are working at age-related expectations than in other subjects.

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School details

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

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 September 2018

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Information about this school

 St Giles Junior School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Half of the pupils are White British. Half of the pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds with 13 out of 17 possible ethnic groups represented.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is broadly in line with the national average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is above the national average.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes, including within the nurture room and additional interventions. All observations were carried out with a senior leader.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and members of staff with leadership responsibilities. Discussions were held with members of the governing body and an external consultant for school improvement.  Inspectors took account of the 26 responses to Parent View and the 15 free-text responses. Comments made by parents as they brought their children to school.  Staff views were evaluated through the 21 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire, together with those shared by three staff through a meeting with an inspector.  Pupils’ views were collected by talking to pupils during the school day, informally at breaktimes and lunchtimes, as well as through meetings with them and evaluations of the 33 responses to Ofsted’s pupils’ questionnaire.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors listened to a selection of pupils read and reviewed the work in their books with senior leaders.  Inspectors sat in on an assembly led by the headteacher.  A number of documents were reviewed, including: the school’s own self-evaluation; the school development plan; the school’s data on pupils’ attainment and progress; behaviour logs; minutes of governors’ meetings; and records relating to behaviour, attendance, risk assessments and safeguarding. The school’s website was also looked at.

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Inspection team

Kirsty Foulkes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Dawn White 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 .

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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 .

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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.

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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 .

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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.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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