Courthouse Junior School

Inspection of Courthouse Junior School Blenheim Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5HE

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 1–2 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Courthouse Junior School and are proud to do so. Older pupils recognise how much the school has improved in the past year.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers want pupils to achieve well in all subjects. Pupils learn a lot in lessons and teachers help them to remember what they have learned. Pupils develop a love of reading and read aloud with wonderful expression. Their reading skills help them to learn well in other subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are many activities for pupils to take part in outside lessons. Most do so and benefit from doing so. Pupils are encouraged to be physically active. There are several ways to do this at lunchtime. The go-karts are particularly popular. More than half of the pupils have had the opportunity to represent their school at sport.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons. They are attentive and eager to do their best. Behaviour outside lessons does not always match the high standard we saw in classrooms. For example, pupils sometimes rush around the school without looking where they are going. Bullying is very rare. Pupils know how it will be dealt with if it happens. They feel safe in school.

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better?

In the last year, the quality of education offered by the school has been transformed. Courthouse Junior School is now a good school. Leaders, staff and governors want pupils to achieve their best in both learning and personal development. This is summed up well in the school motto: ‘Every child flourishing’. Everything the school does is designed to help this to happen.

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better?

Teachers prepare lessons carefully, so that pupils make strong progress in a range of subjects. In almost every subject, leaders have made sure that pupils build on previous learning and work towards a specific endpoint. This results in outcomes improving over time, including in reading, writing and mathematics. Learning in most subjects is effective, including history and art. Pupils currently make less progress in computing. This is because leaders have not yet described their expectations in enough detail for this subject.

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better?

Teachers help all pupils to become fluent and confident readers. This includes those who are falling behind the expected standard. Some pupils attend sessions before the school day starts, which is helping them to catch up.

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better?

The school welcomes all pupils, whatever additional needs they might have. Leaders and teachers make sure that pupils who need extra help receive it. This means that these pupils can learn alongside their classmates in all lessons. Teaching assistants work skilfully with pupils who need extra help. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). 1–2 October 2019

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Pupils understand how to behave in lessons. When needed, teachers remind pupils of the school’s expectations and they respond quickly. Pupils get on well together and help each other with their learning. Older pupils keep an eye out for their younger peers. The school rules are simple to state: ‘Be ready, be safe and be respectful.’ This means that they are well understood by pupils.

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Supporting pupils’ personal development is a strength of the school. Pupils are polite, articulate and confident individuals. Older pupils are given a range of responsibilities, such as those of school council representative, young ambassador or library monitor. They take these roles seriously and use them to improve their school. Pupils’ personal qualities are well developed through the subjects they learn. For example, in religious education, pupils learn to respect people with a variety of religious beliefs.

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All leaders share the headteacher’s passion to continually improve what pupils learn and how they learn. Parents and carers appreciate being told in weekly newsletters exactly what their child will be learning. All members of the school community recognise how much the school has improved in the past year, due to the hard work of staff. Nevertheless, some staff feel that leaders could do more to manage their workload and keep them informed of all changes.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All members of staff share a commitment to keeping pupils safe. They are well trained in the school’s safeguarding procedures. As a result, they know how to protect vulnerable pupils. At all times, staff act in the best interests of the pupils in their care.

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Safeguarding

Staff get to know individual pupils and their families very well. They quickly spot when extra help might be needed to keep pupils safe. Leaders have made good links with external agencies and work with them effectively. This ensures that pupils in need of help are well supported, both in and out of school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders are developing the school’s curriculum very effectively. Almost all subjects are now planned in a thoughtfully sequenced and coherent way, with staff appropriately trained to follow these plans. Leaders need to ensure that there are plans for computing that describe the expected progression in learning in sufficient detail for all pupils to make strong progress. Leaders should also ensure that teaching staff have been adequately trained to understand the expected progression in every subject. 1–2 October 2019

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 Behaviour in lessons is typically positive because the school’s high expectations are consistently and effectively reinforced. However, behaviour at more unstructured times, especially breaktimes and lunchtimes, is sometimes less good. Leaders need to ensure that the school’s behaviour management systems are equally effective in all areas of school life.  Leaders have adopted a directive leadership style in the last year. This has led to rapid improvements in many aspects of the school’s provision. However, not all members of staff feel well supported by senior leaders and some believe that the workload has been excessive at times. Senior leaders and governors must ensure that the staff team is cohesive and that everyone understands what they are required to do and why.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 1–2 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10088113 Type of school Junior

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14–15 March 2017

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in July 2018, following a period of interim leadership after the resignation of the previous headteacher in October 2017.  There was no deputy headteacher at the time of the inspection, but one has been appointed to take up his post in January 2020.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, six governors (including the chair of governors) and two representatives from the local authority.  As part of this inspection, the following subjects were considered in detail: reading, writing, art, computing and history. For each of these subjects, inspectors met with senior leaders and subject leaders, visited several lessons, discussed learning with teachers, talked to pupils from different classes and looked at their work. The lead inspector also heard some pupils read.  An inspector looked at the school’s records of safeguarding checks and how 1–2 October 2019

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safeguarding concerns are handled. Inspectors spoke to staff about how pupils are kept safe and to pupils about whether they felt safe.  Inspectors talked to pupils whenever possible and the lead inspector met with a group of pupils who have particular responsibilities. Inspectors met with many staff throughout the inspection, including a group of non-teaching staff.  Inspectors observed breaktime and lunchtime.  Inspectors looked at a range of school documentation and carefully examined the school’s website.  Inspectors considered 99 responses to the online pupil survey, 24 responses to the online staff survey and 112 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey, including 65 written comments. An inspector spoke informally to parents at the beginning of the school day and one parent phoned Ofsted during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Chris Donovan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda Appleby Ofsted Inspector 1–2 October 2019

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