Liphook Church of England Controlled Junior School

Inspection of Liphook Church of England Controlled Junior School Avenue Close, Liphook, Hampshire GU30 7QE

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Previous inspection grade Good 1 and 2 December 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Liphook Junior School is a warm and welcoming community where leaders do whatever it takes to help every child flourish. Pupils here love their time at school, not least because of the enormous range of opportunities on offer. Pupils benefit from a fabulous array of extra-curricular activities, from sports and music clubs to baking and first aid. Many are excited about the civic award scheme that they can join when they get to Year 6.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel incredibly safe at the school. Many describe it as like an extension of their family. This environment helps pupils to become remarkably confident and self- assured. Their attitudes are summed up by the school’s values of excellence, friendship and respect. Bullying is extremely rare at the school, but pupils have absolute trust in adults to resolve any issues that arise.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and pupils feel proud to have such a fantastic school in their local community. Parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey were unanimous in recommending the school. Summing up the feelings of many, one told inspectors, ‘I feel privileged that my child goes to this school. She is cared for, nurtured, challenged and made to feel supported every day’.

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better?

Pupils’ learning is exceptionally broad and deep as a result of the education they receive. They talk with detail and passion about what they learn in each subject. Leaders have planned a highly ambitious curriculum. They are determined that pupils should not only be ready for secondary school but have strong foundations for adult life. Leaders have carefully considered what pupils will learn step by step. Teachers check pupils’ understanding at every stage of this journey and use this to personalise their lessons so that every pupil succeeds. There are equally ambitious expectations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers are highly skilled at adapting their teaching to help these pupils achieve extremely well.

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better?

Above all else, pupils at Liphook Junior school become skilled and passionate readers. Inspired by the books they read in class, pupils debate issues such as gender equality and diversity. The books pupils read are matched to their ability and provide a balance of challenge and interest. The needs of the least fluent readers, including some with SEND, are precisely understood by teachers and leaders. These pupils are rightly confident that they will catch up with their peers quickly because of the highly valuable support they receive.

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better?

Pupils relish the opportunity to take on a huge range of leadership roles in the school, from sports and play leaders to eco warriors and well-being mentors. These roles help to create a culture where every pupil feels that they have the power to 1 and 2 December 2021

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make a difference within their community. Describing their role as a well-being mentor, one pupil said, ‘My job is to make other people feel happy’.

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Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are impeccable. They focus on their learning with a sense of pace and urgency. Adults model polite and respectful behaviour, recognising and rewarding pupils’ positive behaviour appropriately. The impact of this is seen in the exemplary way pupils interact with others. Pupils’ enjoyment of school means that they are very rarely absent.

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Leaders maximise their impact through the way they inspire, motivate and develop others. They provide clear vision and direction while making sure that everybody’s voice is heard. Teachers who lead subjects or year groups appreciate that senior leaders allocate time to developing the curriculum. Leaders prioritise staff training, including initial teacher training. As a result, it is common for teachers to train at the school and then remain to pursue the excellent career development on offer.

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Governors are part of the school’s open and honest culture. They provide robust challenge to leaders, which leaders listen to and act upon. They know the school well and are right to have confidence in its leadership.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained so that they are effective at identifying concerns. They report these quickly and leaders take appropriate and decisive action. There is also a proactive approach to keeping children safe through the curriculum. Pupils are knowledgeable about how to keep themselves safe online. Pupils in Year 6 say they feel more able to speak up about issues thanks to recent assertiveness training provided for them.

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Safeguarding

The school is rigorous in carrying out pre-employment checks on adults working with children. Governors receive safer recruitment training and form part of interview panels. Procedures and policies for keeping children safe are strengthened because governors regularly check them and provide feedback.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 1 and 2 December 2021

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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 and 2 December 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200893 Type of school Junior

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Michele Frost (executive headteacher), Jacky Taylor (headteacher) Website www.liphookfederation.co.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection 17 October 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a voluntary controlled Church of England school and received its last section 48 inspection in September 2019.  The school is federated and works closely with the nearby infant school. The executive headteacher leads both schools.  There are after-school and breakfast clubs run on site and managed by the school.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first inspection of the school to be completed since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors met with leaders, including the headteacher, and representatives of the governing body, including the chair of governors. 1 and 2 December 2021

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in five subjects: reading, mathematics, science, history and design and technology. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work.  Inspectors met with safeguarding leaders, looked at records and policies relating to safeguarding and talked to pupils, staff and governors about this aspect of the school’s work. Inspectors also reviewed the school’s employment checks on staff.  Inspectors met with many pupils to discuss their views of the school and took into consideration responses to the pupil survey.  Inspectors also met with a wide range of staff, including and took into account their responses to the confidential staff survey.  Inspectors reviewed and scrutinised a range of the school’s documentation,

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including leaders’ plans for improving the school, their evaluation of how well the school is currently performing, minutes of governing body meetings, and records of attendance and behaviour incidents.  Inspectors met with some parents and considered their responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s confidential parental questionnaire, including a number of free-text responses.  Inspectors visited breakfast and after-school clubs during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Chris Ellison, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Gareth Flemington Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Debra Anderson Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 December 2021

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