Hunter's Bar Junior School

HUNTER’S BAR JUNIOR SCHOOL

Reporting inspector: Jean-Pierre Kirkland

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HUNTER’S BAR JUNIOR SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 14 th – 16 th February 2000

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HUNTER’S BAR JUNIOR SCHOOL

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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HUNTER’S BAR JUNIOR SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 1

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Sharrow Vale Road Sheffield Postcode: S11 8ZG

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The Governing Body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs J Malcomson

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: January 1995 Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 2

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Team members

Jean-Pierre Kirkland Registered inspector Peter Berry Lay inspector Bernice Magson Team inspector Margaret Sandercock Team inspector

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Team members

PPI Group Ltd 7 Hill Street Bristol BS1 5RW

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Team members

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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Team members

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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Team members

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 3

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 4 - 7

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL 8 - 13

It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and science which are graded very high in English and well above average in mathematics and science when compared to similar schools. It enables pupils with special educational needs to make very good progress in individual sessions. It promotes outstanding levels of equality of opportunity and social inclusion, especially in extra curricular activities. The school fosters outstanding enthusiasm for school amongst its pupils and very good relationships between pupils and between pupils and adults. The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in classrooms. It provides very good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development for pupils. There is very good educational direction, very good leadership and very good levels of management.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED 13 - 14

The school does not build on the information technology skills many pupils bring with them into school sufficiently well. The library provision in the school and the quality and range of books in class libraries is unsatisfactory. The quality of handwriting throughout the school as identified in the school development plan is a relative weakness.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Hunter’s Bar is a junior school sharing its site with a neighbouring infant school. There are currently 358 pupils on roll, most of whom have white backgrounds. There are, however, a significant number of pupils, about fourteen per cent, from ethnic minority families including pupils with Caribbean, African, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese and other origins. This is higher than in most schools. Twenty-eight pupils come from families where English is an additional language, although none is supported through special language funding. Just over eight per cent of pupils are entitled to free school meals. The school serves a mixed cosmopolitan area and most pupils live close by, although a significant minority, including some special educational needs pupils, travel some distance to the school. There are currently ninety-three pupils on the register of special needs, a figure above the national average for primary schools. Seven pupils have statements of special educational need,

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

again well above the primary school national average. Pupils’ attainment on entry to the school is above average, overall. The new headteacher took up her post in January 2000.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very effective school where pupils enter with above national average attainment and leave with standards that are well above average. Standards have continued to rise in English, mathematics and science consistently since the last inspection and, in comparison with similar schools, pupils’ standards are very high, overall. Much of this is due to:

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

 very good teaching;  a very good curriculum;  very good levels of leadership and management; and  staff capitalising well on the fact that pupils love coming to school and enjoy learning.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Overall, given the high standards, significant gains in learning and average spending levels, the school provides very good value for money.

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What the school does well

 It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and science which are graded very high in English and well above average in mathematics and science when compared to similar schools.  It enables pupils with special educational needs to make very good progress in individual sessions.  It promotes outstanding levels of equality of opportunity and social inclusion, especially in extra curricular activities.  The school fosters outstanding enthusiasm for school amongst its pupils and very good relationships between pupils and between pupils and adults.  The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in classrooms.  It provides very good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development for pupils.  There is very good educational direction, very good leadership and very good levels of management.

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What could be improved

 The school does not build on the information technology skills many pupils bring with them into school sufficiently well.  The library provision in the school and the quality and range of books in class libraries is unsatisfactory.  The quality of handwriting throughout the school as identified in the school development plan is a relative weakness. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 5

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

All the key issues identified in the previous inspection report have been successfully addressed. The school now has well above average standards in English, mathematics and science which are consistently high over the past four years and very high when compared with similar schools. Teaching is very good and raises pupils’ expectations of their own achievements. Management and leadership, including the delegated work undertaken very well by subject co-ordinators, has also resulted in rising standards. The new headteacher has a firm grasp of priorities for development and is fully supported by the staff and by the governors. The school is in a very good position to continue to improve further.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 11 year olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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Key

English A A A A* Well above average Above average A B Mathematics A A A A Average Below average C D Science A B A A Well below average E

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Key

Standards in the 1999 national tests were well above average in English, mathematics and science. This has been a consistent pattern over the past three years. When compared with similar schools, standards are very high in English, and well above average in mathematics and science. Inspection findings confirm these results in all three subjects. There were no specific weaknesses found by inspectors in mathematics or science. In English, however, inspectors found that the quality of pupils’ handwriting was not as good as it could be. Improvements should be made in order to bring the standard of handwriting up to the very high standards observed in reading and in speaking and listening. Inspectors also found that the school was not capitalising sufficiently well on the prior knowledge and learning that many pupils brought with them into school in information technology. It was felt that while standards matched the national average, further improvements could be made with

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Key

more direct teaching and better overall resource provision. Standards observed in other subjects such as religious education and history were noted as well above average. Standards have continued to rise since the school was previously inspected. The school is successful in meeting its targets in English, mathematics and science.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Often outstanding but never less than very good.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good at work and at play. Pupils know the differences between right and wrong and they have a good sense of fair play.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Very good, positive and highly productive, leading to effective learning in all classrooms.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Very good and well above the national average.

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Aspect Comment

Pupils love coming to school which they find exciting and challenging. Through very good management, teachers capitalise very well on these positive attitudes and drive up standards as a result. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 6

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Teaching of pupils: Aged 7-11 years

Lessons seen overall Very good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils: Aged 7-11 years

Teaching is very good throughout the school and a significant strength in sustaining standards and raising the rate of progress. There is no unsatisfactory teaching in the school. During the inspection, eight per cent of teaching was judged as excellent, forty per cent as very good, forty-four per cent as good and eight per cent as satisfactory. The excellent teaching was in English in Year 6, where very good subject knowledge and very good planning lead to very high rates of progress and learning, with outstanding references to other subjects such as history. Especially important in this respect is the very good teaching of pupils with special educational needs in English and mathematics. Teachers are very well prepared, know the levels and difficulties of their pupils very well and challenge them in a warm and purposeful way to consolidate their prior learning while enabling them to make significant

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Teaching of pupils: Aged 7-11 years

new gains in knowledge and understanding of number patterns and sentence construction. Good teaching is prevalent elsewhere with high challenges and very good strategies for learning including lively debate, independent research and generally very good quality summary sessions towards the end of lessons. There has been a considerable improvement in the quality of teaching since the previous inspection.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum The curriculum on offer is rich and varied, fully meets statutory requirements and includes a full programme of personal, social and health education which supplements the religious education provision. French is taught in Year 6. There is a very good, rich and varied range of extra-curricular activities including sport, choir, clubs and instrumental music. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good provision through withdrawal for pupils who are identified as needing help, with a strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy. Individual education plans are also good and enable teachers to plan effectively in classrooms. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Good, resulting in pupils making good progress in literacy throughout the school.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good, overall, with especial strengths in moral, social and cultural provision. The broad curriculum makes a very good contribution to raising awareness of multicultural issues.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Very good, overall – relationships with adults and pupils are very positive and all staff, including mid-day supervisors, contribute very well to the care and welfare of pupils.

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Aspect Comment

The school has a good partnership with its parents. Parents feel welcome in the school and a significant number offer effective help in classrooms and on school functions. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 7

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage-ment by the head teacher and other key staff The new headteacher is continuing to develop and build on the strengths she inherited from the previous management. Priorities for future development and action are being debated effectively between the head, the staff and the governors. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Very good levels of knowledge and understanding of their roles and function, which they apply very effectively. The school’s evaluation of its performance Through rigorous analysis of its test results, the school has a very good overview of its strengths and relative weaknesses. The strategic use of resources Good, overall, but with some improvement needed in the use of class and main libraries and in the use of information technology.

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Aspect Comment

The school is very effectively led and managed with a knowledgeable and efficient governing body. Staff and governors work well together in the driving up and sustaining of high standards. Financial management is also very good and best value for money is sought at every opportunity. There have been a number of significant improvements in leadership and management since the school was previously inspected.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

 The school provides an excellent all-round education.  There is very good provision for pupils with special educational needs.  There is a very good level of extra-curricular activities.  The school has a hard working and committed staff.  There is good progress in all subjects.  There is very good provision in the arts.  The school provides a warm, caring environment with a good level of social inclusion for all pupils.  There have been considerable improvements since the last inspection.  Pupils like coming to school.  There is a willingness on the part of the school to listen to suggestions and welcome parents as partners.  The school needs to have higher expectations of the more able, especially gifted and talented pupils.  Improvements in the provision of information technology, especially in offering higher challenges to more able pupils.  Greater liaison between the infants and juniors, especially in initial care on transfer.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

 Homework. It is not matched well enough to meet the varying needs of all pupils.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Inspectors support wholeheartedly the positive views of parents. Transition from the infants school presents no problems and liaison between the two schools is good. The two schools have plans to improve this further, for example, by additional parental discussions. Pupils in Year 3 are kept in the same classes as when in the infants and this helps pupils to retain the feeling of security when they move over. Information technology provision, which has improved since the last inspection, is still not as good as it could be and this is now an issue for the school to examine in its action plan. Homework was felt by inspectors to meet the needs of all pupils fully. The school has begun to identify gifted and talented pupils. While the proportion of pupils achieving the higher levels in the national tests has continued to rise and well exceeds national averages, the school is keen to examine ways of expanding the breadth of its curriculum provision. Inspectors felt that this could be effectively

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

linked to improvements in information technology provision. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 8

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

science which are graded very high in English when compared to similar schools.

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

1. Very high standards are achieved in English, when compared with similar schools and with other schools nationally. Pupils receive a relevant and well-balanced curriculum in which opportunities for speaking and listening, reading and writing are included in all lessons. Teaching staff have very good knowledge of literature and pupils are introduced successfully to a wide and varied range of poetry, stories and plays, broadening their education and outlook significantly. Skilful questioning by teachers ensures that all pupils, including those with English as an additional language and those with special educational needs, build effectively on their prior learning. This is very well accomplished through a critical consideration of well-chosen material. Questioning and texts used are well matched to pupils’ known levels of understanding and maturity, with appropriate challenges for them to move on and make further progress.

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

Lessons are exciting, all opinions are respected and valued and this results in high levels of personal motivation and enthusiasm. Lessons also move at a very good pace with sufficient time for reflection and consolidation. In many other subjects, there are frequent opportunities created to support and extend the teaching of literacy. This enables pupils to develop a wide range of vocabulary, which they use when describing events in history, for example, or when writing up their scientific experiments.

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

2. Pupils achieve well above average standards in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2 and throughout most of the school. Entering with above average levels of attainment, pupils make good progress in lessons, especially in the speed and accuracy of mental arithmetic and in the understanding of number patterns. Throughout the school, and including the special educational needs support work, lessons are very well planned to build effectively on prior levels of achievement and consolidate prior knowledge. Lessons are very well structured so that all pupils have work which is very well matched to their needs. There are frequent opportunities for discussion and for problem solving. Pupils learn effectively the differences between two- and three-dimensional shapes and very quickly acquire a solid vocabulary of mathematical terms such as ‘face’, ‘side’, ‘perimeter’ and ‘area’ soon after entering the school. Phrases

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

such as ‘multiples of’, or ‘first digit’ become firmly embedded in pupils’ language. Teaching is very good. Staff ensure that all pupils are fully involved in the very rapid questioning at the start and end of lessons, as well as having equal access to the group work sessions with suitably matched levels of worksheet to meet the needs of different pupils. This enables all pupils to make the progress they should. A further strength in the planning is the wide coverage of all areas of mathematics so that pupils are constantly building up their levels of skills in number patterns, understanding the complexities of shapes and measurement, solving problems and drawing and interpreting graphs. Challenges are always high. In one very successful lesson, pupils learnt the art of skilful questioning in order to solve problems, thereby giving them a range of strategies appropriate to each new challenge. Pupils love their lessons and staff

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

capitalise well on their initial and continuous enthusiasm.

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

3. In science, pupils perform well above average by the end of the key stage. In comparison with pupils from similar schools, pupils’ achievements are also well above average. Pupils make good progress in all areas of science. Planning is consistent across year groups and builds successfully on what has been learnt before. Pupils learn to investigate and record in a scientific manner. They are able to make realistic predictions when analysing materials such as sand and gravel. Pupils develop a firm understanding of a fair test and the conditions necessary for this. Scientific language is very well developed and pupils use terms such as ‘dissolve’, ‘soluble’ and ‘suspension’ accurately and with confidence when they explain or in their recording. Pupils develop a very good understanding of friction by watching a video and then experimenting on their own. They learn effectively, for example, the purpose and function of studs on

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

football boots and the need for non-slip shoes. Lessons engage very well pupils’ natural inquisitiveness and enthusiasm. Behaviour is very good as pupils take care and handle equipment with respect. Pupils are given plenty of freedom to write up their work in a variety of ways so that higher attaining pupils may extend their ideas and explore issues more fully, while lower attaining pupils make accurate records of their findings. There is a strong emphasis on scientific investigation, so that, by the age of eleven, pupils show a good understanding of scientific concepts. Their predictions are accurate and they use terms like, ‘soil is in suspension,’ when writing about mixing soil with water. High attaining pupils measure Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 9 temperature accurately and use concise mathematical calculations to work out averages, plotting graphs with great precision.

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It enables pupils to achieve well above average national test results in English, mathematics and

4. Overall standards have risen markedly since the previous inspection.

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It enables pupils with special educational needs to make very good progress in individual

5. The progress made by the above average proportion of pupils with special educational needs in the school is good, overall. In most lessons, pupils are supported by work which is carefully matched to meet their individual needs. The individual lessons offered to small groups of pupils are of a very high quality. Specialist teachers, learning support assistants and occasionally other class teachers focus on the development of essential numeracy and literacy skills very effectively. Teachers ensure that each lesson is carefully crafted to ensure an ever-increasing incline of difficulty, with work becoming progressively more challenging over the period of the lesson. In a mathematics session, the teacher began with simple addition of one digit, then moved on to tens and finally hundreds, ensuring that all the group were following the patterns and understanding the principles. In developing literacy skills effectively, the teacher focused on

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It enables pupils with special educational needs to make very good progress in individual

sequencing when constructing sentences, using humour to correct mistakes so that pupils felt no loss of self-esteem. With very good in-depth knowledge of the pupils' needs through the good quality individual education plans, teachers are able to move pupils at a steady, sometimes brisk pace towards the set targets. Those pupils who have been identified as having emotional or behavioural difficulties are kept on task by the teacher who constantly reinforces the value of developing good listening skills.

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It enables pupils with special educational needs to make very good progress in individual

6. The school is currently sharing the responsibility of special educational needs co-ordination between the headteacher and the teacher who specialises in this field. This is a temporary yet very effective system. Pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties are given very good support, understanding and provision through the headteacher, who also gives very good advice on specific problems to staff. As a result, these pupils remain in classes for most of the week and make good progress in their lessons along with their peers. This emphasises further the need for developing good levels of social skills, which were a strong feature of the discussion sections of all lessons seen. Pupils with specific learning difficulties are very well supported by the specialist teacher, who withdraws groups of pupils in appropriate numbers to work together on specific tasks which focus on strengthening their learning and overcoming their

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It enables pupils with special educational needs to make very good progress in individual

difficulties. Such support is having a very positive impact on the learning of these pupils. Progress is very good in small groups and usually good when in full class lessons.

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It enables pupils with special educational needs to make very good progress in individual

7. Explicit criteria for identifying problems at an early stage, noting concerns from the previous school and through regular assessments and testing, help to ensure that each pupil is given the appropriate educational diet and support. The good quality policy, good use made of outside agencies and specialists further enhances the quality of education these pupils receive. Class teachers are expected to follow up issues for their pupils when they are in their classes. Guided by the good quality individual education plans and work carefully matched to needs, pupils receive a good quality education, learn well and make good progress, overall. Provision for special educational needs pupils is at a similar level to that reported in the previous inspection. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 10

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It promotes outstanding levels of equality of opportunity and social inclusion, especially in

8. The school has a clear policy for ensuring that there is equality of access to the full curriculum for all pupils at all times. Through the good special educational needs provision, and through careful assessments of language levels, all pupils, including those with English as an additional language, are well supported. Teachers plan very carefully to ensure that work is carefully matched to the needs of different groups of pupils. Higher attaining pupils are given high challenges in most lessons and the nature of writing up their work, as in science, for example, enables them to extend their literacy skills and to develop their own ideas and initiative very well.

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It promotes outstanding levels of equality of opportunity and social inclusion, especially in

9. Pupils with English as an additional language are fully integrated into a calm, hard-working and harmonious community. Appropriate emphasis is placed on developing friendships through the good quality personal and social education programme, supported by similar work done in assemblies and in religious education. The school has undertaken a full analysis of its recent test results, where on occasions, there are gender differences in the results. It works closely with the local education authority in this respect. Teaching strategies ensure that pupil groupings and work set match the needs of all. The school encourages all pupils to benefit from the very good range of extra-curricular activities and there is a good balance of gender and ethnicity in all activities. Teachers work hard to ensure that all pupils have complete understanding of tasks before pupils work in groups. Especially effective is the balance maintained in

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It promotes outstanding levels of equality of opportunity and social inclusion, especially in

many lessons such as English, mathematics and science between teacher led activities and group work. This enables pupils to develop ideas together, debate and discuss and then present their findings in a final session. For example, one teacher asked four pupils to help in this final activity by positioning them very effectively on the four sides of the room to lead when repeating key learning points in mathematics and English lessons. This strategy then involved all pupils at the end of the lesson and encouraged good levels of consolidation.

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It promotes outstanding levels of equality of opportunity and social inclusion, especially in

10. Pupils are harmonious in their work and at play. There is a very smooth transfer from the infant school and pupils are kept in the same classes to ease this transition process. Teachers keep detailed records of all pupils, which they use very effectively when planning group work, ensuring that each pupil works at an appropriately challenging level. Provision in this area shows a considerable improvement since the previous inspection.

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The school fosters outstanding enthusiasm amongst its pupils and very good relationships

between the pupils and between pupils and adults.

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The school fosters outstanding enthusiasm amongst its pupils and very good relationships

11. Throughout the school, the pupils’ attitudes towards learning are very good. Many parents spoke of their children’s enjoyment of going to school. Pupils are keen to learn and they participate with great enthusiasm in all aspects of school life; for example, their eagerness to answer teachers’ questions and the magnificent turnout for the Year 3 and 4 choir practice, which takes place at lunchtime and for the cross- country runs at weekends. Pupils show particularly good involvement whilst working in their lessons, where they are motivated by the teachers’ high expectations and are very keen to succeed. They listen attentively to information and they react very well to instructions. Pupils were observed, for example, working with great application during a physical education lesson, whilst taking care to follow the teacher’s safety guidance. In mental arithmetic sessions, pupils are very keen to answer questions,

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The school fosters outstanding enthusiasm amongst its pupils and very good relationships

especially when their learning is reviewed at the end of lessons. Pupils with special educational needs are also very keen to participate in such sessions and teachers ensure that they are included in all dialogues.

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The school fosters outstanding enthusiasm amongst its pupils and very good relationships

12. There are very good relationships between the pupils themselves. Pupils of all ages and both sexes mix together harmoniously, the older ones supporting their younger friends. They are very respectful for the feelings, values and beliefs of others; the school promotes the highest levels of social integration and equal opportunities for all its pupils. Parental support was typified by comments such as praise for the school’s “excellent ethos and culture”. Pupils use their initiative to best advantage and they readily accept a high level of personal responsibility, for example the Year 6 pupils who act as mediators should problems occur. The pupils’ learning and the standards that they achieve benefit from the very good relationships between pupils and staff. Provision is better than at the previous inspection.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

classrooms. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 11 13. Teaching is very good, overall. This is a considerable improvement since the school was previously inspected. Eight per cent of teaching was judged as excellent, forty per cent as very good, forty-four per cent as good and eight per cent as satisfactory. The excellent teaching of literacy to the whole class and to pupils with special educational needs contains very high and appropriate challenges, which enables pupils to build successfully on prior knowledge and understanding. Very good subject knowledge in these lessons enables teachers to ask specific and purposeful questions in order to construct sentences correctly, or to extend all ability groups across a range of inter-connected issues, such as pollution and the environment when looking at the issue of urban foxes. In this lesson, pupils were able to use source material such as poetry from the sixteenth century and contrast it to more recent poetry by Ted Hughes. In

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

doing so, pupils began to develop successfully a thought process, which ranged from practical issues to sentimentality. In special educational needs lessons, teachers require pupils to record their work in a demanding manner which extends their writing skills further and encourages pupils to search for the meaning of phrases and sentences.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

14. Very good mathematics teaching allows all pupils to make good and often very good progress because work is well matched to need and a wide range of resources are very well organised and used effectively, such as counting squares for lower attaining pupils. Teachers structure the lessons to include a range of activities which stimulate and challenge, with mental sessions and very good levels of problem solving built in to whatever the main focus of the lesson is.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

15. The particularly good results in science reflect teachers’ careful planning and willingness to increase their own knowledge, so that discussions between pupils and teachers are lively, well informed and challenging. Teachers ensure that pupils develop a clear understanding of the use of information technology in society. Many have computers at home. They use the internet and e-mail and have access to word processing packages. Teachers foster the use of information technology regularly in many lessons.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

16. In other subjects where direct teaching was observed, planning is very good and focuses well on skills development, especially in numeracy and literacy. Teachers ensure that a range of skills are built into each lesson and these are carefully structured to include consolidation of prior learning and acquisition of new skills, as in a physical education lesson using large apparatus. Teachers have very high expectations of good behaviour and they insist on developing observational and listening skills whenever possible. A personal and social education lesson with reference to religious education used a series of games to promote very successfully the development of watching and listening through co-operation and group discussion.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

The school provides very good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of its pupils.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

17. The school is committed through its aims to providing a broad, balanced and supportive learning environment for all its pupils. Assemblies play an important part in bringing together the whole school, or sections of the school, for acts of corporate worship and informative assemblies. All of these contain very good opportunities to celebrate successes of pupils, academically and in other areas such as sports. This reinforces the strong sense of corporate identity and shows an improvement since the previous inspection.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

18. Provision for spiritual development is good. Pupils are given many opportunities for reflection in assemblies and lessons, which are effective periods for consolidation of learning, or higher order thinking skills to be developed. Moral development is very good. Themes in assemblies focus on issues such as forgiveness, using the Bible and other stories as appropriate exemplars. The school rules are clear and effective and known and shared by parents, pupils and staff. There is a strong commitment to success in all of the work of the school. Pupils have a very clear understanding of what is expected of them and their response is always very good. Fairness and equality are stressed throughout the school. They know the differences between right and wrong, reinforced in many lessons where environmental and moral issues are explored, such as in history and science.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

19. Provision for social development is also very good. In every classroom, there is a very good balance between teacher led activities and group work. This results in pupils having frequent and regular opportunities to listen to and contribute to debate, pool their ideas and to work together co-operatively. This is accomplished with a minimum of fuss and it has a strongly positive influence in helping pupils with emotional or behavioural difficulties to settle down quickly, pay attention and learn, through very good role modelling. Relationships throughout the school are very good and a considerable strength in enabling Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 12 pupils to make good progress as they listen to staff and each other as they work and play. Another very good feature is the paired reading which enables those with less competent skills to learn from their more advanced peers. Pupils are provided with a very good range of extra-curricular activities, which extend

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

and enhance the curriculum effectively. For example, almost a third of the school had taken part in cross- country races the weekend before the inspection. Pupils regularly collect for charities and all are aware of the need for giving to those less fortunate.

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The school has very good teaching, overall, with high challenges and very good strategies in

20. Cultural provision, including multicultural provision, is also very good. Teachers offer pupils many opportunities within the curriculum to explore lifestyles and beliefs of others around the world, as well as appreciating their own cultural heritage. There are some visits to local centres in geography and history and, in art, high quality displays of aboriginal patterns enhance the décor of the school appropriately. Pupils learn about a wide range of faiths in religious education, which enables them to appreciate the need for tolerance and understanding as they grow and mature to become citizens in a multicultural society. These aspects also broaden the horizons of many pupils, extending their learning very successfully in a cross-curricular manner.

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There is very good educational direction, very good leadership and very good levels of

21. There have been many improvements in leadership and management since the previous inspection. The new headteacher, who took up her post in January 2000, is already building very successfully on the very good legacy she inherited. There is a very clear educational direction established for the work of the school and the headteacher has now begun to identify other areas which will supplement the good work already being achieved. The absence of a deputy is a current situation being tackled by the headteacher and governors, with a replacement being sought. Currently, four senior staff help in this capacity, although the head teacher and governors recognise that the responsibilities of each are in need of review. In her commitment to raise standards further, the headteacher is keen to increase spending on books, focus more on the quality of handwriting and improve the provision of information technology.

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There is very good educational direction, very good leadership and very good levels of

22. Other notional targets include a review of teaching and learning styles and improved levels of monitoring in order to assess and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses. Current levels of monitoring and evaluation are good, with the headteacher now embarking on a programme of classroom visits with feedback to staff afterwards. Co-ordinators have done a satisfactory amount of monitoring in the past, but with the lack of a permanent headteacher until January 1 st this year, such activities had been put on hold temporarily.

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There is very good educational direction, very good leadership and very good levels of

23. Co-ordinators in mathematics and English have a good, clear vision of their subjects and they have both taken every advantage of any recent training initiatives. Both co-ordinators are clear about what needs to be done in order to improve standards and they are efficient in carrying out their delegated duties. Standards have remained consistently high over the past three years. There is strong, clear leadership from the co-ordinators in information technology and science, both of whom have high levels of competency. Good ongoing support is given to teachers who need and seek it in information technology and the majority of teachers are confident in using the school computers and associated software. In science, whole school planning and mutual support are helping to drive up standards. 24. The governing body is strong, effective and fulfils its statutory duties very effectively. Governors are

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There is very good educational direction, very good leadership and very good levels of

committed to supporting the school and, through a series of committees, they retain a very clear view of what the school is achieving strategically. Financial management and the strategic use of resources are generally very good, leaving the head teacher and staff free to concentrate on raising standards and the quality of learning more effectively. All statutory requirements are met in full.

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The school does not build on information technology skills that many pupils bring into school

25. Pupils’ skills in information technology, often learnt at home, are not sufficiently built upon in their work in school. For example, Year 6 pupils view the word processing package used in school as ‘fun’ and unrelated to their life at home, where word processing is a part of their family’s life and work; most are unaware that the school has a website and have not yet visited it. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 13 26. The school has insufficient resources to meet the needs of pupils to use, consolidate and extend their skills. CD-Roms are currently shared, but the school is hoping to extend the provision in this area.

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The school does not build on information technology skills that many pupils bring into school

27. Teachers spend insufficient time in direct teaching of information technology skills to pupils. Many pupils receive little direct teaching, relying upon peer support and advice, which although good, has limited effect in extending information technology skills. Teachers make an annual assessment of skills learned, but this has little impact on what is taught during the year.

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The school does not build on information technology skills that many pupils bring into school

28. Monitoring of work undertaken is unsatisfactory. Tick sheets are kept but these have little impact on future planning. Teachers do not always record the length of time spent, or the level of understanding or the skills learned. Some pupils claim that if they miss their turn to use programs, work is abandoned, resulting in an interruption in the planned development of skills and missed opportunities to use cross- curricular links.

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The library provision and the quality and range of books in libraries in classrooms is

29. The school library is an unsatisfactory resource. It has insufficient non-fiction books. Many of the texts are twenty years old and although some are still relevant, newer books, which help to capture the imagination, are largely missing. The classification system is not a nationally known one and this in itself does not help pupils learn how to locate and access books in a main library. The library is not used well. It is located in a corridor making it difficult to undertake any whole class teaching. Access to the library from other areas of the school, for instance the mobile classrooms across the yard, is difficult. There have been some additions to the library in the past two years, but there are still insufficient books, overall. Most of the spending in class libraries has been on guided reading sets. The library is not open for book exchange after school and there are no opportunities for pupil research during the lunch time. Pupils state that the weekly book

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The library provision and the quality and range of books in libraries in classrooms is

exchange system and the lack of a good classification system are not helpful to them.

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The library provision and the quality and range of books in libraries in classrooms is

30. Class libraries are insufficiently used during lessons. Sometimes they are obscured by other classroom resources and the range and quality of books are unsatisfactory. Display of books to make them attractive and accessible is also unsatisfactory, with many arranged spine-end on. Apart from the recent acquisition of guided reading material, the books as sources of information are unsatisfactory with many of them containing out-of-date material.

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The library provision and the quality and range of books in libraries in classrooms is

The quality of handwriting throughout the school.

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The library provision and the quality and range of books in libraries in classrooms is

31. Handwriting is a relative weakness. By Year 6, some pupils, especially higher and average attaining pupils are still forming the size and shape of letters inconsistently. For example, one pupil’s work showed three different versions of the letter ‘f’ on the same page. A significant minority of pupils have difficulty writing on the guiding line. This leads to inconsistencies in style. In some classes, pen control is not as good as it should be. Some letters are poorly formed. There is inconsistency among average pupils in the size and shape of their letters. Lower attaining pupils and especially those with special educational needs are generally more in line with their capabilities, using joined-up script more consistently, although letter size and shape are often inconsistent.

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The library provision and the quality and range of books in libraries in classrooms is

32. Opportunities for written work are insufficient in some lessons with too little time being allocated to this activity.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

33. In order to improve standards further and to build on the very good educational provision and standards already achieved, the school should now:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

 improve the provision of information technology throughout the school by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

- ensuring that when planning sessions, teachers take full account of the prior knowledge and learning that pupils bring with them into school; - ensuring that there are sufficient resources to meet the demands of the National Curriculum; Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 14 - increasing the amount of direct teaching of information technology to ensure consistency of learning and skills development; - introducing effective systems of monitoring to record the progress in learning made by pupils, the time spent on machines and the skills developed over time;

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

 improve the facilities of the school library through:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

- removing all outdated and poor quality books; - ensuring that available fiction and non-fiction materials are well matched to pupils needs and interests for meeting the demands of delivering the subjects of the National Curriculum; - introducing a nationally known library classification system; - assessing the best and most efficient ways of using the library within lessons and at other times;

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

 improve the quality of handwriting throughout the school by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

- introducing a new scheme of work for handwriting which reflects pupils’ achievements on entry to the school and ensures a consistent approach throughout; - ensuring that handwriting practice becomes a regular activity in lessons; - focusing on the marking of handwriting as an assessment objective; - monitoring the progress of handwriting throughout the school effectively through the regular sampling of pupils’ work; - monitoring teachers’ classroom practice to ensure that good standards are maintained.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

The current school development plan identifies the need for specific action on information technology and handwriting. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 15

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 21

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 358

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals 30

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 7

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 91

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 28

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 14

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 20

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.4* National comparative data 0.5*

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. *: figures refer to all Primary schools nationally Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 16

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 1999 47 45 92

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Boys 41 41 43 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 43 40 44

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 91 (81) 88 (80) 95 (84) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (65) 69 (59) 78 (69)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Boys 41 41 41 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 43 39 40

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 91 (88) 87 (88) 88 (90) at NC level 4 or above National 68 (65) 69 (65) 75 (72)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 17

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 12 Black – Caribbean heritage

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 2 Black – African heritage

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 9 Other minority ethnic groups

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 14 Financial year 1998/1999

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 25.6

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: Y3 – Y6 Total expenditure 534,097

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 3 Expenditure per pupil 1,492

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 97.5 Balance brought forward from previous year 15,395

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance carried forward to next year 26,069 Hunter’s Bar Junior School - 18

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Percentage of responses in each category

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 42 53 3 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 39 51 8 0 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 36 49 10 4 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 38 48 12 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 74 21 5 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 70 24 4 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 43 40 14 1 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 43 42 3 0 12

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 62 34 3 0 3

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 52 34 11 0 3

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Other issues raised by parents

Parents were largely pleased with the school and a majority had favourable comments to make. The one outstanding adverse comment was regarding the challenges for the highest attaining pupils, which some parents felt had not been fully addressed since the last inspection and which was still an issue.

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