Oakfields Primary School, Horsham

NORTHOLMES JUNIOR SCHOOL

Reporting inspector: Helena McVeigh RgI’s OIN 32056

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NORTHOLMES JUNIOR SCHOOL

Short 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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NORTHOLMES 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. Northolmes Junior School 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Leith View Road Horsham West Sussex

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 7 July 1997 Northolmes Junior School 4

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Team members

32056 Helena McVeigh Registered inspector 8990 David Tytler Lay inspector 19623 Michael Cahill Team inspector

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Team members

Demeter House Station Road Cambridge CB1 2RS

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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 Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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Team members

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Northolmes Junior School 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

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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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Northolmes Junior School is located in the Roffey district of Horsham and most pupils have transferred from the neighbouring Littlehaven Infant School. There are currently 219 pupils on roll, with almost equal numbers of girls and boys. The school roll has fluctuated slightly over the past few years and there are significantly more pupils in Year 4 than in other years. As a result of this imbalance there are two mixed age classes with Year 4 and 5 pupils.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school’s population has changed in the last five years, with decreasing numbers of pupils having special educational needs and fewer eligible for free school meals. This year, 5.9 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is below the national average. This figure may not be a true reflection of need in the school, as the drop coincided with the removal of the County’s school meals service. Just over 30 per cent of pupils are on the school’s register of special educational needs, which is higher than the national average, and 1.8 per cent have Statements of Special Eduational Needs. The pupils’ special needs include dyslexia, learning difficulties, emotional and behavioural problems, and speech and communication and visual impairment. The overwhelming majority of pupils (95 per cent) are of White UK heritage, with the remaining five per cent being mainly of Black African origin. There are

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

three pupils who speak English as an additional language, but only one is at an early stage of learning English. There is a broad spread of attainment on entry to the school, but overall it is about average. There are, though, yearly variations.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Northolmes Junior is an effective school where pupils make good progress both in their academic achievements and in their personal development. The school provides a purposeful, happy and secure learning environment. Pupils attain standards that are above the national averages in English, mathematics and science as a result of the good teaching and thorough assessment. The school is well managed and staff work together as a strong coherent team. Staff, governors and parents share a commitment to the success of the school and to the achievements and welfare of the pupils. The school provides good value for money.

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What the school does well

• The pupils make good progress and achieve above-average standards because of the high quality of the teaching. • The school helps pupils develop good attitudes, behaviour and relationships. • Pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are helped to make good progress. • The systems used to assess and monitor pupils’ achievements are effective. • The subject co-ordinators play a key role in pupils’ progress and achievements.

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What could be improved

• The way that the school prepares pupils for life in today’s diverse multicultural society. • The way that information and communication technology (ICT) is used to support and extend pupils’ learning in all subject areas. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

Improvement since the last inspection has been good overall. Five key issues were identified in the 1997 report. The first concerned the school development plan, which is now a more useful document, although its duration is still only for one year. The quality of teaching (second key issue) has improved significantly, with much higher proportions of good and very good lessons seen. Teachers’ planning is now good and assessment is used well. Schemes of work are now in place for all subjects (key issue 3) and provision for spiritual development is good (key issue 4). The last key issue concerned religious education (RE), which is now taught appropriately and according to the locally agreed syllabus. In addition, the school has maintained the strengths identified last time, such as the analysis of National Curriculum tests and strong subject leadership. Standards have improved and the school now provides

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

good, rather than satisfactory, value for money. Northolmes Junior School 7

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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Key

English C D A A well above average above average A B mathematics C D B B average Below average C D science C B A A well below average E

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Key

Results in the National Curriculum tests taken by Year 6 pupils have improved over the past five years, at roughly the same rate as the average for schools nationally. There was a dip in results in 2000 (as shown in the table), but they picked up last year and the signs are that results for this year will be above average. The dip in 2000 was expected by the school and accounted for by significant numbers of lower- attaining pupils, especially girls. In the last two years increasing numbers of pupils have achieved the higher levels (Level 5 - which is above the expected level) in English, mathematics and science. No pupils were below Level 3 in any subject, which is an indication that pupils with special educational needs make good progress. Boys did especially well in English in 2001 compared with boys nationally.

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Key

The school’s targets for the proportion reaching at least Level 4 in this year’s National Curriculum tests were challenging for English (90 per cent), but not for mathematics (78 per cent). Early unconfirmed results for the 2002 tests suggest that the target was reached for English and exceeded by 10 per cent in mathematics. Three pupils achieved Level 6 in mathematics (level expected for the end of Year 9).

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Key

Evidence from the work seen and lessons during the inspection shows that pupils of all abilities, including those with SEN, make good progress and by the end of Year 6 standards in English, mathematics and science are above average. Boys and girls are doing equally well. Most pupils make great strides in their reading and writing. Their speaking and listening skills are a strength. Pupils’ numeracy skills are developing well and they are learning to apply them appropriately to ‘real-life’ problems and in other subjects. Pupils have a good knowledge of science facts and concepts and are developing good investigational skills. Pupils’ skills within ICT are improving as they move through the school but they are not given enough opportunities to apply and extend them in their learning across the curriculum.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Children have very positive attitudes towards school. They are cheerful and enthusiastic. They concentrate hard in lessons and play together well during breaks. They enjoy coming to school and take pride in their achievements.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Behaviour is very good throughout the school and contributes to the calm purposeful atmosphere and to children’s learning.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Pupils’ personal development is very good in many respects. They are developing respect for themselves and others. They are polite and friendly and relationships are very good. They take delight in artistic endeavours, such as music and singing. They co-operate extremely well in pairs and Northolmes Junior School 8 small groups in lessons and willingly help others with their work.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Satisfactory. The attendance for 2001/2 was in line with the national average, with fewer unauthorised absences. The school is concerned about the increasing number of children who are taken on holiday during term time—more could be done to discourage parents.

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Teaching of pupils in: Years 3 – 6

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 in: Years 3 – 6

Teaching is generally of a high quality, which contributes to pupils’ achievements and learning. Lessons are well planned with clear learning outcomes that are shared with pupils. Teachers assess pupils’ work well and modify their teaching when necessary. Teachers manage pupils’ behaviour very well. Teachers have high expectations of pupils and set work appropriate to their learning needs. Their questioning is often very good: it encourages pupils to think and to give extended answers. Teaching assistants (TAs) play a key and effective role in helping pupils with SEN make good progress. As a result of the good, and often very good teaching, pupils learn well and make good progress in most subjects. Pupils are inquisitive and readily carry out research and investigation work, for example in science. They listen carefully and speak clearly, articulating their reasoning and understanding. They respond to high

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Teaching of pupils in: Years 3 – 6

expectations by working at a good pace. They work very well when given the opportunity to take the initiative or act independently. Weaknesses in a few of the lessons include: the pace being too slow and not enough use being made of the concluding session to share and consolidate what has been learned in the lesson.

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Teaching of pupils in: Years 3 – 6

The teaching of all subjects is at least satisfactory. Mathematics, science and English are taught well. The discrete ICT lessons are good in enabling pupils to learn basic information and communication skills but not enough opportunities are found to rehearse and extend these in other subjects.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Pupils experience a good range of learning opportunities, with an appropriate emphasis on English and mathematics. The school’s focus on improving pupils’ investigative and independence skills has been effective.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs This is good. It is well organised, with very good leadership by the SEN co-ordinator (SENCO) and good training of TAs, whose time is used well. The support for pupils with SEN is good and they are helped to make good progress.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language The one pupil at an early stage of learning English has made very good progress since she started at the school. She has been supported well in class, by teachers, TAs and fellow pupils.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Provision is good overall. The school’s ethos and curriculum, particularly the personal, social and health education programme, contribute well to pupils’ social, moral and spiritual development. Provision for cultural development is satisfactory overall. There is good provision for pupils to learn and enjoy playing musical instruments and singing. Pupils have visited places of cultural interest. Pupils are given some opportunities to learn about the diversity of cultures in this country and across the world, Northolmes Junior School 9 but these are not yet embedded securely enough in subjects or as part of the school’s ethos.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Very good overall. The procedures for promoting good behaviour are very effective. Children and their parents appreciate the recognition that is given through the Golden Mentions and stickers. Very good care is given to the welfare and academic progress of pupils with SEN. There are good procedures for child protection, with regular training. Assessment of academic progress is used well to monitor pupils’ progress and modify what is taught.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The school is led and managed well. The headteacher has promoted a strong and coherent teamwork approach among staff, with a clear focus on improving teaching and learning for the benefit of pupils. Co- ordinators take a very significant and effective role in leading in their subject areas, which has a positive impact on the quality of teaching and on standards achieved by pupils. The staff thinks of itself as a ‘learning school’ and the evidence supports this view.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governors are very supportive and committed to the school and its aims. Most governors have been associated with the school for some time and know it well. They have great confidence in the headteacher. The governing body is fulfilling its statutory responsibilities. It monitors the work of the school appropriately through visits and progress checks on the school improvement plan. The school’s evaluation of its performance There are good systems for monitoring the work of the school and for keeping the governors involved. Co-ordinators monitor teaching, planning and pupils’ work in their subjects extremely rigorously and prepare thorough annual reports and action plans.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources The budget is carefully planned and managed. It is linked well to the school’s priorities and future needs. The Parents and Teachers Association has helped raise considerable sums of money for the school.

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Aspect Comment

The school applies the principles of best value appropriately. Careful consideration is given to spending decisions. The way in which parents and pupils are consulted about their views is a strength. Their comments are listened to carefully and responded to where possible.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• They feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or problems. • Their children like school. • The school expects children to work hard and they are making good progress. • Behaviour is good and children are helped to become mature and responsible. • Teaching is good. • The school is well led and managed. • The amount of homework given. • The close working between parents and school. • The information they receive about how their children are getting on. Northolmes Junior School 10 The parents’ support for the school is very positive, as measured by the response to the questionnaire and at the parents’ meeting. The team agrees with all of the positive views of parents. The issue about homework came up at the parents’ meeting, where there were clear differences of opinion as to how much homework should be given, if any, and whether pupils were given feedback. The inspection team judged that homework is given appropriately and that it provides good reinforcement and extension of

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

classwork. It did appear to be marked regularly so that children had feedback on how well it had been done. The team did not agree with the views expressed about not being kept informed or not working closely with the school. The reports to parents, the consultation evenings and opportunities to meet staff during the school week provide good opportunities for keeping parents informed. The school encourages parents to get involved, and recognises this through, for example, the coffee mornings. Parents are invited to the special assemblies and other events. Information about the curriculum is sent out, though this could be written in a much more parent-friendly way. During the parents’ meeting there was also some discussion about the issues surrounding the mixed-age classes. The team did not find that pupils were being disadvantaged by being in these classes. Northolmes Junior School 11

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of the high quality of the teaching

1. Pupils enter the school with a broad range of attainment, but overall it is in line with the national average, though there are variations from year to year. Value-added data provided by the local education authority (LEA) show that the progress made by last year’s Year 6 pupils was above the LEA average in English, mathematics and science. Evidence from the inspection confirms that pupils make good progress during their time in Northolmes, as a result of the generally good and often very good teaching. The inspection team judged that standards were above average in English, mathematics and science by the end of Year 6. The nature of the short inspection meant that there was less evidence for other subjects, but what was seen indicated that standards were at least in line with what would be expected for pupils’ ages.

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of the high quality of the teaching

2. English is taught well. The school has adapted the National Literacy Strategy effectively so that themes are taught in coherent blocks and more emphasis is given to writing. Each unit of work culminates in a writing task that goes into the pupils’ ‘orange books’. This approach has clearly been successful, as pupils’ writing has improved. Teachers also consider that boys have benefited especially from this approach, which may help to explain their good test results last year. Year 6 pupils of all abilities organise their writing well and make a good attempt at being imaginative. They punctuate appropriately using commas, apostrophes and inverted commas and spell polysyllabic words correctly. They write in a variety of different styles, - for example, play scripts and letters. Year 6 pupils quickly understood how to write Tanka poems after an effective introduction by the teacher, who questioned them well on what they had learned in a previous

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of the high quality of the teaching

3. The school measures pupils’ reading ages at the beginning and end of each year and most pupils make at least satisfactory progress. In Year 6, all but seven pupils (out of 52) have reading ages of at least ten years and ten pupils have reading ages of 14 years or over. Pupils enjoy reading and select challenging texts, such as Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, being read by a Year 5 girl. The unconfirmed results for 2002 indicate that 51 per cent of Year 6 reached Level 5 in reading.

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of the high quality of the teaching

4. Pupils’ speaking and listening skills are very good. They are given many opportunities to give long, extended and thoughtful answers in all subjects. They are encouraged to speak aloud in front of the class or in assembly, for example during the special year group assemblies when they talk about what they have learned or take part in a role-play. Year 6 pupils presented their case for or against the development of a coastal resort, in small groups and then in front of the whole class, in a geography lesson. They spoke clearly and confidently and demonstrated their good understanding of the issues. The rest of the class listened attentively and politely.

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of the high quality of the teaching

5. Target setting has been introduced in the last two years in English, which has helped pupils to know more clearly how they can improve their writing. Pupils are involved in setting the targets, sometimes writing their own; for example, one wrote, ‘Use more adjectives in my writing to describe objects, people and places’. Target setting could now usefully be extended to other subjects.

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of the high quality of the teaching

6. Mathematics is taught well and often in an interesting way. Introductory activities are varied and stimulating. They are sometimes in the form of games, which encourage pupils to apply their recall of multiplication tables and to carry out the four operations in their heads, in contexts that the pupils enjoy. For example, in a Year 4 class, pupils were learning about factorisation when they worked in pairs to tick off a list of numbers for which the dice throw was a factor - the higher- attaining pupils were given more difficult numbers. Year 6 pupils played fox/rabbit/ farmer, a round robin game that tested their quick recall of multiples of three, four and five. Year 5 pupils took part with enthusiasm when playing ‘bingo’ in which they had to subtract two-digit from four-digit Northolmes Junior School 12 numbers and check the answer against their ‘bingo card’. Year 6 ‘bingo’ involved pupils working

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of the high quality of the teaching

out percentages of numbers and quantities, such as money or mass.

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of the high quality of the teaching

7. All aspects of the mathematics National Curriculum are taught appropriately and pupils of similar attainment are grouped together so that they can be given work that meets their needs. Teachers encourage pupils to articulate their working out of solutions, through skilful questioning. Pupils present their answers well on paper and can explain what they are doing. Their numeracy skills are developing well and they use them in other subjects, for example calculations and graphs in science and geography. Pupils are given ample opportunities to apply their skills to solve problems in mathematics and other contexts. They know when and how to use calculators. The work of some pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 is of a very high standard. The highest-attaining pupils are taught separately for one lesson per week and given work from the secondary school programme of study. These Year 6 pupils understand ratios, can calculate percentages in their

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of the high quality of the teaching

heads, and know their equivalent fractions and decimals. They formulate and solve simple algebraic equations. They know how to use an ‘Excel’ spreadsheet to carry out repetitive calculations. They enjoy being set challenging problems.

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of the high quality of the teaching

8. The school’s helpful analysis of pupils’ performance in tests has identified weaknesses such as solving word problems, calculating and measuring angles, and mental multiplication. There has been a clear plan to overcome the weaknesses and good help was seen during the inspection in enabling pupils to tackle word problems. In one lesson, Year 4 pupils identified how many steps were needed to solve increasingly complex word problems and which operations they would need to use. By Year 6 pupils were solving word problems in their heads, such as how much they would have to pay for a product with a 33 per cent discount. In this lesson, the teacher also skilfully provoked an interesting discussion as to why advertisers put phrases like ‘up to’ (40 per cent discount) in smaller print.

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of the high quality of the teaching

9. Science has a high profile in the school, as is evident from the lively displays in most classrooms. The school’s increased emphasis on investigational work has been effective. Pupils are increasingly encouraged to decide on their own investigations, to plan and carry them out, to draw conclusions and suggest how their approach could be improved. Year 3 pupils have a clear idea of the need for a test to be ‘fair’ and that measurements should be accurate. By Year 6, pupils are checking their measurements and recording these well in tables. For example, in one lesson groups of pupils investigated questions such as: which type of ball bounced for the longest; how the angle of a slope affects how far a toy car will travel; whether the time for a pendulum swing is affected by the length of string or mass of the pendulum bob. The pupils co-operated extremely well. They used measuring instruments such as clinometers (to measure angles), rulers and

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of the high quality of the teaching

stopwatches appropriately and checked their results. They could talk confidently about what they were doing and what they expected to find out. They double checked anomalous findings and drew appropriate conclusions, such as, ‘the shorter the string the quicker the pendulum moves’.

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of the high quality of the teaching

10. The inspection team found that teaching was particularly good in Year 6, where, of the five lessons seen, three were very good, one was good and another excellent. Elsewhere in the school teaching varied between satisfactory and very good. Overall, two-thirds of the teaching was good or better and over a third was very good or excellent. This is a considerable improvement on the last inspection.

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of the high quality of the teaching

11. The school has focused a great deal of time and energy on trying to improve teaching and learning and its efforts are effective. Much of the focus has been managed by subject co-ordinators, who play a key role in monitoring the work and lessons in their areas (see paragraphs below). There has been a good amount of training for teachers. For example, most have attended five days’ training on teaching numeracy. Co-ordinators keep up to date with regular training and feed this into staff meetings. There are regular sessions where staff meet to moderate their assessments of pupils’ work. Teachers are used to being observed in class and having feedback to help them improve. The outcome of this good input is a high degree of consistency among teachers in their approach to lessons. Much of the teaching in the school has the following features:

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of the high quality of the teaching

• Lessons are well planned with clear learning outcomes that are shared with pupils. • Teachers assess pupils’ work well, by writing comments in their books, but also by observing carefully during lessons and modifying their teaching when necessary. Northolmes Junior School 13 • Teachers relate well to pupils and manage behaviour very unobtrusively and effectively. • Teachers set work appropriate to children’s learning needs, so that higher attainers are challenged and pupils with SEN can achieve well at their own level. • Teachers have high expectations of children’s behaviour and work. • Questioning is often very good. It is open-ended and encourages pupils to think and give extended answers. • Teachers work well with support staff, who play a key and effective role in helping pupils with SEN make good progress. • Homework is set regularly and appropriately to reinforce and extend pupils’ learning in English

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The school helps pupils develop good attitudes, behaviour and relationships

12. Pupils generally have a very positive attitude to school and to their lessons. They are friendly, courteous and polite. They are eager to talk about their work and what they like and dislike. In over 50 per cent of lessons, pupils’ attitudes and behaviour were judged to be very good or excellent. They were nearly always good and never less than satisfactory. These characteristics of the pupils at Northolmes Junior School make a significant contribution to the good progress and high standards.

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The school helps pupils develop good attitudes, behaviour and relationships

13. The school promotes good behaviour and positive attitudes in a number of ways. The general ethos of the school is one in which individuals are respected and their achievements acknowledged. There are public declarations of success for work attitudes and behaviour in assemblies, for example when the Golden Mentions are distributed. Pupils seem genuinely pleased when their peers’ achievements are recognised. Parents at the meeting before the inspection commented very favourably on the way that the school helps children develop a sense of ‘fair play’ and good relationships.

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The school helps pupils develop good attitudes, behaviour and relationships

14. Teachers manage behaviour well in lessons. They have constructive, purposeful relationships with pupils, for whom they show, and from whom they receive, respect. As pupils get older, teachers’ expectations of them get higher in terms of taking responsibility for their learning. Teachers trust pupils to behave sensibly. For example, a small group of Year 6 pupils worked unsupervised, though within sight of a teacher, in the hall when they carried out their investigations into which ball bounces for the longest when dropped from a given height. Pupils play a key role in the organisation of assembles and get out and put away playground and classroom equipment. There is not yet a school council, though there are plans to introduce one, which will help to increase further the opportunities for pupils to take responsibility in the school. The headteacher has recently undertaken a survey of pupils’ views about all aspects of school life: their views are

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The school helps pupils develop good attitudes, behaviour and relationships

15. Pupils generally co-operate well. They are given a lot of opportunities to work in pairs and small groups and they usually do this successfully. For example, Year 4 pupils competed with each other in a dice game involving multiplication and subtraction of numbers. They did this fairly and respectfully. Children help their less able peers. They know which ability group they are in and that some children get easier work than others, or as one child put it, ‘It’s not really easier for them’, though with no sense of feeling superior.

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The school helps pupils develop good attitudes, behaviour and relationships

16. The school’s aims firmly promote an atmosphere in which good attitudes, behaviour and relationships are paramount. Teachers make very clear what they expect from pupils in each lesson. They have high expectations and pupils nearly always live up to them.

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Pupils with special educational needs are helped to make good progress

17. Pupils with SEN make good progress. In this year’s Year 6 class, 22.5 per cent of pupils are on the school’s register for SEN, with learning difficulties, and all of them achieved at least Level 3 in the English, mathematics and science National Curriculum tests. Parents spoke very positively Northolmes Junior School 14 about the way that the school supports pupils who have special educational needs, whether due to a physical disability or a learning difficulty.

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Pupils with special educational needs are helped to make good progress

18. The support for pupils with SEN is organised and managed very well. Good account has been taken of the revised code of practice for SEN. Teaching assistants are deployed effectively to work with individuals or small groups of pupils in lessons. They use their time well and constructively. The SENCO manages the work of the TAs extremely effectively. TAs have received appropriate training in numeracy and literacy and are involved in performance management. There is good and regular liaison with class teachers. The pupils’ Individual Education Plans are good, with short-term achievable targets and action and support clearly identified.

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Pupils with special educational needs are helped to make good progress

19. The TAs and SENCO are aware of the lessons’ objectives and help to modify work to suit the needs of the SEN pupils. In a Year 6 geography lesson a TA provided excellent support to a group of pupils who were role-playing a discussion about the possible development of a coastal site. She kept them well focused by intervening appropriately and by asking pertinent questions.

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Pupils with special educational needs are helped to make good progress

20. Pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs receive very good individual support that enables them to participate in lessons and learn at their own pace. The pupils are given modified or simplified work so that they can learn effectively. For example, in a Year 4 mathematics lesson, two pupils with statements were given simpler versions of tasks that the rest of the class were undertaking, to solve word problems. They were helped by their individual TAs to work out answers to the problems and as a result made good progress.

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The systems used to assess and monitor pupils’ achievements are effective

21. Assessment is organised and managed very well in the school. Teachers undertake end-of-unit assessments in all subjects. There is regular testing in English (reading, spelling and comprehension) and a test in mathematics in Year 3. Reading tests are given twice a year so that progress can be monitored. Pupils undertake the voluntary National Curriculum tests in Years 3, 4 and 5. Results of these non-statutory tests are also reported to parents. The school records and analyses assessment data effectively using the computer software ‘Assessment Manager’. Teachers’ assessment files are monitored and helpful feedback is given. Teachers moderate their judgements on National Curriculum levels effectively by jointly scrutinising samples of pupils’ work. This has been carried out in English, mathematics, science, history, geography and art.

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The systems used to assess and monitor pupils’ achievements are effective

22. The school makes good use of assessment data to inform and improve its teaching. The assessment co-ordinator undertakes very useful analyses of pupils’ responses to National Curriculum test questions, both for the statutory and non-statutory tests. A comprehensive report is then presented to the governing body. Common weaknesses are identified from the analyses and these are used to inform planning and to set curricular targets. For example, targets have been set for individuals in writing and for classes in mental mathematics. The school has followed up these identified weaknesses well and with some positive impact, for example improvements in writing.

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The systems used to assess and monitor pupils’ achievements are effective

23. Teachers’ ongoing assessment is good. They evaluate what pupils are finding difficult in class and adjust their lessons accordingly. They mark work well, particularly in English. Marking includes suggestions as to how the work can improve and pupils often respond well to this. For example, a pupil started to use more connectives instead of short separate sentences, after prompting by the teacher. Teachers indicate what is good as well as what could improve.

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The subject co-ordinators play a key role in pupils’ progress and achievements

24. The headteacher has been very successful in creating a climate in which staff accept monitoring and evaluation as an integral part of the school’s work. He has encouraged and enabled subject co-ordinators to play a key part in this process. Co-ordinators are given time to carry out the monitoring, which includes regular observations of lessons and scrutiny of pupils’ work and Northolmes Junior School 15 teachers’ plans. Lesson observations are followed up with oral and written feedback. As a result of the monitoring, co-ordinators prepare rigorous annual reports that identify strengths and areas for improvement and feed into the subject action plans. The school has approached the monitoring in a systematic and thorough manner. Training has been provided and joint observations with LEA advisers have been carried out in order to fine tune judgements. Northolmes Junior School 16 25. The effect of the monitoring and feedback has been that teachers approach the teaching of

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The subject co-ordinators play a key role in pupils’ progress and achievements

subjects in a systematic and consistent way. Helpful schemes of work have been prepared for each subject, based on modified versions of those provided by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. The curriculum and teaching strategies have been modified in response to co- ordinators’ analyses of strengths and weaknesses. For example, the literacy co-ordinator identified writing as a weakness in her annual report for 2001 and noted this year that progress had been made, as confirmed by the inspection. Several areas are noted for further development, including the need for more emphasis on word level work, an indication of when guided reading occurs and the need to identify ICT and cross-curricular opportunities in teachers’ termly and weekly plans. (See paragraph 30 below)

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The subject co-ordinators play a key role in pupils’ progress and achievements

26. Overall, co-ordinators have taken responsibility for ensuring that their subjects are taught well. They provide good support to colleagues and detailed and rigorous evaluations of how children are being taught. They make a significant contribution to the high standards achieved by pupils.

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society

27. The school serves a predominantly White population and is aware of the need to help pupils learn about other lives and cultures. Staff have taken some steps to raise pupils’ awareness of multicultural issues. For example, reading books have been selected to represent different cultures. Pupils learn about other religions in religious education and different countries in geography. The teachers have taken advantage of the cultures that the few minority ethnic children bring with them, for example, by inviting in their parents to talk about events and customs. These are useful starting points, but as yet there is no agreed whole-school approach to the issue. Teachers are not systematically looking for examples that they can include in their plans. Opportunities are missed in lessons to explore ways in which people from a variety of cultural backgrounds would respond or how they would utilise their natural resources. More

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society

examples should be found, such as in the English lesson where a group of Year 4 pupils discussed ‘Life of a Young Asian (British) girl’.

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society

28. There are few visitors to the school who represent the wide diversity of ethnic backgrounds of people in this country. Pupils need more opportunities to engage in empathetic discussions or role-play about other cultures within this country as well as overseas. Consideration of multi- ethnic and multicultural issues is not yet part of the schemes of work or plans or even explicitly in the school’s aims.

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society

29. The school has an appropriate action plan for implementing its race equality policy and practice. The statement of intent on race equality makes explicit reference to the need to look at and broaden the school’s multicultural education.

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areas

30. There are strengths in the way that ICT is provided for at Northolmes. Teachers have all had their New Opportunities Fund ICT training. The school is well equipped with computers and there is a computer suite where pupils experience one taught session on ICT each week. These lessons are helping pupils develop some good ICT skills by the time they reach Year 6. They are confident at retrieving and storing information. They use word processors, though more often for homework than at school. They use sensing and datalogging devices and know how to control simple output devices and to use programs to draw graphs. They obtain information from the Internet. They have school email addresses, although they rarely make use of them. Northolmes Junior School 17 31. The co-ordinator has worked hard to improve the available software and resources, as well as monitoring the teaching of ICT and encouraging teachers to use it more in other subjects.

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areas

Teachers are expected to include ICT opportunities in their planning. An after-school club has been run by the co-ordinator for parents and children to learn and improve their ICT skills and confidence. These are very positive initiatives, but there is still, as identified by the school, the need for pupils to apply their ICT skills in other subjects. While this happens to a certain extent, particularly in some classes, it is not very frequent. Most subject co-ordinators have identified the need to increase the amount of ICT used in their areas. In science, for example, this has had a positive result and pupils make use of programs to plot graphs of their experimental results. On the whole, however, pupils do not have enough opportunities to use computers and other ICT devices such as tape recorders, cameras and CD-ROMs in subject lessons.

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areas

32. Computers are used infrequently in most subjects and rarely in English. However, good use is made of computers for pupils with SEN. The school is aware of the need to increase opportunities to use ICT and this aim is featured in the action plans of most subjects.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

33. In order to build on the school’s many strengths and to improve pupils’ achievements and personal development even further, the headteacher, staff and governing body need to continue to improve:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) The way that the school prepares pupils for life in today’s diverse, multicultural

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society by:

• providing clear leadership for this area; • planning provision in a systematic way; • providing training for staff; • ensuring that visitors represent a wider range of cultural and ethnic groups.

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society by:

(2) The way that ICT is used to support and extend pupils’ learning in all subject areas by

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continuing the good work of the co-ordinator in

• ensuring that teachers’ plans include a wide range of opportunities to use ICT to support each subject as well as help extend pupils’ ICT skills; • ensuring that there is enough software and hardware to support ICT in all subjects; • monitoring the use of computers in classrooms and in the ICT suite.

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continuing the good work of the co-ordinator in

Both key issues are areas that have been identified by the school for improvement. Northolmes Junior School 18

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils (excluding talking to children in lessons and teachers after lessons) at least 12

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. * Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than four percentage points.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 219

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 13

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 4

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 71

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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 3

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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 8

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 14

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.6 National comparative data 0.5 Northolmes Junior School 19 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Northolmes Junior School 20

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 6 26 30 56

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 22 20 26 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 27 24 29

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 88 (63) 79 (61) 98 (90) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 71 (72) 87 (85)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 20 22 23 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 26 24 28

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 82 (65) 82 (65) 91 (88) at NC level 4 or above National 72 (70) 74 (72) 82 (79)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 0 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 3 Black – African heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 2 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. Northolmes Junior School 21

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 9.61 Financial year 2001-2002

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 22.79

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: Y3 – Y7 Total income 508,340

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 5 Total expenditure 470,446

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 96 Expenditure per pupil 2177.99

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Teachers and classes Financial information

FTE means full-time equivalent. Balance brought forward from previous year 6,661

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance carried forward to next year 44,555*

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Teachers and classes Financial information

* Includes earmarked funds- eg standards fund that can be carried over into August 2002 and capital fund recently delegated.

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 3

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 3

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

FTE means full-time equivalent. Northolmes Junior School 22

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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. 51 46 2 0 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 25 70 2 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 27 52 19 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 26 62 10 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. 60 40 0 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. 52 46 1 0 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 22 59 16 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 52 44 1 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 37 58 2 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 44 51 2 2 0

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