Dronfield Junior School

DRONFIELD JUNIOR SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: March 10 th - 12 th 2003

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DRONFIELD 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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DRONFIELD 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. Dronfield Junior School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Dronfield Junior School School Lane Dronfield S18 1RY

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: December 1 st 1997 Dronfield Junior School - 4

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Team members

Evenlode Associates Ltd 6 Abbey Close Alcester Warwickshire B49 5QW

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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 Dronfield Junior School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6-10

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

Dronfield Junior School is a larger than average sized school, providing full time education for 303 pupils, aged from 7 to 11 years. The school is popular, and whilst most pupils come from the area around the school in Dronfield, and transfer from the nearby infant school, others come from further afield. Most pupils have a white United Kingdom heritage. Eight pupils come from other ethnic groups, but none of them have English as an additional language. A much lower than average proportion of pupils (3.4%) is eligible for free school meals. Whilst children come from a range of backgrounds, the social and economic circumstances of many of the families is broadly average. Approximately sixteen per cent of the pupils have special educational needs. This is broadly in line with the national average. The majority of these pupils have minor learning difficulties, but a small number have more serious needs, including emotional

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

and behavioural difficulties, visual impairment, physical difficulties, dyslexia and autism. Six of these pupils have statements of special educational need. Assessments administered by the school, and inspection evidence, show that attainment on entry to Year 3 is above the national average. The school is similar, but slightly smaller than it was at the time of the last inspection, in 1997.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very good school, with many excellent features, which provides its pupils with a very high quality education. The talented head teacher has a very clear vision for the school and provides excellent leadership and management. He is very well supported in this by his dedicated and hard working deputy, the committed co-ordinators and staff, and the very well informed governing body. The quality of teaching is very good overall, and often excellent. The curriculum, which is greatly enhanced by a wonderful range of extra-curricular experiences, is exciting, and accessible to all the pupils. All pupils make very good progress and achieve academic and personal standards that are well above average. When all these very positive factors are weighed against broadly average costs, the school provides very good value for money.

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What the school does well

• Pupils attain well above average standards in almost all subjects of the National Curriculum. • Pupils, who have excellent attitudes to work, are effectively enabled to become independent, mature and responsible young citizens. • Excellent leadership and management by the head teacher have led to the creation of a dedicated staff team and a learning environment that encourages pupils to work hard and to do their very best. • Very good, and often excellent, teaching helps all pupils to achieve their full potential and to achieve very good personal and academic standards. • An exciting and skilfully integrated curriculum, greatly enhanced by a wonderful range of extra- curricular experiences, provides pupils with many stimulating opportunities to gain a clear appreciation of the world.

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What could be improved

• More frequent and regular opportunities for all subject co-ordinators to monitor teaching and learning in other classes and to share best practice. • The excellent formal assessment and recording procedures developed for English, mathematics and science should be extended to cover all other curricular areas. • The accommodation in the school hall.

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The school was aware of all these areas for improvement and they had been included in the

school development plan. 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

There has been good improvement since the school was last inspected in December 1997. The Key Issues identified in the previous inspection report have been fully resolved. The school has significantly improved the analysis of assessment data and uses this information much more effectively to inform the quality of its short and medium term planning, particularly for English, mathematics and science. This Dronfield Junior School - 7 planning is now more specific about learning objectives, provides greater clarity about the teaching strategies to be employed, and pays greater regard to the individual learning needs of the pupils. The provision for higher attaining pupils has been much improved and pupils are given more frequent opportunities to experience challenging, more open-ended tasks, which give them opportunities to use their initiative. There have also been significant improvements to the monitoring and evaluation procedures

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

There have been many other significant improvements in the school’s overall provision. Academic standards have improved in English, mathematics and science and many pupils are now attaining well above average standards by the end of Year 6. This is a much better situation than that previously reported, when standards were judged to be above average. There have been some incredible improvements in the quality of the provision for ICT and, as a result, many pupils now achieve high standards across a wide range of activities. Pupils’ attitudes to work are now excellent and attendance has improved from good to very good. Teaching and learning, which were previously judged to be good overall, are now very good overall, and often excellent. The curriculum is now excellent. An exciting range of activities has been skilfully woven into very well considered cross-curricular units of work that add great relevance to what is being studied. An excellent range of high-quality, extra-curricular

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

opportunities enhances the curriculum. The planned provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development has improved from good to very good. The leadership and management of the school is now very good overall, with skilful and compassionate leadership provided by the head teacher, his deputy, co- ordinators and the governing body. Given their desire for greater success and even higher standards, the potential for further improvement is very good.

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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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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

2000 2001 2002 2002 top 5% nationally A* English A A A A well above average above average A B Mathematics A A* A A average below average C D Science A A A B well below average E

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

The results of National Curriculum assessments administered in 2002 indicated that, when compared with all pupils nationally, standards were well above average for English, mathematics and science. Standards in all three subjects have been consistently well above average, and occasionally better for the last three years. When compared with similar schools, (those with up to eight per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals), standards were well above average for English and mathematics and above average for science. Inspection evidence agrees with the national assessment data and the standards attained by the current Year 6 group are well above average in all three subjects. Pupils are making rapid progress in information and communication technology (ICT), and the majority of pupils are attaining well above average standards.

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

Standards in other National Curriculum subjects are generally well above average, with particular strengths being identified in art and design, and music. Standards in some aspects of physical education (PE) are not as good as they could be, because of the limited space available in the school hall. Standards in religious education (RE) exceed the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus. The school sets and exceeds challenging targets for its attainment in English, mathematics and science mainly because pupils are developing such very good learning habits. Levels of achievement are very good and all pupils are working to their potential, irrespective of their age, gender, ethnicity or social circumstance. Pupils with special educational needs make very good progress, as do higher attaining pupils and those identified as gifted and talented. This is a significant improvement from the previous inspection when higher attaining

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

pupils were not always sufficiently challenged. Dronfield Junior School - 8 Dronfield Junior School - 9

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Excellent. Almost all pupils are exceedingly enthusiastic about school, are very interested in the work set and apply themselves with great determination. They often become totally engrossed in what they are doing as they strive to reach very high standards in both the content and the presentation of their work.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good. Pupils generally behave very well. They understand and respect the views of their teachers and classmates. Any minor problems that do arise are dealt with very effectively.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Very good. Almost all pupils form secure relationships with their classmates and with staff. They enjoy being given responsibility, use their initiative to very good effect and develop into friendly, confident and responsible young citizens that are a credit to their parents and the school.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Very good. Attendance is well above average and pupils arrive at school on time.

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Teaching of pupils in: Years 3 – 6

Quality of teaching 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 in: Years 3 – 6

The quality of teaching and learning is very good overall, and often excellent, and is a major strength of the school. English and mathematics are taught very well and very good attention is given to the teaching of the basic skills of literacy and numeracy, with teachers providing pupils with a wide range of very different strategies to help them solve problems. The teaching of science, ICT and DT are also very good. Staff are very skilled at integrating different subjects to develop very high quality cross curricular programmes of work. Pupils in Years 5 and 6, for example, are currently studying a fascinating programme of work on the Aztecs that incorporates work in English, art and design, ICT, DT, geography and history. The combining of these subjects not only brings relevance to pupils’ learning, it provides a very effective platform for the teaching of key aspects of personal, social and health education. Literacy skills and the

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Teaching of pupils in: Years 3 – 6

skills of ICT are used very effectively across the curriculum and make a very positive impact on pupils’ learning and on the quality of the presentation of their work.

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Teaching of pupils in: Years 3 – 6

Throughout the school the teaching is characterised by very good relationships based, in many cases, on empathy and mutual respect. This has a very positive impact on the quality of learning, since pupils in most classes often try their very best to please their teachers, because they admire them as people. Almost all teachers have very high expectations of both behaviour and academic performance and as a result pupils work very hard to achieve the targets that are set. Lessons begin very promptly and proceed at a very brisk pace. Very good use is made both of the very wide range of resources and the highly skilled support staff to keep pupils on task and help them to do their very best. Teaching meets the needs of all groups of pupils very effectively, because work, particularly in English, mathematics and science, is so closely matched to individual needs and challenges all pupils at their own level. Higher attaining pupils

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Teaching of pupils in: Years 3 – 6

are very well provided for and achieve very well, as are those identified as gifted and talented. Pupils with special educational needs are very well supported and make very good progress.

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Teaching of pupils in: Years 3 – 6

The main strengths of the lessons judged to be very good and excellent were the specialised knowledge Dronfield Junior School - 10 that many staff have in subjects such as English, mathematics, art and design, PE and music, together with the outstanding teaching of the basic skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT. This enables pupils to achieve well above average standards because expectations are so high and they are taught a wide range of very effective strategies for solving problems. As a result they develop very good learning skills, make the most of the very good opportunities that are available to them and make very good progress.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Excellent. The curriculum is interesting and accessible to all pupils. It prepares pupils very effectively for their secondary education and life in general. Literacy, art and design, dance and ICT are skilfully woven into many other areas of the curriculum, particularly history and geography. A very comprehensive programme of enrichment, including visits, visitors to school, theme days and weeks and an excellent range of high quality extra curricular clubs and activities effectively enhances the curriculum. These do much to make learning interesting and relevant and support the development of pupils’ personal skills very well.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Excellent. Pupils with special educational needs make very good progress and generally attain broadly average standards. Individual Education Plans are detailed and accurate and pupils quickly make good any areas for improvement.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good. The provision for pupils’ spiritual, social and moral development is very good and makes a very positive impact on pupils’ attitudes, behaviour and personal development. Pupils’ awareness of other cultures is developed, for example, by the emphasis given in the curriculum to geography, art and design, music and dance. The school is aware of the need to give greater emphasis to developing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of other religions and beliefs.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils All staff give close attention to the care and personal safety of the pupils. There are excellent formal assessment and recording procedures for English and mathematics. In other subjects, the informal procedures are very effective, but formal procedures are not so good and need to be improved.

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Aspect Comment

Racial equality is promoted effectively throughout the school, although formal procedures are not yet in place. The school has a very effective working partnership with parents, who are kept very well informed about what is going on and generally make a very significant contribution to the progress that their children are making. The quality of information provided by the school for parents is very good. Dronfield Junior School - 11

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Very good overall. The head teacher provides the school with visionary leadership and management. His talented deputy, the subject co-ordinators, and the governing body support him very well in this.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Governors fulfil their responsibilities very effectively. They are fully involved in school life and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the school well. They play a significant role in key policy decisions.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Monitoring and evaluation procedures are effective and enable senior staff and governors to monitor quality and standards and to have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. The co- ordinators of most non-core subjects would appreciate more frequent opportunities to monitor teaching and learning in other classes, and to share best practice.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources The school makes very effective use of all of the resources at its disposal. The school maintains an appropriate contingency reserve, which is being maintained to counteract the effects of falling rolls. The school applies the principles of best value to excellent effect. Staff work very hard to make best use of a difficult building to create an attractive and stimulating teaching and learning environment, but some classrooms are small and have limited access. The school hall is too small and this has a negative impact on standards in gymnastics and indoor PE.

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to see improved:

• Children make good progress at school. • Behaviour at school is good. • Teaching is good. • They would feel comfortable about approaching the school with a question or a problem. • Children are expected to work hard. • The school is well led and managed. • The school helps children become mature and responsible. • The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. • The amount of homework that the pupils are asked to complete at home. • The way in which they are kept informed about their children’s progress. • How closely the school works with parents • The negative impact of national assessment tests on the curriculum for Year 6 pupils.

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to see improved:

The inspection team agrees with all the aspects identified by parents as strengths. Of the items identified by parents as areas for improvement, the inspectors consider that an appropriate amount of homework is set, and that the school works very closely with parents, keeping them very well informed about the progress their children are making. Whilst aware of the importance of doing their best in the national assessments, pupils in Year 6 did not feel that they were under undue pressure to succeed. None of the pupils, or staff, spoken to during the inspection considered that the curriculum was significantly modified in Year 6 to accommodate the national assessments. Dronfield Junior School - 12

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

Pupils attain well above average standards in most subjects of the National Curriculum.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

1. Pupils attain well above average standards in most subjects of the National Curriculum, mainly because of the very good and often excellent teaching they often receive. Pupils in a Year 4 class, for example, demonstrate a very mature understanding of instructional texts and can identify, and explain with amazing clarity, the key features of this style of writing. They apply this knowledge to excellent effect when sequencing the instructions that would be required to make either a cup of tea, or a banana milkshake. Their use of technical vocabulary is first class and their knowledge is clearly building on firm foundations established in previous lessons. By the time they reach the end of Year 6, pupils are achieving very high standards in their imaginative and extended writing. They listened intently as their teacher set the scene with the skilful use of drama as she demonstrated, to excellent effect, the ways in which writers build up suspense.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

Pupils understand the complex mechanisms involved and use various forms of imagery most skilfully as they create their own “suspense” paragraphs. They deftly use similes, metaphors and personification and higher attaining pupils appreciate the added impact of alliteration and assonance. Having been so thoroughly taught the application and impact of these skills, all pupils in the group write with “blood chilling” flair and effect. Pupils achieve staggeringly high standards in their handwriting and in the presentation of their work.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

2. Throughout the school pupils attain well above average standards in mathematics. Pupils in Year 4 have an excellent command of numeracy and can quickly and accurately calculate with large numbers. This was demonstrated, to excellent effect, when higher attaining pupils set each other mental arithmetic questions that included “What is 7189 minus 7145?” Another pupil posed the question “what is one sixty-fourth of 2816?” Many pupils in the class come up with the correct answers. Pupils in the same group have a very good understanding of fractions and can understand the close link with division. When describing the properties of 44, for example, they provided answers such as half of 88, double 22, a quarter of 176, or the minutes in half an hour plus 14 more. Pupils in Year 6 have a very secure understanding of data handling and can quickly interpret the information contained in a wide variety of complex graphs. An excellent range of

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

technical vocabulary has been established and almost all of the pupils in this top set are in line to achieve the higher Level 5 in the national assessments administered this summer.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

3. Standards in science are well above average. Pupils in a Year 4 class have an excellent technical vocabulary and know the language of circuits. They quickly identify from circuit diagrams whether the circuit is complete and what the effect will be when the battery is connected. They have a very clear understanding of electrical safety and know the purpose of insulation. Higher attaining pupils question their learning in interesting and challenging ways and apply their knowledge skilfully when solving complex examples.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

4. Under the leadership of a very talented subject specialist the school has made enormous improvements in its provision for ICT in the last five years. The majority of pupils are now attaining standards that are well above average. Pupils in Year 4 use e-mail with great confidence. They can interrogate information held on secure Internet sites, before pasting selected information about authors back on to their question sheets. Higher attaining pupils explain confidently how hyperlinks work.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

5. High quality, specialist teaching is also having a very positive impact on the standards attained in music, art and design, integrated topic work and dance, for example, with many pupils producing work of a stunning standard both in terms of its content and its presentation. Dronfield Junior School - 13

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Pupils, who have excellent attitudes to work, are effectively enabled to become independent,

6. Pupils in the school are exceedingly enthusiastic about their work and apply themselves with remarkable determination for extended periods. This has a very positive impact on the very high personal standards and the well above average academic standards that they achieve. The main reasons for these excellent attitudes to work are the exceedingly high expectations and the very positive role models set by staff. Pupils come into almost every lesson with the clear expectation that much will be demanded of them in terms of intellectual challenge and sheer hard work and they respond accordingly. Discussions are lively and well informed and pupils are very effectively encouraged to voice their opinions and to appreciate the viewpoint of others. The work set is completed at a very brisk rate and pupils take great care to ensure that tasks are completed correctly and that the presentation of work is to a very high quality.

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Pupils, who have excellent attitudes to work, are effectively enabled to become independent,

7. Behaviour in class is generally excellent and in most classes almost no time is wasted because pupils get down to work so quickly and sensibly. Teachers have very effective classroom management strategies and since work is generally well suited to the prior attainment of the pupils, most can get on with very little fuss. As a result pupils maximise the time available, make very good progress and attain well above average standards.

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Pupils, who have excellent attitudes to work, are effectively enabled to become independent,

8. Relationships between pupils are very good and the maturity with which pupils respond is remarkable, considering some of the constraints created by the school building. Year 6 pupils, for example, were only able to complete one very good dance lesson, related to the topic on Aztecs, because of their maturity. They very sensibly took turns to use the very limited space available and were careful not to collide with each other when their sequences overlapped. Older pupils also demonstrate great maturity and consideration as they take great care not to disturb the learning of others when passing through one classroom to reach another. There are many very well planned opportunities provided within the curriculum for pupils to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness and, by the time they leave the school at the end of Year 6, pupils are a credit, both to their school and to their parents.

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staff team and a learning environment that encourages pupils to work hard and to do their very

9. The head teacher is a caring and excellent leader who has a very clear vision for the future development of the school. He leads by example, has very high expectations, and is liked and respected by staff, parents and pupils. He works very closely with his talented and hard working deputy and because they have complementary strengths they make a superb team. Because of his vision and drive the school is continuing to develop and is very well placed to achieve even greater success in the future. The committed and experienced governing body shares the head teacher’s very clear educational vision and fulfil their responsibilities very effectively.

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staff team and a learning environment that encourages pupils to work hard and to do their very

10. Subject co-ordinators generally provide very good leadership and management for their subjects and areas of responsibility and are of great support to their colleagues. Most co-ordinators have the benefit of excellent subject knowledge. Where co-ordinators have had opportunities to monitor teaching and learning in other classes they have been able to share best practice and this has had a very positive impact on the standards achieved. Through their very careful monitoring of planning and completed work, co-ordinators have gained a very good understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement within their subjects. The special educational needs co- ordinator manages her area to excellent effect. Meetings are carried out as scheduled and support is carefully targeted to those pupils who will benefit most. All documentation is complete and very detailed. Individual education plans are very carefully considered. As a result, pupils

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staff team and a learning environment that encourages pupils to work hard and to do their very

with special educational needs make very good and often excellent progress. Dronfield Junior School - 14

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Very good, and often excellent, teaching helps all pupils to achieve their full potential and to

achieve very high personal standards and academic standards that are well above average.

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Very good, and often excellent, teaching helps all pupils to achieve their full potential and to

11. The quality of teaching is very good and there are many excellent features. Many lessons were judged to be excellent overall. Common strengths of the great majority of the teaching seen are the excellent teaching of the basic skills of literacy and numeracy and the very detailed planning which ensures that the work is well matched to the individual needs of the pupils. Lessons almost always begin with very clear explanation of the learning objectives, which means that pupils know what is expected of them. Most lessons proceed at a very brisk pace. This means that pupils are given the maximum opportunity to complete the tasks set and work to a very high standard. The best lessons seen were characterised by very good relationships based, in many cases, on empathy and mutual respect. This has a very positive impact on the quality of learning since pupils in most classes often try their very best to please their teachers because they like and

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Very good, and often excellent, teaching helps all pupils to achieve their full potential and to

12. Features of the excellent lessons and major strengths of most very good lessons are the extremely high expectations that teachers have for the academic and personal performance of their pupils. The underlying philosophy is that if you aim for very high standards then pupils will achieve them, and this certainly seems to be the case at Dronfield Junior School. The exceedingly high expectations cover the full spectrum of activities and include behaviour, academic content, productivity and presentation. Because pupils enjoy their work, even though so much is expected of them, they work very hard to achieve the targets that are set.

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Very good, and often excellent, teaching helps all pupils to achieve their full potential and to

13. Teachers nearly always have excellent subject knowledge and know exactly what it is they are teaching, and why. In an excellent English lesson, for example, pupils were taught exactly how to achieve the desired effect of “suspense” before being given excellent opportunities to practice and perfect their newly found skills. As a result all the pupils in the group made very significant improvements in the quality of their writing. The high level of subject expertise makes a major contribution to the quality of teaching and learning. The school has exceedingly skilled staff in a number of subject areas. The significant improvements made by the school in its provision for ICT, for example, are directly attributable to the talented co-ordinator who has worked very hard to build up the resources and to raise standards to their current high levels. The co-ordinator is very well supported in the running of this subject by the very able ICT technician. Pupils in a

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Very good, and often excellent, teaching helps all pupils to achieve their full potential and to

Year 3 class made excellent progress in a when being taught how to read and compose music, achieving very good standards in the playing of various pitched instruments.

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Very good, and often excellent, teaching helps all pupils to achieve their full potential and to

14. Teachers are very skilled at blending together the underlying skills and concepts of a number of different subjects to develop very high quality cross-curricular programmes of work. Pupils in Years 5 and 6, for example are currently following a fascinating programme of work on the Aztecs that incorporates work in English, art and design, ICT, DT, geography and history. This work is also very effectively supported by beautiful classroom displays of pupils’ work and artefacts that do much to bring the topic alive.

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curricular experiences, provides pupils with many stimulating opportunities to gain a clear

15. It is a major strength of the school that the well above average standards attained in English, mathematics and science have been achieved whilst retaining the full range of activities in all other subjects. It is also remarkable that the quality of teaching found throughout the schools does not seem to have been diminished in any way by the excellent range of extra-curricular activities that are made available to the pupils.

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curricular experiences, provides pupils with many stimulating opportunities to gain a clear

16. The curriculum is broad and interesting, in that it contains all of the subjects of the national Curriculum, with generous emphasis given to PE, music and the creative arts. In addition older Dronfield Junior School - 15 pupils are all offered French conversation lessons. The only limiting factor is the gymnastics element of the PE curriculum, which is hampered by the restricted space available in the school hall. Whilst English, mathematics and science are taught as distinct subjects, the school has a system of integrated units of work that includes, at times, essential elements of the curriculum for geography, history, art and design and DT. These are also very effectively supplemented by the integration of dance and drama and are additionally supported by numerous excellent cross- curricular applications of literacy, numeracy, ICT and personal, social and health education (PHSE). Various theme days and weeks, including the recent “Fit Kids Week” initiative, further

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curricular experiences, provides pupils with many stimulating opportunities to gain a clear

17. The taught curriculum is also greatly enhanced by a magnificent range of very high quality extra- curricular activities. The school promotes a wide range of educational visits into the local community, and beyond, and during the period of the inspection pupils in Year 5 were producing some beautiful work in history, RE and ICT, following on from a visit to the local church. The school organises a comprehensive programme of residential experiences that have included, in recent years, visits to Edinburgh, London and Paris. There are also numerous visitors who come into school on a regular basis to assist with assemblies, sport’s coaching and a raft of other activities.

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curricular experiences, provides pupils with many stimulating opportunities to gain a clear

18. In addition to those activities that take place during the school day, staff work very hard to provide many clubs that either run at lunchtime or after school. These include dance groups, two sewing clubs, numerous musical and drama activities, ICT clubs, including one concentrating on web-site design, a first aid club, and various sports clubs, depending on the season. Dronfield Junior School - 16

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More frequent and regular opportunities should be provided for all subject co-ordinators to

monitor teaching and learning in other classes and share best practice.

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More frequent and regular opportunities should be provided for all subject co-ordinators to

19. The co-ordinators of subjects other than English, mathematics and science do not currently have sufficient opportunity to monitor the quality of teaching and learning throughout the school. This means that they do not always have a sufficiently clear understanding of the strengths and areas for development that may exist in other classes. More frequent and regular opportunities to monitor would enable them to achieve greater consistency and, by sharing best practice, to further raise standards across the school.

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The excellent formal assessment and recording procedures developed for English, mathematics

and science should be extended to cover all other curricular areas.

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The excellent formal assessment and recording procedures developed for English, mathematics

20. The school has excellent formal and informal assessment procedures for English, mathematics and science and work is very well matched to the individual needs of all of the pupils. Whilst effective informal arrangements exist in most other subjects, staff are still developing simple, but effective, mechanisms for assessing and recording the progress and attainment of individual pupils. Currently co-ordinators cannot be sure that higher attaining pupils are always being appropriately challenged in non-core subjects. A very good start to this work has been made in ICT, for example, and the school is now aware of the need to complete this task.

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The excellent formal assessment and recording procedures developed for English, mathematics

21. The hall is not big enough to allow the whole school to gather as a single community. The limited space available is placing a serious restriction on the school’s ability to provide the full range of activities required under the National Curriculum orders for PE. The hall is just not large enough to give pupils sufficient space when doing a whole class gymnastics or dance lesson. It was only the fantastic co-operation and maturity of the pupils that enabled this space to be used for dance since the lack or space often meant that sequences overlapped each other. The lack of an appropriately sized hall is having a negative impact on standards in gymnastics, as there is not enough room to set out an appropriate range of equipment and for the pupils to use it safely.

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conjunction with the local education authority (LEA) should seek ways to:

(1) Provide all co-ordinators with regular and frequent opportunities to monitor teaching and learning in other classes in order to further raise standards by sharing best practice;

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conjunction with the local education authority (LEA) should seek ways to:

(2) Continue to develop simple, formal assessment procedures for non-core subjects so that work in these areas is even more closely matched to the needs of individual pupil;

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conjunction with the local education authority (LEA) should seek ways to:

(3) Seek, with the LEA, ways of improving the accommodation by providing the school with a larger hall thus enabling the school to:

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conjunction with the local education authority (LEA) should seek ways to:

• provide a better curriculum for PE • meet together as one community Dronfield Junior School - 17

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 28 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 26

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor Number 11 9 4 4 0 0 0 Percentage 39 32 14 14 0 0 0 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 three percentage points.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery Y3 – Y6 Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) n/a 303 Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals n/a 7 FTE means full-time equivalent.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery Y3 – Y6 Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs n/a 6 Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register n/a 30

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils Number of pupils with English as an additional language 0

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 4 Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 5

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Authorised absence Unauthorised absence

% % School data 4.2 School data 0.0 National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Dronfield Junior School - 18

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

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2002 54 41 95

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National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 48 50 50 level 4 and above Girls 39 39 39 Total 87 89 89

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National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 92 (96) 94 (93) 94 (100) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 73 (71) 86 (87)

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 42 49 49 level 4 and above Girls 38 41 40 Total 80 90 89

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 84 (98) 95 (98) 94 (100) at NC level 4 or above National 73 (72) 74 (74) 82 (82) Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Dronfield Junior School - 19

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exclusions

White – British 294 0 0 White – Irish 0 0 0 White – any other White background 1 0 0 Mixed – White and Black Caribbean 0 0 0 Mixed – White and Black African 0 0 0 Mixed – White and Asian 0 0 0 Mixed – any other mixed background 0 0 0 Asian or Asian British – Indian 0 0 0 Asian or Asian British – Pakistani 0 0 0 Asian or Asian British – Bangladeshi 0 0 0 Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 0 0 0 Black or Black British – Caribbean 0 0 0 Black or Black British – African 0 0 0 Black or Black British – any other Black background 8 0 0 Chinese 0 0 0 Any other ethnic group 0 0 0 No ethnic group recorded 0 0 0 The table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. It gives the number of exclusions, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded. Dronfield Junior School - 20

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 11.5 Financial year 2002-3

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 26.3

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Education support staff: Y3 – Y6 Total income 508,878

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Total number of education support staff 7 Total expenditure 513,390

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Total aggregate hours worked per week 130 Expenditure per pupil 1,622

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 38,512

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) n/a Balance carried forward to next year 34,000

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Number of pupils per qualified teacher n/a

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Total number of education support staff n/a

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Total aggregate hours worked per week n/a

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Qualified teachers and classes: Y3 – Y6

Number of pupils per FTE adult n/a FTE means full-time equivalent.

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 0.5

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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) FTE means full-time equivalent. Dronfield Junior School - 21

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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. 62 35 2 0 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 55 44 1 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 35 51 12 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 38 54 6 2 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 70 25 4 1 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. 73 27 0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 40 51 6 2 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 73 25 1 0 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 63 32 2 0 3

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 85 15 0 0 0

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Other issues raised by parents

A number of parents raised concerns about the amount of pressure that Year 6 pupils were placed under, by the school at the time of the national assessments. It was also felt that an inordinate amount of curriculum time was spent on preparing for the national assessments, to the detriment of progress in some non-core subjects.

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