Beulah Junior School

Age group Published Reference no. 7 - 11 June 2005 274831 Unique Reference Number 101712 LEA Croydon

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Inspection number 274831 Inspection dates 17 - 18 May 2005 Reporting inspector Ms Kathryn Taylor

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Inspection deemed to have been carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 according to section 12(3) of the same act.

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Type of School Junior School address School category Community Age range of pupils 7 - 11 Beulah Road Thornton Heath Croydon CR7 8JF Gender of pupils Mixed Telephone number 020 8653 4921 Number on roll 332 Fax number 020 8771 5298 Appropriate authority The Governing Body Chair of governors Ms N Hale Date of previous inspection September 1999 Headteacher Mr M Roughley Beulah Junior School

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Inspection report Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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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 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. Inspection Report: Beulah Junior School, 17 th - 18 th May 2005 1

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Introduction

The inspection was a pilot of the new arrangements for inspection announced by Ofsted in its consultation paper of February 2004. It was carried out with the support and co-operation of the Beulah Junior School and of the local education authority.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

Beulah Junior School is larger than average. Three quarters of its pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. The two largest groups, black Caribbean and black African, together make up nearly half of the school population. Sixty- two pupils are at the early stages of learning English. Urdu, Bengali and French are the main first languages spoken. The proportion of pupils identified as having learning difficulties and disabilities is well above average and twenty- eight pupils have complex needs. These include five pupils who have a statement of special educational need, which is below average nationally. Pupils’ special needs relate to their learning, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, physical needs and speech and communication. About a third of pupils are known to be entitled to free school meals, which is above the national average. Ten pupils are in public care. The headteacher and deputy

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Description of the school

headteacher were both appointed to the school during the past eighteen months.

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Key for inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate Inspection Report: Beulah Junior School, 17 th – 18 th May 2005 2

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Overall effectiveness of the school

The school judges its overall effectiveness as satisfactory but, because of the low standards and pupils’ inadequate achievement, inspectors judged that the school is not effective overall. It has serious weaknesses in standards and achievement. Parents are positive about the school. Links with parents and carers are satisfactory. Teaching is satisfactory. Pupils say they like school and feel secure. Pupils make good progress in their personal development and there are good systems in place to ensure that they behave well, are healthy and safe. The school gives satisfactory guidance to pupils and it maintains good links with other agencies to ensure pupils’ well-being.

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Overall effectiveness of the school

The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory. The fairly recently appointed headteacher and deputy headteacher provide good leadership and this gives the school the capacity to improve. They know that the teaching and learning must continue to improve, so that pupils make better progress and attain much higher standards. The headteacher is working to extend the role of subject leaders and other senior managers, but they do not yet have a strong enough role in improving teaching, learning and standards. The school has made satisfactory progress in addressing the key issues from the last inspection report. The provision for music, art and information and communication technology has improved. The pupils’ behaviour is better. Although improved, attendance is still too low. Academic standards have not improved enough since the last inspection and the governing body, although more effective than it was, does not do enough to hold the school to account

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Overall effectiveness of the school

for its low standards. Finances are well managed and directed appropriately towards current priorities, but because standards are too low and pupils’ achievement is inadequate, value for money is unsatisfactory.

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What the school should do to improve further

The school and its governing body should ensure that: • Pupils in every class make the progress that they are capable of. • Senior managers and subject leaders have a greater impact on developing teaching so as to improve pupils’ learning and raise standards. • Pupils attend regularly.

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Achievement and standards

In its self-evaluation the school identified that standards and pupils do not achieve as much as they should; inspectors agree that this is the case. Results in the 2004 national tests in English, mathematics and science showed pupils were not making enough progress. Standards were well below those expected of children this age no matter what their circumstances. Standards have improved slowly since then but they remain below expectations. The pupils do not do as well as they should because past teaching has not consistently built on pupils’ skills in reading, writing, mathematics and science as they move up through the school. Teachers are now expecting more of the pupils when planning work. This is beginning to have an impact on progress and standards and about two thirds of pupils are reaching the increasingly challenging targets set for them each term. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities make

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Achievement and standards

satisfactory progress because their individual education plans contain challenging targets for learning. The school’s own analysis of pupils’ progress has identified that in the past pupils with learning difficulties and black Caribbean boys in some year groups have done less well than other pupils. The school has started to address this.

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Personal development and well-being

The inspectors agree with the school’s evaluation that pupils make good progress in this area because the provision is good. Pupils’ spiritual and cultural development is promoted satisfactorily and their social and moral development is promoted well. Recent improvements mean that the curriculum now takes better account of the diverse range of pupils’ backgrounds and the school recognises that it needs to do more. Pupils have a good understanding of what is right and what is wrong. They behave well and develop good social skills and become mature as they move up through the school. In discussions, pupils are very polite and friendly. They say they like school. Pupils are eager to gain rewards and they value Golden Time, which is a time set aside for them to make their own choices. Alongside the school’s systems for improving behaviour, this ensures that the pupils make a good contribution to an orderly

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Personal development and well-being

school community. Pupils understand and are taught about healthy lifestyles and about keeping safe. The school has limited systems in place to seek pupils’ view and involve them in making decisions, but these are currently being extended. The school has good systems for encouraging pupils to attend regularly and punctually. As a result, attendance has improved, but it is still well below the national figure.

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Teaching and learning

Inspectors agree with the school that teaching and learning are satisfactory. The recent focus on staff training, performance management and developing appropriate assessments has helped to improve the quality of teaching. As a result, lessons have a clear structure, teachers know what pupils are expected to learn and they make appropriate use of assessment and marking to regularly check pupils’ learning. The school’s evaluation and inspectors’ lesson observations show that teachers have secure knowledge of subjects they teach and sometimes this is good. The training that has been provided for the learning support assistants has been effective in ensuring that they make a good contribution to pupils’ learning. The teaching of pupils learning English and for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is satisfactory.

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Curriculum and other activities

The curriculum meets the requirements to teach all National Curriculum subjects, religious education and personal, social, health education and citizenship. The school’s evaluation and inspection evidence shows that provision in English and mathematics has improved and is now satisfactory. It reflects a better focus than it did on giving the right challenge for pupils of different abilities and provides satisfactorily for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities and for pupils learning English. Pupils benefit from good extra- curricular provision. They enjoy visits to museums and galleries to support learning across a range of subjects. The increased emphasis on physical education and health education encourages pupils to be healthy and keep fit. Pupils across each year group take part in the good range of after-school and lunchtime clubs. In its self-evaluation the school judged the curriculum as

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Curriculum and other activities

good, but inspectors felt this was too generous and judge it as satisfactory.

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Care, guidance and support

The school works hard to make sure pupils are well cared for and safe, and considers the care and guidance it provides to be good, but the help and guidance for pupils to improve their work is only satisfactory. This is because systems to track pupils’ progress have only recently been established and are not yet effective in ensuring that all pupils make as much the progress as they could. The school, in its teaching, successfully helps children to understand the importance of eating healthy food, keeping fit, and being careful about their personal safety. The school also provides constant reminders about keeping safe. Arrangements for child protection are very good. The school maintains good links with external agencies and consequently, pupils in public care are supported very well.

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Leadership and management

The school judged its leadership and management as good, but the inspectors’ view is that this is satisfactory. The leadership of the headteacher and deputy headteacher are good and this gives inspectors confidence in the school’s capacity to improve and to address the serious weaknesses in standards and pupils’ achievements.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher and deputy headteacher have put in place a number of systems to improve teaching and to bring greater consistency in provision across classes. These measures are beginning to have a positive effect. They have also worked to develop the role of senior managers and key subject coordinators. However, as yet, other senior managers and subject leaders do not make a strong enough contribution to evaluating what the school offers or to improving standards. Governors support the school well and attend meetings regularly. The governing body makes sure that the school meets its statutory responsibilities but does not do enough to hold the school to account for low standards.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher and deputy headteacher are developing systems for evaluating the school’s overall effectiveness, using external support to help them, and they have also started to seek parents’ and pupils’ views. The school’s self-evaluation is developing and is accurate in some areas. It is nevertheless restricted by the limited contribution that subject leaders, other senior managers, governors, parents and pupils have made so far.

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Leadership and management

The school pays due regard to equality of opportunity and it works well with external agencies to support pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. The deputy headteacher has worked diligently to make very good improvements to the provision for pupils with special educational needs and she manages very well all aspects of this work and that relating to children in public care.

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Leadership and management

Staffing is very stable and there is a low turnover of teachers. The school’s finances are managed well and the school is directing its resources and funding appropriately, in line with its priorities. However, because standards are too low and pupils’ achievement is inadequate, value for money is unsatisfactory.

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaining about HMI-led Ofsted inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Key to judgements: Grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate.

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4

How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners’ well-being?

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3

The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage NA The effectiveness of the school’s self-evaluation 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Y Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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How well do learners achieve? 4

The standards reached by learners 4 How well learners’ make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners

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4

How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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2

The extent of learners’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

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3

The behaviour of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community.

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2

How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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3

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education

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3

How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self- review

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3

How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can

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3

How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money

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3

The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities

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3

The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy Yes/No/NA

Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are taught about sexual health risks Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe Yes/No/NA

Procedures for Child Protection meet the requirements of Working Together to Safeguard Children Yes

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe Yes/No/NA

Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them Yes

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How well learners enjoy and achieve Yes/No/NA

Support is given to learners with poor behaviour and attendance Yes Learners’ personal and academic development are monitored Yes

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution Yes/No/NA

Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, are consulted when key decisions affecting them have to be made and their views are listened to Yes

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution Yes/No/NA

Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes

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Yes/No/NA

There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop their enterprise and financial skills, and work in teams Yes

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Yes/No/NA

Education and training for all learners in 14-19 is co-ordinated to give experience of work based learning N/A

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Annex B

Beulah Junior School Beulah Road Thornton Heath Croydon CR7 8JF

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Annex B

Following our visit to inspect the school we would like to tell you about our findings.

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Annex B

We found that the school does some things well but also that there are other things that could be better.

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Annex B

First the good things. We thought that most of you behave well and that the teachers and other staff do a lot to encourage this and to make sure that you are all safe and well looked after. The school helps you to develop maturity and to be sensible young people. We noticed that you are polite and that older boys and girls are particularly helpful around the school. We think that the school council, which you told us was set up recently, is helping you to join in making decisions about the school. We were pleased to hear about the good number of visits and visitors and after school activities that the school organises and which many of you take part in.

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Annex B

The main thing that needs to improve is the standard of your work, so that you make as much progress as you can. We know that your headteacher and the other staff are working hard to help you do this.

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Annex B

Finally I would like to thank you for making us welcome during our visit and to say how much we enjoyed meeting you and talking with you.

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Annex B

Ms K Taylor (Lead inspector) Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 www.ofsted.gov.uk

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