Springdale Primary School

Inspection Report Springdale Junior School

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104303 Unique Reference Number Wolverhampton LEA 277124 Inspection number 8 December 2005 to 9 December 2005 Inspection dates Ted Wheatley RISP Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Warstones Drive School address Junior Type of school Penn Community School category Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV4 4NJ 7 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01902 558810 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01902 558812 Fax number 312 Number on roll Mr Bryan Cook Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Cynthia Hill Headteacher 18 October 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 277124 8 December 2005 - 7 to 11 9 December 2005 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 Education Act 2005, 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Springdale Junior School is a large school with a unit for pupils with complex learning difficulties. Standards of attainment on entry are broadly average though there are more pupils than normally seen with lower than average attainment. About a quarter of pupils have learning difficulties. There are no pupils in the early stages of learning English though about a fifth of pupils come from minority ethnic groups. Very few pupils leave or start school during the course of the school year. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is well below average and pupils come from a variety of social backgrounds.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Springdale Junior School, 8 December 2005 to 9 December 2005

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Grade: 2

The school is effective and improving. It evaluates itself modestly as satisfactory; inspectors judge the school as good with significant strengths. The headteacher gives good leadership and has established an agreed direction for how the school should improve. Staff are all effectively involved in looking at how successful the school is and in planning its further improvement. The school gives good value for money. Standards achieved are broadly average and this shows pupils are making good progress. The assessment of pupils’ performance is extremely thorough and accurate and agreed by the local authority. Assessment information is used particularly well to set targets for pupils and to track their progress, to plan teaching and learning and to organise the curriculum to meet pupils’ needs. Those pupils with complex learning difficulties make good progress too, though occasionally they do not have opportunities to gain

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Grade: 2

the range of ‘life-skills’ they need. Teaching and learning, the curriculum and the quality of care, guidance and support are all good. The needs of all pupils, whatever their backgrounds and capabilities, are met overall. Pupils’ personal development is outstanding. Pupils have a great enthusiasm for school, and behave extremely well. The contributions they make to the community are excellent. The school has valuable partnerships with secondary schools and receives good support in science, music, physical education, and mathematics for very able pupils. Links with the infant school help pupils to settle into the junior school quickly and happily. However the links with the infant school have not improved enough since the previous inspection – the effective tracking of pupils’ progress between schools is still inadequate. Improvement in other areas has been good and the school is in a good position to make further progress.

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What the school should do to improve further

•Devise and implement procedures with the infant school to agree on the levels of attainment of children moving from one school to the other. •Provide more opportunities for pupils with complex learning difficulties to gain life-skills.

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Grade: 2

In the national tests taken by Year 6 pupils in 2005 results were average overall. Based on the school’s extensive and accurate assessment of pupils’ attainment on entry into Year 3 and exit from Year 6, progress was good overall. Standards have improved since the last inspection. Results in mathematics fell a little in 2005; the school found out that certain questions were not answered properly and dealt with the problem The large numbers of pupils with learning difficulties did well, taking into account their particular difficulties. The school exceeded its challenging targets. The targets for 2006 are even more challenging and pupils are on course to achieve these. 2 Inspection Report: Springdale Junior School, 8 December 2005 to 9 December 2005 All pupils achieve well. Currently standards are average and pupils make good progress in all subjects. Pupils know what their targets are and what they need to do to reach

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Grade: 2

them. Those pupils with learning difficulties receive a lot of help and support and the great majority are making really good progress towards the targets agreed with them and their parents. The school has identified some other lower attaining pupils as not making enough progress, especially in numeracy, and is giving extra support and carefully planned work to meet these pupils’ needs. The pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds also make good progress.

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Grade: 1

The personal development and well-being of the pupils is outstanding and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Behaviour is excellent and pupils in the school council feel that although there are isolated examples of bullying, they are always dealt with effectively. ‘If you have reported bullying once there is no chance in a thousand that you will ever be bullied again’, proclaimed one boy. All believe strongly in the school maxim, ‘it’s safe to tell’. Pupils positively enjoy coming to school and their attendance is good. Pupils make excellent contributions to the school community and the wider world. The school council is well established and thoroughly democratic. Over several years it has instigated a number of initiatives in the school including healthy lunch boxes, changes in the library and activities in the playground. ‘Buddies’ are very active, and highly regarded by the other pupils. Many older pupils have responsibilities, which

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Grade: 1

they accept eagerly, and they show considerable initiative in charity fund raising. In the autumn term in 2005 alone, pupils in all year groups organised fund raising for seven different local or national charities. They also talk enthusiastically of their learning about healthy lifestyles, and the ‘really good’ clubs they can join. Pupils gain a good range of basic and social skills and are well prepared for future life.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good. Both pupils and teachers are keen learners. Marking is accurate and helpful and many pupils make their own comments about how well they do. These accurate assessments of pupils’ work are used effectively to plan the next steps in their learning. This results in good pupil progress. For example, in mathematics in Year 6, an above average proportion of pupils are expected to reach higher than average standards. Pupils really enjoy lessons because the work is varied. Teachers use a good range of resources, such as interactive whiteboards, which keep pupils alert and focused. However, in an effort to make sure that the youngest and least able pupils know their basic skills in addition, they sometimes repeat work unnecessarily. 3 Inspection Report: Springdale Junior School, 8 December 2005 to 9 December 2005 Staff support pupils with complex learning needs well. They provide sensitive but firm

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Grade: 2

support to help them learn. They attempt quite difficult calculations, such as working out how many peppermint creams they will need to make for each member of the group to have eight each. These pupils make good progress in acquiring basic skills.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good. It meets all national requirements. It is enriched very effectively in each year group, by visits to places of interest and by visitors who bring their expertise into school. Extra-curricular activities are varied and well attended. Many of them, for example, sports, actively encourage pupils’ interest in maintaining their fitness and health. There are also strengths in music and drama. Gifted and talented pupils have effective, additional help and support from the local secondary school to help them achieve. There are good links between subjects such as history, geography and art. In a geography lesson about rivers, one pupil commented, ‘When we were doing Egypt in Year 3, we learned the River Nile had a flood plain’. The school places a strong emphasis on pupils developing their basic skills and there are many examples of pupils writing in many subjects. The school’s personal, social and health education programme is effective and pupils

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Grade: 2

have a good understanding of their roles as future citizens, shown in their weekly charitable contributions to the local community, and their learning about ways to end animal cruelty. Pupils with complex learning difficulties have good access to the curriculum but do not experience enough ‘real life’ skills such as learning how to use a telephone, or going shopping to help their learning about money.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support for pupils is good. The school has a strong commitment to preparing its pupils for life, and there is considerable emphasis on pupils taking responsibility for progress in their learning targets. The school encourages pupils to share these with their parents, who, almost without exception, feel that their children are looked after very well. Pupils with learning difficulties are also well supported enabling them to make good progress. Child protection procedures are all in place and are managed very effectively by the headteacher. Pupils themselves have great confidence in the safety and security the school gives them, and have great confidence in the support, both personal and academic, they receive from the staff.

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Grade: 2

The school is well led and managed and the headteacher gives good direction for the school’s efforts to raise standards. Senior staff work well together in monitoring and 4 Inspection Report: Springdale Junior School, 8 December 2005 to 9 December 2005 evaluating teaching and learning and other staff are increasingly involved in this process. Teachers’ targets are challenging and linked to the school’s improvement plans and to pupils’ performance in the end of Year 6 national tests. The school’s approach to assessing pupils’ performance, setting targets, planning teaching and learning based on those targets and checking pupils’ progress is having a positive effect on pupils’ performance. The leadership and management of the unit for pupils with complex learning difficulties is good. The school has an excellent grasp of what it needs to do to improve and its plans for improvement are detailed. The quality of the training programme to help teachers do

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Grade: 2

their jobs well is good. Governors have a satisfactory knowledge of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and support the school in its work. The capacity for improvement is good. The school has good links with parents and listens to what they say, and to what pupils think, and takes their views into account. Links with the infant school have not improved enough since the previous inspection; there is still inadequate collaboration between the schools to confidently establish agreed levels of attainment on entry to this school. The school has good links with local secondary schools and makes good use of the support and help they offer. 5 Inspection Report: Springdale Junior School, 8 December 2005 to 9 December 2005 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Springdale Junior School, 8 December 2005 to 9 December 2005

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Overall

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

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA NA The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 1 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes 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 Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Springdale Junior School Warstones Drive Penn Wolverhampton West Midlands WV4 4NJ 9 December 2005 Dear Pupils Thank you very much for making us feel so welcome when we visited your school. You made our time with you most enjoyable and gave us a lot of information, all of it praising the school. Many of you went out of your way to speak to us because you wanted us to know how happy you were with your school. The school council in particular helped us a lot. The best things about your school are •Your behaviour is excellent and you work hard. •You really enjoy being at school. You take on responsibilities eagerly and make an outstanding effort to play your part in the community. •The headteacher and all other staff are doing a good job in helping you know how well you do in school work and what you need to do to do even better. The way they mark your work and keep track of how you do is very good. •Adults take good care of you and the school is a

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

safe place to be. •The school has extremely good links with secondary schools and obtains extra help for you in lots of subjects. •Teaching is good and there is a wide range of activities to help you learn and to interest you out of school hours. We are suggesting to your school that governors and staff should now •Work more closely with the infant school to agree on how well you are doing when you move from one school to another. •Make sure that those of you who find learning very difficult have more chances to learn about skills you will need in life once you have left school. With best wishes Mr T Wheatley Lead Inspector

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