Locks Heath Junior School

Inspection Report Locks Heath Junior School

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115926 Unique Reference Number Hampshire LEA LEA 279703 Inspection number 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006 Inspection dates Gehane Gordelier Reporting inspector

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

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Warsash Road School address Junior Type of school Locks Heath Community School category Southampton SO31 9NZ 7 to 11 Age range of pupils 01489572226 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01489579453 Fax number 481 Number on roll Mr Allan Clarke Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Jim Lambert Headteacher 27 November 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279703 10 May 2006 - 7 to 11 11 May 2006 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Locks Heath is a larger than average junior school located in an area with favourable social and economic circumstances. The school has its own indoor swimming pool and also benefits from extensive grounds which include a nature reserve. Nearly all of the pupils transfer from the adjacent Locks Heath Infant School. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is below the national average. There are relatively few minority ethnic pupils or pupils who speak English as an additional language. The number of pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities is below average. Staffing levels at the school are very stable. The vast majority of pupils remain at Locks Heath until they move up to the local community college. The school has been successful in gaining awards for being a healthy school, for its achievements in music and sport as well as the extent to which it invests in its staff.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Locks Heath Junior School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006

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Grade: 2

Locks Heath Juniors is a good school with pockets of excellence. This is the school's assessment of its own performance and the inspectors agree. Relationships within the school are excellent as is the behaviour of pupils. Standards and achievement are good because pupils are well taught, lessons are interesting and there is a good level of continuity across the curriculum. The school enriches the curriculum extremely well and this contributes to pupils' high levels of enjoyment and their positive attitudes to learning. However, teachers do not encourage pupils to reflect sufficiently on their learning and progress during lessons. Furthermore there is not always sufficient challenge for higher attaining pupils. The school lives up to its ethos of being a place where 'Children come first'. As a result the provision for pupils' personal development and well-being is excellent. This is an inclusive school that helps pupils to develop into confident and well rounded young

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Grade: 2

people. The school is well led and managed and this contributes to the good progress and standards. However, the role of some middle managers particularly subject leaders is underdeveloped especially in assessing teaching and learning in their subjects. The governors are at an early stage of developing the skills they need to challenge the school. The previous inspection report did not identify any key areas in need of improvement. Nevertheless, the school had identified its own priorities and has demonstrated that its capacity to make further improvements is good. A good example is the recent progress pupils have made with their writing.

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What the school should do to improve further

‡ Encourage pupils to articulate their understanding of what they are learning and the progress they are making during lessons. ‡ Ensure that all lessons include an equally good level of challenge for higher attaining pupils. ‡ Develop the role of subject leaders so that they have a good overview of the strengths and weaknesses in their area of responsibility throughout the school including the quality of teaching and learning.

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Grade: 2

The overall quality of standards and achievement is good. By the end of Year 6 attainment in mathematics is above average. The 2005 test results for English showed that pupils' performance was in line with the national average and at the level expected by the school in its targets. However, more able pupils did not achieve as well as the school had predicted. The school exceeded its 2005 targets for science but did not meet them in mathematics. Current evidence shows that the school has been effective 2 Inspection Report: Locks Heath Junior School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006 in raising standards in writing and the quality of pupils' work seen during the inspection was good. Pupils are making good progress in information and communication technology. A significant strength is the provision for music and sports and the school is particularly proud of pupils' achievements in these areas. Pupils who speak English as an additional language achieve well. Those pupils identified

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Grade: 2

as having learning difficulties or disabilities make good progress.

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Grade: 1

Pupils' personal development and well-being are outstanding and attendance levels are very good. Pupils speak very highly of their time in school and their behaviour is excellent. Their positive attitude to work contributes to their good achievement. Pupils demonstrate an excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe, what they need to do to lead healthy lifestyles and why this is important. The school has received an enhanced Healthy School Award. Pupils' spiritual, moral and social development is excellent. They are also increasing their understanding of other cultures and the importance of living and working in harmony. This contributes well to the development of their future economic well-being. Pupils are encouraged to take on increasing levels of responsibility. The school council is particularly successful in representing the views of pupils especially when it comes to decisions which affect them. Excellent examples of this include the school council's

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Grade: 1

involvement in updating the behaviour policy and the boundaries that have been set in the playground. Pupils also make an important contribution to the community through their work on supporting charities.

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Grade: 2

The inspection team agrees with the school's judgement that teaching is good. Teachers demonstrate good subject knowledge, have high expectations and make learning enjoyable and relevant to pupils' interest. All pupils, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities, achieve well. A Year 4 pupil said 'Work is hard but we do our best.' Teachers make effective use of questions to assess pupils' understanding. Pupils develop good learning skills and are encouraged to be creative. In a minority of lessons, the higher attaining pupils were not sufficiently challenged. There were also insufficient opportunities for pupils to reflect and talk about their understanding and progress during lessons. Resources are used successfully to support learning and pupils are well motivated by teachers informed use of interactive whiteboards. Homework is set regularly and this helps to consolidate and extend the work pupils have done in school.

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Grade: 2

3 Inspection Report: Locks Heath Junior School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006

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Grade: 1

The school considers the curriculum to be good and the inspectors judge it to be outstanding. It meets the needs of pupils, stimulates an enjoyment for learning and lays excellent foundations for their future well-being. Very good links are made between subjects and real life experiences. The curriculum is further enhanced by lively and interesting themed days and weeks. Excellent use is made of visits, including residential visits in Years 4, 5 and 6. Visitors to the school enrich learning and contribute to the outstanding personal development of pupils. There is an excellent range of after school activities for pupils of all abilities and these are very well attended. One parent rightly wrote, 'The quality available ensures that there is something for everybody. It is only made possible by the dedication of the staff.'

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Grade: 2

The overall quality of care, guidance and support is good. Pupils are helped to feel special. The school works well with parents and outside agencies and this contributes to the good progress made by pupils, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities. Pupils learn about how to become good citizens and the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The buddy system and peer support helps to ensure that pupils who transfer from the infant school feel confident, secure and happy especially at playtimes. However, the school has correctly identified the need to further develop links with the infant school. The school ensures that risk assessments are carried out prior to out of school activities taking place. All staff, volunteers and students have been checked and cleared to ensure their suitability to work with children.

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Grade: 2

The overall quality of leadership and management is good. The overall quality of the school's self evaluation is good and the school has an accurate view of its areas of strengths and areas in need of improvement. The headteacher is a powerful driving force and is held in high regard. He is very well supported by the senior leadership team and year group leaders. Together they provide effective strategic leadership. The team help staff to make effective use of data about how well pupils are achieving to inform planning. This is contributing to good standards of care and education. The inclusive nature of the school enables all pupils to be fully involved in school life. However, not all managers contribute sufficiently to the evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning. The role of some subject leaders is underdeveloped as they do not have a sufficiently good overview of the strengths and weaknesses. The school

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Grade: 2

actively seeks the views of parents and pupils and this has helped them to make good progress in areas identified for improvement. A good example of this is the progress 4 Inspection Report: Locks Heath Junior School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006 that has recently been made on informing parents of the work their child will be doing during the course of the term. Teachers find the feedback they receive about their lessons helpful and supportive. However, lesson observation forms do not include a sharp enough focus on the progress or standards of different ability groups and which results in limited progress for the more able in some lessons. The governing body are committed and supportive of the school. They have contributed to the changes made to improving the quality of the school meals. They are developing their roles and responsibilities well. However, they are still not providing the school with sufficient challenge.

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Grade: 2

5 Inspection Report: Locks Heath Junior School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006 .

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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: Locks Heath Junior School, 10 May 2006 to 11 May 2006

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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 2 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 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 1 The behaviour of learners NA 1 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 1 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 1 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

Pupils As you know your school was recently inspected. I am writing to thank you for being so welcoming and to share with you the main outcomes of the inspection. The overall judgement is that Locks Heath Junior School is a good school and there are some areas which are excellent. We were very interested to hear your views and delighted that so many of you are happy at school and enjoy your lessons. We were very impressed by: ‡ your excellent behaviour and how well you all get on with each other as well as with the adults‡ how well you are taught and the progress you make and the standards you reach as a result‡ the content of what you are taught and how visits and after school activities contribute to your education‡ the extent to which you are growing into confident and informed young people‡ how well the school is run. Although we think your school is doing very well, I have listed below some of the key things

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

that could make it even better:‡ during lessons you need to be encouraged to think and talk about what you are learning and how much you understand, so that you are more aware of how well you are progressing and what you should do next;‡ some lessons need to include a bit more challenge for those of you who find the work easy; and‡ there needs to be more opportunities for some of the teachers to find out how well certain subjects are taught and the progress you are making.We know you are very proud of your school and that the staff and governors are all very proud of you. I wish you all every success and happiness Yours sincerely G Gordelier Her Majesty's Inspector

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