Park Hill Junior School

Inspection Report Park Hill Junior School

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125552 Unique Reference Number Warwickshire LEA 281958 Inspection number 6 June 2006 to 7 June 2006 Inspection dates Paul Brooker HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Parkfield Drive School address Junior Type of school Kenilworth Community School category Warwickshire CV8 2JJ 7 to 11 Age range of pupils 01926 855974 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01926 855974 Fax number 267 Number on roll Mrs J Sewards Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Rob Hodgkins Headteacher 26 June 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281958 6 June 2006 - 7 to 11 7 June 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

The school serves an area of predominantly owner-occupied housing in the outskirts of Kenilworth. It is popular and oversubscribed. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is very low. The proportion with learning difficulties and disabilities is below average. The majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds. Ten pupils speak English as an additional language, including seven who are at an early stage of language acquisition.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Park Hill Junior School, 6 June 2006 to 7 June 2006

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Grade: 2

Park Hill Junior School fully deserves its very good local reputation. Inspectors confirm the school’s own assessment that its effectiveness is good and recognise that it has many of the characteristic features of an outstanding school. The school’s positive climate and high expectations encourage the pupils to thrive academically and socially. The outstanding curriculum and good teaching enable pupils to make good, and often very good, progress. Standards of attainment are consistently well above average and have risen steadily in recent years. The very high standards achieved by pupils in end of Key Stage 2 national tests in 2005 represent good achievement. The school’s self-evaluation is broadly accurate and clearly identifies areas for improvement. However the school tends to underrate its outstanding features. This reflects the headteacher’s determination that it should not be complacent and that there is always

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Grade: 2

room for improvement. The staff provide outstanding care, guidance and support, and ensure that the pupils develop as confident individuals who are well prepared for the next stage in their education and for later life. The pupils’ personal development and well-being are outstanding. Their behaviour is excellent and their attitudes to learning are exemplary. The quality of teaching is good overall, although the good and satisfactory elements of teaching could be strengthened by better meeting the individual leaning needs of pupils, particularly in whole-class teaching. Recent steps have been taken to improve short-term target setting for pupils, but these need time to be embedded. Leadership and management are good. Governance is satisfactory. There has been good progress since the last inspection. The school has been judicious in developing its indoor environment and resources, and plans are in place to develop

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Grade: 2

the outside environment, which is rather uninspiring. There is good capacity for further improvement. The school provides good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching by addressing more closely the individual learning needs of the pupils. • Embed and extend the use of short-term targets for pupils. • Develop the outdoor learning and playground environment.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good because pupils make good, and often very good, progress in lessons and over time. The school has improved and sustained its very good results since the last inspection. Standards of attainment have been significantly above average and have risen more rapidly than nationally. Attainment on entry is above average, with a high proportion of pupils having achieved the higher Level 3 in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils of all abilities, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities, make good progress in their four years at the school so that, by the time that they leave, most exceed expected standards. Standards of attainment in national tests in 2005 were well above average. The school exceeded its challenging targets. 2 Inspection Report: Park Hill Junior School, 6 June 2006 to 7 June 2006 All the pupils achieved the expected Level 4 in English and science, and almost all did

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Grade: 2

so in mathematics. Results in science were outstanding, with almost 90% of pupils achieving the higher Level 5. High standards are evident across a wide range of subjects. The school’s detailed analysis of last year’s results has identified minor areas for improvement. Assessment data is systematically collected and rigorously analysed in order to set challenging targets and to inform intervention. The pupils’ progress in English and mathematics is carefully tracked. The school recognises that sustained improvement can only be achieved by fine-tuning short-term targets in order to guide more closely the progress of individual pupils.

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Grade: 1

Overall, personal development and well-being are outstanding. The pupils are friendly and considerate and enjoy their work. Their behaviour in lessons and around the school is excellent at all times and their attitudes to learning are exemplary. Pupils work and play well together and look after one another. The pupils understand about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and how to make sensible choices when eating and drinking. Most walk to school and many participate in the good range of physical and sporting activities after school. Attendance is very high and most pupils enjoy school and the wider opportunities that it offers. The school’s excellent curriculum and all-round education prepares the pupils extremely well for the next stage of their education and for later life. They have the requisite skills to do well academically, but also have wider experiences and develop the essential selfconfidence to make the

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Grade: 1

most of opportunities that will come their way. The pupils are active in making a contribution to the outside community, for example, through fund raising for charities. Year 6 pupils all assume responsibilities as council representatives and take their role seriously. The pupils’ moral and social development is very good although they have relatively few opportunities for developing a deeper spiritual or a wider cultural awareness.

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Grade: 2

The school’s evaluation indicates that teaching ranges from outstanding to satisfactory. Inspectors agree that the quality of teaching and learning is good and that the experienced team of staff has many notable strengths. Teachers’ good subject knowledge and high expectations ensure work is demanding; and the excellent relationships enable teachers to sustain a brisk pace in lessons. Classrooms provide stimulating environments with excellent displays of work, including some stunning artwork. Teachers work well together as a team to ensure that pupils of all ages make good and often rapid progress in lessons across a wide range of subjects. In the best lessons teachers use their subject knowledge well to model and explain work, and skilful questioning ensures that all pupils participate. Teaching assistants provide good 3 Inspection Report: Park Hill Junior School, 6 June 2006 to 7 June 2006 support for individual pupils and small groups. Nonetheless, although work is

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Grade: 2

challenging, it is not always sufficiently well planned to meet the learning needs of all pupils, to ensure that all actively engage in learning or to check that all pupils understand. Although many pupils are keen to volunteer answers, they are sometimes expected to listen passively for long periods. Teachers are systematic in recording and assessing the pupils’ progress. Marking is good, with some that is excellent. Short-term target setting is developing well, but this needs to be extended and embedded so that pupils always have clear guidance on their next steps for improvement.

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Grade: 1

The school offers an outstanding curriculum which is well matched to pupils’ needs. There are a number of curricular strengths, for example in geography, art and music, and there is specialist teaching for physical education and French. In addition, a very good range of activities, visits, visitors and extra- curricular activities enriches the curriculum. Pupils take part in residential activities and a wide range of physical activities, including dance. The school is resourceful in developing wider experiences for the pupils, for example in sport, music, the arts and through competitions, as well as some good additional provision for pupils who are gifted and talented. Visitors to school, such as police and firefighters, as well as annual visits from the ‘Life Bus’, reinforce essential messages on healthy lifestyles and how to stay safe. Pupils are very well prepared for work at their next schools.

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Grade: 1

The care, guidance and support provided by the school are outstanding. The school provides a very supportive and friendly community where all pupils are able to thrive socially and academically. Suitable child protection procedures are in place and these are followed through. There are established and effective procedures to ensure the safety of pupils, including proper risk assessments and an annual health and safety check. The school ensures that pupils learn about healthy lifestyles, including dangers such as alcohol abuse. School meals are monitored and water is accessible to the pupils throughout the day. Arrangements for guiding and supporting pupils’ academic development are good. The progress of all pupils is monitored carefully and there is good provision for those who need extra support, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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Grade: 1

The excellent relationships between staff and pupils ensure that pupils feel confident to talk through any problems and difficulties.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The school is very well led and managed by the headteacher. He has successfully established a caring ethos and a positive climate 4 Inspection Report: Park Hill Junior School, 6 June 2006 to 7 June 2006 for learning with very high expectations of pupils’ achievement and personal development. He ensures that the school is not complacent and is astute in his management of staff and pupils. Together with the deputy headteacher, he carefully monitors and analyses pupil progress in order to identify areas where small improvements can be made. Since the last inspection the school has addressed the issues raised. It has been judicious in developing its resources, particularly with regard to improving the use of information and communication technology. Plans are in place to develop the outdoor environment which has too few amenities for the pupils and is rather uninspiring. The school’s self-evaluation is accurate, but tends to underrate

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Grade: 2

some of its outstanding features. Furthermore, although areas for improving teaching have been identified, these have not been systematically strengthened. Development planning is sound and is securely based on rigorous analysis of data. Suitable strategies have been implemented in order to sustain the school’s high standards. Curriculum coordinators effectively oversee the development of individual subjects. Subject leadership is good overall, although it is most effective when subject leaders are proactive in guiding and evaluating curriculum development. Governance is satisfactory. However, changes in the governing body over the last year mean that some governors are inexperienced. Although governors are well briefed by the school, strategies for gathering first-hand information are underdeveloped. Parents are overwhelmingly positive in their praise and support for the school and its leadership, although a number

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Grade: 2

have expressed the wish to be better informed about their children’s progress. 5 Inspection Report: Park Hill Junior School, 6 June 2006 to 7 June 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: Park Hill Junior School, 6 June 2006 to 7 June 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 1 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 1 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 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 1 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

Dear Pupils Thank you for welcoming us to your school on our recent inspection. We really enjoyed talking with you and visiting your lessons. You were all very friendly, helpful and polite. Thank you for sharing your work with us. We could see how much you enjoy being at school. We agree with your own views and with your parents when they say that Park Hill is a very good school. We were particularly impressed with: • The high quality of your work in books and around the school. For example, the artwork in the hall and elsewhere is stunning, the Year 6 rainforest work is amazing (even though you were in Whitby!), and lots of your creative writing is wonderful. • Your behaviour is excellent and you take a real pride in your work. • You get on well together when you are working and playing and really take care of one another. • You concentrate very well in lessons, even when you have to listen for a long time. • Most

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

of you are already developing healthy and active lifestyles. You know how to eat and drink sensibly and lots of you take advantage of all the extra activities and opportunities that the school provides. Your teachers, the headteacher and all the other adults in school work very hard to make sure that you are safe and that you do well. I have asked Mr Hodgkins and the staff to continue with all the good things that are happening in your school. We have also discussed a few ways that the school might improve, so that you might do even better in your lessons. We also think that the playground could be a little more interesting and pleasant a place to play and learn. Thank you again for being so helpful and welcoming. Yours sincerely Paul Brooker Her Majesty’s Inspector

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