Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School

Inspection Report Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School

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115564 Unique Reference Number Gloucestershire Local Authority 290258 Inspection number 28 February °1 March 2007 Inspection dates Peter Clifton Reporting inspector

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

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Craven Drive School address Junior Type of school Churchdown Community School category Gloucester GL3 2DR 7 °11 Age range of pupils 01452 713262 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01452 854593 Fax number 213 Number on roll (school) Vacant Position Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Jackie Thorogood Headteacher 1 March 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 290258 28 February °1 March 2007 7°11 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is an average-sized school with two classes in each year. Pupils attend mainly from the large village of Churchdown, including two permanent sites for Travellers. The number of pupils joining and leaving the school other than at the usual time is high. Pupils come into the school with a wide range of skills and abilities, which are generally below average overall. Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is above average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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Grade: 2

Churchdown Parton Manor Junior is a good school. Parents strongly support the school and comment positively on the social and academic support provided. Nearly all think that their children are valued and make good progress. Good care, guidance and support underpin all of the school's work, and pupils grow considerably in maturity and independence as they move through the school. Adults set high expectations for behaviour and pupils nearly always respond well. The school is a happy and harmonious community. Pupils feel safe and have very positive attitudes to their learning. They say they are proud of their school achievements. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good and attendance is satisfactory. Many pupils attend well but a few do not attend regularly enough despite the efforts made by the school to encourage them to do so. Leadership and management are good. The headteacher and her deputy

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Grade: 2

provide very strong leadership. They ensure that all pupils, regardless of their background or of the barriers they face to their learning, are fully included in all aspects of school life. Pupils' achievement is good and they reach average standards by the time they leave school. Standards in English have risen for the past few years as a result of well targeted initiatives. The school clearly exceeded challenging targets in English and were very close to them in mathematics. There is good capacity for the school to become even more effective. In mathematics, standards have lagged behind those in English and science for some time. This is despite a number of changes made to help raise standards. Leaders have rightly identified the need to strengthen pupils' mathematical investigation skills so that they can apply their knowledge and understanding better. Changes have been monitored, but not sufficiently well evaluated

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Grade: 2

to see how effective they have been to improve pupils' progress. The curriculum and teaching are good. Teachers create a positive atmosphere for learning and activities nearly always meet pupils' different needs. Teaching assistants provide valuable support for those pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. Creative elements such as music, dance and art are strong. Afterschool and lunchtime provision add considerably to pupils' enjoyment and achievement. The science curriculum is well delivered and has good practical and experimental elements. Pupils have targets for improvement in English so that when starting a new piece of writing, for example, they have a good understanding about how to improve on their previous work. This is also helped by teachers' marking which is frequently good. However, this good practice is not sufficiently well developed in other subjects such as mathematics. As a result, pupils

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Grade: 2

have insufficient information to set their own goals for improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Sharpen the evaluation of success measures for changes introduced to improve standards in mathematics, particularly in investigational skills. • Develop target setting in the school so that the pupils gain a clearer understanding of how they can improve and set themselves goals to achieve. 2 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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Grade: 2

Pupils come into the school with below average standards and make good progress to reach average standards by the time they leave. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities achieve well because of the good individual support provided, particularly by teaching assistants. The poor attendance by a few pupils is affecting how well they achieve. In Year 6, results from national tests in 2006 were average overall. Standards in English and science were average, but close to being above average. In mathematics, standards were average as they have been since 2002. There are above average numbers of pupils reaching the higher Level 5 in English and science. Standards in art and dance are above average. The school has recently made some progress in developing pupils' investigation and problem solving skills and this is beginning to raise standards in mathematics.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy school and want to do well. A few younger pupils, in particular, are still developing skills for learning such as listening and concentrating on work. Pupils are very enthusiastic about many aspects of school life such as using information and communication technology (ICT), and the range of clubs available after school. Pupils understand the need for physical exercise and say they really enjoy sports like swimming and rugby. They are developing better eating habits and a good awareness of the potential dangers of some drugs. 'Wake up and shake up' provides younger pupils with a lively start to the day. Pupils feel safe and secure, confidently asking for help if they are ever worried. They have a lot of confidence in the adults who look after them. Pupils do not think that bullying is an issue, because staff deal with it effectively if it happens. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils' good

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Grade: 2

sense of being part of a community and tolerance are seen in the way they make friends and help each other. Pupils like learning about different lifestyles, for example valuing the visit from a grandparent of Traveller heritage. Year 6 pupils feel well prepared and ready for secondary school, but sad at having to move on. They have good basic skills in English and mathematics. Being representatives on the school council and other responsibilities such as being 'buddies' to other pupils are helping them to become responsible citizens.

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Grade: 2

Across the school teachers provide clear explanations to help pupils improve their understanding. Teachers have good subject knowledge and they manage pupils well. Teaching assistants work effectively with pupils who find it difficult to concentrate 3 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007 on their work and as a result these pupils settle quickly and often make good progress. Lessons are adapted well to ensure that new or key vocabulary is explained. Teachers often use imaginative approaches to engage the interest of pupils and encourage them to participate. They use practical activities well to provide opportunities for pupils to discuss what they know and understand, helping the pupils to form a range of different ideas such as in writing. In a few lessons, learning is slowed because pupils sit on the carpet and listen for too long. On some other occasions they are given mundane

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Grade: 2

repetitive tasks such as completing too many sums rather than being moved on to more challenging work involving the application of skills and understanding.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is adapted well to the needs and capabilities of different pupils such as those with learning difficulties and disabilities. All subjects are suitably planned and there is good provision in sport, dance and art which both boys and girls enjoy. There are good opportunities for pupils to write at length in different subjects such as history and geography. A very wide and interesting range of extra clubs is available and much enjoyed. Visits are used well to support pupils' understanding and enjoyment such as the trip to a Roman Manor House in history. Pupils recall with great interest how the Romans marked bricks to help them build houses. Changes made to improve opportunities for pupils to develop their mathematical investigational skills are beginning to raise standards. For example, Year 6 pupils find different ways to work out the percentages of large numbers confidently. However, strategies are not yet

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Grade: 2

sufficiently well established across all classes and the overuse of text books inhibits this approach.

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Grade: 2

The pastoral support and care offered to pupils is particularly good. It is well planned, and based on teachers' knowledge of individual pupils. Pupils who have challenging behaviour are supported sensitively yet firmly and they settle quickly into school routines and make a positive contribution. Safeguarding procedures are in place and meet requirements. Pupils value the opportunity to talk to the school-based counsellor if they need advice. The school has good procedures in place to follow up those pupils with poor attendance. The academic support pupils are given is satisfactory with some good features. In English, pupils assess their own writing and identify which areas they are trying to improve which helps to accelerate their learning. In dance, pupils profit from evaluating each other's performance positively. In mathematics, pupils know what they are learning on a lesson by lesson basis but do not have sufficiently specific

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Grade: 2

targets for improvement. 4 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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Grade: 2

Overall, self-evaluation is accurate and leaders have recently improved how they track pupils' attainment across the school. This development is helping them measure the pupils' progress more regularly so that any who are not doing well enough can be supported more quickly. The strong lead provided by the headteacher and her deputy has enabled the school to tackle all the issues identified from the previous inspection. Pupils who join the school at different times are integrated quickly and effectively. The improvement in English is as a result of well targeted work to improve pupils' reading and writing skills. Leaders and governors are keenly aware that standards in mathematics should be higher. The co-ordinator has carefully analysed strengths and weaknesses and delivered training to improve the provision for problem solving. However, there are weaknesses in evaluation because the effect of these changes on

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Grade: 2

how well pupils progress has not been measured sufficiently well and implementation has been patchy. Governors strongly support the leaders and highly value the pastoral care provided. They provide a satisfactory challenge to leaders to raise standards even further. 5 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007 .

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Grade: 2

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 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 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• Thank you for our very warm welcome to your school. We enjoyed talking to you in lessons and during your playtimes and were very impressed with how open and friendly you were. You gave us a lot of valuable information and this was a great help to us. We think your school gives you a good quality of education which enables you to reach average standards and make good progress. What we most liked about your school: • your good behaviour and attitudes • how adults care for you well and make sure you are safe • the work of the headteacher and deputy to help the school improve • the improvements made in English • creative aspects of the curriculum such as art and dance • good teaching which is helping you to learn well. We have asked your headteacher and others to work on: • making sure that changes made to help you improve your skills in mathematics are working as well as they should be • improving target setting so that you have a better understanding of how to improve and

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

set yourselves goals to achieve. We enjoyed the visit and hope your school continues to improve. 9 Inspection Report: Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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