Crofton Anne Dale Junior School

Crofton Anne Dale Junior School Inspection report

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115880 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 290356 Inspection number 30 April °1 May 2007 Inspection dates Janet Sinclair 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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Junior Type of school Community School category 7 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 382 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mr A Evans Chair Mr J E O'Brien Headteacher 11 March 2002 Date of previous school inspection Cuckoo Lane School address Stubbington Fareham PO14 3PH

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01329 662087 Telephone number 01329 667829 Fax number

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7 °11 Age group 30 April °1 May 2007 Inspection dates 290356 Inspection number .

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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

Crofton Anne Dale is a larger than average sized junior school which mainly serves a socially advantaged community. The majority of pupils are of White British origin, with very few from other backgrounds. Pupils' attainment on entry is high.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 2007

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Grade: 3

Crofton Anne Dale is a satisfactory school. It is friendly and caring and staff are fully committed to the welfare of the pupils. Parents are pleased with the level of care their children receive. They say that their children enjoy attending because the school is a happy, positive place to be. Pupils start school with standards that are high in English, mathematics and science. Progress over their time in school is broadly satisfactory, if somewhat uneven. Good progress in Year 6 helps to ensure that high standards are maintained. Teaching is satisfactory overall, with pockets of good teaching, particularly in Year 6. Across the school, lessons are well organised and managed and pupils respond with positive attitudes. However, a lack of challenge in some lessons, and inconsistencies in the quality of questioning, target setting and marking hinder pupils' progress. Pupils' personal development is good. Pupils are keen to attend school, have

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Grade: 3

very good attitudes to work and generally behave in an exemplary manner. This is reflected in their good attendance. They have a strong voice in the running of the school through their role as school councillors and have used this, for example, to encourage healthy lifestyles with 'fruit only' tuck three days a week. The curriculum is satisfactory and pupils enjoy the good range of additional activities which enrich the provision. Care, support and guidance are satisfactory overall. There are good procedures to ensure pupils' health, safety and welfare. Pupils are very well cared for and feel very safe in school. They feel confident that there is an adult they can go to should they have any worries. Academic guidance is satisfactory. Pupils' progress is tracked in the short term and action is taken to support pupils who are making limited progress. However, longer term progress is not always monitored sufficiently to ensure a steady rate of progress over time.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. They have ensured good pastoral provision and a strong caring ethos which supports pupils' enjoyment. However, there have been issues of underachievement due to a lack of effective monitoring. The school has moved quickly to address these, but actions need greater rigour if pupils' rate of progress is to be accelerated. There has been a sound improvement since the last inspection and the school's capacity to improve further is satisfactory. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next Section 5 inspection.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Monitor pupils' progress more rigorously to ensure progress over time is more even. • Improve the level of challenge and the incisiveness of questioning in teaching in order to accelerate pupils' rate of progress. • Ensure marking and target setting clearly show pupils what they need to do to improve.

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Grade: 3

Achievement is broadly satisfactory. Pupils start in Year 3 with high standards. They make satisfactory, but uneven progress over their time in school. Progress slows in Years 4 and 5 and subject managers have noted this and are dealing with it swiftly. Good teaching in Year 6 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 2007 ensures that pupils make good progress and high standards are maintained. Targets are challenging and pupils are on course to meet them. Standards in information and communication technology (ICT) are high and pupils make good progress in lessons. In the 2006 national tests, pupils' achievement was unsatisfactory and the school moved quickly to address this for current Year 6 pupils through a variety of initiatives, such as booster classes and setting pupils and in this they have been successful. However, their systems for tracking of pupils over time are not

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Grade: 3

yet rigorous enough to ensure that the uneven progress is fully eradicated. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities are well supported in class and achieve satisfactorily.

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Grade: 2

Personal development is good. Pupils are confident, articulate and friendly. They have very good attitudes to school, are keen to learn and enjoy all that the school has to offer. This is reflected in their above average attendance. They behave in an exemplary manner and are thoughtful and compassionate in their care of each other. Relationships between staff and pupils are very good and pupils cooperate well with each other. The spiritual, moral, cultural and social development of pupils is very good. They accept their responsibilities willingly, being keen to act as buddies or exercise their role as school councillors by addressing safety issues in the car park. They develop their sense of community through organising their own charity events, taking part in the Christmas fair or acting as play captains to support younger pupils. Pupils are very clear about what constitutes a healthy lifestyle; the importance of a healthy

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Grade: 2

diet, exercise and plenty of water. Pupils are keen to adopt safe practices, recognising how important these are, particularly in physical education. They feel confident that teachers will listen to any concerns that they have and that the very few incidents of bullying will be dealt with swiftly. Their high levels of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills equip them very well for later life and learning.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. There are a number of examples of good teaching, but this good practice is not consistent across the school. Teachers manage pupils well and have established very good relationships with them. Teaching assistants make a good contribution through the support they give to small groups and individuals. Explanations, demonstrations and questioning are generally used well by teachers to promote learning. Pupils respond well and their speaking and listening skills are well developed. Good teaching in Year 6 is enabling those pupils to make good progress. For example, in a Year 6 mathematics lesson, pupils explored how shapes could be rotated and reflected and a high attaining group set even more challenging activities for each other. The levels of challenge and enjoyment were high. As a result the pupils made good progress. Pupils say that lessons are really interesting in Year

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Grade: 3

6. In some classes, however, tasks are not planned well enough to match pupils' different abilities, and questioning is not used well enough to extend pupils ideas so they are not suitably challenged. Marking is inconsistent across the school and too rarely tells pupils what they need to do to improve. There is however, effective marking in English in Year 6 so that pupils are clear about what they need to do to improve and take appropriate action. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 2007

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is planned to ensure continuity in pupils' learning and broadly meets the needs of all pupils. Teachers use national guidelines satisfactorily to support their planning of lessons but, in some classes, insufficient attention is paid to matching the curriculum to the pupils' abilities, which limits progress. The school has a wide range of clubs and extra-curricular activities. Further enriching opportunities are provided by a programme of day visits to sites of historical and cultural interest and a residential visit for Year 6 pupils to Osmington, which contributes to both academic and social development. The use of ICT is good. For example, teachers use interactive whiteboards effectively to stimulate and interest the pupils. Pupils from all years were seen attending a computer club and showing the presentations that they had created. The school is successful in developing pupils' understanding of healthy lifestyles through initiatives such as the Healthy

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Grade: 3

The school is very committed to ensuring that all pupils feel safe and enjoy school. There is an excellent cooperative atmosphere throughout the school. All statutory requirements are fulfilled including employment checks for all new staff and child protection procedures. In discussions, the pupils said they appreciate the efforts of the staff and feel not only safe but also very well cared for. They said, 'Any teacher will listen and help if we have a problem'. The school makes good use of a wide range of local authority and other agencies to give very good support to all pupils including those with learning difficulties and disabilities as well as looked after children. Parents also appreciate the commitment of the staff and the care they provide for their children. The and;quot;Crofton Clusterand;quot; has made the communication and cooperation between local schools more effective. Academic guidance is satisfactory. The school monitors pupils' progress year on year across

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Grade: 3

the curriculum and takes action to address limited progress. However, expectations of rates of progress over time are not always high enough nor are they monitored rigorously enough to ensure a good rate of progress for all pupils. There is good target setting in Year 6 and this clearly helps pupils to assess the quality of their work and improve their performance. Across the rest of the school, however, targets are often too general to be helpful and some pupils are unclear what their targets mean.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. They have ensured good pastoral provision and a strong caring ethos which supports pupils' enjoyment. Systems for monitoring and evaluating the school's performance are in place including the monitoring of teaching, checking teachers' planning and the analysis of assessments, but these err on the generous side thus limiting their usefulness. In terms of the underachievement in the 2006 national tests, the leadership acted quickly by setting up a comprehensive action plan 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 2007 which included setting in mathematics, booster classes for different groups and a more practical curriculum in science. This, and good teaching in Year 6, has helped to ensure satisfactory achievement. However, monitoring of progress over time needs more rigour to ensure any issues of insufficient progress are dealt with swiftly in order to avoid a recurrence. Governors

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Grade: 3

are supportive and have been actively involved in strategic planning and budgeting decisions to support the raising of pupil achievement by establishing booster classes for literacy and mathematics. Parents hold the school in high regard and are supportive of its work. Use of resources, including staffing and finance, ensures the school provides satisfactory value for money. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 2007 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 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? 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 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

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

3 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

15 May 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, Cuckoo Lane, Stubbington, Fareham, PO14 3PH Thank you for being so friendly and helpful when we visited your school. We thoroughly enjoyed talking to you and appreciated the help you gave us with the inspection. We found your school to be satisfactory overall. The way you are taught and the school's curriculum gives you a sound education and ensures your achievement is broadly satisfactory. We liked the way you were given responsibility as school councillors and how you used this to improve the school for everyone. We could see that you enjoy school and find it a happy and safe place to be. Your personal development is good. You behave extremely well, have very good attitudes to your work and cooperate very well with each other. You are well cared for by everyone in the school and we know you appreciate that. The leadership and management

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

of your school are satisfactory and they are providing a safe and caring environment for you. We have asked your school to make teaching better by matching the work more closely to your capabilities. We know you have targets but some of them need to be clearer so that you understand what you need to do to get better. Your teachers mark your work so that you know whether it is right or wrong but they also need to tell you what you can do better and give you time to do it. Your progress over time is checked by the school, but it needs to be checked more carefully to be sure that you are improving at a fast enough pace. Yours sincerely Janet SinclairLead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Crofton Anne Dale Junior School, 30 April °1 May 2007

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