Winterton Junior SchoolOfsted inspection, 13 Dec 2007

Winterton Junior School Inspection report

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117787 Unique Reference Number North Lincolnshire Local Authority 301710 Inspection number 12 °13 December 2007 Inspection dates Kathryn Dodd 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 263 School The governing body Appropriate authority Dr Dan Grant Chair Mrs Gillian Vernau Headteacher 1 June 2003 Date of previous school inspection West Street School address Winterton Scunthorpe North Lincolnshire DN15 9QG 01724 732223 Telephone number 01724 735397 Fax number

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7-11 Age group 12 °13 December 2007 Inspection dates 301710 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

Most of the pupils at this slightly larger than average sized school are from White British backgrounds. The vast majority live in the village of Winterton and are from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals has increased in recent years and is now average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is average. The school holds a number of awards including, the Basic Skills Quality Mark, Healthy Schools Award and Activemark Gold.

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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: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 2007

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school with some good features. It is a happy, friendly and welcoming school that has made steady progress since the last inspection. The good level of care for pupils is seen in the way that staff nurture them, provide a safe and secure place for them to learn and ensure that they make a worthwhile contribution to their school and local community. As a result, pupils’ personal development is good. Pupils behave well, have good attitudes to their learning, and can talk knowledgeably about what they have to do to keep healthy and safe. This provides a positive platform upon which to improve their academic achievement and gives them a secure basis for becoming responsible young adults of tomorrow. Parents are pleased with the quality of education their children receive. They particularly appreciate the `wonderful’ opportunities their children have to take part in extra-curricular activities, particularly in music

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Grade: 3

and sport. The pupils’ achievement is satisfactory. Pupils, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, make satisfactory progress from their varying starting points. Standards by Year 6 are broadly average. Although in 2007, the results of national tests were above average and the pupils exceeded their learning targets; this represented satisfactory progress and achievement. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Good organisation, positive relationships and caring support for pupils are strong features of most lessons. However, expectations of what pupils might achieve are not always high enough to push learning forward at a good rate, and pupils’ learning targets sometimes lack challenge. As a result, some are capable of attaining better than they do, particularly in mathematics. The school has already identified that some pupils’ progress needs to speed up and has introduced a number of appropriate changes to

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Grade: 3

teaching and learning methods. The impact of these changes have begun to have a positive effect, particularly on standards in writing, but have yet to be adopted consistently across all lessons. Ensuring that pupils are happy, safe and make good progress in their personal development in a warm and caring setting is high on the headteacher’s agenda. She successfully forges strong partnerships within the locality and further afield in order to promote pupils’ enjoyment of school and to enrich their learning. There is a good range of extra-curricular activities to enhance the pupils’ learning experiences. These in turn, help promote the school’s improvement. In recent times, there have been considerable changes to roles and responsibilities amongst senior leaders, subject managers and the structure of the governing body. Although further changes are still underway, everyone is becoming more confident to carry out their new duties. At

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Grade: 3

present, however, their skills in checking progress, evaluating the school’s performance and influencing the way forward are insufficient to make a strong contribution to raising standards. This limits the school’s ability to check whether pupils’ progress is good enough, to pinpoint where it may be too slow and to find out why. Nevertheless, the recent positive steps to improve the quality of teaching and learning and to adapt the curriculum, especially in writing and in mathematics, provide a positive platform upon which to build. There is a satisfactory capacity for further improvement and the school provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Set pupils more challenging learning targets and monitor whether or not they are on track to reach them. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 2007 ■ Ensure a consistent approach across all lessons when implementing revised teaching and learning practices. ■ Extend the skills of leaders and managers so that they make a greater contribution to the evaluation of the school’s performance and influence the way forward. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged as 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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Grade: 3

Pupils’ achievement is satisfactory and standards are broadly average by the end of Year 6. When pupils transfer from infant schools, their attainment, while variable from year-to-year, is broadly average. Although in 2007,the pupils’ performance in Year 6 was above average and the highest in recent years, this represented satisfactory progress from their particular starting points. Standards are higher in reading than they are in writing, but a recent whole school focus to improve pupils’ writing skills, has started to narrow the gap. In response to the slow progress of some pupils in mathematics, the school now groups them according to their ability. Nevertheless, there remains further work to do if pupils, including those currently in Year 6, are to reach their learning targets. This is because, until recently, there has not been a close enough attention paid to checking that they are making the progress they should. In addition,

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Grade: 3

pupils’ learning targets are sometimes insufficiently challenging to make certain that they do. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities often have the extra help in lessons that enables them to progress at the same rate as other pupils.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development and well-being, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, are good. Attendance is above average, having improved since the previous inspection. Pupils say they feel happy and safe in school. They enjoy participating in a good range of sporting activities and know that this will help to keep them healthy. The `Healthy Eating’ club promotes a good understanding of why it is important to eat sensibly. Behaviour in lessons and around school is good. Pupils are keen to try hard because their achievements are valued highly and celebrated regularly. Pupils make a positive contribution to the local community through fund raising and community projects. They also have a good understanding of the similarities and differences between their lives with those of others around the world, for example, through links with a school in China. Although pupils show their growing maturity

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Grade: 2

and confidence by taking on small responsibilities, they do not always feel that they have enough chances to express their views or influence school decision-making. Pupils’ growing personal and social skills, along with satisfactory progress in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) skills, prepare them soundly for secondary school and for becoming responsible young adults. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 2007

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Good organisation, positive relationships and caring support for pupils are strong features of most lessons. Also, the increasing confidence of teachers to use computerised teaching boards helps to engage pupils’ interest. Consequently, pupils are attentive and behave well. Teachers assess pupils regularly and provide work that takes account of what pupils can already do. Pupils who are not on target to reach the level of work expected for their ages, for example, often receive extra support from well-trained teaching assistants. Expectations of what pupils might achieve, however, are not always high enough to allow them to reach their full potential, particularly for the more able pupils in mathematics. Teachers and support staff have responded enthusiastically to recent initiatives to improve teaching and learning, particularly in literacy. Although these improvements are starting to

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Grade: 3

impact positively in aspects of pupils’ learning such as in writing, teachers do not apply the practices consistently well across all lessons or in all subjects.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum enables pupils to make satisfactory progress. A good range of extra curricular activities, trips, visitors and opportunities for pupils to develop musical and sporting talents enriches pupils’ learning and ensures that they enjoy school. Pupils particularly like science lessons and achieve well because of good opportunities for exciting investigative work. Although pupils benefit from an increasing range of opportunities to practise their writing skills across the subjects, there are too few opportunities for them to practise solving mathematical problems. Recent adaptations to the provision for pupils’ personal, social and emotional development are helping to support the increasing number of vulnerable pupils. The grouping of pupils by ability for mathematics has helped to secure a tighter match of work to pupils’ varying learning needs. A suitable range of support programmes boosts the progress of pupils working below the

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Grade: 3

national average level of attainment. Provision for challenging and extending the thinking of the more able pupils across the subjects or beyond the classroom, however, are more limited.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory. The school gives high priority to ensuring that pupils are well cared for and feel safe. Pupils say that, if they are worried, there is always someone on hand to help. Appropriate procedures for protecting and safeguarding pupils are in place. The extra support provided by teaching assistants, ensures that pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are fully included and achieve as well as their peers. Regular communication amongst staff and with parents ensures that the needs of vulnerable pupils are always carefully considered. The systems used for tracking pupils’ progress over time are still developing. This means that peaks and troughs in pupils’ progress are sometimes overlooked. Furthermore, the targets set for pupils’ learning are not always sufficiently challenging enough to push learning forward at a good rate. Some pupils are becoming increasingly involved in

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Grade: 3

understanding what their next learning steps are and assessing this for themselves, particularly in literacy. Inconsistent practice across lessons, however, means that some pupils do not always know what they must do to improve. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 2007

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management, including governance, are satisfactory. Making sure that pupils are nurtured within a warm and caring setting and valuing their individual achievements are high on the list of the headteacher’s priorities. This, along with the enriching curriculum, makes a strong contribution to pupils’ good personal development and enjoyment of school. As a result of recent and current changes in leadership and management, including an extended absence, temporary appointments, revised roles and responsibilities and the reforming of the governing body, effective procedures for monitoring and self-evaluation are still evolving. Some leaders and managers are still developing the skills they need to make a strong contribution, and this is why the school’s view of its effectiveness in some aspects is over generous. Nevertheless, it has largely pinpointed the right priorities for improvement. Although

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Grade: 3

the headteacher and deputy headteacher are working hard to improve the tracking of pupils’ progress, learning targets are sometimes insufficiently challenging to push their learning forward at a good rate. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 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: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 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? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 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 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 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

14 December 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Winterton Junior School, North Lincolnshire, DN15 9QJ Thank you so much for the warm welcome you gave us when we visited your school. You were polite, keen to talk to us and answered our questions thoughtfully. Your behaviour was good, and it was pleasing to hear that you feel safe in school because there is always someone on hand if you need help. This is because the adults care about you a good deal. I particularly enjoyed joining in the assembly, led by Year 4. It is because you have chances like these that you become confident and soundly prepared for moving onto secondary school. It is good to know that you enjoy coming to school and I can see why so many of you take part in the interesting after-school activities. You have lots of chances to attend these clubs, particularly in sport and music. These are some of the reasons why many of you told me that

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

you enjoy school and why most of your parents told me that they are pleased with it too. You do as well as children in most other schools by the time you leave at the end of Year 6, but there are a few things that could be better. To help you further, the headteacher and staff are going to make sure that:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Adults give you harder learning targets and keep a closer eye on making sure that you reach them. ■ All teachers work with their pupils in the same way in lessons when they decide to make changes to how they teach and how they want you to learn. ■ The adults who are responsible for checking how good your school is do more to find out what the school is good at and how it should improve. You can help your school by making sure that you ask your teachers how well you are getting on and what you still have to do to reach your learning targets. Of course, you should continue to try your best in everything that you do. I wish you all the very best for the future. Kathryn Dodd Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Winterton Junior School, 12 °13 December 2007

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