Winterbourne Junior Girls' School

Winterbourne Junior Girls' School Inspection report

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101745 Unique Reference Number Croydon Local Authority 307792 Inspection number 4 °5 June 2008 Inspection dates Joanna Toulson 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 Girls Gender of pupils Number on roll 326 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Charlie Allen Chair Miss Janet Godfrey Headteacher 26 April 2004 Date of previous school inspection Winterbourne Road School address Thornton Heath CR7 7QT 020 8684 3532 Telephone number 020 8665 0536 Fax number

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7-11 Age group 4 °5 June 2008 Inspection dates 307792 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

Winterbourne Junior Girls' is a larger than average school with three classes in each year group. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals is higher than average. Most pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, with the largest groups being of Black Caribbean, Black African, Pakistani and Indian heritage. The proportion of pupils with English as an additional language is higher than that found nationally with currently ten pupils being at the early stages of learning English. The mobility rate of pupils is higher than average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: Winterbourne Junior Girls' School, 4 °5 June 2008

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Grade: 3

Winterbourne Junior Girls' provides a satisfactory standard of education. Pupils enjoy school and speak highly of it because staff work well together to make pupils feel safe and happy. As a pupil said, 'I love this school and all my friends. Teachers treat us like we're their children.' Pupils arrive at school with a spring in their step. Although some are late because they accompany their younger siblings to the infant school, many arrive before the start of day and begin 'early work' in their class. Pupils' personal development is good. They are well behaved, sensible and include in their games pupils who feel lonely or in need of a friend. As a result, they enjoy playtimes and co-operate well in class. They know that racism is wrong and feel confident that when bullying does occur, it is dealt with quickly. The curriculum is satisfactory. Pupils enjoy the extra curricular clubs that are available, such as

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Grade: 3

table tennis and cricket. Parents and pupils would like even more. The computer club is particularly valuable for pupils with no access to a computer at home. The emphasis on developing good cultural awareness, through a range of activities, ensures that pupils have a good understanding of their own and other cultures and, as a result, get on well together. Visits to places of interest and visitors to the school help to widen pupils' horizons and extend their experience. Pupils enter Year 3 with standards which are similar to those achieved by pupils nationally. They make satisfactory progress overall as they move through the school. The school's own data shows that current standards are above average in English and average in mathematics and science. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. Where teaching is better, pupils are given clear guidance about what their work should include and the lively pace of learning

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Grade: 3

engages their interest. However, there are some lessons where work is not well enough matched to the individual needs of pupils and this hinders their ability to make good progress. Occasionally, the pace of learning is too slow and pupils do not work hard enough. Targets, which show pupils how to improve their work, are not yet used well enough to increase the amount of progress that pupils make. The school rightly judges itself to be satisfactory and has identified key areas in which improvements are needed. However, plans for school improvement are not linked to pupil progress in order that the school can evaluate progress towards achieving its aims. The senior leadership team does not consistently check that all actions taken are having a positive effect on raising achievement. Recent successful actions, such as those that resulted in reversing a dip in standards in mathematics in 2007, demonstrate that the school has a satisfactory capacity

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring teachers use assessment information effectively to ensure all pupils are appropriately challenged. ■ Improve marking and target setting so that pupils know how to improve their work.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that plans for school improvement are clearly linked to pupil progress so that success can be evaluated. 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Winterbourne Junior Girls' School, 4 °5 June 2008 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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Grade: 3

Pupils join the school with standards that are broadly average. Standards in mathematics at the end of Year 6 have been average but dipped in 2007 to below the national average. Extra support for those pupils who need it, and improved planning by teachers have helped to raise standards to being once again in line with the national average. Standards in English fluctuate year on year from being average to above the national average. Current standards in English are above average. Standards in science are broadly average. Due to satisfactory teaching, pupils make satisfactory progress overall as they move through the school and better than average progress in English. The amount of progress pupils make in mathematics is broadly average but is improving slightly year on year. Pupils with English as an additional language, including those who join the school other than in Year 3, make good progress due to the good support they receive. Those pupils with moderate learning difficulties

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Grade: 3

make satisfactory progress because support for their needs is appropriately managed.

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Grade: 2

Pupils care about their school and keep it clean and tidy. Behaviour in lessons and around school is good because adults are good role models and have high expectations of behaviour. Although some parents are concerned about bullying, this was not found to be an issue during the inspection, and pupils say that when it does occur, staff deal with it promptly. Pupils feel safe in school. They willingly take on responsibilities, for example being involved in the school council, becoming playground pals and helping in the nearby infant school. Class discussions and visitors from different faiths support good cultural development and as a result pupils show respect towards each other, playing and working well with each other. Pupils enjoy school and speak highly of the adults who work with them. The school is working towards achieving Healthy School status. Pupils have a satisfactory understanding about how to keep healthy but do not

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Grade: 2

always make sensible food choices. Attendance is satisfactory rather than good as a few pupils visit families abroad during term time.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. In the best lessons, the pace of learning is lively and pupils know how to be successful. For example, in a Year 5 lesson, pupils made good progress because they knew what features their writing should include and were able to discuss their ideas about the fictional grandpa with their partner. Teaching assistants work well to give extra support to pupils who need it. Classrooms are bright and inviting. Good relationships between pupils and adults result in a friendly environment in which pupils feel they can 'have a go'. 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Winterbourne Junior Girls' School, 4 °5 June 2008 However, in some lessons, expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low and therefore the work does not challenge all pupils to make the progress they should. Some pupils say that occasionally they do not have to work very hard. Targets which show pupils what they need to

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Grade: 3

do next are not used consistently well enough to encourage all pupils to make good progress.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum supports personal development well. Themed activities, such as black history and health weeks and the school's centenary celebrations add richness to pupils' learning and help to make learning fun. Visits linked to topics also add interest and frequent visitors to the school encourage new skills such as drama and art. Pupils respond excitedly to the good opportunities for projects and competitions which encourage independent learning in school and at home. There is a satisfactory range of extra-curricular clubs and pupils say they would like more. There is satisfactory provision for information and communication technology, but it is not being used extensively enough to promote learning across the curriculum. Opportunities are sometimes missed to develop literacy and numeracy in other subjects, for example, writing a letter rather than a recount in history. Although classrooms often have a 'book corner', the

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Grade: 3

school recognises the need to re-instate a school library.

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Grade: 3

Relationships between pupils and adults are friendly and supportive. As a result, pupils feel safe and are confident that there are adults to help them with any problems. There are appropriate arrangements for the safeguarding of pupils. Good systems are in place to monitor how well pupils are doing, but these are not used well enough to ensure that work is well matched to individual needs. There is some good marking of work but this is not consistent in giving pupils sufficient guidance about what they need to do in order to improve.

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Grade: 3

The headteacher and senior leaders effectively promote the personal development and well-being of the pupils. They recognise that standards should be higher. Self-evaluation, largely undertaken by the headteacher, is accurate. Plans for improvement include appropriate actions which are beginning to impact in important areas. For example, workshops with parents to show how mathematics is taught are helping to raise standards. However, improvement plans are not linked to pupil progress and this hinders the ability of the school and governors to evaluate success. Parents are generally positive about the school, although some are concerned about the lack of a hot school lunch this term. Insufficient leadership time hinders the ability of some subject leaders to contribute to the strategic direction of the school as effectively as they should. The recently introduced systems to monitor how well pupils are doing are enabling the

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Grade: 3

headteacher and her deputy to identify pupils who are underachieving. However, interventions, such as extra mathematics support, are not sufficiently evaluated by the leadership team so that it can be sure that actions taken are having the impact they should on pupil achievement. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Winterbourne Junior Girls' School, 4 °5 June 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Winterbourne Junior Girls' School, 4 °5 June 2008

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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 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 3 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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Winterbourne Junior Girls' School, 4 °5 June 2008

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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? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Winterbourne Junior Girls' School, 4 °5 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

17 June 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Winterbourne Junior Girls' School,Thornton Heath,CR7 7QT First of all I would like to thank you for making us so welcome when we visited your school recently. You were very polite and friendly and this made our time with you really enjoyable. We agree with your teachers that Winterbourne Girls' is a satisfactory school. You speak very highly about the staff who care for you and it was good to hear that you enjoy coming to school and being with your friends. You tell us that you know that there are adults to talk to about any problems you may have and you feel confident to do this when necessary. You also say that while bullying does happen from time to time, staff deal well with it. You behave well and play and work well with each other. You enjoy the clubs that are available and say that you would like even more of them! Some of you also told us that you are missing having a hot meal

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

at lunch time. I know your headteacher is hoping to have a kitchen up and running again soon. We want you to do even better at school. Sometimes your work has been too easy for you and we have asked your teachers to make sure the work set is just right for you. We have also asked your teachers to make sure that they tell you exactly what you need to do to improve and refer to this when they are marking your work. Don't forget to think about your targets when you are working. We have also asked that the school checks that what they do to make your school even better really does result in you making even more progress in your work. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the school year and work hard - right up until the last day! I wish you all well (especially those of you in Year 6 who are due to move on to your secondary schools soon). Have a good summer break when it arrives and return to school in September

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

determined to work hard. Yours sincerely Joanna Toulson Lead Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Winterbourne Junior Girls' School, 4 °5 June 2008

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