Victoria Junior School

Victoria Junior School Inspection report

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102486 Unique Reference Number Hounslow Local Authority 308023 Inspection number 19 °20 November 2007 Inspection dates Derek Watts 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 240 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Jan Burton Chair Miss Wendy Young Headteacher 18 October 2006 Date of previous school inspection Victoria Road School address Feltham TW13 4AQ 020 8890 9624 Telephone number 020 8844 2897 Fax number

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7-11 Age group 19 °20 November 2007 Inspection dates 308023 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Victoria Junior is an average size primary school. Just over half of the pupils come from a White British background. The remainder come from a wide range of other ethnic backgrounds. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average and a few of these are at an early stage of learning English. Over a third of pupils have learning difficulties or disabilities, and this is well above average. A well above average proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Victoria Junior was inspected in October 2006 and given a 'Notice to Improve' because pupils were underachieving and standards were too low, particularly in English. There were also inconsistencies in teaching because activities were not sufficiently well matched to pupils' needs. The school was monitored by an inspector in June 2007 who found that satisfactory progress was being made towards the improvement issues. A legacy of

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Description of the school

under achievement remained in Year 6 but pupils were making satisfactory progress in other years.

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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: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 2007

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Grade: 3

In accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement. Victoria Junior has made significant improvements since the last inspection. Pupils are now achieving satisfactorily and the school is in a better position to raise achievement and standards further. Improvements to teaching, assessment and target-setting, with support from the local authority, have contributed to the improvements. The school's overall effectiveness is now satisfactory. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher and senior leaders have taken positive action to check the underachievement of the past. Good use has been made of local authority advisers, consultants and an advanced skills teacher in the school's drive for improvement. Unsatisfactory teaching has been eradicated and teachers are using assessment more effectively to plan their teaching and to set challenging targets. Leaders are not complacent

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Grade: 3

and are aware that there is more to do to ensure that teaching becomes consistently good or better and enables pupils to achieve well. The school is demonstrating a satisfactory capacity to improve. Teaching and learning are satisfactory with examples of good and even outstanding practice. Lessons have a clear purpose so that pupils know what they are expected to learn. Activities and tasks are usually well matched to pupils' abilities and when this happens, pupils are challenged well and make good gains in their learning. However, this good practice is not fully consistent. Occasionally the levels of challenge and the pace of the lesson are not high enough and pupils' learning slows. Across the school, most pupils are now making satisfactory progress. Standards in the current Year 6 are broadly average in English, mathematics and science. A good range of additional activities enriches a satisfactory curriculum.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support contribute satisfactorily to pupils' academic progress and to their personal development. Pupils' personal development and well-being are satisfactory. Pupils enjoy school and participate well in the activities provided. Attendance is satisfactory and has steadily improved because of the action taken by the school. Most pupils are well behaved but there are a few pupils whose challenging behaviour can spoil things for others. Pupils show a sound understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles and know clearly how to keep themselves safe. There are effective systems to assess and record pupils' attainment. Pupils have clear individual targets in English and mathematics, consequently they know what they are working on to improve. Pupils make a positive contribution to the school and wider community. Parents are generally pleased with the care and education provided. However, a significant

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Grade: 3

proportion expressed concerns about behaviour. Exclusions are declining and most pupils were well behaved during the inspection.

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What the school should do to improve further

Ensure that leaders and managers remain relentlessly focused on:

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What the school should do to improve further

■ raising achievement so that pupils attain higher standards

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What the school should do to improve further

■ improving the consistency of teaching and learning by ensuring that all lessons are suitably challenging and maintain a brisk pace. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 2007 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' achievement is now satisfactory. National test results for Year 6 in 2007 were below average in English and science and broadly average in mathematics. While standards were better than in the previous two years, these pupils had not made enough progress from their prior attainment on entry to the school. Furthermore, pupils fell well short of their targets. This under-performance was because of past weakness in provision. Improvements to teaching and assessment are enabling most pupils to make satisfactory progress. The current Year 6 entered the school with broadly average attainment. Standards in Year 6 are average and most pupils are likely to meet their targets. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities make satisfactory progress. Those pupils at an early stage of learning English make satisfactory progress in acquiring the language.

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Grade: 3

Pupils show positive attitudes to learning and enjoy school. As one pupil said, 'I enjoy school because it gives me a lot of learning experiences.' Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory. Through music, art and literature from other cultures, 'Black History Month', religious education and visits to places of worship, pupils have a good understanding of their own and others' cultures. Pupils adopt healthy lifestyles and possess a satisfactory understanding of the importance of healthy diets and taking regular exercise. Pupils make good contributions to the school and wider community. Junior play leaders help others in the playground by organising small group activities. Those on the school council take their responsibilities seriously and make valuable contributions to improving behaviour. The raising of funds for well-known charities contributes well to the wider community. With satisfactory

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Grade: 3

personal and social skills and a sound base of literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) skills, pupils are adequately prepared for the future.

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Grade: 3

Teaching is stronger than at the time of the last inspection. It is consistently good in the Year 6 classes, with some outstanding practice. Across the school, teachers share the purpose of their lessons effectively with the class. They also provide clear success criteria to help pupils assess their progress. Pupils are attentive and respond well to their teachers. Clear explanations, instructions and demonstrations by teachers promote learning well. Questioning is used effectively to challenge pupils' thinking and to check their understanding. Good opportunities are provided for pupils to discuss their work and this develops their speaking and listening skills well. Most teachers are using assessment well to match tasks to pupils' different abilities and needs, consequently pupils are suitably challenged. However, in a few lessons, challenge and pace are not as high and learning declines. Teaching assistants are effectively deployed and

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Grade: 3

contribute well to pupils' learning, particularly for those pupils with learning difficulties and/or 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 2007 disabilities. The marking of pupils' work is usually positive and constructive. Good work is praised and comments to help pupils improve are regularly provided.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum promotes pupils' personal development satisfactorily and enables them to make satisfactory progress. Clear emphasis is placed on the development of literacy and numeracy skills. Opportunities for pupils to apply and develop these in other areas are improving. In some year groups, teachers are beginning to develop stronger links between subjects in order to increase enjoyment, meaning and relevance to learning. For example, in a Year 6 World War II study, literacy, history and technology were successfully incorporated. ICT is used satisfactorily to support teaching and learning. Year 6 pupils use hand-held computers well to solve problems in a range of subjects. A good range of additional activities, including visits, contributes well to pupils' enjoyment and interests. Popular clubs include art and craft, dance, football, gymnastics, ICT and homework. The promotion of healthy lifestyles and personal safety receives

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Grade: 3

Procedures to ensure pupils' protection and safety are effective, consequently pupils are safe and secure at school. Staff know the pupils well and have established good relationships with them. Pupils at an early stage of learning English receive good support from the local authority's language service. However, the support provided by the school for these pupils is not consistent in all classes. The school has plans to tackle this through additional training for staff. Systems for assessing, recording and tracking pupils' attainment and progress are good. Assessment is usually used well to plan teaching. It is used effectively to set challenging individual learning targets in reading, writing and mathematics so that pupils know what they are aiming for. However, this good practice has not yet been extended to science.

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Grade: 3

The impact of leadership and management on educational provision and outcomes for pupils is satisfactory. The local authority has provided good support in helping the school to move forward. The headteacher has effectively shared responsibilities amongst the staff to form a developing leadership team. The leadership of mathematics is strong and this contributes to pupils' better performance in this subject. Leaders' roles are less well developed where holders are new to their post. The school has carefully selected and embraced a range of educational initiatives to support pupils' learning. It has established effective partnerships with outside agencies. 'Excellence in Cities', the Hounslow Music Service and Feltham College all make valuable contributions to the school's provision. Self-evaluation is satisfactory. Assessment data is analysed more thoroughly and strengths and weaknesses in pupils' learning are identified. This information is now being used more

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Grade: 3

successfully to modify provision, set challenging targets and raise achievement. School leaders and managers have a good overview of the quality of teaching because of regular and effective 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 2007 monitoring. Development and support has been provided to improve weakness in practice, although there is still more to do before teaching is consistently good or better. Since the last inspection, the governing body has been strengthened by the appointment of experienced governors. Governors are committed, supportive and now more challenging when monitoring the school's performance. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 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: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 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?

3 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 3 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: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 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: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

30 November 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Victoria Junior School,Feltham,TW13 4AQ On behalf of your inspectors I would like to thank you so much for welcoming us into your school and showing us your work. We enjoyed our visit and would like to tell you what we have found. Victoria Junior has improved since the last inspection and is now a satisfactory school. These things are strengths of the school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You enjoy school and take part in activities well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Teaching is consistently good in Year 6.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ There is a good range of additional activities for you.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Staff know you well and they take good care of you.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are clear about your targets in English and mathematics.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The school has good partnerships with other organisations.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You make good contributions to the school and wider community.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your parents are generally pleased with the school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

The following things would help your school to improve further, and your headteacher and senior staff should ensure that the improvements continue.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Some of you could make even more progress in English, mathematics and science.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Sometimes your teachers could challenge you more and ensure that the lesson moves on a brisk pace. This would help you to make more progress. Finally, thank you once again for all your help. We wish you all the best for the future and hope that the school continues to improve. With kind regards, Derek Watts Lead Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Victoria Junior School, 19 °20 November 2007

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