St James' Church of England Aided Junior School

St James' Church of England Aided Junior School Inspection report

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112922 Unique Reference Number City of Derby Local Authority 311053 Inspection number 12 °13 May 2008 Inspection dates Ian Jones 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 Voluntary aided School category 7 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 273 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Jennifer Radford Chair Mr Ian Bell Headteacher 10 January 2005 Date of previous school inspection Reginald Street School address Derby DE23 8FQ 01332 340628 Telephone number 01332 365319 Fax number

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7-11 Age group 12 °13 May 2008 Inspection dates 311053 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

This is an above average sized junior school. It is located in inner city Derby in an area of considerable social disadvantage. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is much higher than average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is higher than average. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well above average. Over 80% of pupils speak English as an additional language and almost one third of pupils are at an early stage of English language acquisition. There are 15 different first languages spoken at school. The school has Healthy Schools and Sport England Activemark accreditation. It federates with the local infant school in September.

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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: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 2008

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Grade: 3

The school provides a satisfactory quality of education. Pupils and adults alike are valued and treated equally. The provision to support pupils' cultural development is a strength of the school. Considerable time and energy is spent in fostering positive relationships with and between pupils. This approach is at the heart of the headteacher's philosophy, and members of the local community and those working at the school appreciate his efforts in this regard. Consequently, the school is a place of sanctuary for many pupils. Care, guidance and support are satisfactory, as are personal development and well-being. In general, pupils behave appropriately. When they do not, they receive effective support from staff. Achievement is satisfactory. Although current standards are below average in English, mathematics and science, they are also below average when pupils enter the school. Consequently pupils' progress from their starting points is satisfactory. The curriculum is

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Grade: 3

satisfactory overall, but it has an important strength through the support it provides to develop the cultural understanding of its pupils. Nevertheless, curriculum planning is not always sufficiently developed to meet fully the needs of all learners. This is because opportunities for pupils to develop speaking and listening skills are often missed. Teaching and learning vary in quality and are satisfactory overall. Teachers develop good relationships with pupils, but in some lessons, pupils are not sufficiently challenged in their learning. The school has introduced a useful tracking system to measure pupils' progress, but is not making sufficient use of the good range of data available to assist staff in their work. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher has fostered good relationships with all and is committed to the school and its pupils. However, monitoring by senior leaders

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Grade: 3

is insufficiently rigorous, resulting in variation in the delivery of agreed policies. Governors are supportive and work enthusiastically on behalf of the school, although their monitoring of the school could also be more rigorous. Since the previous inspection there has been improvement to the management of special educational needs and the school has started to raise standards in English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology (ICT), although there is room for further progress. The school has a satisfactory capacity to improve, and provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the range of opportunities to improve pupils' speaking and listening skills across the curriculum. ■ Improve the quality of teaching so that it consistently provides pupils with work matched to their learning needs. ■ Develop a rigorous approach to monitoring progress, ensuring that improvements made are consistent across the school. 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. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 2008

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Grade: 3

Standards are below average in English, mathematics and science. A large proportion of pupils are at an early stage of English language acquisition, and for most of these pupils, learning is hampered by their low levels of English. However, from these low starting points pupils make satisfactory progress by the time they leave at Year 6. A tracking system has been introduced recently to help identify regularly the progress of pupils. Information is beginning to be used from this to assist teachers in planning targeted support for those pupils not making expected progress. This development is beginning to bring about improvements, but it is too early to see the full impact of this work across the school. Pupils who need additional support or those who find learning more difficult make satisfactory progress. Those pupils learning English as a new language receive good support when in small groups but are less confident in whole class

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Grade: 3

Personal development is satisfactory overall, and pupils' social, moral and multicultural understanding is good. Discussion with pupils shows that those from different faith backgrounds have a good understanding of their similarities, and accept their differences because they appreciate each other. As a result, the school is preparing pupils well for life in a multicultural society. Behaviour is satisfactory, and although there are a few pupils who present challenging behaviour, the school supports them well. Links with parents and the community are increasingly successful and the school has worked hard to promote attendance, which is satisfactory. Pupils have a satisfactory understanding of the importance of living healthy lifestyles, and talk knowledgeably about healthy eating and exercise. In general, pupils' attitudes to lessons are satisfactory, but these improve when pupils are actively involved in their learning. The school

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Grade: 3

council plays an important and responsible role in school life. For example, it is involved in the appointment of staff. Standards in key skills remain below expectations and need to rise in order for the school to prepare pupils fully for their future.

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Grade: 3

Although teaching and learning are satisfactory overall, there is variability in the quality of lessons across the school. The rate of progress made by pupils is not accelerating consistently and remains satisfactory overall because learning is too reliant on the teacher. In the best lessons, teaching has a sharper focus and pupils achieve relatively better because learning is more interesting and engaging. However, some lessons have insufficient opportunities for activities such as speaking and listening, gathering information, evaluating ideas and using previous knowledge to explain observations and to solve problems. In less effective lessons, progress is limited because teachers talk too much or their expectations for pupils' progress are not high enough. Teaching assistants make a satisfactory contribution to learning. They provide good support for pupils who are at an early stage of learning English, but there are

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Grade: 3

times when they are not sufficiently engaged in supporting learning in lessons. Teachers are 5 of 11 Inspection Report: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 2008 developing their use of interactive whiteboards well to make their teaching more visually stimulating.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum ensures that pupils cover the work they should. Many visitors, for example leaders from other faiths, enhance pupils' experiences. Projects, such as designing packaging for pizzas, develop pupils' knowledge and understanding well. Provision for literacy and numeracy is satisfactory but pupils have insufficient opportunities to speak and discuss their ideas in order to achieve more, particularly in their writing. Pupils who need extra help with their learning are given appropriate additional activities. Provision for ICT has improved since the last inspection. Pupils still have too few opportunities to work independently across the curriculum. To improve this, the school is planning a more topic-based approach to encourage pupils to explore and research on their own. Provision for personal, social and health education supports pupils' satisfactory personal development by boosting their confidence and self-esteem and

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Grade: 3

providing an insight into the world beyond school. Many interesting out of class activities, including football and computer clubs, are popular and enrich the curriculum well.

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Grade: 3

Care arrangements are satisfactory. Children new to the school are welcomed warmly and arrangements to prepare pupils for secondary school are satisfactory. Procedures to ensure pupils' safety, welfare and protection are securely in place. Pupils know who to go to if they are worried or upset and are confident that staff will help them. Pupils say that they feel safe and well looked after in school. Those pupils who need specific additional help with their learning or personal development are sensitively supported, with external agencies involved where appropriate. The school has recently developed more effective systems to check pupils' academic achievement. The information is used well to identify early when any are falling behind. However, as targets are not matched precisely to individual learning needs, the level of challenge is not high enough for pupils to make better progress and achieve more. Similarly, not all teachers

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Grade: 3

mark work in sufficient detail to help pupils understand what they need to do to improve their work.

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Grade: 3

The school is satisfactorily led and managed by a committed and caring headteacher. He is well supported by the deputy headteacher and together they ensure that pupils are happy and safe and enjoy harmonious relationships with each other and with adults. The monitoring undertaken by senior leaders means they now have a growing understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. However, there are inconsistencies in the quality of monitoring of different subjects. Progress has sometimes been limited because development plans have been too wide ranging so the focus for improvement is lost. A good new tracking system helps to identify progress and which pupils need additional support, but it is too soon to see the full impact of this work on standards. The governing body is supportive of the leadership and performs its 6 of 11 Inspection Report: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 2008

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Grade: 3

duties satisfactorily, although systems to check the work and progress of the school are not robust enough. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 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. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 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 3 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: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

14 May 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of St James' CE Primary School, Derby DE23 8FQ Thank you for making me and the other inspectors so welcome when we visited your school recently. We certainly enjoyed talking with you and finding out all about your school. We think that your school is satisfactory and we know that you and your parents and carers are proud of your school. We were impressed by the way your school helps to look after you and helps you understand the importance of getting on well together and supporting each other. Many of you have come to the school from other places in England and from across the world and you have shown us how well you settle into life at St James' Junior School. The headteacher and the staff are good at making sure that you look after each other. They help you to understand your feelings and help you learn to behave appropriately. We have asked the headteacher, the staff and the school governors to try to make your school even

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Giving you more opportunities to help you improve your speaking and listening skills across all subjects. ■ Increasing the amount of good teaching so that you to make good progress in your lessons.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Checking more carefully that changes and improvements made happen right across the school. Keep on working hard, doing your very best and enjoying your time at school. Yours sincerely Ian Jones Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: St James' Church of England Aided Junior School, 12 °13 May 2008

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