Lumley Junior School

114002 Unique Reference Number Durham Local Authority 311445 Inspection number 8 °9 November 2007 Inspection dates David Earley 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 155 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Peter Hopkins Chair Mr Jim Birleson Headteacher 1 February 2004 Date of previous school inspection Cocken Lane School address Great Lumley Chester le Street County Durham DH3 4JJ 0191 3882310 Telephone number 0191 3882310 Fax number

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7-11 Age group 8 °9 November 2007 Inspection dates 311445 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

This is a smaller than average sized school serving the village of Great Lumley and its surrounding area on the edge of Durham. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. Most of the pupils are from White British backgrounds. There is a small number of children who are looked after by the local authority. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above average. The school has achieved the Healthy Schools Award, Artsmark Award, Sport England Activemark, FA Charter Mark and the International School Award.

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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: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 November 2007

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school with some good features. Standards are average and achievement is satisfactory. The school is a warm, friendly and happy place where pupils’ attendance and personal development are good and parents are pleased with the good care shown to their children. One parent reflected the views of others in saying that, ‘Every child matters in this school.’ Personal development, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good. Pupils have a good understanding of how to live healthy lifestyles and successfully engage in a wide range of sporting activities. Behaviour is good and pupils enjoy coming to school. They say that they feel safe and well cared for. Pupils make a good contribution to the school and wider community. They collaborate well and increase in confidence; this helps to prepare them for future life. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Good relationships help to form positive attitudes to

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Grade: 3

learning. In some lessons, where teaching is good, the pace is brisk and questions are used well to challenge pupils. In other lessons, where teaching is satisfactory, the pace of work is slower and less challenging. In these lessons teachers spend too much time talking so that there is less time for pupils’ independent work. Marking is generally satisfactory, but pupils are not sufficiently clear about the targets they need to reach in order to improve their work and quicken their progress. The curriculum is satisfactory. There are many opportunities for enrichment through visits, visitors and extra-curricular activities. Recent developments are helping to link subjects together in order to give greater purpose to learning. However, there is not sufficient focus on further raising achievement and standards in English and mathematics. Care and guidance are good. This is a caring school where all pupils are well known and there

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Grade: 3

are good links between home and school. Child protection and risk assessments are in place and the school follows national recommendations for safeguarding children. The new tracking system to enable the school to identify quickly those pupils who may be underachieving has not yet had time to make a full impact on raising standards. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Positive and sensitive leadership by the headteacher has helped to create a caring community with much curricular enrichment. Careful assessment has enabled the school to determine pupils’ standards on entry and set realistic targets for improvement. However, despite some improvements, there is insufficient sharpness in checking teaching and learning in order to make further improvements and increase the proportion of good teaching. There is insufficient rigour in evaluating performance so that, for example, pupils do not know sufficiently clearly what they need to do next in order to improve.

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Grade: 3

Governance is satisfactory. Governors know the school well and provide sound support in helping to shape the direction of the school.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise achievement and standards in English and mathematics.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the proportion of teaching which is good or better.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the rigour with which the school evaluates its performance and sets targets for improvement. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 November 2007 A small proportion of schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before the next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Standards are average and achievement is satisfactory. Nationally produced data suggests that pupils underachieve but inspection evidence and the very detailed school records show that this is not the case. Pupils make satisfactory progress from average standards on entry to reach average standards by the end of Year 6. The results of the 2006 tests in English, mathematics and science were at the national average, with many pupils attaining the higher level in English. Boys outperformed girls in all three subjects, particularly in mathematics. Performance in the 2007 tests was similar, although fewer pupils attained the higher level in English. Girls reached higher standards than boys in English and their mathematics improved. This was because the school has initiated strategies which are improving the achievement of girls. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and looked after children make the same progress as their peers.

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Grade: 3

School data indicates that pupils in the current Year 6 are on track to achieve better than those in the previous year although overall standards are likely to remain broadly average.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development and well-being are good, as is their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Most pupils really enjoy learning. They attend school regularly, work hard and behave well. Pupils clearly recognise that they are part of a community and that they have responsibilities as well as rights. For example, older pupils respond very sensibly to their role as buddies or as members of the school council. Several parents commented that their child had grown in confidence and self-esteem since joining the school. Pupils know how to stay safe and are aware that eating healthy food and doing exercise is good for them. They share the facilities and equipment in the newly improved playground very sensibly, while taking regular exercise at breaks and lunchtimes. Assemblies, lessons and visits give pupils good opportunities to reflect on spiritual and moral issues and to study other cultures. Pupils in Years

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Grade: 2

3 and 4 talked excitedly of their imminent trip to Newcastle to visit a Hindu temple. Pupils work well together and grow in confidence and maturity as they move through the school so they are prepared for life ahead.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory and result in pupils making satisfactory progress. In some lessons teaching is good. Good relationships between staff and pupils help to establish a positive atmosphere in classrooms. Most pupils are keen to do well. In the best lessons, teachers make good use of praise and encouragement to give pupils confidence so they enjoy learning. These lessons have a faster pace and teachers use perceptive questioning well to extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Pupils were particularly enthusiastic about their 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 November 2007 study of the topic ‘space’ and described vividly what it would have felt like to be the first man on the moon. In other, satisfactory, lessons the teacher spends too long talking to pupils, thereby reducing the time for independent work. The pace of work is slower and does not provide sufficient challenge and interest to keep all pupils fully motivated and achieving well.

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Grade: 3

Teaching assistants are deployed effectively and give constructive individual support to pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities so they achieve as well as their classmates. Marking is generally satisfactory although the quality of this is not as good when classes have changes of teacher. Pupils say they appreciate the helpful comments which teachers make about their work. However, they are not always clear about what level they are working at and what their targets for improvement are.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory. It has many good features which enhance the enjoyment and the positive attitudes with which pupils approach learning and help to widen their horizons. However, there is not sufficient emphasis on raising achievement in the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. The curriculum is enriched by a good range of visits, visitors and extra-curricular provision. This is further extended by events such as the creative arts week and the European Day of Culture. The school has a high reputation locally for its sporting prowess and pupils benefit from a good programme of health, social and personal education. The teaching of modern foreign languages is supported by links with the local secondary school and a school in France. Recent developments in planning the curriculum in themes which link subjects together are helping to make learning more interesting and relevant.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher’s leadership is strong in the positive influence it has on pupils’ personal development and the way it ensures their care and welfare. Relationships are very good: the headteacher and staff have created a positive environment where pupils feel safe and happy, and their confidence grows. Staff and governors work well as a team and share in the sound evaluation of performance which leads to realistic development planning. For example, strategies leading to improvements in the performance of girls were introduced following an analysis of data. However, the monitoring of teaching and learning lacks the necessary rigour to make significant improvements in achievement and standards. The evaluation of performance in order to raise standards lacks the sharpness needed to quicken the rate of progress. For example, the school does not make sufficiently clear what

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Grade: 3

pupils need to do to take the next steps in their learning. The school has made sound use of its assessment systems in order to evaluate pupils’ standards on entry to Year 3. This enables it to set clear and realistic targets for improvement. In addition, the recent implementation of a new system for tracking progress gives teachers better information on how well pupils are performing. The school has made satisfactory improvement since the last inspection and is in a satisfactory position to improve further. Most parents have positive views of the school. They take advantage of the many opportunities offered to be involved in their children’s education. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 November 2007 Governance is satisfactory. Governors are supportive. They make effective use of their expertise in helping to shape the direction of the school. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 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: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 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?

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?

2 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: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 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: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 November 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Age group 7 °11 Inspection date(s) 8°9 November 2007 Inspection number

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

12 November 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Lumley Junior School, Durham, DH3 4JJ Thank you for making us so welcome when we came to your school. Your school is satisfactory with some parts that are good. We enjoyed talking to you and were pleased to learn that you enjoy coming to school, and feel safe and well cared for. We were pleased to hear that you know about how to lead a healthy lifestyle and that you are very successful at sport. It was good to see how polite and courteous you were in class and around school. Here are some of the things the school does well:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ your attendance is good, you behave well and work hard

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ the school council helps to make the school a better place and buddies help to look after others ■ lots of interesting visits and visitors help to make learning interesting

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you are well looked after and the school is a happy, caring place.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Your school is going to work on becoming better by:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ helping you make more progress in English and mathematics

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ improving the way your work is checked to help you make progress.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you once again for making us so welcome. Yours sincerely David Earley Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Lumley Junior School, 8 °9 November 2007

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