Langstone Junior School

Langstone Junior School Inspection report

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116213 Unique Reference Number Portsmouth Local Authority 312218 Inspection number 26 °27 March 2008 Inspection dates John Seal HMI 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 326 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Richard Soutar Chair Mrs Claire Harvey (acting) Headteacher 4 November 2003 Date of previous school inspection Lakeside Avenue School address Copnor Portsmouth PO3 6EZ 023 9282 4138 Telephone number 023 9278 0018 Fax number

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7-11 Age group 26 °27 March 2008 Inspection dates 312218 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is an above average sized junior school. Most of the pupils are from White British backgrounds. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. There is an above average percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and with statements of special educational need. There has been a significant turnover of staff in recent years. Since September 2007, a high number of the teachers are newly qualified. The school is a 'Barrier Free' site for the Local Authority, it has recently renewed its Healthy Schools' Standard and achieved the Sportsmark.

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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: Langstone Junior School, 26 °27 March 2008

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Grade: 3

Langstone Junior provides a satisfactory standard of education. Since the middle of the autumn term 2007, the school's deputy head has been acting headteacher. Although the school has experienced exceptionally challenging circumstances, the acting headteacher has tackled these with integrity and in a professional and a well-measured manner. She has worked hard to develop a climate in which the staff work well together and share a common purpose. Personal development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy coming to school and say that they feel safe and happy. Attendance is good. Behaviour is generally good although there are occasions when a small minority of pupils disrupt the learning of others. Pupils attend parts of the governing body meetings as student associate members. Pupils demonstrate a willingness to take on responsibilities and all contribute to making the school a pleasant and happy place

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Grade: 3

to be. Pupils' achievement is satisfactory and their standards of attainment are broadly average. Over the last three years, there has been an improvement in the Key Stage 2 results for English, mathematics and science from below average to broadly in line with those expected nationally. However, some pupils in most year groups are not reaching the standards they are capable of, especially in writing and science. Teaching is satisfactory overall. In some lessons, teachers make effective use of their information about pupils' learning in their lesson planning to match most pupils' needs. As a result, pupils make good progress in such lessons. There is too much satisfactory teaching. In these lessons, teachers do not provide sufficient support or an activity to match the learning needs of most pupils, hindering their progress. In some cases, pupils lose interest and become restless. The curriculum is satisfactory. Adequate subject planning supports satisfactory progress. The

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Grade: 3

school has made good progress in implementing the recently introduced literacy and numeracy frameworks. One of the strengths of the curriculum is the effective French teaching. Pupils learn about health and safety through the personal social and health education programme. Examples of how the school has developed this area are 'Healthy Harvey's Super Lunchbox Challenge' and visitors such as the Fire Crew to discuss fire safety. Care, guidance and support are satisfactory. All safeguarding procedures are in place. The school has effective systems that promote pupils' health and safety. Staff care about their pupils and take their concerns seriously. One girl commented, 'I reported that a few pupils had been calling me names; they stopped immediately after I reported it to the acting headteacher through the school Worry Box.' The school's tracking and analysis of how pupils are progressing is improving, but the progress of different groups of pupils is not identified over time.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The acting headteacher and acting deputy know the school's strengths and weaknesses very well. The staff work well together as a team but because the number of staff with leadership experience is so few, the school's development is slower than it should be. The governors are beginning to develop as the school's critical friend. The school works well with other schools to support pupils' progress.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Continue to improve the rate of pupils' progress to increase their standards of attainment in English, mathematics and science. ■ Increase the proportion of good teaching in all classes. 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Langstone Junior School, 26 °27 March 2008 ■ Further develop the role of subject and team leaders to monitor and evaluate all pupils' progress and the quality of teaching and learning. ■ Continue to develop the role of the governing body to be a critical friend and be actively involved in the school's long-term development 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

Standards in reading and mathematics are average, but in science and writing, they are below average. To address this, the school has made suitable changes to the planning and teaching of these areas. The proportion of pupils attaining the higher levels in mathematics was above average although girls' attainment was below average. Since the middle of the autumn term 2007, there has been an effective, concentrated move to monitor and evaluate all pupils' progress. This has led to a clearer picture about how well pupils are progressing. The school's most recent information indicates that pupils are making satisfactory progress. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress because of the effective support provided by timely intervention strategies and the regular additional support provided by teaching assistants.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils are respectful and have a positive self-image. Pupils make good use of the 'Friendship Post' in the playground. The school council makes an effective contribution to pupils' strong sense of community. It has initiated litter sweeps in the immediate environment of the school. Pupils have a good understanding of what makes a healthy lifestyle and many have made determined effort to eat more healthily. At break times, they are active and regular involvement in sport boosts their fitness, confidence and teamwork skills. Many pupils satisfactorily develop the skills they need for later life through opportunities to work collaboratively and developing sound basic skills in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT).

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Grade: 3

In good lessons, activities are well structured and supported by planning which meets pupils' learning needs. Teachers' behaviour management strategies are effective, based on positive relationships. Pupils behave well because they are engaged in activities that interest them. Some lessons provide pupils with good opportunities for speaking and listening and teachers' subject knowledge is good. Not all teachers use assessment information to inform lessons accurately. This leads to pupils finding the work either too easy or too hard. Pupils have insufficient time for discussion about their work because teachers often take too long in their explanations. This hinders pupils' progress, as many often already know what to do. Well-trained teaching assistants effectively support pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Langstone Junior School, 26 °27 March 2008

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is generally broad, relevant and balanced. Planning includes appropriate provision for other subjects to practise literacy and numeracy skills. This is particularly evident in the development of literacy in other subjects. A good example of this was pupils writing about a day in the life of a child in Chembakoli in India. There are many visits, visitors and special events that the pupils enjoy such as the visit to Chichester Harbour as part of geography, authors such as John Foster and a Roman day. There are a good number of after school clubs such as computer, Irish dancing and football. These all contribute well to pupils' personal development. In subjects other than English, mathematics and science, the school is not able to monitor and evaluate the quality of provision and pupils' progress over time. This is because the recent high turnover of staff has deprived the school of experienced teachers who are able to lead and

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Grade: 3

manage a subject area in addition to teaching their class.

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Grade: 3

Pupils at risk are identified early and there are effective arrangements to keep them engaged. For example, the school has effectively organised nurture groups that support pupils who need additional support in their literacy and numeracy skills. Vulnerable pupils and those who have learning difficulties or disabilities are well cared for. The pupils confirm that the acting headteacher deals with bullying and harassment effectively when it occurs. The school works well with other parents, outside agencies and schools. Academic guidance is satisfactory. There are 'working walls' in classrooms which identify targets, but not all pupils are given specific targets for improvement.

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Grade: 3

There are effective monitoring and evaluation strategies to support the improvement of teaching, especially for the high number of newly qualified teachers. Appropriately challenging targets are in place for all pupils and there are strong indications from the school's monitoring that they are well placed to meet them. However, the monitoring systems are not detailed enough to provide accurate information regarding the progress of different groups of pupils. The governors are developing an understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses. The school's capacity for improvement is currently only satisfactory because the lack of experienced leaders beyond the acting headteacher and acting deputy limit planning for the school's long-term future. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Langstone Junior School, 26 °27 March 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: Langstone Junior School, 26 °27 March 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 2 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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Langstone Junior School, 26 °27 March 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: Langstone Junior School, 26 °27 March 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

21 April 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Langstone Junior School,Portsmouth,PO3 6EZ Thank you for your friendly and warm welcome when we visited you school recently. We enjoyed meeting you, seeing you in your lessons and around the school. We found lots of good things about your school. Your acting headteacher and staff have worked hard to improve things and the school is getting better all the time. There are lessons where you are able to learn a lot and enjoy the way the activities are organised for you. There are many lessons where you could learn even more because the work is often either too hard or too easy. Your headteacher knows where to make improvements and she is working with the staff to make things even better. Most of you behave well and get on with each other well. We particularly liked the way some of you have been involved in governors' meetings and teachers' interviews. We have talked with the staff and governors about the four things they are going to be working

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Help even more of you learn more about English, mathematics and science.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Make sure there are even more good lessons.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Do some more work on checking how much you are learning and how good the lessons are.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Check that the school is always doing the best it can for you and how it is going to develop in the future. I hope you can help the school to get even better. Perhaps you could tell your teachers when their lessons are helpful and continue to work as hard as you can. Best wishes for you and your future. Yours sincerely John Seal Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Langstone Junior School, 26 °27 March 2008

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