Bishopswood Junior School

Bishopswood Junior School Inspection report

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116013 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 319468 Inspection number 12 °13 February 2008 Inspection dates Steven Hill 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 217 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Julian Burt Chair Mrs Ann Morrow Headteacher 31 January 2007 Date of previous school inspection Barlows Road School address Tadley RG26 3NA 0118 981 2738 Telephone number 0118 981 6515 Fax number

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7-11 Age group 12 °13 February 2008 Inspection dates 319468 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 an average sized junior school that serves a small town near the Hampshire/Berkshire border. The large majority of pupils are White British, with others coming from a variety of different minority ethnic groups. Virtually all pupils have English as a home language. Pupils' social and economic circumstances vary considerably but overall are slightly above average. Their standards when they start school vary similarly, and are broadly average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is above average. At the last inspection, the school was given a notice to improve because achievement was inadequate in English and mathematics. A monitoring visit in October 2007 judged the school to be making satisfactory progress in addressing the inspection issues.

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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: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 2008

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Grade: 3

Bishopswood provides a satisfactory and rapidly improving education for its pupils. The school has dealt well with the issue of underachievement identified at the last inspection, and is well placed to improve further. In accordance with Section 13(5) of the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement. Pupils are making good progress overall, although this is variable between classes and subjects. Standards at the end of the school are now in line with national averages and pupils' achievement is satisfactory. Standards are not better than average, because of a legacy of underachievement from previous years. Recent good progress has enabled pupils in Year 6 to make up most of this lost ground, so their overall achievement during their time at Bishopswood is satisfactory. Progress is also accelerating for pupils in the other year groups. Teaching is satisfactory and improving. An increasing number of good lessons, pupils' positive

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Grade: 3

attitudes, good systems to help any individuals who fall behind, and an interesting curriculum lead to the good overall progress. A key factor has been the teachers' thorough assessment of pupils' progress in English and mathematics and more effective use of the data obtained to help them do better. Teachers increasingly use this information well to match work in class to the different needs of different groups. However, the effectiveness of this is still variable, so that occasionally pupils have work that is too hard or too easy for them. Classroom management is good, and teachers provide interesting tasks for pupils to do. For example, a strong focus on practical work underpins the good achievement in science that has long been a feature of the school. The marking of pupils' work has improved significantly since the last inspection, and pupils are more involved in assessing for themselves how well they are getting on. However,

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Grade: 3

these aspects are still not consistent in different classes and subjects. A significant factor in improvements has been the identification of pupils who are in danger of falling behind and the provision of effective extra help for them to catch up. This helps pupils who struggle with literacy and numeracy, in particular, to make good progress. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils behave well, are very positive about learning, and enjoy themselves at school in both academic and social aspects of its life. They have good relationships with each other and with staff, and take a pride in their achievements. They contribute increasingly well to the school and the wider community. Their enjoyment of school is linked in part to the good curriculum, where an increasing number of links between subjects help make learning meaningful. The care, support and guidance provided are good. The improved academic guidance strongly supports pupils' progress, and the continued

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Grade: 3

good pastoral care underpins their personal development. Underlying the improvements are good leadership and management. Good self-evaluation has accurately identified what the school needs to do to improve further. Under the very good guidance of the headteacher and her deputy, the school has made effective use of help from the local authority to raise standards in English and mathematics. There are good and improving systems to keep track of how pupils are getting on. These enable staff to identify issues that the school needs to address as a whole, as well as to provide help to individuals who need it. Similarly, regular monitoring of lessons provides feedback to colleagues to help them improve their practice. However, subject leaders outside English and mathematics do not have enough opportunities to keep track of standards and provision in the same way. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 2008

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards further by eliminating the inconsistencies in teaching, particularly in matching work closely to pupils' needs. ■ Give subject leaders more opportunities to monitor standards and provision, so that they can share their expertise more effectively with colleagues. 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 are average and achievement is satisfactory. Achievement is good in science and standards are above average. Pupils are now making good progress overall, although the school's records show that this still varies between different classes and subjects. Good progress in the last eighteen months has enabled the school to mitigate weaknesses in achievement from previous years. The pupils who left Year 6 last July achieved in line with pupils nationally, having made rapid progress during their last year in the school. Pupils who struggle with literacy and numeracy do well because they receive carefully targeted help, under the good management of the special educational needs coordinator. Pupils who have emotional or social problems also make good progress because of the extra support provided, particularly from the Behaviour-for-Learning Manager.

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Grade: 2

Pupils participate well in school activities and show positive attitudes to learning. Attendance is average and is rising steadily. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils have a good awareness of major world faiths and other cultures. They are active in their support for a school in Uganda. In assemblies, pupils reflect thoughtfully on issues such as how they can help each other. Pupils have positive relationships with staff and amongst themselves. They adopt healthy lifestyles and possess a good understanding of the importance of healthy diets and taking regular exercise. The school council has contributed well to developments in the school. For instance, its suggestions led to the installation of a 'climbing wall' on which pupils enjoy developing their skills and confidence. Pupils successfully take on additional responsibilities such helping younger ones in the playground. They are well prepared for their

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Grade: 2

future lives through their strong social skills, positive attitudes and their improving academic skills.

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Grade: 3

Teaching is improving, with more and more good lessons taught. Positive relationships and high expectations of behaviour and effort were already strengths at the last inspection. They continue to help ensure that lessons are orderly and that pupils work hard. There are still inconsistencies between classes in some aspects of teaching, such as the pace of learning, which the headteacher has identified and is addressing. A strong feature of many lessons is the 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 2008 involvement of all pupils through discussion of their ideas in pairs, or through their working out answers and presenting them on small whiteboards. In other lessons, teachers miss such opportunities. Teachers increasingly help pupils to understand their own learning through effective marking, the best examples of which show them clearly how they can improve. Pupils are now fully involved in assessing their own success, a big improvement since the last inspection.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets the needs of all pupils well. There is good provision for pupils who struggle with basic skills or who have emotional problems, so they join in with school life and make good progress. Pupils enjoy a broad and interesting range of work. The teaching of Spanish enriches their experience of language. Improved use of information and communication technology (ICT) supports work in many subjects and enhances learning. There are good examples of cross-curricular links, such as a good Year 6 science lesson which linked awareness of keeping safe with investigating electrical insulators and conductors. A good range of visits and visitors enhances pupils' learning. Pupils in Year 6 enjoy a residential field trip to Calshot. A good range of clubs and activities includes the opportunity for pupils to improve their reading skills in the ICT suite before school starts. These sessions enrich pupils' experience and promote their

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Grade: 2

Good pastoral care and support contribute well to pupils' personal development. Procedures to safeguard learners are effective so pupils feel safe and secure at school. Staff, including the Behaviour-for-Learning Manager, know pupils' needs very well and have good relationships with them and their parents. Good use is made of support agencies to help pupils in the areas of attendance, behaviour, and learning difficulties and disabilities. Older pupils acting as 'Peer Mediators' help others to resolve disputes and encourage any pupils feeling left out to join in games. Systems for assessing and tracking pupils' progress in English and mathematics are effective. Assessment information is usually used well to plan teaching and to set challenging individual learning targets in English and mathematics. As a result, most pupils know what they are working on to improve their performance. The school plans to extend this good practice to

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Grade: 2

the use of assessment information in ICT.

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Grade: 2

Good leadership and management have improved pupils' progress and the curriculum since the last inspection, whilst consolidating the positive pastoral ethos. The headteacher provides clear leadership, supporting colleagues well but also holding them to account for their work. She has been well supported in this by the whole staff team, particularly the effective deputy headteacher. The school has an accurate view of its own strengths and weaknesses, particularly in the core subjects of mathematics and English. This is based on good systems to track pupils' progress, and regular monitoring of teaching and of pupils' work. In other subjects, coordinators have not had enough opportunity to assess provision and achievement. This is because recently the 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 2008 school has, quite rightly, concentrated on improving achievement in literacy and numeracy. It

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Grade: 2

has identified the development of the role of all subject leaders as a priority for the near future. Governors have a clear view of the school's strengths and weaknesses. They have supported it well since the last inspection, and hold it to account for its performance. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 2008 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 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? 2 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 3 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: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 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: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

28 February 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Bishopswood Junior School,Tadley,RG26 3NA I would like to thank you all very much for your friendly welcome and all the help you gave us when we visited your school. We enjoyed talking to you and watching you at work in class. You told us that you enjoy school and we could see why. We saw that your behaviour is good and that you all get on well together. You make a good contribution to the school through the school council and by being peer mediators. We were very impressed by the pupils we saw using the climbing wall. Not many schools have one of these, and the adults told me it was your idea. This is one of many interesting things you have to do in school, and illustrates how the curriculum has improved in the last two years. We think that your school has improved a lot since the last inspection. It is giving you a satisfactory education and is getting better all the time. Most of you are making good progress

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

in lessons and the pupils in Year 6 are now getting to the standards they should. You are doing better because the adults keep a very careful track of how you are getting on and try to make sure that you get the right work. Anyone who is slipping behind is given extra help so that they can catch up. However, in a few lessons, some of you still get work that is a bit too hard or too easy for you. We have agreed with staff that they will try to make sure this doesn't happen in future. The headteacher, other staff and the governors organise the school well. Standards have gone up a lot in English and maths because the adults have all worked together to concentrate on this. All the teachers have spent time visiting each other's lessons to see what is happening and to give each other ideas about how to make English and maths lessons better. We have asked the school to give the teachers who are experts in other subjects more chances to visit

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

each other's lessons, so they can help to make these subjects better too. We hope you carry on enjoying school. We are sure you will if you keep up the hard work and good behaviour. Best wishes, Steven Hill Lead Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Bishopswood Junior School, 12 °13 February 2008

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