Setting

Mr J McCausland Headteacher Booker Avenue Junior School Booker Road Liverpool Merseyside L18 9SB

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on 21 May 2010 and for the information which you provided before and during my visit . Please also pass on my thanks to the pupils, chair of governors and the local authority representatives, who all attended meetings at short notice.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

The school has experienced some disruptions to staffing since the last inspection leading to two classes being taught by teachers on short-term contracts.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

As a result of the inspection on 29 and 30 September 2009, the school was asked to:

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

 ensure that pupils make much better progress and attain higher standards by: – standardising the current system for checking pupils’ progress so that targets for individuals, groups and the whole school are sufficiently challenging  improve the quality of leadership and management by: – ensuring senior leaders recognise the urgency required in raising the performance of the school – equipping leaders and managers at all levels with the skills necessary to evaluate performance information and use it to develop plans for improvement which link directly to the required improved outcomes for all groups of pupils – ensuring that statutory requirements are met with regard to safeguarding  raise the quality of teaching to good or better by: – adapting teaching plans to meet the needs of the individual abilities of pupils more closely – providing further training for all staff to enable them to develop a wider

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

variety of teaching styles and an understanding of the effective use of assessment Suite 22 West Lancashire Investment Centre Maple View White Moss Business Park Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 08456 40 40 40 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566934 Direct F 01695 729320 e-mail gtunnicliffe@cfbt.com Page 2 – increasing the pace of lessons by decreasing the amount of time pupils sit listening to the teacher thus allowing pupils more time to take responsibility for their own learning.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school is making good progress in addressing the issues for improvement and in raising the pupils’ achievement.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Pupils’ achievement is now improving throughout the school. In the 2009 Key Stage 2 national tests, pupils attained standards that were significantly above average in English and mathematics and above average in science. However, some progress measures indicated that pupils were not making good progress. Inspection evidence from lesson observations and from data held by the school shows that standards are still high in English and mathematics and, as a result of improvements to the provision, pupils are making better progress. More pupils are reaching the higher levels of which they are capable and an indicated decline in standards in English has been halted.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

The school sets itself challenging targets based upon secure assessment. These targets are likely to be met or surpassed based upon the progress of pupils seen during the inspection. The school’s data tracking system has improved and standardised to provide a more accurate and robust means of collecting and analysing information from assessments. Useful information regarding the progress and attainment of all groups of pupils is used by teachers and senior leaders to inform their evaluations and planning. The tracking system is developing well and the school has correctly identified that this way of working needs time to embed to ensure consistency and maximum effectiveness across the school. The pupils questioned during the inspection knew their learning targets and how to improve their work.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Senior leaders are addressing the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection with urgency and determination. The senior leadership team has expanded to share the workload from the wider range of monitoring activities planned each term. Middle leaders have benefited from relevant and good quality training and have the appropriate skills to take an active role in effectively monitoring and evaluating the provision. The school’s capacity for further improvement has been enhanced by increasing the opportunities for less experienced staff to shadow monitoring activities. Governors are closely involved in monitoring the provision and fulfil their statutory responsibilities. The school now has a clear focus on driving improvements and staff are appropriately concentrating on learning and outcomes for pupils. School self-evaluation is accurate and safeguarding requirements are fully met.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

As a result of good quality professional development and rigorous monitoring activities, the quality of teaching has improved significantly since the last inspection. Teachers’ planning is generally of good quality and considers the needs of all groups Page 3 of learners. Pupils are given many opportunities to talk and learn from their peers and they are engaged in interesting and relevant activities. They have developed good self-help skills to solve problems in lessons so they can learn more independently. They listen well to their teachers’ clear explanations and their behaviour is consistently good which makes a strong contribution to their good progress in lessons. Teachers provide pupils with good quality feedback to improve their understanding and to challenge their thinking with appropriate questions in lessons and good quality marking in their workbooks. An effective approach to assessing pupils’ progress has been introduced in reading, writing and mathematics

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

which has improved teachers’ use of assessment when planning lessons to meet the needs of all pupils. The information from assessments and observations is also used at regular ‘pupil progress meetings’ where teachers are held to account for the progress of the pupils in their classes.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

Support and challenge for the school from the local authority has been concerted and effective. Despite changes in local authority personnel, a consistent and planned approach has contributed to the rapid changes in the school. Recently, the school has rightly indicated that it is ready to move forward without such intensive support because capacity is now much stronger and systems introduced need time to become firmly established. The local authority’s original statement of action required some amendments and these have been addressed and it is now fit for purpose.

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Ofsted monitoring of schools with a notice to improve

I hope that you have found the visit helpful in promoting improvement in your school. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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