Old Hall Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teachers teach pupils more effectively about cultural diversity to better prepare them for life in modern Britain.
• Increase the opportunities for pupils to use and apply their mathematics skills in other subjects so that they can deepen their understanding and make even better progress.
• Develop leadership, evaluation and monitoring of subjects, other than English and mathematics, to precisely link to school improvement plans to ensure that pupils’ progress and attainment are equally strong in all subjects.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• School leaders have acted swiftly and decisively in response to the outcomes of the previous inspection. They have focused on ensuring that improvements in pupils’ progress and attainment are at the forefront of their actions. Their success in this has shown that there is good capacity for the school to continue to improve.
• The headteacher and deputy headteacher have secured the trust and respect of parents and staff. They are ambitious for the personal and academic achievements of pupils and have a clear view of what the school needs to do to improve further. They and their staff act as impressive role models for pupils. This has played an important part in securing the culture of calmness, care and perseverance throughout the school.
• Senior leaders use the school’s performance management systems and procedures to promote good teaching practice and improve pupils’ progress and attainment. Leaders have addressed staff underperformance, shared good practice and provided professional development opportunities for teachers and teaching assistants when necessary. As a result, the majority of teaching in the school is of a high standard.
• Senior leaders have been proactive in seeking the additional support they need to improve the school. In addition to the involvement of the local authority, the school has also benefited from the assistance of a national leader of education through membership of the Derbyshire Partnership for Learning Teaching School Alliance. These actions have contributed significantly to the pace of school improvement since the last inspection.
• Leaders, including governors, have an accurate picture of the school’s performance. They use their strong links with other schools to secure their judgements. Their plans for further improvement of the school are closely linked to this evaluation, as are the targets set for the performance of teachers. This is ensuring that teachers are held to account not only for pupils’ outcomes but also for their roles and responsibilities in the wider success of the school.
• Senior leaders reacted promptly to address weaknesses in middle leadership after the last inspection. Leaders provided specific training to the leaders of English and mathematics to successfully improve their skills. They more effectively monitor the impact of their work to improve pupils’ progress and raise standards. These leaders and the leaders of special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupil premium are rising to the challenges they are set by senior leaders. They know the strengths and areas in need of improvement in their subjects, contributing to the wider actions needed to improve the school’s performance over time.
• Leaders and governors use the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. For example, there is highly effective pastoral support for vulnerable pupils, which also encourages them to become ambassadors to reduce anxiety and ‘bring friends together’. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are monitored well. Individual plans are in place for pupils that require specific extra support.
• Leaders use the additional funds provided through the physical education and sport premium grant effectively. In addition to providing high-quality training to improve teachers’ skills in delivering physical education lessons, pupils have increased access to extra-curricular sporting activities. Pupils value highly these sporting activities and recognise the impact on the quality of their playtimes through improved opportunities to keep fit and healthy such as the ‘Go Noodle’ club and the trim trail.
• The school’s curriculum offers a wide range of opportunities for pupils to learn and develop new skills, although leaders are acting to improve this further. The curriculum is effective at securing good levels of spiritual, moral and social understanding and pupils are increasingly well prepared to take their place in modern Britain. Nevertheless, pupils’ understanding of cultural diversity is limited. Leaders’ evaluations of this aspect of the curriculum have not been thorough enough to ensure that pupils have a secure understanding of these issues outside their immediate community.
• Senior leaders have focused on successfully improving leadership and outcomes in English and mathematics and for vulnerable pupils after the last inspection. However, leaders of other curriculum subjects do not as precisely monitor teaching, learning and assessment to secure continued pupil achievement. Senior leaders acknowledge that although plans for improvement are currently being developed, these are not yet linked to school improvement plans to ensure that standards are equally high in all subjects.

Governance of the school

• Members of the governing body have a good understanding of the roles and responsibilities of governors in securing school improvement. They have responded commendably to the outcomes of the previous inspection and are determined that the school will continue to improve.
• Governors undertake their responsibilities conscientiously, prioritising the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. The local authority has provided effective training which has brought increased rigour to governors’ actions. They use the school’s performance information well to challenge school leaders and hold them to account. They visit the school regularly to check on leaders’ actions and work closely with staff to be better informed.
• Governors monitor the use of additional funds, such as the pupil premium and funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Governors ensure that they receive regular updates from leaders on the outcomes for different groups of pupils. They work very effectively with the leader responsible for the pupil premium. As a result, vulnerable pupils are making good progress across the school from their starting points.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Effective procedures and systems are in place and statutory requirements are met. Staff and governors receive regular training, which includes how to identify ways that pupils may be at risk from extremist views. Leaders keep precise records, which show effective work with external agencies.
• The care and culture of safeguarding within the school are evident in the way pupils feel safe. Pupils and staff know each other well. Pupils trust adults in the school and say that they know whom to talk to if they are worried. Pupils who spoke to inspectors talked knowledgeably about how the school keeps them safe, including how to stay safe online and from the risks of ‘grooming’.
• Parents and pupils agree that incidents of bullying are rare and that the school is a safe place to learn. The strong focus on pastoral support has ensured that pupils are nurtured and are well cared for. The culture of care and protection extends to pupils showing a high level of respect and thoughtfulness towards adults and each other.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers and teaching assistants work well together and share the leaders’ high aspirations for pupils. Relationships with pupils are strong and pupils are enthusiastic and motivated to learn. As a result, the majority of pupils achieve well.
• The quality of teaching and learning across the school and in a range of subjects has improved rapidly since the last inspection and is at least good. Work in pupils’ books is usually well presented, regardless of the subject.
• Pupils’ progress and attainment have improved significantly since the last inspection as a result of improved teaching and learning. The teachers plan lessons that are well structured and build on pupils’ prior learning. For example, in a mathematics lesson, pupils were able to use their knowledge of shape properties to work together to construct different shapes. They worked with their partner, sharing ideas and clarifying their understanding.
• Teachers and teaching assistants often extend pupils’ learning through the use of well-considered questions. Teachers’ feedback encourages pupils to reflect on how they could improve their work further. Pupils increasingly self-evaluate the quality of their work. Scrutiny of pupils’ books shows that, over time, this is helping to reinforce learning and encourage pupils to learn from their mistakes.
• Leaders and teachers place a high priority on reading. Pupils say that they enjoy reading and read regularly at home and at school. When reading to inspectors, or during guided reading lessons in class, pupils of different ages and abilities often read with fluency and expression. They used their phonic skills well to attempt unfamiliar words.
• Teachers place particular emphasis on the development of key skills, such handwriting, spelling and grammar. Pupils write for a range of purposes across different subjects. Opportunities for pupils to write at length help to build their resilience as writers. Over time, pupils’ writing shows improvements in the quality and maturity of content and is increasingly engaging for readers. For example, ‘beautiful sugar clouds slowly but surely crept over the palace’ was part of a description seen in the writing of a Year 5 pupil.
• Teachers have improved the way they use assessment information since the last inspection. They now use this information to plan lessons that effectively support the needs of pupils who have additional needs and to challenge the most able pupils. As a result, these pupils are motivated and make good progress from their starting points.
• Teachers provide many opportunities for pupils to use and apply their improving mathematics skills. Increasingly, pupils explain what they have done and why, to improve their reasoning skills. However, teachers do not yet exploit opportunities for pupils to use and develop their mathematics skills in other subjects.
• Although teachers have a well-structured framework to teach pupils about spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues, they have not ensured that pupils have a good enough understanding of cultural diversity outside of their own community.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are taught to respect each other and care for their school environment. There is a strong ethos of friendship and tolerance for others. Pupils in Year 6 are able to demonstrate their ability to empathise with others from different backgrounds or lifestyles: ‘We make people welcome. It doesn’t matter what their background, we can be friends.’
• Pupils are enthusiastic learners and relish the extra-curricular experiences such as the many sports clubs and opportunities to learn musical instruments that enhance their learning. For example, pupils eagerly told inspectors about playing their clarinets in Derby Arena with the Hallé orchestra.
• Teachers and teaching assistants model positive attitudes and perseverance with learning. As a result, pupils are developing increasing resilience in lessons and are keen to work with more independence. One pupil used a metaphor to explain to an inspector that it was important to learn from her mistakes because it encouraged her brain to grow: ‘When you are little you have a wobbly bridge but when you are bigger, you have a motorway bridge.’
• Pupils hold positions of responsibility in school. Elections for these positions have helped pupils to understand key British values such as democracy and the importance of law. Year 6 pupils explained how they have recently debated whether the world would be a better place without laws but concluded: ‘It would be terrible because people could do whatever they wanted, like murder and steal, and no one could stop them.’
• Pupils willingly volunteer to fundraise for charities that support the local community such as local foodbanks as well as charities further afield. For example, pupils talked excitedly about their fundraising to support a school in Rwanda. However, pupils’ understanding of different cultures is limited because leaders have not ensured that teachers explicitly teach pupils about cultural diversity so that pupils have a deeper understanding of the issues involved.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils show respect and consideration for others. They are confident to express their opinions and speak highly of the behaviour in school.
• Pupils’ conduct and self-discipline is good and they work and play happily together. They work collaboratively, listening to their peers and respecting different opinions in a mature manner. Pupils feel able to express their opinions and trust the adults in school who they say support them well.
• Pupils say that they enjoy coming to school. Attendance is above the national average, with pupils arriving punctually and ready for the day ahead.
• Pupils take pride in their school. They proudly showed inspectors artwork displayed in the hall, where each child in the school had illustrated a musical note. One pupil read the title: ‘Each one of us a note, together a masterpiece.’ The pupil explained how that was how she felt about pupils in the school: ‘We all get on well together.’
• Pupils are polite and well-mannered. The vast majority of pupils respond quickly and appropriately to adults’ instructions.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Work in pupils’ books shows that the vast majority of pupils are making progress that is at least good in relation to their starting points. Over time, pupils’ skills and knowledge are improving and their understanding of reading, writing and mathematics is deepening.
• Current pupils’ assessment and progress tracking information shown to inspectors by senior leaders shows that outcomes in most year groups, and particularly in Year 6, have significantly improved this year. Work in pupils’ books and lesson observations confirm that this information is accurate.
• Current progress and attainment across the school shows improvement on previous levels. This is a result of the effective action taken by leaders and teachers to address the previous underachievement of pupils and the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Leaders rigorously track the progress of pupils and use this information to hold teachers to account for pupils’ outcomes. Teachers also use this information to plan and deliver effective interventions to raise pupils’ outcomes.
• In 2016 the proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard at the end of key stage 2 in writing and mathematics was below that of other pupils nationally. Leaders reacted promptly to train teachers to improve teaching strategies and made amendments to the curriculum to better meet the needs of pupils. As a result, progress and attainment in writing and mathematics has significantly improved across the school.
• The pupil premium is used effectively to improve the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. In 2016, their outcomes were below those of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. However, current internal pupil tracking information shows that the progress of the majority of disadvantaged pupils, including the most able of them, is in line with or exceeding that of other pupils in the school.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve well in relation to their starting points because of high-quality additional support they receive from teachers and teaching assistants. External specialists work well with leaders to undertake regular reviews to ensure that any barriers to learning are addressed quickly and effectively.
• Information on current pupils’ progress from their starting points shows that the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are making good progress. However, outcomes could be even higher in mathematics if pupils had regular opportunities to develop and apply their skills in a range of subjects across the curriculum.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 112669 Derbyshire 10025851 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Junior School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 7 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 258 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Penny Pennington Sharon Stone 01246 273801 http://www.oldhall.derbyshire.sch.uk headteacher@oldhall.derbyshire.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 February 2016

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Old Hall Junior school is an average-sized junior school.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is lower than the national average.
• The percentage of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is lower than the national average.
• The overall percentage of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is lower than the national average.
• In 2016, the school met the government’s floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations of pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching in all year groups, including joint observations with the deputy headteacher. They observed the teaching of reading and listened to pupils reading. Inspectors talked to pupils about their school and looked at examples of pupils’ work.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, subject and middle leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, the leader for pupil premium, representatives of the governing body and the school’s improvement adviser from the local authority. A telephone conversation was held with a representative from the Derbyshire Partnership for Learning Teaching School Alliance.
• Inspectors spoke to parents informally at the start and end of the school day. They took account of the 53 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View).
• Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including: the school’s own self-evaluation of current performance and plans for improvement; the school’s most recent information on the achievement and progress of pupils; information relating to the safeguarding of pupils; the school’s most recent information relating to the attendance of pupils; and minutes from a number of governing body meetings.

Inspection team

Stephanie Innes-Taylor, lead inspector Helen Atkins Anne White Gary Nixon Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector