Holton-le-Clay Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that the governing body holds leaders to account for the impact of funding to improve the progress of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• Ensure that teachers plan work that consistently challenges the most able pupils to achieve the very best that they can in a range of different subjects.
• Make sure that teachers provide pupils with regular opportunities to write at length and for a variety of purposes to allow them to practise and apply their English skills.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s performance. Their determination to ensure that pupils receive good-quality teaching and learning has been crucial to the changes and improvements made.
• During the last two years, the school has been through a period of significant change. There have been several changes of staff, including the appointment of a new deputy headteacher. Although the changes have caused considerable concern among parents and carers, leaders have improved teaching and strengthened the capacity of the senior leadership team. With strong support from the governing body, the school now has a cohesive team of staff and senior leaders that is successfully driving improvements.
• Leaders’ plans to improve the school are focused on the actions to achieve success. Leaders, including governors, frequently review the plans to make sure that improvements move forward rapidly.
• Many middle leaders are new to their roles. Senior leaders provide them with bespoke and ongoing training to enable them to settle into their positions quickly. Middle leaders are enthusiastic about their areas of expertise. The leaders for mathematics, reading and writing are confident and have a clear understanding of their roles. They work alongside colleagues to strengthen teaching and improve standards for pupils.
• Leaders have used external advice and support to improve the school. The local authority has helped to train staff and governors and has supported senior leaders to put in place a rigorous system for checking the effectiveness of their actions to improve the school. Actions to improve the quality of teaching and learning are frequently scrutinised by governors, who hold senior leaders to account well.
• Leaders have developed the school’s curriculum to reflect the needs of its pupils. Topics are linked to motivating texts which inspire them to learn. Pupils have opportunities to extend their knowledge and broaden their experiences through visits to places of interest, and through visitors to school. For example, Year 6 pupils visit RAF Cranwell as part of their topic about the Second World War. Displays around the school, together with evidence from work in pupils’ books, demonstrate the broad range of the curriculum and its positive impact on developing pupils’ skills and knowledge.
• School leaders promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and their understanding of fundamental British values very well. Pupils regularly take part in activities to support the local community. Members of the school council told me how they attended meetings of the parish council to discuss ways in which the school can contribute to the community. They excitedly explained that they were planning to plant daffodils around the school and the village to help improve the environment.
• Staff feel well supported by school leaders. They highly value the opportunities for professional development that are provided for them. Staff told inspectors how they feel part of a close-knit team. They say that they feel empowered in their roles because their ideas and ambitions are respected by leaders.
• Leaders ensure that the additional funding provided through the pupil premium is used effectively to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders provide a wide range of additional support and activities for eligible pupils. The support is specifically targeted to meet pupils’ social and emotional, as well as their academic, needs. The leader for the pupil premium closely monitors and evaluates the impact of these actions to ensure that pupils make good progress.
• Until recently, the funding provided to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities had not been used to improve teaching. A new special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) was appointed this academic year. She is supported well by the coordinator for SEN from the federated infant school. The new coordinator has acted quickly to establish a good system for the identification of pupils’ needs. Observations and scrutiny of pupils’ work show that more pupils with SEN and/or disabilities are now making good progress. Regular and relevant training and greater involvement with external agencies have improved teaching and learning for these pupils. The coordinator’s work to improve communication with parents is also having a positive impact on meeting pupils’ needs. These developments have not yet been evaluated by governors to check that funds are being used to ensure that these pupils do as well as they possibly can.

Governance of the school

• During the last two years, the governing body has gone through a period of change. Governors recognised that in the past they did not hold leaders and teachers to account for the progress and attainment of pupils as well as they should have done. They reacted quickly to bring about improvements. Together with senior leaders, they have made considerable changes to the school to ensure that the quality of education for pupils improved.
• Governors are experienced and possess a range of relevant knowledge and skills. They challenge and support senior leaders. They have a good understanding of the strengths of the school and the areas which need improvement.
• Governors visit the school regularly to check on its work and the progress of actions to improve the school. They write reports on their findings to inform other governors so that any necessary actions can be taken. Although governors challenge senior leaders and hold them to account for many aspects of the school’s work, they have not yet held leaders to account for the school’s use of the funding to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a good culture of safeguarding throughout the school. Leaders provide all staff with relevant up-to-date training to safeguard pupils. Staff know the school’s procedures for raising welfare and child protection concerns.
• Adults in school are diligent in ensuring that pupils are safe. Records for safeguarding are well maintained. Leaders’ recent introduction of a new system to monitor events which may be related to safeguarding has enabled staff to more robustly track incidents and concerns about pupils. Senior leaders are tenacious in monitoring vulnerable pupils, and they work in partnership with external agencies, where necessary, to ensure the well-being of pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved significantly over the last two years. It is now consistently good across the school. Teachers use their good subject knowledge to plan lessons which interest pupils and encourage them to make good progress. Pupils enjoy learning.
• Relationships between pupils and adults are good. Teachers and teaching assistants know pupils well. Pupils are confident and happy to try difficult tasks or contribute answers in class, secure in the knowledge that they have the support of adults.
• Pupils cooperate well with each other and work independently when required to do so. Adults use resources and questions well to consolidate learning and clarify misconceptions, and to extend and deepen pupils’ understanding. Teachers encourage pupils to explain what they are learning as well as make connections with their prior learning. Pupils in Years 4 and 5 used their learning about the life of Tim Peake in space to create a word harvest describing what it would be like to take off from earth in the space shuttle.
• The teaching of reading has improved. Leaders have restructured the curriculum to make good-quality texts a focus for class topics and learning. There is a whole-school appreciation of reading. Reading is promoted through exciting displays, strategies to promote regular reading at home and at school and in the newly refurbished library. Pupils value the opportunities that they are given to enjoy a variety of texts when they visit the library during lunchtimes. They animatedly explained to inspectors how the reading challenge has encouraged them to read regularly. Pupils who read to inspectors read with enjoyment, expression and fluency. Most had a mature understanding of the texts they were reading.
• There is a consistent approach to the teaching of mathematics across the school. Teachers plan lessons that are well structured. Pupils have frequent opportunities to practise their skills and apply their knowledge to solve problems. They use reasoning to explain what they have done and why. Teachers provide notebooks to support pupils to work independently. Pupils use the books to record methods to help them solve problems. Pupils who spoke to inspectors told them that the books are a useful aid to support them if they get stuck with their work. As one pupil said, ‘Instead of asking the teacher I can use my notebook to help me because I have written down how I need to work out the problem.’
• The teaching of English grammar, spelling and punctuation is good. Teachers have high expectations for the quality of pupils’ handwriting and the presentation of their work. The majority of pupils are able to confidently apply the skills and knowledge that they learn in their lessons to their written work across different subjects.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities receive effective, well-planned teaching and support. Teachers work closely with teaching assistants to ensure that additional support meets pupils’ needs well and is carefully targeted to move them on in their learning.
• Teachers ensure that pupils have opportunities to write for different purposes, which are linked to different genres and topics of interest. Pupils are encouraged to edit and improve their writing to ensure that they do their very best. Teachers support pupils to develop their understanding and use of language through skilful questioning and by encouraging them to independently access appropriate resources. Nevertheless, teachers do not give pupils frequent enough opportunities to write at length across different subjects to practise their writing skills and extend and deepen their understanding.
• Teachers do not ensure that the work that they plan is sufficiently and consistently challenging for the most able pupils to make as much progress as they can in their learning across different subjects.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Relationships between staff and pupils are positive. The school has a friendly, calm atmosphere that is conducive to learning. Pupils are sociable, confident, and they are interested in their learning. They take pride in their work and in their school.
• Pupils feel safe and well cared for in school. They say that adults help them with any worries that they may have. Pupils are taught how to stay safe in a range of situations, including when using social media and riding their bicycles.
• Pupils enjoy responsibility through their elected positions as members of the school council and as mini police officers. Through these roles, they are involved in decision-making. For example, pupils plan fundraising events and recently took part in a mental health awareness day.
• Leaders actively promote healthy lifestyles. Pupils understand the importance of staying healthy by eating well and exercising regularly. They appreciate the additional lessons and clubs provided by Grimsby Town Football Club, which also support their social and emotional well-being. Pupils say that weekly yoga lessons are teaching them to manage their emotions and maintain good mental health.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are polite and courteous. Their conduct around the school and in lessons is good. They play sensibly at breaktime and lunchtime.
• Pupils have a good understanding of school systems to promote good behaviour. Parents who spoke with inspectors, and the majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, agreed that the school ensures that pupils are well behaved.
• Pupils understand the different forms that bullying can take. They say that incidents of bullying or poor behaviour are rare but, when they do happen, staff deal with them fairly and effectively. Some parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were unhappy about the way the school handles bullying. However, leaders’ records show that instances of bullying are few and that they are handled appropriately, and in line with the school’s behaviour policy.
• Pupils are confident in expressing their opinions. They work well together in lessons and show mutual respect. Pupils lose concentration only rarely when the work they are set is not well matched to their needs.
• Attendance has historically been in line with the national average. However, persistent absence increased in 2017 to be above the national average. Leaders are taking rigorous and effective actions to reverse this trend, including the employment of an education welfare officer, who works closely with families of pupils who are persistently absent. Although attendance is improving, it remains a priority.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Improvements made over the last two years have been sustained and developed into the current academic year. Evidence seen in lessons and in pupils’ books and information provided by the school indicate that the majority of current pupils are working at the standards expected for their age in a variety of subjects.
• Pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 6, particularly in reading, has been below average in recent years. Strong leadership and improved teaching are raising standards. In 2018, the proportion of pupils who attained the expected standards increased to above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics, and in English grammar, punctuation and spelling.
• Pupils’ progress is good throughout the school. Current Year 6 pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. An above-national-average proportion of pupils are leaving the school with knowledge and skills that are essential for successful learners.
• Disadvantaged pupils make similar good progress to other pupils in the school. They benefit from good teaching and well-focused additional resources and support when they need it.
• Across the school, not all pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are making as much progress as their peers. Improved provision and strong teaching are now seeing this picture improve rapidly. However, governors have not yet evaluated the impact of the funding for these actions.
• Some of the most able pupils do not make as much progress as they could. Evidence in pupils’ books and in lessons shows that although these pupils have opportunities to extend their learning, they are not consistently challenged by teachers to go the extra mile and achieve their very best in a range of different subjects.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 120497 Lincolnshire 10056196 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 148 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher (Executive) Jim Allen Dawne Hunt Telephone number 01472 826 432 Website Email address www.holtonleclayschools.co.uk enquiries@holton-le-clay-junior.lincs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 1 May 2018

Information about this school

• Holton-le-Clay Junior School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds, and of pupils who speak English as an additional language, are below those seen nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The school receives support from the local authority.
• The school is federated with Holton-le-Clay Infant School to form the Holton-le-Clay Schools Federation.
• The governing body is the governing body for the Holton-le-Clay Schools Federation. Three governors have recently joined the governing body.
• Four new teachers have recently been appointed to the school. A new deputy headteacher has strengthened the senior leadership team.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching in all year groups. 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 and several middle leaders, including those for reading, writing and mathematics. The lead inspector met with members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day. They took account of the 21 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 14 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaires for staff. There were no responses to the pupil survey.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including: the school’s 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 safeguarding; information about behaviour management; information relating to the school’s use of the pupil premium funding and funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities; the school’s most recent information relating to the attendance of pupils; and minutes from meetings of the governing body.

Inspection team

Stephanie Innes-Taylor, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Jackie Thornalley Ofsted Inspector