Baddow Hall Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning so that all groups of pupils make good progress by ensuring that teachers:
  • in line with school policy, provide pupils with feedback that will help them improve their work
  • move pupils on briskly to the next learning activity when they are ready
  • have high expectations of what all groups of pupils can achieve
  • provide work that is suitably interesting and challenging for the pupils to maintain their interest.
  • Improve leadership and management in order to raise standards by:
    • evaluating the impact of their actions and adjusting them according to their effectiveness
    • ensuring that all teachers are consistently implementing improvement strategies.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders and managers have not ensured that teaching and learning throughout the school are consistently good. There has not been enough emphasis on pupil progress. As a result, pupils have left Year 6 not having reached their full potential. Instability in teaching staff in the previous year has contributed to a lack of consistency in teaching.

• Leaders have not sufficiently evaluated the effect of their actions to improve pupil outcomes. Leaders have analysed pupils’ results to identify the weaknesses. As a result, changes have been introduced to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. The actions are well thought out and target the right areas. Leaders need to ensure the consistency of teaching in these subjects and check and review the effect of their actions on pupils’ progress and make changes as necessary.
• In previous years, leaders have not been setting sufficiently challenging targets for pupils. However, a new system of target setting is ensuring that pupils have targets based on progress. Leaders carefully check pupils’ progress and when a pupil is not making sufficient progress, they receive support. Their support is targeted to their specific need. Leaders are now identifying underachievement more quickly than in previous years.
• Having reviewed the use and effect of pupil premium funding, changes have been made to its use. The headteacher has employed additional teachers to teach mathematics and English in upper key stage 2 in order to reduce class sizes. A specialist teacher also runs English and mathematics support classes to help pupils catch up in their learning. Disadvantaged pupils are also supported to overcome social and emotional barriers that may affect their learning. Pupils also have access to all school trips, visits and after-school clubs. The funding is used well to support disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders make good use of the primary physical education (PE) and sports premium. It has ensured that more pupils have the opportunity to take part in sporting activities and competitions. Staff have been trained to deliver sports lessons and specialist coaches are employed to deliver after-school clubs. Pupils enjoy their sports lessons and really appreciate the opportunities they have to take part in a wide range of sports.
• The local authority has a realistic view of the school’s performance. It has provided the school with effective support. The school improvement partner provides a good balance of support and challenge to school leaders. The local authority has supported the school in developing mathematics teaching so that more pupils have the opportunity to solve problems. It is currently supporting the school to improve outcomes in reading.
• The school uses the additional funding to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities appropriately. Pupils are provided with good classroom support for their academic and emotional and social needs. They also receive targeted teaching in small groups to develop basic literacy and numeracy skills. The progress of pupils with special educational needs has been below average. However, inspectors saw evidence that the progress of pupils currently in the school is improving due to improve provision.
• Pupils follow a broad curriculum. They study a range of interesting topics and have the opportunity to consider current world events. For example, Year 6 were looking at the impact of floods to Caribbean communities as part of their work on disasters. The curriculum is enriched by a programme of musical, technical, educational and sporting after-school clubs.
• The school makes a strong contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils are taught about different faiths and cultures. Fundamental British Values such as respect, tolerance and democracy are taught through the curriculum and assemblies. Displays around the school celebrate the many different activities pupils have taken part in.

Governance of the school

• There have been several changes in the governing body since the previous inspection. This has led to a review of governors’ skills and new governors are appointed if they have the right skills. They use their skills appropriately to fulfil their statutory duties. Governors are proactive and understand their role is to challenge and support school leaders.
• Governors hold regular meetings with leaders to review pupils’ achievement. They ask leaders questions about pupils’ attainment and check the school against national averages. However, previously did not evaluate pupils’ progress in sufficient depth. Governors describe themselves as now being ‘involved rather than informed’. As a result, they have a sharper understanding of pupils’ progress in relation to other pupils nationally.
• Governors have undergone the relevant training to understand the changes to the primary curriculum and assessment. They visit the school during the day so they understand the work of the school. Governors talk to pupils to get their view of the school. Governors were involved in making changes to the use of the pupil premium funding and ensuring the school is getting value for money.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Governors ensure that the school fulfils its safeguarding duties and carry out an annual audit of safeguarding practices. All staff, including governors, receive annual training in the latest guidance. They are kept up to date throughout the year of any changes. All staff understand that keeping pupils safe is of paramount importance.

• Procedures for checking the suitability of staff and volunteers are thorough. Staff know that any concern must be reported to a designated safeguarding lead. The school reports concerns to the appropriate authority and keeps thorough records of actions taken.
• Pupils feel safe in school. They told inspectors that there are adults to talk to if they have a concern. Children are taught about keeping themselves safe, especially when using the internet and technology. The school publishes useful information on its website for parents and runs an annual workshop on internet safety. Pupils also learn about personal safety and water and fire safety.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Not enough teachers move pupils on to the more challenging work quickly enough for them to make consistently good progress.

• Teachers check pupils’ work but not all follow the school’s assessment policy consistently as there is a variation in the quality of the feedback provided. Not enough feedback is precise enough to enable pupils to make the progress they should. In classes where teachers were providing specific next steps, in line with the policy, pupils were making good progress.
• There is a variation in teachers’ expectations. Where teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, inspectors saw good progress in lessons and in pupils’ books. However, when this was not the case the quality of pupils’ work dipped.
• In lessons where pupils made good or better progress they were set challenging and interesting activities. Teachers carefully checked pupils’ progress and adjusted the activity to ensure learning was at the right level. Pupils were concentrating on their work and enjoying their learning. However, this is not consistent across all classes.
• Relationships between pupils and adults in the classroom are positive and teachers know their pupils well. Pupils work co-operatively together and help one another with their learning.
• Teaching assistants provide good levels of support for the pupils they work with. This is because they understand the needs of the pupils. They use questioning well to check pupils’ understanding and to guide pupils through their work. As a result, pupils are making at least expected levels of progress.
• Lessons are planned so that learning builds on pupils’ current level of knowledge, skills and understanding.
• The actions taken to improve mathematics teaching are starting to have an impact on developing pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills. A good example of this was seen in Year 6 mathematics lessons, where pupils were solving division problems using remainders, decimals and fractions. Pupils told inspectors that they enjoyed the lesson but that the work presented them with challenge.

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 confident, articulate and enjoy coming to school. Pupils are polite and respectful towards one another.
• Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe in school and that adults listen to them and help them to sort out any problems they have with friends.
• Pupils are provided with a range of opportunities to take on leadership roles such as house captain, play leader and ‘trouble shooters’. They enjoy their posts of responsibility and carry out their duties diligently.
• Pupils have access to a large playing area and make good use of the space. It allows pupils to run around and ‘let off steam’ safely. Lunchtimes are particularly purposeful as the play leaders run team games such as volleyball, football and cricket. Participation in these activities is good and pupils play well together, observing the rules and judgements of the play leaders.
• The school has a number of pupils who, due to their special educational needs, find it difficult to manage their behaviour. These pupils are well supported in school to manage their behaviour and the school works effectively with support agencies to meet their needs.
• Some parents expressed concerns about bullying. However, pupils who responded to the pupil questionnaire and who spoke to inspectors did not share these concerns. Pupils said that bullying did happen occasionally. They know who to go to if they were bullied and felt confident that staff would deal with it.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.

• Pupils understand right from wrong and the overwhelming majority of pupils behave appropriately. The dining room is a calm, well organised and happy environment.
• Attendance remains above the national average. There was an issue with a higher than average proportion of disadvantaged pupils being absent from school. Actions taken by the school have reduced this considerably.
• Almost all pupils are ambitious and want to succeed in school. As a result, they work hard in lessons and behaviour is good. However, in lessons where the work lacked challenge or was less interesting, some pupils would start to talk and fidget.
• Pupils and staff are positive about the behaviour in lessons and around the school. Pupils say that behaviour in the playground is good and lessons are rarely disrupted. The school has revised its behaviour policy as a response to the concerns raised by parents. The school records every incident of unacceptable behaviour, however minor, and records indicate that the number of incidents is reducing since the last academic year.

Outcomes for pupils

• In the national tests in 2017, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected and higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics was below average. Pupils’ progress in reading and mathematics was well below average and in writing it was broadly average. This was a result of inconsistent teaching over time.

• The progress of pupils in the school is variable across a range of subjects due to the lack of consistency in teaching. For example, inspectors saw examples of high-quality outcomes for pupils in one class but not in the other across year groups. This is typical for other subjects and year groups. Pupils are making good progress in music as the work is interesting and challenging and inspectors saw many examples of high-quality art work.
• Changes have been made to improve the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. However, due to the newness of the changes, these are not sufficiently established to indicate good progress for pupils across the school.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils has been well below average. School progress information indicates that a much higher proportion of disadvantaged pupils are now making expected levels of progress. This was confirmed by progress seen in pupils’ books. Pupils who receive additional support with their reading are making good progress.
• The number of most-able pupils leaving Year 6 in 2017 having attained the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was broadly average. However, the proportion meeting the higher standard was below average. This was because they were not sufficiently challenged to make the expected level of progress. There is evidence in books to show that most-able pupils are now being extended, especially in mathematics. As a result, progress is stronger than in previous years.
• As a result of well targeted support, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are now making good progress.
• Pupils have plenty of opportunity to read in lessons. They have access to novels that are interesting and challenge their reading skills. The most able pupils who read to inspectors did so with a high degree of fluency and used expression well to bring their reading to life.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 114913 Essex 10031613 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. 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 Jo Wilkins Guy Niven Telephone number 01245472391 Website Email address

http://www.baddowhall-jun.essex.sch.uk admin@baddowhall-jun.essex.sch.uk

Date of previous inspection 14–15 November 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

• The school is an average-sized junior school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage and speak English as their first language.

• There are two classes in Years 3, 4 and 6 and three in Years 5.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in all year groups. A number of these observations were undertaken with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the English leader. They also looked at the work in pupils’ books and spoke to pupils in lessons.

• Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, English leader and various support staff. The lead inspector met with four governors and a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including the school’s evaluation of its performance, improvement plans, records of information on pupils’ performance and records relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance. Inspectors also reviewed minutes of governors’ meetings and monitoring of the school’s work to gauge its effectiveness.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read. The inspectors also spoke to a large number of pupils informally about what it is like to be a pupil in the school. They also considered the 45 responses to the pupil questionnaire.
• Inspectors took into consideration the 84 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, including 41 free text responses. They also considered the 122 responses to the school’s own parent questionnaire.
• Inspectors considered the view of 25 staff who completed the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Caroline Pardy, lead inspector Vanessa Love Janet Tomkins Jane Ladner

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector