The Annunciation RC Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Strengthen further the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • building upon the recent improvements to the teaching of writing and increasing the opportunities for pupils to extend and develop their writing skills across a range of subjects
  • demanding more of pupils, especially the most able, enabling a greater proportion of pupils to reach greater depth standards
  • providing consistently sufficient support for those pupils who fall behind in their learning.
• Increase the effectiveness and impact of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • middle leaders use information on pupils’ progress consistently well to enable all groups of pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make faster rates of progress.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The newly appointed headteacher, supported by an acting deputy headteacher, has secured improvements since the previous inspection. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved and current pupils are making good progress from their starting points.
• Good leadership, including governance, has driven the school forward at a brisk pace. There is a strong commitment to the school’s ethos that every pupil deserves the very best educational opportunities and life-fulfilling experiences. Leaders, managers and the governing body are ambitious to make their school outstanding.
• Staff morale is high. Teachers and support staff are extremely dedicated to their work and share the leadership’s vision for all pupils to reach their potential. Staff letters to the inspection team reflect appreciation for the support they receive and a strong team spirit.
• Leaders, including governors, have engaged successfully with parents and carers for the benefit of pupils’ learning and well-being. Parents are delighted with the school’s provision, including the constant communication and newsletters they receive. Inspectors agree with the many parents who communicated praise of the school’s new and effective leadership.
• Leaders’ development planning is effective. They know the strengths and weaknesses and have identified the precise actions to secure improvements.
• Leaders have established comprehensive systems to monitor, review and refine the quality of teaching and learning. Training needs are met for all staff through carefully planned professional development opportunities. These opportunities contribute to pupils’ outcomes well. For example, reading is now taught consistently well throughout the school.
• School leaders have effective links with the local authority and a network of local schools in order to improve teaching and learning. The local authority provides light-touch support for this good school.
• The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils are respectful of others and have a good understanding of different cultures and faiths. The school council enables pupils to have awareness of democracy and raise money for charities. Consequently, pupils have an insight into life in modern Britain.
• Additional funding is used to good effect. Specialist coaches provided through the primary physical education and sport premium have helped pupils to develop their skills and experience new sporting events. High participation rates for Gaelic football, for example, demonstrate pupils’ enjoyment of sport.
• The special educational needs and pupil premium grants are used appropriately. Most pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils have benefited from extra support. Their progress, given their starting points across a range of subjects, is improving. Leaders recognise that there remains some room for improvement in the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The school’s curriculum is rich and engaging for pupils. Pupils are given opportunities to learn a range of subjects, including Spanish and music. The wealth of extra-curricular activities broadens pupils’ learning experiences. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the positive highlights of recent trips, visits and after-school clubs. Although the provision for reading has improved pupils’ outcomes, pupils’ overall progress in writing is less strong.
• Information about pupils’ progress is not always used rigorously by middle leaders to drive further improvements. Leaders recognise that a more precise analysis of assessment information will strengthen pupils’ progress further still, enabling more pupils to make rapid gains in their learning. Stronger use of the assessment information will enable pupils who need more support or demanding work to be identified quickly.

Governance of the school

• Arrangements for governance are strong and effective. Governors are ambitious for the highest standards of education for all pupils within a caring environment. They use their knowledge and expertise, including educational experience, to provide school leaders with the correct balance between support and challenge.
• Governors rigorously support the school to ensure that resources are managed effectively and finances are secure. The review of pupil premium expenditure has ensured that additional funding is used well. Disadvantaged pupils’ progress in reading is much improved, with the most able pupils at the end of Year 6 achieving well above the national average in 2016.
• Governance has progressively improved following an external review in July 2015. They have welcomed training to support their roles. They rigorously review and update school policies and have a good oversight of the school’s appraisal procedures. Governors are vigilant in ensuring that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. They are proactive in ensuring that the key priorities for school improvement are implemented.
• In the past, governors’ engagement with parents was not fully effective. However, this has greatly improved from the previous inspection. Parents, carers and staff have recognised and value governors’ increased presence in school. Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school has robust procedures in place to safeguard pupils. Checks on staff and written records are thorough and ensure that the safety of pupils takes the highest priority. Staff training is appropriate. Staff know the action to take so that pupils can receive early help, should they need it.
• Leaders have ensured that the protection of children is not compromised. The curriculum contributes to pupils’ understanding of how to adopt safe practices, including when using the internet. Staff are kept informed of the latest safeguarding practices, including the risks associated with extremism and radicalisation.
• Leaders work closely with parents, carers and external agencies to ensure pupils’ safety. Leaders provide regular information to parents to help them keep their children safe. Pupils attend regularly and feel safe in the school because they say their teachers care and look after them. Parents agree that their children feel safe at school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is typically good throughout the school. Purposeful learning environments coupled with high expectations for pupils ensure that good learning takes place.
• Teaching is effectively planned. Teachers use their secure subject knowledge to inspire pupils’ curiosity. Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy school because their learning is fun.
• Teachers are dedicated to ensuring that pupils develop positive learning behaviours. They help pupils by modelling the expected learning. They use skilful questioning to enable pupils to develop their thoughts and ideas. Pupils respond to this by applying themselves well and portray characteristics of enthusiastic learners.
• Teaching assistants contribute well to pupils’ progress. They are skilled in ensuring that pupils are not over-reliant on the extra support they provide. Parents indicate that they are very pleased with the quality of teaching from all staff at the school.
• The teaching of reading has much improved since the previous inspection. Pupils are provided with a range of opportunities to develop their reading skills. Teachers source materials meticulously to ensure that they are suited to all pupil groups. For instance, specific resources are chosen to capture the interest of boys, to boost their love of reading.
• Effective teaching of mathematics and science ensures that pupils make gains in their knowledge in both areas. Science clubs, for example, ignite pupils’ interest to explore insects and bugs. Teachers set clear tasks in mathematics that challenge most pupils and build on their prior numerical knowledge.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in writing is improving. The focus on pupils’ presentation skills has raised the standards of handwriting across a range of subjects. Pupils explained that they like their learning of writing because they learn new things and earn rewards for good work.
• Most pupils are provided with clear guidance in order to improve their work, in line with the school’s assessment policy. Some pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have sufficient support so they do not fall behind in their learning, but not all. Occasionally, these pupils who need more help with their learning do not always achieve as well as their peers.
• Occasionally, the work for the most able pupils lacks sufficient challenge and these pupils are unable to reach greater depth in their learning. Work identified in some of their books, across the curriculum, demonstrates too few opportunities to extend their writing skills. The school’s records confirm that the proportion of these pupils who make rapid progress is low in some subjects.

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 self-assured learners and demonstrate a keen attitude towards their learning. This is supported by the school’s ethos for pupils to work hard and persevere when the work is challenging. Pupils told inspectors that ‘making mistakes is part of learning as long as you don’t give up and keep trying until you achieve your best.’
• Leaders ensure that pupils’ physical and emotional needs are well met. Pupils who are new to the school are well supported by staff and settle in well. The breakfast club provides a positive start to the day by ensuring that a nourishing meal and light physical activities are on offer.
• Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe. Organised talks, for example, help pupils to keep safe, for instance while using public transport, and the risks associated with gangs. Pupils were able to explain to inspectors how to keep themselves safe while using the internet and on gaming sites. Pupils are confident that they can talk to their teachers, should they have any worries or problems.
• Pupils have a clear understanding of the different forms of bullying. Pupils wore ‘blue’ to school to mark anti-bullying day and some thought-provoking work on this topic was shared in an assembly. Pupils told inspectors that bullying is not an issue at the school and the rare incidents are dealt with quickly by staff.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave well during lessons and there is a calm atmosphere as pupils move around the school. Excellent relationships exist between pupils as they show high levels of care and respect towards one another. ‘Ambassadors’ enthusiastically support their peers to overcome personal learning difficulties. Pupils are equally courteous to adults and welcoming to visitors. Pupils readily open doors for others and greet visitors politely.
• Pupils enjoy all aspects of school and say that learning is fun. They particularly enjoy the educational visits and earning rewards for good work. Pupils’ enthusiasm for learning is reflected in their high punctuality rates and above average attendance, which has improved year on year since the previous inspection.
• Pupils’ behaviour is managed well. Pupils reported some very low levels of disruption to learning but say that their teachers handle these successfully and quickly.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ outcomes have improved markedly since the previous inspection. This is the result of good teaching and the effective leadership of governors and the new headteacher. Most pupils are suitably prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Currently, pupils make at least good progress from their different starting points. The school’s assessment information and scrutiny of pupils’ work across a range of subjects, including English, mathematics and science, confirm that pupils make good progress. Inspectors listened to pupils read in all year groups and witnessed their strong use of phonics and good comprehension of different texts.
• In the past, boys’ progress in reading was slower than girls’. Leaders have worked hard to address this. Now, boys make equally as good progress as girls in reading. Leaders’ focus on improving reading throughout the school has ensured that reading activities are appropriate for all groups of pupils.
• The progress of pupils who speak English as an additional language is good from their different starting points in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Overall, most pupils join Year 3 with average ability, and some with above average starting points. In 2016, the progress of the majority of pupils at the end of Year 6 was close to the national average in reading and mathematics. Pupils with high starting points made above average progress in reading and close to above average in mathematics. However, pupils’ progress from both high and average starting points was below the national average in writing.
• While some differences remain, most pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. Additional funding is being used to support pupils in their learning and this benefits most pupils. However, in some cases, leaders do not use information on what pupils already know consistently to facilitate further progress.
• The school’s pupil premium funding is used well to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. Currently, disadvantaged pupils are making at least good progress from their starting points in a wide range of subjects, including writing. In 2016, a key strength in the key stage 2 results was the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils being above other pupils nationally in reading. Targeted support has led to the most able disadvantaged pupils making above average progress in reading. From different starting points, disadvantaged pupils’ progress in mathematics was close to average. However, like their peers, disadvantaged pupils’ progress in writing was well below average at the end of 2016.
• Leaders, managers and teachers recognise there is still work to be done to improve pupils’ writing further. Variability remains in the progress of the most able pupils, as not all make rapid progress given their starting points.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 101342 Barnet 10031719 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 7 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 224 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Anne O’Shea Carol Minihan 020 8906 0723 www.annunciationjnr.barnet.sch.uk/ office@annunciationjnr.barnetmail.net Date of previous inspection 18–19 March 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for additional pupil premium funding is broadly in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average.
• The previous headteacher retired in August 2015. The current headteacher was appointed in February 2016, after being deputy headteacher and acting headteacher at the school. In December 2015, a new chair of governors joined the governing body. A recently appointed substantive deputy headteacher joins the school in September 2017.
• The school has brokered support through a local schools’ network and the local authority.
• The school runs a breakfast club each day and after-school clubs for four days each week.
• In 2016, the school met the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for the pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 15 sessions across all year groups. Of these observations, a few were carried out jointly with senior leaders.
• Inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including the school’s own self-evaluation, a review of governance and information on pupil premium spending. Records relating to attendance, behaviour and safeguarding were also considered.
• Meetings were held with governors, senior leaders and teachers, including subject leaders and teaching assistants.
• In addition to meeting with pupils formally, inspectors spoke to others informally and examined their books in a wide range of subjects. Inspectors also listened to pupils reading.
• Discussions were held with parents to hear their views of the school. There were 11 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and 11 free-text responses.
• There were no responses to the Ofsted online staff or pupil questionnaires. Inspectors considered eight written letters received from staff during the inspection.

Inspection team

Rosemarie McCarthy, lead inspector Sheila Cohring

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector