Lady Bankes Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Strengthen teaching, learning and pupils’ progress by ensuring that pupils are always prepared well for their work and that learning is moved on quickly when pupils are ready for the next challenge.
• Develop the school’s links with parents so that they are better informed about how well the school is achieving.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Strong leadership and management by senior leaders and the governing body are ensuring that the school is providing a good quality of education to pupils. Leaders at all levels are ambitious and their self-evaluation is accurate. They have a clear understanding of what remains to be done to improve the school further.
• Leaders check on the learning of all groups of pupils so that any signs of underachievement can be tackled quickly. Leaders make sure that assessments are reliable and accurate by working closely with leaders from other schools.
• Training for subject leaders has empowered them in their role in supporting and monitoring the work of their colleagues. Leaders are having a positive impact on teaching and learning because they provide good advice and opportunities for teachers to observe best practice.
• The management of teachers’ performance and the monitoring of teaching and learning are rigorous and effective. Half the staff has changed since the previous inspection. Strong support and challenge have been given to help develop the impact of teaching. Teachers are enthusiastic about improving their work and are keen to do the best for their pupils.
• The additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is being spent effectively to ensure that there are no barriers to their learning. These pupils have detailed action plans that identify their varying needs and how they are to be best supported in their learning. As a result, they are making good progress.
• The extra funding to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is having a positive impact on their learning. They receive sensitive and closely targeted support in most lessons.
• The physical education and sport funding is spent effectively on staff training. Sports coaches work alongside the teachers so that expertise in a range of sporting activities is shared. For example, this term teachers and their pupils are developing skills in athletics. In one lesson during the inspection, pupils in Year 6 were improving their skills for the triple jump.
• The curriculum has been reviewed and redesigned. It is having a positive impact on pupils’ motivation and pace of learning. There are good opportunities for pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy skills in other subjects, especially in science. For example, pupils enjoy the special ‘STEM’ days when they work in groups to solve problems involving science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The curriculum is supported well by a range of additional valuable activities such as educational visits, talks from visitors, and clubs.
• Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. Pupils are taught about British values in lessons and assemblies. They are prepared well for life in modern Britain. For example, in an assembly about St George, pupils learned about the importance of moral responsibility and democracy.
• Parents are becoming more positive about the work of the school, and many say that it has improved over the last two years. However, a small minority are not confident that the school is doing a good job for their children. Leaders have not yet convinced them to want to recommend the school to others.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective. Governors are clear about what the school does well and what remains to be done to make it even better. They are rigorous in finding out for themselves how well pupils are progressing and frequently check the impact of leaders on improving teaching. The finance committee has worked well with school leaders and the local authority to manage the legacy of a deficit budget. Governors have high expectations for the future of the school and are relentless in helping senior leaders in driving the school forward.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders make sure that safeguarding has a high priority and swift action is taken when there are any concerns.
• Leaders make sure that all staff are suitable to work with pupils. Training is well established for all staff and governors, enabling them to identify and tackle safeguarding issues quickly and according to the school policy.
• Teachers demonstrate their thorough awareness of health and safety matters by reminding pupils of potential dangers such as when using the internet. They teach them how to avoid accidents, for example by not leaning back on their chairs.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers have good subject knowledge and make sure that pupils understand important vocabulary. For example, in Year 5, teachers had a good knowledge of the properties of materials and made sure that pupils used the correct terms such as ‘solvent’, ‘dissolving’ and ‘melting’ in their science work.
• Teachers make good use of various resources to make learning interesting and to motivate pupils. For example, informative displays of work provide prompts to help pupils in their learning. In English in Year 6, pupils supported their writing about extreme explorers by effectively using the biographical notes they had collated the previous day.
• Teachers ask probing questions to help pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding. As a result, pupils can explain what they are learning. For example, in one mathematics lesson in Year 4, pupils described how to find the answer when calculating the difference between the sum of two sets of numbers.
• Pupils learn quickly because they have positive relationships with members of staff and take notice of the advice they are given on how to improve their work.
• Teachers make good use of the information on how well pupils are doing to plan future learning. They are fully involved in discussions with senior leaders on how well pupils in their classes are doing. These meetings enable them to have a clear understanding about where extra support is needed.
• Progress slows when teachers do not prepare pupils well for their work. For example, some introductions to a task lack sufficient information to enable pupils to start their work straightaway.
• In addition, there are times when some pupils have completed an activity and teachers do not move them on to a more difficult task soon enough.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Arrangements for keeping pupils safe are thorough. Pupils feel safe at school and know how to stay safe. Most parents who responded to the Ofsted Parent View survey agreed that their children are looked after well and feel safe and happy at school.
• Leaders have provided strong anti-bullying guidance since the previous inspection. As a result, pupils are very knowledgeable about the various types of bullying and say that bullying of any kind is rare. Pupils explained to the inspectors that, ‘falling out with your friends is not bullying’.
• Pupils are keen to help each other in class and by carrying out responsibilities as monitors or school councillors. For example, the school council is helping to write a leaflet about anti-bullying to follow up the Year 6 anti-bullying presentation in assembly.
• Pupils have developed positive attitudes towards school and are confident about talking about their learning. It was evident in lessons that girls have increased their confidence in mathematics. Pupils typically make positive comments such as, ‘lessons are fun,’ and ‘we learn about lots of different subjects’.
• Pupils take part in a range of physical activities to help keep them fit and healthy. For example, this term Year 5 pupils are enjoying taking part in the daily mile.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• School records show that behaviour over time is good and learning is rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. The school has worked with the pupils to develop a new behaviour policy that provides clear guidance on how they are expected to behave. Pupils report that there are some playground arguments but that behaviour is usually good.
• Pupils focus on their learning in lessons and cooperate well with each other to improve their work. They are enthusiastic about tackling challenging work and are keen to succeed.
• Attendance rates fell in 2016, but have improved again this academic year. Most persistent absences are by pupils from a small number of hard-to-reach families. Leaders are vigilant in monitoring all absences, and improvements in attendance have been made for all groups of pupils.
• Most pupils show respect for others, including those from other cultures. For example, pupils in Year 5 were interested in hearing about the importance of the Hajj. A small number of pupils were not respectful. When this type of behaviour happens, the school provides effective support and follows the behaviour policy. Leaders have also used fixed-term exclusions when appropriate, showing that poor behaviour of any kind is unacceptable.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Rates of progress have improved since the previous inspection. School assessment information and work in the pupils’ books provide evidence that all groups of pupils currently in the school are making good progress, especially in English, mathematics and science.
• In 2016, the national tests at the end of Year 6 showed that pupils’ attainment and progress were broadly average in reading and writing, but below average in mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils and middle-attaining girls were not doing well enough in mathematics. Leaders have made sure that the progress of all pupils, including the disadvantaged, is monitored rigorously. Funding for disadvantaged pupils is used to provide effective additional support. There are no longer any significant differences in the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils or between girls and boys.
• Improvements in arrangements for pupils transferring to the school and staff training have enabled the school to make sure that pupils learn more quickly in Years 3 and 4 than they did previously.
• In reading, pupils have learned good strategies to help them in tackling unfamiliar words and use their prior knowledge to help them explain the meaning of what they have read. Pupils in Year 3 make positive comments about reading, such as, ‘I like reading because it is fun,’ and, ‘I learn about interesting subjects like space’.
• The most able pupils, including the disadvantaged most able pupils, make good progress. They are challenged well so that they can work at greater depth.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress. Their needs are identified quickly and they are supported well in most lessons. Greater links with other schools have improved the transition for these pupils, so that time is not wasted when they move schools.
• Pupils are prepared well for the next stage of their education. Attainment is rising and pupils’ personal development and behaviour are good.
• Progress slows when pupils are not moved on to harder work quickly enough.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 102388 Hillingdon 10019667 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 341 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Joanna Wagstaffe Kate Needs 01895 634318 www.ladybankes-jun.hillingdon.sch.uk office@ladybankes-jun.hillingdon.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 22–23 October 2014

Information about this school

• Lady Bankes Junior School is larger than the average-sized junior school.
• The school formed a hard federation with the infant school on the same premises in April 2016. The two schools share the same governing body.
• There have been many changes in staffing since the previous inspection, with the headteacher being appointed in September 2016.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 21 lessons, six jointly with the headteacher.
• Discussions were held with leaders, other members of staff, a member of the local authority and members of the governing body.
• Inspectors held informal discussions with several parents and scrutinised 146 responses from the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire, 34 responses to the staff questionnaire and 53 responses to the pupil questionnaire.
• Pupils in Years 3 and 6 were heard reading.
• A range of information supplied by the school was checked, including the school’s own information about how well pupils are achieving, planning documents and checks on the quality of teaching. The inspectors also looked at the school development plan and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding procedures.

Inspection team

Alison Cartlidge, lead inspector Roger Easthope Karen Matthews

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector