Victoria Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching further and continue to raise outcomes for pupils, by:
  • ensuring that marking more consistently follows the school’s policy to make the next steps in their learning clear to pupils
  • planning work which builds pupils’ confidence in using more advanced skills in comprehension in reading and problem-solving in mathematics
  • making sure that work in subjects such as history, geography and science gives pupils opportunities to practise and improve their numeracy skills.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and leadership team have a very clear vision for the school, which is translated into a determined and successful drive for improvement. They work closely in partnership with a number of other schools, which provides external validation as well as support.
• Improving the quality of teaching has been the key priority for leaders and governors. The regular and effective checks on teaching enable leaders to identify what is working well and what is less effective. For example, tests showed that pupils did less well in comprehension and problem-solving than in other aspects of English and mathematics. A thorough review of the effectiveness of the teaching of these aspects has resulted in changes which are helping pupils to make better progress. School leaders know, however, that there is more to do to ensure that more teaching is consistently outstanding so that pupils make outstanding progress and achieve the highest standards.
• Senior leaders regularly check pupils’ books to make sure that teachers’ marking and feedback are helping pupils to make better progress and are in line with the school policy. They are currently working on ensuring that all teachers give pupils clear guidance on the next steps. Subject leaders also have a major role in helping teachers to improve their skills.
• The school provides a wide range of activities, including breakfast and homework clubs, play therapy and family therapy – all designed to support pupils and their families. These help to remove barriers to learning.
• The pupil premium funding is well targeted so that disadvantaged pupils are able to join in fully in all school activities, as well as receiving the academic support they need. The provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is also well managed. Where pupils are supported through withdrawal from class, the effect of this is checked very carefully to make sure that the support is working well.
• Senior and subject leaders review the curriculum regularly and listen to what their pupils tell them about their interests. The impact can be seen in the better progress of current pupils. In discussion, pupils said how much they liked the choice of books and resources available to support their learning.
• The school strongly promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development though assemblies, visits and visitors and work in subjects such as history, geography, literature, art and music. The school is genuinely inclusive in approach and values all that different pupils and their families bring. This all helps to promote British values such as tolerance, democracy and the rule of law.
• Relationships with parents are good. Most parents feel that their children are happy at school, feel safe and make good progress. As one parent wrote about the school, ‘I have no hesitation in recommending it.’ Another commented that communication is good saying that, ‘We always know what is going on.’
• Pupils play an active part in the life of the school and their views are taken seriously. They were consulted over the school’s vision statement and could give many examples of other occasions when they were able to influence school leaders. For example, it was their idea to have a ‘worry box’ to make suggestions and raise any concerns.
• The additional sports funding is used effectively to provide specialist coaching in physical education (PE) and sport which benefits all pupils. It also provides training for teachers who are not PE specialists. Clubs, such as judo, introduce pupils to new sports which they enjoy.
• The local authority has worked closely with the school and provided good challenge and support which has helped it to improve.

The governance of the school

• The governing body has benefited from an external review and support from advisers, as well as the partnership with a number of other schools in the London area. They consult widely before making strategic decisions. For example, they worked closely with the staff, pupils and parents on the school’s vision statement. The chair of the governing body meets regularly with the school council and pupils spoke positively about this.
• Governors have a good grasp of performance data and, as a result, they are now challenging leaders more effectively. In 2016, they requested a review meeting with the senior staff and the local authority to discuss the national test results. Governors understand the system of performance management for teachers and that any increase in pay is linked to the quality of teaching. The governing body also ensures that the school uses the pupil premium and sports funding to good effect.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Keeping children safe is a high priority and the school has robust and up-to-date policies and procedures to ensure that pupils are kept safe and are helped to stay safe. Appropriate checks are made on all staff and they are well trained in a wide range of safeguarding issues including risks of extremism and radicalisation. The school has strong links with a wide range of external agencies and is assiduous in following up any referrals. The work done with families through the various support groups also supports the school’s work in safeguarding.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection. It is now consistently good and some is outstanding. Teachers have good subject knowledge and plan interesting work. They explain the learning intentions carefully so that pupils understand what is expected of them. As a result, pupils generally enjoy learning and make good progress.
• Teachers have high expectations of all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, and expect them to do their best. The level of challenge for the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, has increased and the work of older pupils shows that they are able to take on more demanding work.
• Teachers assess pupils’ work regularly through careful questioning, using ‘how do you know?’ type of questions, which encourage pupils to explain the methods and approaches that they use. This shows how well they can apply what they know. Teachers then use the information gained from questioning to identify what pupils are finding difficult and match future work carefully to their different needs.
• Staff check their judgement of pupils’ work against that of teachers in other schools. This helps them to be consistent and set their standards high. The best marking and feedback follows the school policy and gives pupils precise guidance on how to improve their work. This is not always carried out consistently enough and sometimes pupils do not know how to respond to the comments.
• Teaching assistants are well trained and provide pupils with good help and support both in class and in small groups. This helps disadvantaged pupils, those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language to make the same good progress as other groups of pupils.
• Senior staff check carefully on the impact of teaching and adjust approaches as necessary. For example, they realised that in reading and mathematics, teachers were teaching basic skills well, but they were less effective in developing pupils’ ability to reason and apply their knowledge. This became a focus of staff training and the impact is being seen in the improvement in pupils’ progress.
• In teaching reading, staff still encourage pupils to read accurately and as widely as possible, but focus much more on comprehension skills, so pupils explain in more depth their understanding of the language and plot of a story. This was very evident in the Year 6 classes in which pupils were analysing how an author achieved suspense at the start of a story, before going on to write their own ghost stories.
• Teachers give pupils many opportunities to use their literacy skills in other subjects. This has particularly helped them to improve their writing skills. In mathematics, however, pupils do not have as many opportunities to practise and improve their skills by using them in other subjects such as geography, history and science.
• In mathematics, teachers ensure that pupils are taught key skills and are increasingly setting more relevant and challenging problems so that pupils use and apply their knowledge. Pupils are expected to use the ‘answer it, prove it, explain it’ approach. An effective example of this approach was seen in a Year 5 class where pupils working on factorisation were able to explain clearly their reasoning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning support their good progress. Relationships across the school are good and this helps pupils to become confident.
• Pupils generally feel safe and cared for in school. Almost all parents who completed Parent View (Ofsted’s online survey) or who spoke to inspectors, agreed that their children are well looked after and feel safe in school.
• Pupils are very aware of how to stay safe when using computers and social media. They know, for example, that they should never give out personal information.
• Pupils enjoy the opportunities the school gives them to take part in sport, including competitions. They also appreciate the visits to places of interest and the special events in school.
• Pupils know what bullying is and that there are different types of bullying. They know that they should support anyone who is being bullied and report it to an adult. They told inspectors that if they did report any bullying, it was quickly dealt with. Pupils are confident that adults help them if needed. A ‘worry box’ enables them to let adults know of any concerns they may have.
• The breakfast club provides a welcoming and pleasant start to the day for pupils. An after-school homework club supports pupils and parents are encouraged to attend the homework club with their children so that they understand more about what their children are doing and can help them at home.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils enjoy school and respond well to the expectations for their behaviour. They understand how the system of rewards and sanctions works.
• Pupils generally behave well around school and in class, and are polite and friendly to visitors. If pupils do misbehave, this is dealt with quickly and effectively, and any poor behaviour is not allowed to disrupt the learning of others.
• A calm and purposeful start to the day helps pupils to settle quickly so that they are ready to learn. Lunchtimes are pleasant occasions. The hall is well supervised and pupils have time to chat while eating their meals.
• Most pupils attend regularly and arrive punctually. The school has robust procedures to encourage good attendance. In 2015/2016, attendance slipped slightly but this was the result of difficulties with a few individuals and did not reflect a general decline.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The evidence from current pupils’ work shows that in all year groups they are making good progress and most have caught up from previous underachievement.
• A high proportion of pupils are eligible for support from the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. Good support both in and out of class is targeted and adjusted as necessary to meet individual needs. This helps disadvantaged pupils of all abilities, including the most able, to make good progress.
• The evidence from the books checked during the inspection and from the school’s assessments, which had been externally checked, shows that the pupils in Year 6 in 2015/2016 had been working in line with expectations. In the national tests they achieved results which were broadly in line with the national average in writing and in grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Some pupils did not achieve as well as expected in the reading and mathematics tests. In most cases, this was because they did not answer more complicated questions in enough detail. The school has taken swift action to ensure that current pupils know what is expected and the evidence from books and discussion shows that this is having a positive effect.
• Pupils learn to write at length and for a wider variety of purposes. For example, Year 3 pupils who were reading ‘Gorilla’ by Anthony Browne wrote lively letters to the Zoo. There were also good examples of written work in science, geography and history topics. Staff expect pupils to achieve high standards of presentation. This helps to give pupils a pride in their work.
• Pupils are mostly confident readers and the most able read with expression. Pupils understand what they are reading, but some less able pupils are not confident when asked to explain events or describe characters.
• Similarly, in mathematics pupils have a good grasp of basic skills but despite the improvement in the last year, a few still find it hard to apply these to problem-solving or practical applications of mathematics.
• Pupils are generally well prepared for the next stage of their education. The school works closely with its main feeder infant school and with local secondary schools to make the transition to a new school as smooth as possible.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 102486 Hounslow 10011924 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 316 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Margaret Bonsey Gavin Winters 020 88909624 www.victoriajunior.co.uk head@victoria.hounslow.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 3–4 July 2014

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Victoria Junior School is a larger than average size primary school.
• The pupils come from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. About a third of pupils are of White British origin, the next largest group are children of Indian origin and other White backgrounds. A higher proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language than is found in most schools.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards which are the minimum standards for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors visited all classes during the inspection at least twice and several of the observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher.
• Inspectors observed the breakfast club, morning breaks, lunchtime and the homework club.
• A meeting was held with members of the school council and another group of pupils. Many other pupils were spoken with during lessons and breaktimes. The inspectors also listened to a number of pupils reading.
• The inspection team met a group of governors and the local authority adviser.
• Inspectors held meetings with a number of school staff, including the subject leaders in English and mathematics.
• Inspectors took account of the responses on Parent View (Ofsted’s online survey), one letter, the school’s own surveys of parents and spoke informally with a number of parents. Twelve staff completed the online questionnaire for staff.
• Inspectors looked at a number of documents including pupils’ work, the school data on progress, school improvement planning, leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching, external checks on the quality of education, records relating to behaviour and attendance and documents relating to safeguarding.

Inspection team

Grace Marriott, lead inspector Lando Du Plooy Sheila Cohring Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector