East Boldon Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Strengthen the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • making sure that the government’s additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is used well to improve their academic and pastoral outcomes
  • developing the skills of subject leaders to check and improve standards in their areas of responsibility
  • ensuring that senior leaders check on the provision for pupils in English, mathematics, science and foundation-subject lessons incisively
  • reviewing the systems and procedures for recording incidents that occur during the midday break
  • strengthening the school’s development plan by including measures and timescales against which governors can evaluate the success of actions.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and consequently pupils’ progress, in reading, writing and mathematics, by:
  • ensuring that assessment information is used well to plan activities which are matched to pupils’ needs, including those of the most able pupils, disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities
  • developing the roles and expertise of the teaching assistant workforce
  • making sure teachers have high enough expectations of their pupils across the curriculum.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The headteacher took up post at the beginning of the current academic year. Since that time he has raised staff morale, begun to address inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, improved systems and procedures in relation to staff recruitment and thoroughly reviewed the school’s behaviour and discipline policy. His efforts are appreciated by an overwhelming majority of parents and carers. One parent’s view, that the school is more in touch with parents, has a much-improved homework strategy and has increased parental involvement since the last inspection in January 2018, was echoed by many in Ofsted’s survey of parental views.
• The new leader for mathematics has a thorough knowledge of his subject area’s strengths and areas for development, because he checks on the quality of provision well and frequently. This is not the case across the curriculum. For example, leaders have not evaluated the provision for design and technology since the autumn term in 2016.
• As a result of lax monitoring and evaluation over time, leaders have an inflated view of the school’s effectiveness. The school’s development plan lacks measurable targets by which senior leaders, including governors, can evaluate the impact of actions undertaken in the school. The plan does not identify who is tasked with carrying out each improvement action, who should monitor its completion and who should evaluate its impact.
• A new coordinator for special educational needs (SENCo) took up post at the beginning of the current academic year. The SENCo has updated the school’s policies, ensured that class teachers are involved in reviewing the support plans for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and communicated with parents regularly. However, the SENCo has not checked on the progress being made by pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, either in lessons or by carrying out a scrutiny of their work. The SENCo had an overly rosy view of the progress of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities until the joint analysis of progress information and joint lesson observations were undertaken with a member of the inspection team.
• Leaders have not ensured that the very small number of disadvantaged pupils make sufficient progress to catch up with their peers. The school’s pupil premium plan lacks precision, measures by which to evaluate success and costings. Senior leaders have not evaluated which aspects of the school’s provision are having the greatest impact. The recommendations of a recent external review of the pupil premium funding have not been implemented.
• Senior leaders understand that the school’s curriculum, while broad, is not balanced. For example, pupils in Year 6 did not have their full entitlement to the national curriculum during the spring term and the first half of the summer term. Educational visits do not support the school’s curricular aims consistently well. Leaders’ planning for a new, more topic-based curriculum, in which pupils are immersed in themes on a termly basis and acquire knowledge sequentially, is well under way and due to be launched in September.
• The curriculum ensures that pupils know the difference between right and wrong. The older pupils have a sound knowledge of current affairs, including Brexit. They told an inspector that the England football team’s progress in the World Cup had lifted their spirits and their teachers’ spirits too. They said there was joy in the school about the national team’s success. In addition, these pupils are beginning to understand spirituality.
• The local authority has supported the governors, the headteacher and the subject leaders for English and mathematics well since the last inspection. A school support and monitoring group, chaired by the local authority’s service manager for education and standards, meets regularly to assess progress and challenge leaders. The primary advisers for mathematics and English have evaluated the progress made by pupils in their workbooks, alongside subject leaders. The school’s improvement adviser has carried out joint observations of teaching, learning and assessment in Years 3 and 6. These officers have been uncompromising in their evaluations of the school’s effectiveness. For example, at the end of the spring term, officers from the local authority reported that pupils’ progress in English was uneven and not good across the school.

Governance of the school

• Governors were disappointed with the progress that the 2016/17 cohort of Year 6 pupils made during key stage 2. They have visited the school to fulfil their ‘support and challenge’ role more often since the last inspection. Their curriculum committee has been re-designated as a curriculum and standards committee. Pupils’ attainment and progress are high on their agenda.
• The chair of governors has overseen a period of turbulence in relation to communications with a small minority of parents. Members of the governing body have sought help and advice from external partners when necessary. Governors understand the need for all stakeholders, especially parents, to be fully involved in the life of the school.
• Governors are taking effective action to ensure a seamless transition between key stages 1 and 2. Two members of the governing body are also governors of the feeder infant school. These governors and the headteacher are working with leaders in the infant school to further improve pupils’ transition between schools.
• Governors have not ensured that the government’s additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is spent well.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff are well trained. They understand their duty to protect pupils from harm.
• The school’s procedures for the safe recruitment of staff are strong. The central record of safe recruitment checks is monitored by the headteacher and governors regularly. It is compliant with requirements.
• The headteacher has recently implemented an electronic system to record safeguarding incidents and the actions taken by staff in response to each incident. Although these records are more thorough and complete than at the time of the last inspection, they do not include any one-off name-calling and pushing/pulling incidents that occur outside during the midday break. Currently, leaders are not able to identify any trends in these incidents.
• The designated and deputy safeguarding leads work well with a wide range of external agencies to ensure that pupils at risk of harm have access to the support they need in a timely manner. Case studies show that vulnerable pupils’ welfare is of paramount importance. Their needs are met well.
• Senior leaders, in response to parental comments, are reviewing the way in which pupils are dismissed at the end of the school day. New procedures will be launched in September, at the beginning of the new academic year.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent across the school. It is strongest in upper key stage 2. In these classes, teachers use their strong subject knowledge, have high expectations of their pupils, ensure that pupils’ misconceptions are addressed quickly and deploy teaching assistants well. These teachers ask their pupils challenging questions and demand full and reasoned replies. They use assessments well to set work which is matched closely to their pupils’ needs. They also provide enjoyable and engaging learning activities for their pupils. During the inspection, groups of Year 6 pupils chose to stay in the classroom during breaktime to complete their mathematics investigation. Their enthusiasm was delightful and infectious.
• In lower key stage 2, teachers do not use assessment well to plan learning activities for pupils which enable them to make good progress. On occasions, their subject knowledge is weak. When this is the case, pupils are not challenged to do their best, because teachers’ expectations are too low. Pupils lose interest and exhibit low-level disruptive behaviours.
• Teachers’ provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is beginning to improve, because they are more involved with the creation and review of pupils’ support plans.
• During the inspection, and following a joint scrutiny of pupils’ writing, the headteacher found that the middle-ability and the most able pupils are not making rapid progress in Years 3, 4 and 5, because they are not taught specific skills well from the programmes of study. For example, pupils in Year 3 found it difficult to write the opening of a non-chronological report, because they did not understand the concept of generalising.
• Teachers do not deploy teaching assistants consistently well. Some teaching assistants offer too much support to pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. As a result, these pupils do not develop resilience and independence well enough.
• Pupils enjoy PE and generally make good progress. However, the provision for pupils who are injured and cannot take part in physical activity requires development. These pupils sit and watch their classmates for an hour. Most pupils enjoy competition. Many attend sports clubs in the evenings and at weekends.
• The pupils at East Boldon Junior School are fluent readers. They complete reading-comprehension tasks on a weekly basis. However, they are not taught how to infer non-literal meanings from sophisticated texts well enough. This hampers their progress overall.

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-aware and perceptive. They have noticed that teachers’ expectations are higher in mathematics than they were previously. They enjoy using their knowledge and skills to investigate and solve mathematical problems. During the inspection, a pupil explained that, in his opinion, he was not learning as much in reading as in writing because he had to complete overly simple tasks instead of learning new skills.
• Pupils are mature and thoughtful. After careful consideration and thinking time, pupils told an inspector that they would improve the school by zoning the playground. They believed that this could decrease fallings out and dramas during activities at breaktimes.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe online. Even the youngest know not to give out any personal details when working and playing online. The older pupils have been taught about the heinous nature of happy-slapping and sexting. They know not to share inappropriate images.
• Pupils understand the difference between poor behaviour and bullying. They know that bullying is repeated, hurtful behaviour aimed at one person. They understand the nature of verbal, physical and cyber bullying. A small minority of pupils think that there is too much bullying in the school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils who attend East Boldon Junior School are polite, respectful and welcoming. They hold doors open for adults and their peers as a matter of course.
• The school is a calm and orderly environment for learning. In lessons, pupils’ behaviour is exemplary when the work they are given is stimulating and challenging. There are some low-level disruptive behaviours in less engaging lessons. Pupils also behave well during the less-structured times of the school day, for example when they are eating lunch in the school’s dining hall.
• Attendance, apart from the attendance of disadvantaged pupils, is well above the national average over time. The number of pupils who are persistently absent is well below the national average over time. Pupils told the inspectors that they come to school on time every day because they like their teachers, relish learning and enjoy spending time with their friends.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Currently, the proportion of Year 6 pupils reaching the expected and higher standards in reading, in writing and in mathematics is significantly above the 2017 national averages. These pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, have made good progress in all three subjects from their starting points at the end of Year 2, and particularly good progress in Year 6. Additional English and mathematics lessons made a sizeable contribution to their progress.
• Pupils’ progress in reading and writing is inconsistent across the school. Pupils, including the most able pupils, make much better progress in Year 6 than they make in other year groups.
• Pupils’ progress in mathematics is also inconsistent. In Year 6, pupils make better progress from their starting points at the end of key stage 1 than they do in other year groups. In Years 3, 4 and 5, progress is not strong enough, particularly for the most able pupils.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities do not make good progress from their starting points, because provision is not carefully tailored to their needs.
• Outcomes for the very small number of disadvantaged pupils are variable.
• Pupils’ outcomes in the foundation subjects vary between subjects. They are low in design and technology, because teachers do not have the skills to deliver the programmes of study. In science, they are low because lessons are not delivered sequentially and the curriculum is not covered well. They are high in art and design, because art and design has been a focus for the school. The school gained its second Artsmark gold award in 2017.

School details

Unique reference number 108692 Local authority South Tyneside Inspection number 10048569 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Junior School category Community Age range of pupils 7 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 241 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Hilton Heslop Headteacher Timothy Shenton Telephone number 0191 5362030 Website www.eastboldonjuniors.co.uk/ Email address office@eastboldon-jun.s-tyneside.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 30 January 2018

Information about this school

• The school met the government’s floor standards in 2017. These are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those eligible for support through the pupil premium funding, is significantly below the national average.
• The vast majority of pupils speak English as their first language.
• The headteacher, SENCo and subject leader for mathematics took up their posts in September 2017.
• South Tyneside local authority has increased its support for the school since the last inspection in January 2018.

Information about this inspection

• This full inspection was carried out in light of the priorities for improvement identified at the time of the school’s short inspection, carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005, in January 2018.
• Inspectors observed lessons across a range of subjects in key stage 2. Some observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher and SENCo.
• The pupils in one Year 5 class were on a residential visit on the first day of the inspection. The pupils in both Year 5 classes were out of school on the second day of the inspection.
• During visits to lessons, inspectors spoke with pupils and looked at their work to find out more about how well they are learning.
• The lead inspector met with governors, including the chair and vice-chair of governors.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school. Formal meetings were held with a group of pupils from Years 3, 4 and 6, a group of disadvantaged pupils and a group of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• The lead inspector discussed the school’s effectiveness with a school-improvement adviser from South Tyneside local authority.
• Discussions were also held with the headteacher, the SENCo, subject leaders, teachers, teaching assistants and lunchtime supervisory assistants.
• The lead inspector read with pupils from Years 3 and 6.
• Members of the team observed the work of the school more broadly and looked at a range of documentation. This included policies, leaders’ evaluation of the school’s effectiveness, the school’s improvement plans, safeguarding records and information about pupils’ attendance, attainment and progress.
• Inspectors considered 147 responses, including 26 free-text responses, to Ofsted’s Parent View survey, alongside the school’s most recent parental survey. Team members also talked to parents at the beginning and end of the school day. The lead inspector considered two letters from parents, received during the inspection.
• The lead inspector took note of 61 responses made by pupils and 11 by staff to Ofsted’s online questionnaires.
• An inspector evaluated the support plans for the small number of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, checked the extent to which plans are put in place in lessons and talked to some of these pupils’ parents by telephone.

Inspection team

Belita Scott, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Lee Elliott Her Majesty’s Inspector