Court Lane Junior Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that middle leaders accurately evaluate the impact of their work so that those pupils who need help to catch up receive support quickly.
• Ensure that the use of teaching, learning and assessment information to identify pupils’ needs is more consistent so that more pupils make rapid progress from their starting points.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders have successfully overseen significant change since becoming an academy. They are ambitious and have reliably led the school community though challenging times. They have developed teaching and learning quickly so that current pupils learn well.
• Leaders have developed strong links with other trust schools, particularly the infant school on the adjacent site. These links effectively support the training of leaders and staff at all levels. As a result, the school has rapidly improved.
• Staff fully support the leaders’ vision for school improvement. They value the professional development they receive. There is a strong culture of teamwork driving forward school improvement.
• Leaders have developed a well-considered curriculum. The curriculum is often based on local links. For example, a topic about the life of famous author Charles Dickens, who lived locally, enhances the curriculum’s richness for pupils. Pupils’ opportunities to learn about spiritual, moral, social and cultural topics are varied. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Pupils help plan their learning with leaders. They are curious as a result and engage well with the interesting topics they have helped to develop in the curriculum. Trips and visits enrich the curriculum deeply.
• Leaders spend effectively the additional government funding. Support for pupils is carefully planned and always linked to providing the best learning opportunities. The gap between disadvantaged pupils’ achievement and the achievement of those with similar starting points has closed quickly.
• Pupils with SEND are supported effectively. Well-trained leaders and staff know the needs of pupils accurately and, as a result, plan suitable support, particularly around the emotional needs of pupils. Therefore, current pupils with SEND are making better progress than those in recent years.
• Parents and carers are very supportive of leaders and the education provided for their children. One parent reflected the views of others by saying, ‘This is a lovely school with opportunities [for pupils] to progress.’ The majority say their children are safe at school.
• Leaders have a secure understanding of the next steps for the school. Their school improvement plans are well considered and appropriate. Middle leaders are not yet confident in measuring the impact of these plans. As a result, they do not know which strategies work most effectively to improve all pupils’ progress.

Governance of the school

• Governors are skilled and knowledgeable. They are highly ambitious. They confidently challenge and support leaders. They work effectively with the University of Chichester multi-academy trust. As a result, the school has improved swiftly and is continuing to do so.
• Governors fulfil their legal responsibilities well. They visit regularly to check that policies and practice are up to date. They are considerate of staff well-being, yet they question and challenge leaders confidently, in line with the responsibilities they have to the multi-academy trust.
• The trustees hold leaders and governors to account very effectively. They have regular meetings that inform them of the progress of the school. They use the added benefits of trust membership to great effect. For example, leaders from other trust schools are seconded to the school when appropriate.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The culture to keep children safe is strong. Staff are well trained and know their responsibilities. Any concerns are dealt with quickly and appropriately. Staff know who to talk to if they have concerns about the safety of a pupil.
• Leaders engage rapidly with other agencies to support pupils. They report any concerns quickly and appropriately. Consequently, the support provided for vulnerable pupils and families is helping those that need it.
• Pupils are taught how to be safe online. They learn about road safety and to consider their own mental health and emotional well-being. Pupils feel safe at school and know who to talk to if they have any concerns. They told inspectors about the ‘Beach Hut’, where they can talk to adults about their worries, if they have any.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Routines for learning in classrooms are very well established. Relationships between teachers and pupils are positive and help create welcoming classrooms. Pupils learn confidently because they understand the high expectations of their teachers.
• Teachers use questioning effectively. They ask probing questions and allow pupils thinking time before they ask for the answer. Pupils are resilient and will have a go because they have this space to think. With this help and support, they make good progress across many subjects.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge is strong. They know when pupils have not understood something. They adapt learning confidently to ensure pupils’ secure knowledge, skills and understanding before moving on. Consequently, pupils learn more and better.
• Teaching and learning are helping pupils extend their use of vocabulary well. This is very evident in mathematics. The use of subject-specific terms helps pupils to understand more in mathematics. Consequently, they are better prepared to solve mathematical problems and they make good progress.
• Teaching provides lots of opportunities for pupils to practise their writing skills. As a result, pupils are making strong progress in their writing.
• Teachers use homework thoughtfully, in line with the school policy, to help pupils learn more. For example, homework on women’s rights and freedoms not only helps pupils to deepen their knowledge of history but also further develops their social, moral and cultural understanding.
• Teaching often allows pupils to identify the things they need to improve in their own or others’ work. They value the opportunities to talk to each other about their learning in lessons. They confidently help each other to learn more and make strong progress in these situations.
• The use of additional adults to support learning is successful. Pupils engage fully with any extra help provided. Pupils with SEND are well supported and many make strong progress. This is helping them catch up with other pupils from similar starting points.
• Teachers do not always consider pupils’ starting points or current knowledge and understanding well enough when planning learning. As a result, work given to pupils is sometimes too easy or difficult and pupils do not make enough progress.

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 happy and self-confident. They are very proud of their school. They value the clubs and activities provided after school, for example the football, hockey and computer clubs.
• Pupils feel safe at school. Bullying is very rare and, on the few occasions it happens, it is dealt with effectively by adults. Pupils learn about being different and are accepting of difference. One pupil spoke for others by saying, ‘Different is good.’
• Pupils’ personal, social and health education covers a wide range of topics. Pupils learn about their own well-being and how to be citizens in the modern world. As such, they are well prepared for the next steps in their education.
• Pupils have many opportunities to learn about responsibility. For example, they have school council meetings, help run the very popular library and have school prefect roles. As a result, they told inspectors they have ‘lots to do and learn’.
• Pupils who attend alternative provision are very well supported. The communication between leaders and the alternative provider is regular and leaders ensure that the support is working well for pupils. They attend regularly and make good progress.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Classrooms are purposeful learning spaces. Pupils move around the school site appropriately. They are polite and courteous to each other and adults. The few incidents of poor behaviour are dealt with quickly and appropriately. Learning is not affected by these rare occurrences.
• Pupils take good care of their school. There is very little litter and no graffiti. They enjoy their playtimes and play together respectfully. Pupils like the fair system of rewards and consequences. They collect house rewards and enjoy the competitive nature of seeing who wins the most rewards.
• Pupils attend school regularly. Leaders work well with the few pupils and families that need support and, as such, no groups of pupils are disadvantaged by poor levels of attendance.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils achieve good outcomes. The use of pupil achievement information by leaders quickly identifies pupils who need extra support. Effectively used extra classes and other personal support help them quickly catch up. Consequently, more pupils are making strong progress from their starting points than in previous years.
• Year 3 pupils make good progress. Very effective working arrangements with the infant school ensure that staff know pupils’ needs well before they start school. As a result, pupils make a strong start to junior school.
• Outcomes in mathematics are good across all year groups for pupils. Leaders work with other schools in the trust and appropriate staff training means that pupils develop their knowledge, skills and understanding well in this subject.
• Pupils’ writing skills are developing quickly across the curriculum. Pupils write regularly around the wide range of topics they study. They read more age-appropriate and interesting books. This is helping them to improve their vocabulary and writing skills at the same time. Consequently, pupils’ outcomes in both writing and reading are good and better than in previous years.
• Strong personal support for pupils with SEND is effective. They are catching up quickly to pupils with similar starting points.
• In recent years, disadvantaged pupils have not achieved good outcomes. The effective use of additional funding to improve teaching and learning means that most now achieve as well as other pupils with similar starting points. The few who need extra help and guidance are well supported through in-class support and other strategies.
• Pupils are very well prepared for the next steps in their education. The links that leaders and teachers have with local secondary and infant schools ensure that pupils are well supported before moving to a new school. Parents recognise the strength of this support, as do trust leaders, who use the school’s transition strategies and ideas across their other trust schools.

School details

Unique reference number 143316 Local authority Portsmouth Inspection number 10059277 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Junior School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 7 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 478 Appropriate authority University of Chichester Academy Trust Chair Brian Greenwood Headteacher Jude Ramshaw Telephone number 02392 375 444 Website www.cljs.co.uk/ Email address admin@courtlanejnr.portsmouth.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school joined the University of Chichester multi-academy trust in September 2016. The trust board delegates some responsibilities for the governance of the school to a local governing body.
• The school is led by an executive headteacher, who also leads the infant school adjacent to the school site.
• The school is larger than the average-sized junior school.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is lower than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is in line with other schools.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors, with senior leaders, visited many lessons across all year groups to observe pupils’ learning. Inspectors carried out several learning walks, including a learning walk focused on the curriculum.
• The lead inspector spoke by telephone to two trustees of the University of Chichester multi-academy trust and met with several members of the local governing body.
• The lead inspector met with the chief executive officer and the director of standards of the University of Chichester multi-academy trust as part of meetings with school leaders.
• Inspectors held meetings with middle leaders and teachers and spoke to some non-teaching staff.
• Inspectors met with pupils and talked to them during playtime, lunchtime and lessons.
• The inspection team considered 24 responses to the staff survey, 50 responses to the pupil survey and 36 responses to the parent survey, including 35 accompanying free-text messages.
• An inspector checked the single central record and the lead inspector met with leaders responsible for the overview of pupils’ safety.
• The inspection team considered information provided by the school, including the self-evaluation and development plans, as well as plans for and evaluations of the use of additional funding.
• Inspectors carried out a scrutiny of pupils’ work with middle leaders, looked at pupils’ work during their visits to lessons and heard a small group of pupils read.
• Inspectors considered the school’s published performance information and its internal information about pupils’ progress and attainment.
• The lead inspector met with the multi-academy trust improvement partner and considered several of their school improvement reports.

Inspection team

Dylan Davies, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Lea Hannam Ofsted Inspector Judith O’Hare Ofsted Inspector