St Jude's CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Increase the proportion of pupils that reach and exceed the expected standard for their age by the end of key stages 1 and 2, particularly in reading and mathematics, by:
  • ensuring that there are rigorous and accurate checks on the learning and progress of the most able pupils, those from disadvantaged groups, those learning to speak English as an additional language and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities improving pupils’ knowledge of calculation, and ensuring that older pupils are confident in using and applying the four operations in mathematics
  • developing pupils’ comprehension skills and enriching their vocabulary
  • providing pupils with a broad range of books that are well matched to their ability.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that it is consistently good or better across the school and within year groups, by:
  • ensuring that teachers make good use of assessment information to plan lessons that cater appropriately for the interests and different aptitudes and needs of their pupils
  • making sure that teachers check pupils’ understanding, learning and progress during lessons
• Improve the personal development and behaviour of pupils, by: increasing pupils’ awareness of a range of cultures and faiths
  • reducing the proportion of exclusions for disadvantaged pupils
  • ensuring that lessons engage the interests of all pupils, and that teachers make sure pupils behave well in lessons
• Improve the effectiveness of leaders, managers and governors, by:
  • ensuring that school self-evaluation is always rigorous and accurate
  • developing the roles of middle and subject leaders so they all contribute well to raising standards in their areas of responsibility
  • ensuring that governors challenge and support leaders appropriately, especially about the quality of teaching and the progress made by different groups of pupils
  • making sure that governors verify meticulously the school’s administrative systems for recording the suitability of staff to work with children
  • ensuring that the school is always compliant with the information it is supposed to have on its website. An external review of governance should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should also be undertaken to assess the effectiveness with which this additional funding is used.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders, managers and governors have not maintained an accurate view of the effectiveness of the school. This is because their evaluation of the school’s work has typically been overly generous about both the quality of teaching and learning and outcomes for pupils. Consequently, they have not focused sufficiently on tackling the underperformance of staff and pupils.
• Leaders and governors have not ensured that the information on the school’s website has been kept up to date. Much was updated during the course of the inspection. There is insufficient information about how the physical education (PE) and sports premium funding was spent in the last couple of years, and the difference it made to the physical development of pupils and their participation in sporting activities.
• Middle and subject leaders, some of whom are new in post, are not all contributing well enough to raising standards in their areas of responsibility.
• Senior leaders track the progress made by pupils, but do not do this well enough for all groups. Consequently, they do not ensure that pupils who are most able, including those who are most able and also disadvantaged, achieve as well as they could.
• The new headteacher and deputy headteacher were quick to identify weaknesses in the school. They produced a helpful plan to ensure that staff and governors work together towards common goals to help the school to improve. This led to much better progress in phonics and writing.
• The headteacher and deputy headteacher were quick to identify those pupils at risk of significantly underperforming by the end of key stages 1 and 2. They put effective strategies in place that led to the progress made by pupils significantly improving between January and July 2016. As a result, by the end of Year 6, pupils had made good progress in writing.
• Inspectors noted the improved rates of progress made by many pupils in their work books. This is as a result of the headteacher and deputy headteacher raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve.
• The headteacher and deputy headteacher recognise the extent to which pupils’ weak phonics knowledge holds them back with reading and writing. They provided training for staff and parents about phonics as well as additional support for pupils. In 2016, this led to a very high proportion of pupils, compared to the previous year, achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check.
• Senior leaders have started to tackle underperformance in teaching rigorously. However, not all staff have fully adopted the good practice shared with them through coaching and training.
• The highly effective work of the deputy headteacher, in improving the quality of provision in the early years, led to a higher proportion than in most schools reaching a good level of development last year.
• Leaders and managers made effective use of the pupil premium to provide additional support to pupils, particularly in reading and writing. This led to disadvantaged pupils of low ability making good improvements, in these aspects of their learning across the school. The school makes effective use of the additional funding through the PE and sports premium to increase pupils’ physical activities during and after school. Pupils appreciate the new tennis nets and basketball posts in the playground.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced and includes teaching pupils about some aspects of equality and diversity. The curriculum is enhanced by extra-curricular activities, such as PE, music, reading, and information and communications technology. Some pupils told inspectors they would like more clubs, particularly at lunchtime.
• The school works well with parents and carers, such as providing regular newsletters and workshops. This helps pupils to settle quickly into school and contributes to the progress they make, particularly in phonics.
• From their responses to the online survey and in their discussions with inspectors, parents spoke very highly about how well the school is led and managed.

Governance of the school

• Governance of the school requires improvement.
• Governors are committed to the school, but they do not scrutinise data and information about the progress made by different groups of pupils closely enough. They are not sufficiently rigorous in challenging senior leaders about weaknesses in teaching and the underperformance of some groups of pupils. This has led to them having an overly generous view of the effectiveness of the school’s work.
• Governors have not ensured that the school website is compliant with information it is supposed to include.
• Governors do not review the school’s administrative systems regarding the recruitment of staff rigorously enough. Although key information was all in place by the end of the inspection, the lead inspector found omissions when documentation was first checked.
• Governors visit the school regularly and contribute to meetings about pupils’ progress. This is helping them to get to know the school better.
• Governors ensured that there was a rigorous system in place for the recruitment of the new headteacher and deputy headteacher.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Senior leaders ensure that all staff receive relevant training about safeguarding and child protection. Staff know about their duty to help prevent pupils being at risk of extremism and radicalisation. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. Evidence shows that concerns raised by pupils, staff and parents are now appropriately followed up. Senior leaders work effectively with other agencies to provide support for vulnerable pupils and their families.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Too much teaching in year groups and across the school requires improvement, even though there are pockets of good and excellent practice.
• In some year groups, the quality of teaching is much stronger in one class than it is in the other.
• In too many lessons, teaching does not get pupils off to a swift start at the beginning of the year.
• Where there are weaknesses in teaching, teachers do not make enough use of assessment information about their pupils to plan appropriate starting points for pupils’ learning. During the course of lessons, they do not check that pupils have understood what is expected of them or whether or not their pupils are making enough progress.
• Not all teachers ensure that work appropriately meets the needs of pupils of differing abilities or use strategies to enable all pupils to progress effectively. During such lessons, the most able are not sufficiently challenged, including disadvantaged pupils that are also most able. Furthermore, the needs of other disadvantaged pupils, those learning to speak English as an additional language and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not sufficiently well met.
• In lessons observed in which teaching did not make good use of time, the pace of learning slowed. Not all teachers implement the school’s policy about planning and feedback.
• Some pupils told the inspectors they would like more time in lessons to finish their work and that their teachers don’t always take the time to explain the things they do not understand.
• Most teachers display the appropriate subject knowledge of grammar, spelling and punctuation. Where teaching is good, teachers insist on high standards in these aspects of pupils’ writing.
• Although other adults are not always used as effectively as possible by teachers, some good examples were seen at key stage 1. Where this was the case, it was because support staff were provided with clear guidance about their role and knew how to support pupils well.
• Some highly effective teaching was observed in a religious education lesson in Year 2. The teacher helped pupils to explore their understanding of the school’s core values ‘Love, hope, forgiveness and honesty’. All pupils contributed well to discussions about the different ways to show gratitude and respect. Those that were less able received discrete support and direction. Pupils were observed sharing their ideas confidently and respectfully, while learning about the wide variety of people in British society.
• In a mathematics lesson in Year 6, the teacher provided challenge for the most able, and the learning support assistant provided an appropriate level of guidance to pupils of lower ability, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils were clear about what was expected of them and the teacher regularly checked pupils’ learning, understanding and progress. The teacher helped to explain any misconceptions, and provided pupils with helpful feedback. This enabled learning to progress at a good pace for all pupils. As a result, pupils learned to solve problems; for example, calculating how many hours they will spend learning mathematics during their time at school.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils’ knowledge and understanding of different cultures and faiths is limited.
• Displays in classrooms and around the school do not reflect the multicultural community which the school serves.
• Pupils’ spiritual and moral development is good. Pupils learn to celebrate differences in others. They readily challenge behaviour they consider to be discriminatory or prejudicial. This was evident in pupils’ learning about Martin Luther King and the suffragette movement.
• Pupils told inspectors that they are happy in school and feel safe. They know how to keep themselves safe, including what to do should they experience cyber bullying.
• Pupils are developing their understanding of fundamental British values well. They know what it means to live in a democratic society and have a growing understanding of British culture, including popular music. They enjoyed celebrating the Queen’s birthday and taking part in a citywide multicultural carnival.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement
• Although the attendance of pupils is in line with the national average, it has reduced for disadvantaged pupils, and exclusions have been high for the last three years. However, as a result of the school’s stringent monitoring of pupils’ attendance and work with parents, levels of persistent absence have decreased.
• The behaviour of pupils sometimes deteriorates when teaching does not meet their needs and interests. Although most pupils are well behaved, a very few at times distract the learning of others and display naughty behaviour.
• Pupils are confident, curious and polite. The vast majority are kind and courteous. They treat each other and adults with respect.
• Pupils play together at breaktimes well and move around school in a calm and orderly way.
• Pupils told inspectors that there is some bullying at school. They also said that staff are good at helping to resolve arguments between pupils.
• Parents and staff are of the view that pupils are well behaved. Staff believe that any incidents of bullying are dealt with effectively; however, a small minority of parents expressed concern about how well the leadership and management of the school deals with bullying.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The progress that pupils make, given their different starting points, requires improvement, particularly in reading and mathematics.
• The evidence seen during the inspection highlights that the progress being made by pupils across the school is inconsistent and requires improvement.
• By the end of Year 2 in 2016, fewer pupils than in most schools reached the standard expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. However, at key stage 1, disadvantaged pupils of lower ability made rapid gains in their learning as a result of effective additional support and achieved better than other pupils nationally.
• At key stage 2 in 2016, despite the increased rate of progress that pupils made in the spring and summer terms, fewer pupils than the national average reached the expected standards in reading and mathematics. Furthermore, a much lower proportion than in most schools achieved a high standard.
• Typically, the following groups of pupils achieve less well than their peers: the most able; the disadvantaged, including the disadvantaged that are most able; pupils learning to speak English as an additional language; and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is because their needs are not being met consistently well.
• In mathematics, pupils’ knowledge of calculation is not secure for their age. Younger pupils struggle to solve problems using addition and subtraction. Older pupils are unable to use the four operations confidently and find mental mathematics difficult.
• Pupils’ level of comprehension is limited for their age. Pupils are not provided with a broad enough range of reading materials to enrich their vocabulary and help them learn about the different styles of writing.
• Staff do not listen to pupils reading regularly. Sometimes the books that pupils read are not well matched to their needs; this is because, at times, they are too easy or too difficult.
• The development of pupils’ phonics skills is becoming a significant strength lower down the school. This is partly because of the good and improving outcomes at the end of the early years, better teaching at key stage 1 and additional support for pupils where teaching has been less effective. As a result, a high proportion of pupils met the expected standard of the Year 1 phonics check last year.
• Progress at key stage 2 has been slower than at key stage 1 due to gaps in pupils’ learning in the past. However, the concerted effort made by senior leaders in improving quality of pupils’ writing last year led to good progress in writing from low starting points. In 2016, a higher proportion than in most schools reached a high standard for their written work.
• In an effective mathematics lesson in Year 6, pupils demonstrated resilience in their efforts to solve problems and used their knowledge of the value of numbers well to carry out calculations.
• The difference between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils is diminishing, albeit slowly.
• The good progress made last year in writing is being sustained this year. At key stage 1, younger pupils are already using their initial and final letter sounds confidently to help them to read and write basic words. The most able are already writing freely in Year 1. Some of the most able pupils in Year 2 use speech marks in their writing and are developing their comprehension skills well.
• At key stage 2, pupils’ handwriting and the presentation of their work is improving well. Those learning to speak English as an additional language are improving the use of varied vocabulary and their ability to write well-structured sentences. More generally, older pupils are starting to use more interesting language and varied punctuation in their writing. Pupils have been learning about figurative language and one pupil wrote ‘The unforgiving wind protects him from any invasion’.
• Pupils across the school are becoming more adept at tackling unfamiliar words by sounding them out to help them with their reading and their writing.
• Despite the low proportion of pupils that reached the expected standard for their age in 2016, standards are rising, but slowly. Pupils develop a range of skills to prepare them for secondary school. The vast majority of pupils are keen to learn; they are confident and articulate with good interpersonal skills.

Early years provision Good

• Good leadership in this part of the school has led to improvements in the quality of teaching and good outcomes for children. Children now start Reception with a level of development that is typical for their age.
• As a result of strong induction processes before September, children get off to a flying start at the beginning of the school year. During the inspection, children were observed responding readily to instructions such as what to do when using a computer programme to drag and drop images of cakes into ‘teddy’s tummy’.
• Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve and keep children safe.
• Some children start Reception with a high level of development for their age. These children can already recite numbers in sequence to 20 and beyond; they know the names of different colours and the sound that different letters represent. A few of the most able can already read simple words, such as cat and dog.
• Children settle quickly and enjoy the range of activities that cater well for their needs.
• The early years leader ensures that the progress made by pupils is closely tracked, so that any at risk of underachieving receive highly effective additional support. As a result, in 2016 the proportion of children reaching a good level of development was higher than in most schools. The one area in which children achieve less well is in the development of their writing skills; this is particularly the case for boys.
• Staff in the early years do not track closely enough the progress of children who are most able, including the most able who are also disadvantaged. Consequently, they do not ensure that this group of children exceed expectations by the end of Reception.
• The pupil premium is used effectively to fund additional support for disadvantaged children. As a result, this group of children make good progress and achieved better than others nationally.
• One parent commented on how impressed she was that on the first day of school, the staff in Reception already knew her name and that of her child.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 116344 Portsmouth 10019427 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary controlled 4–11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 408 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Wendy Evans Rachael Osborne 02392 824061 www.st-judes.portsmouth.sch.uk/ head@st-judes.portsmouth.sch.uk Date of previous inspection November 2012

Information about this school

• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is broadly average.
• A high proportion of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and learning to speak English as an additional language.
• Fewer pupils than in most schools receive support for special educational needs, and a lower proportion than average have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.
• The school meets the current government floor standards.
• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the PE and sport premium on its website.
• The former substantive headteacher, inclusion leader and mathematics leader left the school at the end of December 2015. The current headteacher and deputy headteacher were not formally appointed to their new roles until the summer 2016, but have been leading the school since January 2016.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils working in 19 lessons or part lessons. Six of these observations were done alongside a member of the senior leadership team. The inspectors observed the behaviour of pupils at different times round the school. They looked at work in pupils’ books and listened to a range of pupils from across the school reading.
• Inspectors met with two groups of pupils and also spoke to pupils at playtime to seek their views about the school. They spoke to parents informally at the beginning of the school day.
• Meetings were held with school leaders, staff and members of the governing body including the chair of the governing body. The lead inspector spoke on the telephone to a representative from the diocese and the local authority.
• The school’s website was carefully scrutinised as were many of the school’s documents and policies. Policies and documents covered information about the progress of pupils, their behaviour, attendance, and the school’s policy on equality of opportunity. Minutes of meetings held by the governing body, the school self-evaluation and raising attainment plan were also reviewed.
• Inspectors scrutinised the school’s systems for checking the suitability of staff to work with children as well as the safety and security of the school site.
• Inspectors took account of the 61 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View) as well as 10 questionnaires completed by staff and 26 by pupils.

Inspection team

Gehane Gordelier, lead inspector Gary Holden Becky Greenhalgh Krista Dawkins Brian Macdonald

Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector