Stamshaw Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that all groups of pupils make consistently strong progress across a range of subjects by making sure that:
  • teaching is consistently effective across the school
  • teachers have consistently high expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour
  • teaching deepens and extends learning for the most able pupils sufficiently
  • support for disadvantaged pupils and for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is effective and of a consistently high quality
  • disadvantaged pupils attend regularly enough to achieve well.
• Improve pupils’ behaviour by:
  • making sure that pupils develop the skills and attitudes needed to tackle activities confidently and successfully during lessons
  • improving the quality of support for those pupils who have significant emotional and behavioural difficulties
  • improving pupils’ behaviour during playtimes.
• Strengthen leadership and management by:
  • ensuring that leaders use assessment procedures more rigorously to support a precise view of how well different groups are learning and to provide additional help where needed
  • improving the quality of communications with parents. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders and governors have not improved teaching sufficiently to ensure that all groups of pupils achieve well at the end of key stage 2. In the past two years, an element of weak teaching and a number of staff changes have disrupted pupils’ learning in some classes.
• Leaders do not use SEN funding or pupil premium sufficiently well to support pupils’ learning. As a result, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as they should.
• Leaders do not always communicate clearly enough with parents. While many parents are very happy with the school, some express concerns about the quality of teaching and are uncertain about how well their children are learning.
• Leaders do not use the school’s assessment procedures rigorously enough to check the progress made by different groups of pupils. For example, their view of disadvantaged pupils’ progress lacks sufficient clarity to pinpoint what needs to be done to support individual pupils.
• Leaders ensure that pupils benefit from an appropriately broad and balanced curriculum. However, the quality of teaching in subjects such as science, religious education and history requires improvement. As a result, pupils do not make sufficiently rapid progress across a range of subjects.
• The pace of development in the school has accelerated in the past year. The quality of English and mathematics teaching has improved dramatically, and pupils make much better progress than previously.
• Good-quality coaching and training for teachers have made a strong contribution to improvements in the quality of teaching. Leaders have developed effective teamwork across the school.
• Teachers are committed to playing their part in the school’s development. They work closely with leaders to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Staff morale is high.
• Leaders have established a calm, purposeful and positive atmosphere in the school with a clear focus on learning. Strong relationships underpin the school’s work so that pupils feel secure. Pupils’ behaviour has improved substantially during the past few years.
• Leaders make good use of assemblies to encourage pupils to reflect on cultures and beliefs and to explore British values. Pupils listen with interest and respect and contribute thoughtfully. Developments in teaching ensure that pupils are increasingly well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders, governors and trustees have an accurate and realistic view of the school’s performance. They are clear about what they need to do to secure further improvements in the school’s work and have suitable plans in place to sustain the pace of development.
• Leaders use physical education and the sport premium appropriately to support pupils’ physical and emotional well-being.

Governance of the school

• Governors and trustees work closely and constructively with school leaders. They support and challenge the school well and hold leaders increasingly to account for pupils’ achievement.
• Governors and trustees share leaders’ ambitions for the school and its pupils. They are understandably pleased with developments in the school’s work in the past year. However, they recognise that further improvements are needed to ensure that all groups of pupils achieve well. Governors and trustees have appropriate plans in place to support further developments in the school’s work.
• The trust’s coaching programme has made a valuable contribution to improvements in leadership and teaching during the past few years.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders regularly update staff and governors about safeguarding requirements and procedures. As a result, adults are clear about what to do if they have a concern.
• School records indicate that leaders act quickly and appropriately whenever they have worries about a pupil’s welfare. They work appropriately with agencies, such as social care and children’s services, to ensure that pupils are safe.
• The school site is secure and well maintained. Consistent expectations and routines ensure that pupils behave sensibly and move around the school safely.
• Leaders usually engage well with parents to ensure that pupils are safe and secure. Occasionally, however, they do not communicate clearly enough with parents. This can cause unnecessary parental concern.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching is not strong enough to ensure that all groups across the school learn equally well, particularly pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. Variations in the quality of teaching between different classes and year groups mean that some pupils make better progress than others.
• Some teachers’ expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour are not high enough. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they should, including the most able pupils. In some cases, teachers are slow to re-engage pupils who lose concentration during lessons.
• Teaching has improved substantially during the past two years. The teaching of reading, writing and mathematics builds more securely on pupils’ learning than previously, so that pupils are making stronger progress.
• Teachers have strengthened pupils’ understanding of mathematics during the past year. They give pupils regular opportunities to use their mathematical knowledge to solve number problems and teach pupils how to use practical equipment to tackle mathematics tasks successfully.
• The school’s recent focus on developing the teaching of reading has improved teachers’ subject knowledge. Teaching now deepens pupils’ understanding of their reading more successfully than before. Teachers make sure that pupils read regularly in school.
• Developments in the teaching of writing have secured marked improvements in pupils’ written work. Pupils have regular opportunities to write for a range of purposes and audiences. The recent introduction of a spelling programme has ensured a more consistent approach to the teaching of spelling skills across the school.
• In some year classes, consistently effective teaching ensures that pupils make rapid progress. Where this is the case, teachers have a thorough understanding of pupils’ needs. They make good use of skills, strategies and techniques to motivate and enthuse their pupils and provide activities which build strongly on pupils’ learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ attendance continues to be well below the national average and lower than that of other pupils in the school. While the school’s overall attendance rates have improved during the past year, and there have been some notable successes for individual pupils, disadvantaged boys’ attendance has declined.
• Pupils’ increasing enjoyment of school is clear. Consistently strong relationships between adults and pupils mean that most pupils are keen to learn.
• Most pupils work hard, want to do well and get on very well with their classmates. They talk enthusiastically about their learning and make sensible and thoughtful contributions during lessons. However, some pupils lack the confidence and skills needed to complete tasks successfully and are sometimes reluctant to tackle the work set for them by their teachers.
• Well-established routines ensure that pupils move sensibly around the school. Pupils greet visitors warmly and politely.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Pupils’ behaviour varies between classes according to the quality of teaching. While pupils behave very well in most classes, there is too much low-level disruption in others. As a result, some pupils reported regular disturbances to their learning.
• A small number of pupils who have specific social and emotional needs find it hard to behave well in school. School records indicate improved help for individual pupils during the past two years so that pupils are more settled than previously. However, while better than before, the support provided is still not strong enough to ensure that these pupils get on as well as they should in school.
• Most pupils behave considerately in the playground. However, the rough behaviour of a small number of pupils detracts from the enjoyment of playtime for others.
• Many parents are very happy with the quality of behaviour in the school and reported significant improvement during the past two years. However, some express concerns about pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during playtimes. Parents’ mixed views reflect differences in the quality of pupils’ behaviour across the school.
• The older pupils said that behaviour has improved dramatically in the past two years. School records and observations during the inspection support this view.
• Most pupils get on well together and behave well. Their positive attitudes to school and their considerate behaviour make a valuable contribution to their learning and to the school’s calm, purposeful atmosphere.
• Pupils behave well in the dining hall. They enjoy chatting with friends while they eat their lunch. They speak to adults politely and follow their requests promptly.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ learning and progress vary across the school according to the quality of teaching in each class and year group.
• Historical weaknesses in teaching mean that some pupils lack the key knowledge and skills in English and mathematics needed to achieve well. Standards in reading and mathematics at the end of Year 6 were below the national average in 2017.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes have been slower to recover than those of other groups in the school. In 2017, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieving the expected standard was below the national average. While their progress has improved during the past few months, they make slower progress than their classmates in school and others nationally.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities do not achieve as well as they should. However, recent improvements in teaching have ensured that they are making better progress than previously.
• In recent years, too few of the most able pupils have achieved the highest outcomes at the end of Year 6. While developments in teaching during the past two years mean that the most able pupils learn increasingly well, their progress remains uneven across the school.
• Improvements in teaching are now making up for lost time and pupils’ progress is improving rapidly. The quality of pupils’ work in reading, writing and mathematics has improved substantially in the past few months, as teachers’ expectations rise and developments in teaching take effect. Increasing numbers of pupils currently in the school are working at expected standards in English and mathematics.
• Pupils make better progress in writing than they do in reading and in mathematics. Improvements in the teaching of writing mean that pupils are more securely equipped to write successfully. For example, during the inspection, pupils in Year 6 made good use of their knowledge of punctuation and grammar to check and improve their writing. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in writing matched the national average in 2017.
• Pupils’ progress is strengthening across the school. Effective teaching in Year 3 means that pupils quickly settle into school and learn well. Meanwhile, pupils in Year 6 have made strong progress since September 2017. As a result, they are in a much better position to achieve well at the end of key stage 2 and are increasingly well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 141692 Portsmouth 10040908 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 Academy sponsor-led 7–11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 248 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Noel Creighton Jenny Ray 02392 661045 www.stamshawjun.org.uk office@stamshaw-jun.portsmouth.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is higher than that found in most primary schools.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.
• Stamshaw Junior School converted to become an academy school on 1 April 2015. When its predecessor school, Stamshaw Junior School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to require improvement overall.
• The school is part of the Portswood Primary Academy Trust, which comprises three schools, a teaching school and a partner school.
• The school’s leadership includes a board of trustees, an executive board and a local governing body.
• The Portswood Primary Academy Trust provides coaching and training for school staff and governors.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed pupils learning in 29 lessons, including 13 sessions observed jointly with the principal or vice principal.
• Inspectors held discussions with the principal, vice principal and phase leaders. Inspectors met with the trust’s chief executive officer, deputy chief executive officer, chair of the local governing body and the chair of trustees. They also met with the trust’s English, mathematics and curriculum advisers.
• The inspection team took account of 16 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and considered the views expressed by parents informally during the school day. Inspectors also considered seven responses to the staff questionnaire.
• Inspectors observed the school’s work and considered a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation documents, safeguarding policies, the school’s improvement plan and information about pupils’ progress and attendance.
• The inspection team looked at a sample of pupils’ work provided by the school, as well as pupils’ work in lessons. Inspectors listened to pupils in Years 3 and 6 read.

Inspection team

Julie Sackett, lead inspector Alan Jenner Deirdre Crutchley

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector