St John's Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Strengthen leadership, management and governance by:
  • continuing to develop the assessment system so that leaders and governors can explain the impact of their work on different groups across the curriculum
  • ensuring that the most able disadvantaged pupils benefit from additional support that further accelerates their learning.
• Further improve pupils’ outcomes by:
  • making sure that all teaching is as good as the best
  • securing teachers’ awareness of different groups of pupils so that they can address their needs more precisely.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders, governors and staff truly believe that every pupil at St John’s can succeed. The headteacher has set this aspirational tone, ensuring that it is underpinned by extremely effective personal development and welfare arrangements. Therefore, staff build strong, caring relationships with pupils and set high expectations of what they can achieve. As a result, pupils of all ages are supported very well to make good progress across the curriculum.
• Leadership is shared widely. The executive headteacher from the Goldsworth Trust has supported the development of leadership at all levels. There are opportunities for leaders to work with colleagues at Goldsworth School to share expertise and build important skills. As a result, leaders, including middle leaders, make effective changes to teaching that increase pupils’ learning.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses because they have had valuable support from a local authority adviser. They use this knowledge to make incisive changes to provision. For example, the English leader has introduced a new approach to teaching writing that has increased pupils’ progress across the school.
• Staff are committed to improving their own skills and knowledge. Leaders support this very well through training and effective appraisal. For example, the mathematics leader provided training for staff to extend their knowledge of the subject last year. Almost all staff participated. Pupils achieve well in mathematics because staff use this understanding of the subject to support learning very effectively.
• The special educational needs coordinator provides strong leadership. There are effective systems in place to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result of high expectations and careful monitoring of their provision, these pupils are making good progress from their starting points.
• Recently, leaders introduced a new assessment system. They have started to identify more accurately different groups of pupils and to develop teachers’ use of this important information. However, this work is ongoing. Therefore, leaders and governors are not yet able to explain the impact of their actions to improve the learning of different groups or in subjects other than English and mathematics.
• The pupil premium is spent well. Disadvantaged pupils benefit from some additional support that has enabled them to catch up, particularly in English and mathematics. In 2016, disadvantaged pupils’ attainment in Year 6 was similar to that of others nationally. Nevertheless, leaders acknowledge that the most able disadvantaged pupils have not always received extra support to advance their learning.
• The deputy headteacher has led the recent development of the curriculum very effectively, working closely with subject leaders to secure the right opportunities for pupils. The curriculum enables pupils to learn about the world beyond their locality across a range of subjects. Topics such as ‘stones and bones’ capture pupils’ interest and generate tangible enthusiasm for learning.
• Extra-curricular and sporting activities widen the curriculum. For example, choir and sewing clubs help to extend pupils’ skills and talents. Leaders have also increased pupils’ involvement in competitive sports. Recent events have included playing cricket at the Oval and a ‘run to Rio’ that was so popular it is continuing this year as a ‘run around the world’.
• The leaders of religious education and personal, social, health and economic education ensure that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and their understanding of British values are well promoted. These opportunities are woven into the curriculum and are well supported by the school’s own values. For example, the current value, ‘cooperation’, helps pupils to learn mutual respect and tolerance. Pupils’ cultural development is fostered through topics such as ‘India’ and ‘Knowledge has a beginning but no end’, which explores the golden age of Islam.
• The school makes very effective use of the sport premium. The physical education leader identified the need to develop staff expertise, particularly in gymnastics and rugby. Therefore, teachers work alongside dedicated coaches and help pupils of all abilities to achieve well in a range of sports. During a gymnastics lesson a pupil said ‘The teacher always makes sure that we are included and having fun’.
• Parents value the level of care that their children receive in this school. One parent said, ‘This school is making my son shine even more’. Parents also appreciate the opportunities to find out about learning in ‘maths workshops’ and the regular ‘book looks’.

Governance of the school

• Governors are passionate about the school. They immerse themselves in school life and ensure that they continue to have the right expertise and knowledge to provide effective challenge and support to school leaders. The governing body has received highly effective support from the local authority in the recent past to hone these skills.
• Governors check that provision is effective. Leaders provide governors with helpful information so they can assure themselves that pupils are achieving well enough. However, governors cannot yet explain the impact of leaders’ actions on the achievement of different groups or in subjects other than English and mathematics because this information is not currently available.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders maintain a culture of vigilance, recognising the importance of keeping pupils safe. Staff receive effective, up-to-date training so that they know what to do if they are worried about a pupil’s well-being. Leaders take the right actions to keep pupils safe. Where necessary, this includes challenging other professionals. The on-site children’s centre and the home-school link worker build trusting relationships with families that enable them to receive help where and when they need it most.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers and teaching assistants have strong subject knowledge. They use this well to develop pupils’ skills and understanding. As a result, pupils make good progress in a range of subjects. For example, in a Year 3 art lesson, pupils were able to create effective line patterns using materials such as charcoal because the teacher had taught them about tone and texture in a previous lesson.
• Teaching assistants are skilled contributors to pupils’ learning because they have received effective training. For example, in phonics lessons in key stage 1, teaching assistants checked pupils’ understanding to adjust their teaching and to challenge pupils. Consequently, pupils achieve well when working with teaching assistants.
• Staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. This starts in the early years foundation stage. In the Nursery class, the children sat with the teacher to ‘write’ a poster about pigs. Children shared their ideas and the teacher helped to improve their sentences before teaching the children to say the sentence in full as she recorded it on the interactive whiteboard. The children all successfully repeated sentences such as ‘A pig has a curly tail’.
• Pupils of different abilities read widely and with a proficiency that is at least appropriate for their age. This is because the school promotes a love of reading. The newly refurbished and regularly restocked library resembles a high-quality bookshop. Pupils speak with passion about the books and authors that they enjoy through individual reading, working with adults or in English lessons. Last year, pupils leaving the school had achieved as well as other pupils nationally in reading.
• Teachers set tasks for the most able pupils that are appropriately challenging. Consequently, across the school, the most able pupils are making good progress. For example, in a Year 2 phonics lesson, the most able pupils were learning to spell words with the endings ‘ful’ and ‘less’. The teacher noticed that some pupils found this difficult so she helped them to complete some examples together. Others went off to decide for themselves which ending to add to a word. One pupil remarked, ‘This is hard!’ yet persevered to apply her new knowledge with some success.
• Across the school, staff place a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ vocabulary. This is enabling pupils to write more effectively. In a Year 6 writing lesson, pupils used words such as ‘metamorphosis’ to explain the changes in the superheroes that they had created. The teacher has taught pupils to use a range of sentences and literary features to create lively character descriptions. One pupil wrote, ‘Raised as a normal raven, eating worms and such, the raven grew up to be a strong flyer’.
• Teachers are increasingly aware of the different groups of pupils in their class. In the best classes, teachers use this knowledge to match learning precisely to pupils’ varied needs. However, this is not consistent across all classes.
• Occasionally, some teaching does not enable pupils to learn well enough. This reduces the progress that they make.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils at St John’s rise to meet the high expectations of their teachers. They take their learning seriously and demonstrate perseverance in class because staff help them to recognise the importance of school. Staff remind pupils of the school’s values such as ‘resilience’ and ‘responsibility’ throughout the day. Few opportunities are wasted to strengthen pupils’ positive attitudes.
• Pupils are sensible and responsible. Older pupils delight in taking on the roles of play leaders, helping children to find friends on the playground and/or acting as house captains motivating others to succeed. Even the youngest children relish taking turns to lead the counting at the start of each day.
• Across the school, pupils of all ages are friendly, supportive and caring towards each other. This was evident in the breakfast club where a Year 5 pupil and a Reception child happily played with hoops. The school is calm and harmonious.
• Pupils say that bullying is very rare and that staff will help them if they have a problem. Records show that this is the case. The home-school link worker is also on hand to provide care and support to pupils when they need it most.
• There are lots of opportunities in the curriculum for pupils to learn about safety. This includes visits from ‘Buddy’, the mascot for the NSPCC, who teaches pupils to speak out if something is worrying them. Both pupils and parents are confident that the school helps pupils to keep safe.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils demonstrate excellent manners, respect and pride in their school. Staff teach pupils how to behave in a variety of situations. Even the youngest children were keen to offer to show visitors the right way to behave. A child in the Nursery welcomed a visitor with a hushed ‘Hi’, before adding a helpful, ‘Shush!’ because it was carpet time and she knew it was very important to listen to her teacher.
• Incidents of poor behaviour are very rare. Staff consistently apply the behaviour ‘ladders’ so that pupils know what is expected both in and out of class. At lunchtimes, there are lots of activities such as badminton, giant draughts and basketball that help to ensure that behaviour on the playground is commendable.
• Leaders ensure that pupils with challenging behaviour receive highly effective additional support. Through close working with families, they have supported these pupils to improve their behaviour over time.
• Pupils value the stars, stickers and certificates that reward good attendance. Leaders work closely with families to provide effective challenge and support to reduce absence for some pupils. As a result, pupils’ attendance has improved, particularly that of disadvantaged pupils, so that it is now similar to the national average.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Across the school, pupils make good progress from their starting points in a range of subjects. Last year, the proportion of pupils meeting the standards expected for their age was similar to the national average in reading, mathematics and grammar, spelling and punctuation at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2. This is because teachers have a good knowledge of the subjects that they teach and they use it well.
• Teachers ensure that the most able pupils are sufficiently challenged so that they make good progress across the school. Last year, the proportion of Year 6 and Year 2 pupils exceeding the standards expected for their age was similar to the national average in reading and mathematics. Those who had reached higher levels in Year 2 had made the best progress by the end of Year 6 in 2016, particularly in mathematics.
• Mathematics is a strength of the school. Teachers have a strong understanding of this subject and the curriculum, including the popular ‘digit’ homework games, supports pupils’ learning well. Pupils’ attainment is highest and progress is strongest in mathematics at the end of key stage 2.
• Disadvantaged pupils make similar progress to their classmates because the pupil premium is used well to provide effective support to them. Last year, the majority of disadvantaged pupils met the standards expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. This was similar to the achievement of other pupils nationally.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. These pupils benefit from additional support that is matched carefully to their needs.
• Children in the early years make good progress from their often low starting points so that the majority achieve a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year. Teachers’ high expectations of children support their development well.
• Pupils make good progress in reading across the school. Leaders place a strong emphasis on securing this important skill. By the end of Year 2, the very large majority of pupils meet the expected standard in the phonics check.
• Previously, pupils’ achievement in writing has been weaker than in reading and mathematics. However, current progress information shows that pupils, including those in different groups, are now making good progress in writing. Changes to the teaching of writing are improving pupils’ outcomes in this subject.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader is ambitious for all children, seeking to prepare them as well as possible for school. Last year, she rightly identified the need to improve boys’ early reading and writing skills. Therefore, teachers have made changes so that children read and write more when inside and outside. For example, two children were ‘driving’ a pretend car, while holding clipboards where they had written their food order of ‘chicken nuggets and jacket potatoes’. As a result of this increased focus, boys’ attainment in reading and writing improved in 2016 so that it was similar to that of girls.
• Most children join the school with skills and abilities that are below those typical for their age. Some children have very low starting points. Staff use their knowledge of each child to help them to take their next steps. As a result, most children, including those in different groups, make good progress across the areas of learning as they move through the early years foundation stage. The majority of children leave the early years ready for Year 1 and a minority exceed the standards expected for their age.
• There is a strong emphasis on developing children’s language and personal, social and emotional development through the early years. This starts with disadvantaged children in the two-year-old class. Staff use songs and rhymes such as ‘bubble, bubble’, and repeat language to build children’s vocabularies well. This develops as children move into the Nursery and Reception classes, as staff provide children with helpful sentences to use, such as ‘Could I have a turn please?’
• Children behave extremely well in the early years and are kept safe. This is because staff have high expectations of children and their support greatly advances children’s personal development and knowledge of safety. In all classes, children are kind to each other, take turns and show care, including wearing hard hats when ‘building’ with wooden blocks!
• Staff initiate strong relationships with parents when they visit children’s homes before they start school. They then continue to involve parents in their child’s learning, setting the foundations for the rest of their time in school. For example, the noticeboards outside each class show parents what children are learning each day and how they can help at home.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140339 Surrey 10019851 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 220 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Vic Shipp Sarah May Telephone number 01483 476 450 Website Email address www.stjohnsknaphill.co.uk admin@stjohnsknaphill.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• St John’s is an average sized primary school.
• The majority of pupils are White British and others come from a range of different ethnic backgrounds. A small minority of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average. This group represents about a third of pupils in the school.
• Few pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Almost no pupils have an education, health and care plan.
• St John’s Primary School became a new school in December 2013 when it was sponsored by the Goldsworth Trust. The executive headteacher oversees both schools in the trust.
• The school has provision for two-year-olds and a children’s centre on-site. At the last inspection in 2014, the provision for two-year-olds was judged to be good.
• In 2015, the school met the government’s floor standards (minimum standards for pupils’ achievement at the end of key stage 2).
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with DfE guidance on what academies should publish.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed lessons in all classes, spoke to pupils and looked at work in their exercise books. The majority of observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders, middle leaders, a group of pupils, two members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors spoke to 12 parents on the playground and took into account 47 responses, including written comments, to the online questionnaire (Parent View). They also considered 24 responses to the staff questionnaire.
• A range of documents were looked at including the school’s information about pupils’ achievement and records concerning pupils’ attendance, behaviour and safety.

Inspection team

Caroline Dulon, lead inspector Bill Jerman Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector