Jolesfield CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that all groups of pupils throughout the school make the same consistently strong progress by ensuring that:
  • teachers have consistently high expectations of pupils’ learning
  • teaching deepens and extends pupils’ learning sufficiently in English and mathematics, particularly for the most able pupils
  • teachers accurately assess pupils’ progress and make good use of this information to plan learning
  • pupils develop secure spelling skills and apply these consistently in their written work.
• Fully establish subject leaders’ roles in improving the quality of teaching by ensuring that they:
  • make more rigorous use of information about the quality of teaching and learning to improve teaching and to raise standards
  • work with teachers to measure pupils’ progress accurately, and to plan pupils’ learning more effectively.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders and governors have not secured pupils’ good achievement at the end of key stage 2. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment continues to be variable across the school. Inconsistencies in teachers’ assessments of pupils’ progress make it difficult for leaders and governors to check how well pupils are learning.
• A complex sequence of staffing issues during the past year, including difficulties recruiting teachers and a high turnover of staff, have presented significant challenges for senior and middle leaders, and have frustrated their attempts to secure sustained improvements in the quality of teaching.
• Leaders and governors have achieved some notable improvements in the school’s work since the previous inspection. For example, they have secured consistently effective teaching in key stage 1, where there have been very few changes in staffing. As a result, pupils make strong progress during Years 1 and 2.
• Leaders and governors have sustained effective teaching and learning in early years, since the previous inspection, and maintained pupils’ good behaviour throughout the school.
• Leaders and governors are acutely aware of the need to secure further improvements in teaching in key stage 2 so that pupils make consistently strong progress in all year groups. They have effective plans in place to ensure that the quality of teaching improves.
• Leaders continue to work constructively with the local authority and with local schools to provide training for teachers and other members of staff. They have ensured that most teachers are able to assess pupils’ learning confidently and accurately.
• The headteacher provides clear and committed leadership for the school. Staff and governors share her determination to ensure that all groups of pupils achieve well.
• The special educational needs coordinator is well qualified and highly knowledgeable about how to help pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. She assesses pupils’ learning accurately, tracks their progress closely and makes sure that pupils benefit from good-quality support. The special educational needs coordinator’s regular reports to governors give a clear picture of pupils’ progress.
• The English leader has an accurate view of the quality of teaching and learning. She understands where and how teaching in the school needs to improve, to ensure that pupils achieve well in reading and writing.
• Leaders use funds appropriately to support disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, variations in the quality of teaching mean that some pupils make better progress than others.
• Leaders design the curriculum well so that pupils develop knowledge and understanding in a broad range of subjects. Visits, special events and clubs help to make learning relevant and engaging for pupils. For example, some of the oldest pupils spoke with interest about a recent ‘equalities day’ in school, when they were able to discuss different cultures, beliefs, backgrounds and family structures.
• The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding very well. Pupils talk knowledgeably and respectfully about world religions, including Christianity. Pupils speak sensitively about topical, national issues such as the recent tragic events in Manchester and London.
• Pupils recognise and appreciate British values, such as democracy and tolerance, as well as the school’s Christian values. They demonstrate a keen sense of justice and fair play.
• Leaders use sport and physical education funding effectively. The number of pupils participating in sports clubs has increased substantially during the past year and a half, and a high proportion of pupils have represented the school in sporting events. Teachers have developed their practice by working alongside sports coaches.

Governance of the school

• Governors support and challenge school leaders effectively. The headteacher’s reports to governors provide a clear, accurate and honest view of the school’s work. In addition, governors’ frequent and regular visits to the school give them a first-hand view of the school’s work. As a result, governors are very clear about the school’s performance and about priorities for the school’s development. Governors are acutely aware of the impact that numerous staff changes have had on the school’s performance, and about variations in the quality of teaching and learning. In the past term, they have worked closely and successfully with the headteacher and the local authority to strengthen recruitment procedures when appointing new members of staff.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and governors regularly check safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure that they are up to date and that they meet statutory requirements. Leaders complete recruitment checks for new members of staff promptly and fully, to ensure that the workforce is secure.
• Good-quality training for staff and governors and well-organised safeguarding records contribute well to the school’s safe environment. Leaders liaise regularly with parents and agencies to ensure that pupils are effectively supported.
• Strong relationships between pupils and teachers ensure that pupils feel safe. Adults are alert to pupils’ needs and act promptly if they have any concerns. Pupils feel confident and secure in school. They say that adults look after them well.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Wide variations in the quality of teaching hinder pupils’ learning in English and mathematics. Teaching during key stage 2 does not build strongly enough on the good start pupils make in early years and key stage 1.
• Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ learning vary between classes. This factor, combined with inconsistent assessments of pupils’ learning, means that the work set for pupils is not always matched well to their needs, including for the most able pupils.
• Regular and effective phonics teaching ensures that pupils develop key reading and writing strategies. Teaching in early years and key stage 1 consistently reinforces key skills, such as using finger spaces between words when writing, and using punctuation correctly to organise written work. However, the teaching of spelling skills during key stage 2 is not as effective or as well established as it is in the younger year groups.
• There is some strong teaching in key stage 2 and pupils make rapid progress where this is the case. For example, substantial improvements in the quality of teaching in Year 6, during the past term, mean that the oldest pupils have made significantly better progress in the past few months than previously. In addition, the introduction of high-quality mathematics teaching for some classes in key stage 2, during the past year, has successfully addressed some of the gaps in pupils’ mathematical understanding caused by historical weaknesses in teaching.
• Consistently effective teaching and high expectations in key stage 1 ensure that pupils make strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics during Years 1 and 2.
• Teaching assistants support pupils of all abilities effectively, including those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They use questioning effectively to help pupils plan how they will tackle activities. They teach pupils how to use resources to support their learning, and encourage pupils when tasks are difficult.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils get on well together and respect their teachers. They say that the school teaches them to be kind to each other and talk sensitively about the need to consider the feelings of others.
• Pupils feel very safe in school. Pupils have confidence in their teachers to sort out any concerns quickly. They say that teachers listen carefully when pupils need to talk to them and that teachers value their views.
• Pupils know that bullying is harmful. They say that bullying is rarely a concern, a view confirmed by the school’s records. Discussions with leaders indicate that they take any such incidents extremely seriously and respond appropriately.
• Pupils in Year 6 speak articulately and maturely about their experiences of school life. Regular discussions about the forthcoming move to secondary school have prepared them well for the next step in their education. Pupils talk confidently about leaving primary school and are excited about the future. The pupils in Year 6 behave well, work hard and provide strong role models for the younger pupils.
• Pupils are keen to learn and to do well. Pupils’ attendance is consistently higher than the national average. All groups of pupils attend school regularly, including disadvantaged pupils. There is very little persistent absenteeism.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. The vast majority of pupils behave very well during lessons, playtimes and throughout the school day. Pupils are friendly, polite and welcoming.
• Teachers follow the school’s procedures for managing pupils’ behaviour consistently and effectively. As a result, pupils are clear about how they are expected to behave.
• Pupils who spoke with inspectors, and the large majority of parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, feel that behaviour is good in school. However, some commented that one or two pupils sometimes misbehave during lessons and that this disturbs learning. Senior leaders confirm that this is the case. They liaise closely with parents and agencies, and follow specialist advice carefully. As a result, individual pupils are well supported and have made considerable progress, both personally and academically.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Inconsistencies in the quality of teaching mean that pupils do not make sufficiently strong progress during key stage 2. Standards were below average in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 in 2016.
• Numerous changes in teaching staff in key stage 2 have interrupted and hampered pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The work in pupils’ books indicates that there have been some marked improvements in the quality of pupils’ learning during the past year. However, these developments have not been sustained over time.
• The most able pupils do not achieve as well as they should. In 2016, the proportion of pupils achieving greater depth in writing and mathematics was below the national average at the end of both key stages. In reading, the proportion achieving greater depth was below average at the end of key stage 1 and in line with the national average at the end of key stage 2.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and the small number of disadvantaged pupils in each year group, make similarly variable progress to their classmates. This means that they make strong progress during early years and key stage 1 but slower progress during key stage 2.
• Pupils’ progress in writing during key stage 2 is hampered by inconsistent spelling. Many pupils have a secure knowledge of spelling patterns and rules but do not always apply these skills well enough in their written work. Some pupils have gaps in their spelling knowledge which limit their progress in writing.
• The work in pupils’ books demonstrates leaders’ success in raising expectations and improving teaching and learning in key stage 1 since the previous inspection. Skilful teaching ensures that pupils make rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics during Years 1 and 2.
• Pupils acquire secure English and mathematics skills by the end of key stage 1 and are well placed to achieve well during key stage 2. In 2016, standards at the end of key stage 1 were above the national average for reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils make strong progress in learning how to use phonics skills to help them to read and write successfully. A dip in the result of the Year 1 phonics screening check in 2016, caused by a high proportion of pupils with additional needs, has been reversed this year.
• Some groups of pupils in key stage 2 have made significantly better progress in recent months due to substantial improvements in teaching. High-quality mathematics teaching ensures that pupils develop an increasingly secure mathematical understanding. Pupils in Year 6 have made considerable progress in the past term because teachers’ expectations of pupils’ learning are much higher than previously.
• The work in pupils’ books illustrates the positive effect that recent improvements in teaching have had on the quality of pupils’ work in key stage 2. Pupils complete English and mathematics work which is increasingly good quality. Leaders and teachers are working hard to ensure that these improvements are sustained.

Early years provision Good

• All groups of children make rapid progress during early years, including the very few disadvantaged children and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This ensures that they are well prepared for the next stage of their learning by the end of their first year in school. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development has steadily increased during the past few years and was above the national average in 2016.
• Adults are sensitive to children’s needs. They provide plenty of reassurance and encouragement so that children become confident learners. Well-established routines and caring relationships ensure that children feel settled and secure.
• Children are happy and well behaved. Leaders make sure that areas are well organised and supervised appropriately, so that children can play and learn safely. The early years teacher’s positive relationships with parents ensure that she is well informed about children’s needs.
• The early years teacher and her team have high expectations of children’s learning and behaviour. They plan a wide range of interesting and engaging activities which ensure that children are active and busy.
• Adults confidently support children in the development of numeracy and literacy skills, including phonics. The work in children’s ‘learning journals’ illustrates the strong progress they make in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Leaders have improved the use of the outdoor area since the previous inspection so that activities support children’s learning well in all areas of the early years curriculum. The recent resurfacing of the outdoor area has made it an even safer and more inviting space for children to play and learn than before. Leaders are now rightly focusing on ensuring that activities in the outdoor area are sufficiently challenging, particularly for the most able children.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 125985 West Sussex 10032856 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 Voluntary controlled 5–11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 163 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address David Green Susan Uff 01403 710546 www.jolesfield.w-sussex.sch.uk head@jolesfield.w-sussex.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 18–19 March 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• 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 pupil premium is lower than that found in most primary schools.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs 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.
• The headteacher is in school four days a week. The special educational needs coordinator oversees the school on the fifth day. A new deputy headteacher has been appointed from September 2017.
• The school works closely with Upper Beeding Primary School to support teachers’ professional development.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed pupils learning in 13 lessons or part-lessons, including seven observed jointly with the headteacher.
• Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, a local authority representative, senior leaders and subject leaders. Inspectors met with five governors, including the chair of the governing body.
• The inspection team took account of 61 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as considering the views expressed by parents informally during the school day. Inspectors also considered 11 responses to the staff questionnaire and 34 responses to the pupil questionnaire.
• Inspectors observed the school’s work and considered a range of documents, including 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 looking at pupils’ work in lessons. Inspectors listened to pupils in Years 2 and 6 reading.

Inspection team

Julie Sackett, lead inspector Clare Gillies

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector