Rose Green Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to develop the skills of all teachers so that:
  • they have greater confidence in teaching writing and mathematics at greater depth
  • they progressively devise more demanding activities to challenge most-able pupils, particularly in writing and mathematics
  • they ensure that pupils take greater responsibility for their own learning.
• Continue to improve the use of assessment information by leaders and teachers so that:
  • the information it provides helps leaders measure the impact of their work
  • teachers intervene promptly to enable pupils to make faster progress.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher, ably supported by his deputy, has high aspirations for the school. This ambition to make sure that all pupils achieve the very best academically and socially is shared by all staff, the school community council and the Schoolsworks Academy Trust.
• Leaders use performance information effectively to identify what the school does well and prioritise appropriate areas for improvement. The development plan includes initiatives to address areas where further action is needed. Leaders make regular checks to see how well their actions are helping pupils to learn. Leaders are now refining these actions to provide a more detailed understanding of pupils’ progress.
• The trust provides effective support. It has arranged training for leaders and for class teachers, and this has led to improvements in leadership as well as in teaching. Teachers now have higher expectations of what pupils can achieve. Newly qualified teachers feel well supported and have a well-planned training programme in place which allows them to develop their skills quickly.
• The management of teachers’ performance is used well to support a drive for continual improvement. Teachers are given targets that focus on school priorities. Leaders make frequent checks on the quality of teaching through a range of activities, such as visits to classrooms and reviews of pupils’ work. This effective monitoring provides leaders with accurate information, which is used to support teaching staff and raise standards across the school.
• The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development successfully. This means that the school is a calm, orderly environment where pupils work and play happily together. Pupils also participate in charity events to support their local community.
• Pupils’ understanding of British values is promoted well through, for example, learning about democracy when electing the school council. The school council and team captains focus on key areas for improvement which have included the school environment, pupils’ safety and breaktime activities.
• The curriculum allows pupils to gain a good knowledge of the world and current issues through their lessons and assemblies. Connections are made between subjects to help pupils to learn well. For example, in English pupils had opportunities to discuss themes from history and geography, and in mathematics they referred to their knowledge of temperature from science lessons.
• Leaders have used pupil premium funding thoughtfully and effectively so that disadvantaged pupils achieve at least as well as other pupils both personally and academically. Similarly, provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well planned. The whole approach is rooted in research on how to make a real difference to individual pupils.
• School leaders have used the additional sports funding to provide specialist coaching for pupils to develop their skills and to take part in a wider range of activities. More pupils join clubs and attend sports fixtures, younger children are taught to use scooters safely and there are opportunities for pupils to take a lead.
• The large majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, agree or strongly agree that the school is well led and managed. One parent wrote that this is an ‘excellent, well-led school with a fantastic set of caring, hard-working teachers’.

Governance of the school

• The trust and community council share leaders’ ambition and high expectations. They provide a good balance of support and challenge to leaders. Although they receive good-quality information from leaders, they visit the school regularly to check for themselves how well the school runs on a day-to-day basis. They have a clear view of the strengths of the school and the priorities for further improvement.
• The trust manages its statutory responsibilities effectively. Members are confident that the school keeps pupils safe. They ensure that they review the school’s arrangements for safeguarding regularly so that these meet requirements.
• They know how the performance of staff is managed to improve teaching. They support leaders’ actions to tackle weaker performance and they ensure that good teaching is rewarded.
• They check the use of finances carefully, including pupil premium and sports premium funding, to ensure that spending supports the learning and progress of all pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All procedures and systems are robust. Any concerns are dealt with quickly. The trust monitors the work of the school to satisfy itself that checks are completed. When pupils do not attend school, this is followed up promptly. School leaders work effectively to maintain good attendance for almost all pupils. They work with pupils and their families to improve the attendance of pupils who do not come to school often enough.
• Pupils are confident that staff care for them and will support them if they have any concerns. Pupils are taught through assemblies and in class about staying safe. Teachers use a wide range of opportunities to reinforce these messages. For example, in an English lesson the teacher used the story to discuss the ways in which people can be bullied online. Pupils’ discussion was well informed and reflected their mature response to the issue. If bullying does occur, pupils know that this will be dealt with effectively. They are aware that staff not only work with those involved, but that they also provide reminders to other pupils on the impact of bullying.
• A strong safeguarding culture runs throughout the school. Staff receive regular training, which helps them to keep pupils safe from harm. Staff record and pass on concerns quickly. When required, leaders work well with external agencies to protect pupils. Leaders are diligent and pursue additional support and advice when they have concerns.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers know their pupils well. Mostly, they plan work that builds on and extends pupils’ learning and understanding. Where teaching is strongest, pupils make rapid progress because teachers have high expectations and are clear what pupils need to do to succeed.
• Teachers check work in pupils’ books carefully and use the information to address pupils’ misconceptions in class individually, and through focused group work. New assessment systems are beginning to enable leaders and teachers to discuss pupils’ progress. However, these systems do not yet ensure that the most able pupils work at even greater depth.
• Teachers and teaching assistants check on pupils while they are working, so that they can address any misconceptions quickly. Teaching assistants are highly skilled and work alongside teachers to help individual pupils and remove any barriers to learning. Adults provide pupils with clear steps to increase their knowledge and understanding and to help them concentrate. This enables pupils to progress well.
• There are plenty of opportunities for pupils to talk about their work in class either with partners or in groups. This allows them to reflect on their learning, share ideas and learn from each other.
• When pupils join the school in Year 3, they are not always able to use a wide range of vocabulary, and they are not all able to spell frequently used words. This has become an important focus in all year groups and, as a result, writing is improving.
• In the past, writing has not been good enough. Leaders have taken action to develop the skills of their teachers to improve the teaching of writing. Pupils are now learning to ‘write like writers’. Teachers use high-quality texts to promote an interest in writing and to help pupils to develop their writing skills.
• Leaders’ actions to improve progress in mathematics have been effective. Pupils are developing their reasoning skills and problem-solving skills well, alongside their knowledge of calculation strategies. They have learned to explain the methods they use, in addition to solving problems.
• Pupils talked about reading and read to inspectors. Leaders have recognised the need to provide additional practice in using phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) skills to improve reading. Pupils are given frequent opportunities to develop their reading skills and they are encouraged to read for enjoyment.
• Teachers encourage links with parents through setting homework so that learning continues at home and complements the work pupils do at school. Pupils say that they are given the right amount of homework to help them to learn and to prepare them for secondary school. On Parent View, most parents agreed that their children receive a suitable amount of homework.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils have very positive attitudes towards their work in school. They participate well in lessons and they are keen to discuss their achievements with visitors. In discussion, pupils talked about the way the school helps them all to learn.
• Teachers encourage pupils to take responsibilities, and older pupils were eager to describe their leadership roles with inspectors. Team captains and school council representatives described the ways in which they could help to make changes in school, take responsibilities, bring ideas to meetings and make sure people have fun at playtime. Support leaders were able to show how they help the new Year 3 pupils to settle in to school. They were all confident that they ‘help to improve the school and make it a better place’.
• Pupils have a good understanding of the different types of bullying, particularly that associated with being online. They know that if bullying occurs it is dealt with quickly and appropriately. They are taught about prejudiced types of behaviour and say that this is not an issue at their school. Pupils know how to keep safe and are able to protect themselves.
• Pupils’ physical well-being is promoted through encouragement to participate in a range of sporting activities. The outdoor space is used well to encourage play and develop physical skills.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are polite and interested in talking to visitors. Pupils move sensibly around the school, and readily hold doors open for adults and each other. Pupils get on well together in class and in the playground. They are supportive of each other and help each other when they are working.
• Pupils and adults have good relationships and, as a result, pupils follow instructions and pay attention. Where expectations are high and activities well planned, pupils are enthusiastic, work hard and engage in their learning. Although pupils’ attitudes to learning are generally good, they are often too dependent on adults to make the best progress.
• Pupils know that attendance is important if they want to learn well and make better progress and, as a result, most pupils attend regularly. Attendance of disadvantaged pupils has been lower, but this is slowly improving as a result of persistent efforts by school leaders to support pupils and their families.
• The vast majority of pupils, parents and staff who responded to Ofsted’s questionnaires felt that pupils were well behaved in school.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ outcomes are improving each year. Provisional progress measures indicate that pupils in Year 6 made better progress in writing and mathematics than they did in the previous year. The number of pupils who are now working at the expected standard in these subjects, at the end of Year 6, is close to the national average.
• Work in pupils’ books and the school’s checks on pupils’ learning show that progress is currently good in a range of subjects. Consequently, pupils’ attainment in all year groups is broadly average and improving.
• When pupils join the school in Year 3 some still need to develop phonics, reading, spelling of frequently used words or basic mathematical skills. School leaders have responded to this and check what pupils know, in order to support their learning more accurately. As a result, pupils are making stronger progress and gaps in their knowledge are being reduced.
• In previous years, pupils were not consistently challenged to extend their learning to achieve higher standards, but this has now been addressed. Pupils reflect on their learning and take more risks. They know they should not give up when they make mistakes, but use these to help them to learn. In English, they are now able to raise the standard of their writing because they have acquired a wider range of skills. They now have more opportunities to solve mathematical problems in different contexts and explain the reasons for their answers.
• The school uses pupil premium funding well to provide extra support for disadvantaged and disadvantaged most-able pupils. During the last year the provision for these pupils led to them making faster progress. Disadvantaged and disadvantaged most-able pupils, in all year groups, are now making similar progress to others in school.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. Their progress is closely checked and school leaders adjust their work to ensure that these pupils make good progress. The success of this work can also be seen where pupils who joined the school needing additional support to help them learn are no longer in need of specialist help when they leave.
• Almost all parents who spoke to inspectors or responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, considered that their children were making good progress and achieving well throughout the school. One parent said, ‘I have been impressed that my son has been consistently challenged and encouraged to push himself.’

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 141600 West Sussex 10036927 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 converter 7 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 385 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair of trustees Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mr Jonathan Funnell Philip Craig 01243 262317 www.rosegreenjunior.co.uk office@rosegreenjunior.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• This is an above-average-sized junior school. The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and eligible for additional pupil premium funding is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors made visits to observe learning in all year groups and attended assembly.
• Samples of pupils’ work, including work from last year and current work in books, were scrutinised by inspectors. School leaders were given opportunities to discuss the work with inspectors. Pupils also shared what they had learned.
• Inspectors met with groups of pupils, and also heard others read.
• Inspectors met with the headteacher and deputy headteacher on several occasions, and separately with other leaders. Inspectors also held a separate meeting with newly qualified teachers.
• Inspectors held meetings with the representatives of the school community council, and Schoolsworks Academy Trust.
• Inspectors reviewed the 43 responses made by parents to the online parent survey, Parent View, an email from a parent and spoke to parents at the school gate. Inspectors also reviewed 29 responses to the staff questionnaire.
• Documentation and policies, which included the school’s own evaluation and development plans, were reviewed. Inspectors scrutinised the school’s safeguarding records, including safety checks made when teachers are appointed and teachers’ files.

Inspection team

Ann McCarthy, lead inspector James Munt Kate Redman

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector