Tipton Green Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to improve the quality of teaching and the progress pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics by ensuring that teachers: plan learning tasks that build on what pupils already know and understand intervene promptly to address pupils’ misconceptions provide sufficient challenge for the most able pupils to achieve at greater depth provide timely and appropriate support for least-able pupils to help them sustain concentration and develop independent learning skills move learning on at the right time so that all pupils make more rapid progress but still have enough time to embed their learning insist on consistently high standards of presentation and handwriting check that pupils are attentive to spelling and punctuation in their writing across the curriculum.
• Strengthen leadership and management further by: continuing to provide support and development opportunities to middle leaders to strengthen the impact they can have on improving the quality of teaching and the progress pupils make build on positive partnerships with parents and carers and the community sharing more widely the good practice that already exists so that all teachers and middle leaders develop their skills.
• Further improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and well-being by: ensuring that pupils know whom to tell if they feel they are being bullied, and making sure that they know what action has been taken when they report a problem ensuring that high expectations of behaviour are consistently applied by all staff building on the positive involvement of pupils to influence the behaviour of all pupils improving the way staff record behaviour and other incidents so that patterns and trends can be identified more easily to improve behaviour.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since his appointment, the headteacher has driven improvements across the school after a dip in recent years. He is determined to ensure that pupils receive a good-quality education. He has identified teaching and learning as the main priority for improvement and has provided a comprehensive programme of support for teachers. The majority of staff are supportive of the need for change and are appreciative of the high-quality training and support they receive. Teaching is starting to improve.
• The headteacher works closely with the local authority to ensure that the school benefits from external reviews of its progress. The local authority adviser attends the governors’ recently established school improvement committee to provide an objective view of the school’s progress against the school development plan.
• Other leaders and governors share the headteacher’s ambition for the school to be the best it can be. They monitor closely the impact of the additional funding the school receives through the pupil premium. One governor, for example, who has particular knowledge and skills in relation to physical education, has helped the school to develop ambitious plans for the physical education and sport premium. This is to ensure that it has maximum impact on pupils’ progress and attainment. This is at an early stage of implementation.
• A range of trips and visitors to the school enhance the curriculum. For example, pupils attended a harvest festival service at the local church. To celebrate Diwali, a local drumming group visited the school to play for pupils.
• Middle leaders receive effective support and are providing stronger leadership for their areas. Many teachers have taken on additional responsibility for leading a subject. They say that this helps them to improve their understanding of the curriculum planning process which, in turn, helps to develop their teaching.
• The curriculum is well planned, linking core skills and foundation subjects like history and geography through themed topics. In a topic on the Vikings, pupils used design and technology skills to build a model of a Viking long ship, and tested its seaworthiness. The work in their topic books shows good subject learning, as well as generic skills of planning and evaluation.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported through assemblies, personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) and opportunities for pupils to show leadership. In an assembly on well-being, for example, pupils were taught about the five principles of well-being. They were encouraged to think about the impact of their actions on others, particularly through smiling and showing kindness to others.
• Fundamental British values are threaded through the PSHE curriculum. Pupils have the opportunity to be elected onto the junior leadership team (JLT), demonstrating leadership and contributing to improving the school. Recently, JLT representatives carried out a survey of pupils’ views and gave feedback to the school meals provider about the quality of school meals.

Governance of the school

• Governors have a realistic view of the quality of education in the school. They provide effective challenge and support for the headteacher and the leadership team. They rightly describe the school as being on a journey of improvement and they are ambitious for the pupils to achieve well.
• Individual governors use their particular skills and talents effectively to benefit the school. Each governor is linked to an area of the school’s work or a subject. They meet with middle leaders to assess progress against action plans and report back to the full governing body their findings. Staff say they find this a challenging yet supportive process. It is clear from the minutes of the governing body meetings and from talking to governors that they have a detailed understanding of the school. They know what the priorities for improvement are, and talk knowledgably about how the school is progressing and the next steps.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff know the pupils and parents well and show great care for their well-being. The support provided for individual pupils and their families is a strength of the school.
• Teachers and other adults are aware of the signs of abuse and neglect. They are vigilant and report any concerns promptly. Leaders follow up on referrals to external teams diligently to ensure that pupils receive appropriate support quickly. The leadership of this area of the school’s work is very effective.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching, learning and assessment are not consistently good across all subjects and classes. Teaching sometimes does not build on what pupils already know and understand. Least-able pupils struggle to understand what to do and so learning time is lost while they wait for an adult to help. As a result, they do not make as much progress as they should.
• Pupils make repeated errors in spelling and punctuation, which are not followed up effectively by teachers. When teachers introduce a new skill, previous learning is sometimes overlooked which leads to some basic errors. When learning about inverted commas, for example, pupils forgot to use full stops and capital letters. As a result, pupils do not achieve at the expected standard in writing.
• Where tasks have been explained in sufficient depth and are matched to pupils’ learning needs, pupils are challenged, remain focused on tasks and make fewer mistakes. They demonstrate good attitudes to learning. However, this does not consistently happen in all lessons.
• Teaching in mathematics is stronger than in other subjects because teachers make lessons engaging, relevant and fun. A wide range of appropriate resources are used to support learning and most pupils say they enjoy mathematics.
• Pupils are given opportunities to apply their mathematical knowledge and skills and to explain their reasoning through problem-solving. Lower-ability pupils have fewer opportunities to do this and, as a result, they do not make as much progress as other pupils.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge and questioning skills are used effectively to develop pupils’ understanding of different text types in English. In one lesson, pupils learned about bias in journalistic articles. The task was linked to the theme of Robin Hood, which helped to engage boys in writing.
• The school library has recently been refurbished and new books have been purchased to promote reading for pleasure, but leaders acknowledge that there is more to do to develop a love of reading across the school.
• In science teaching, teachers plan lessons that are exciting and engaging, including practical experiments linked to real life. Pupils are assessed on their scientific skills as well as the scientific content. Work in pupils’ science books demonstrates good progress.

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 are generally polite and respectful of each other and of adults. However, some pupils’ confidence spills over into cheekiness. They can be overfamiliar because they do not understand appropriate boundaries.
• The majority of parents agree that the school keeps their children safe and that pupils generally behave well. Parents value the support provided for their children, especially helping them to support children with challenging behaviour. One parent said: ‘They provide additional emotional and development support, which I think is excellent.’
• Although most pupils say they feel safe, some pupils say that there is an issue with bullying in the school and that, when they report it, some staff do not deal with it effectively. The number of recorded incidents of bullying is low.
• Records of behaviour incidents are used to identify repeat patterns so that interventions can be put in place for individuals. However, records are not analysed systematically enough to identify more general patterns, which would inform whole-school programmes of support to improve behaviour.
• The PSHE curriculum is well thought out and includes how to stay safe, how to develop healthy relationships and friendships, and how to stay safe online. It also includes lessons on fundamental British values. Pupils are respectful of other people’s opinions. They learn about faiths other than their own in religious education lessons and from trips to a range of places of worship such as the local Sikh temple and a synagogue.
• Attendance has improved over recent months as a result of intensive support provided to help parents get their children to school. When pupils are frequently absent or late to school, staff provide support to parents. Staff also challenge parents effectively when problems persist. However, records of lateness are not analysed systematically to identify more general patterns and causes.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Pupils generally behave well and show positive attitudes to learning during structured teaching sessions. They respond promptly when the class teacher asks for their attention. However, pupils in some classes drift off task when they are supposed to be working independently. This is often because the task is not engaging or the instructions are not clear.
• Pupils move around school in a calm and orderly way when the teachers, for example, supervise them moving between classes and coming in and out of assembly. However, movement around the school when pupils are not supervised is less orderly.
• The behaviour and well-being team has worked well to improve the behaviour and attitudes of many individual pupils with complex behaviour issues. This is a strength of the school.
• The behaviour policy has been revised recently. Pupils from the JLT contributed to this by suggesting that more emphasis should be placed on rewarding good behaviour. Good behaviour and achievements in learning and outside the classroom are celebrated in weekly celebration assemblies, where pupils receive the headteacher’s awards. Parents value the opportunity to attend the assembly when their child is receiving an award.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes for pupils require improvement because pupils do not make consistently strong progress in all classes and all subjects. This is in part due to a legacy of poor teaching historically.
• In 2017, the school met the Department for Education’s definition of a coasting school based on end of key stage 2 results in reading, writing and mathematics.
• For current Year 6 pupils, the work in their books is not at the expected standard for their age. There are gaps in their skills and current progress is not rapid enough for these gaps to close by the time pupils leave the school.
• The school’s analysis of progress by the end of the summer term 2017 indicates that pupils made good progress over the last academic year. However, assessment information shows that, by the end of the autumn term 2017, pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was below and sometimes well below age-related expectations. Progress has therefore not been rapid enough to close the gaps in pupils’ learning.
• Progress and attainment in mathematics are stronger than in other subjects as a result of improved teaching that engages pupils. Many pupils say they enjoy mathematics.
• The progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils were below national averages for reading, writing and mathematics in 2017. The school has put in place a number of effective interventions so that the progress of disadvantaged pupils is now in line with and, in some cases, exceeds the progress of other pupils.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities progress well, particularly in mathematics. They make good progress in reading and writing in Years 5 and 6 but progress is not so good in Years 3 and 4. The SEN coordinator has an action plan to address this, providing more support for pupils with additional needs. She knows the children, their families and their needs very well. She tracks progress and monitors the impact of individual interventions effectively.

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School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 103928 Sandwell 10037880 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 Maintained 7 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 360 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Patrice Meredith David Rowe 0121 557 9242 www.tgjs.org.uk headteacher@tiptongreen.sandwell.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 31 October 1 November 2012

Information about this school

• Tipton Green is larger than the average junior school.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is above the national average.
• A higher than average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The governing body is responsible for a breakfast club and after-school clubs.
• The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all classes at least once. They listened to pupils read and visited an assembly.
• Inspectors observed pupils at breaktime and lunchtime, and visited the before- and after-school clubs.
• A range of documents were scrutinised including minutes of governing body meetings, the school’s self-evaluation and the school development plan.
• Inspectors took account of 22 responses to the pupil survey, spoke to pupils in the playground and in lessons, and met with a small group of pupils.
• Inspectors met with a number of teachers individually to discuss their areas of responsibility. The lead inspector met with a small group of staff and took account of 13 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.
• Inspectors spoke to parents at the school gate and took account of 14 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. The lead inspector spoke to one parent on the phone.
• The lead inspector met with governors and a representative of the local authority.

Inspection team

Jane Spilsbury, lead inspector Stuart Evans Chris Bandfield Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector