New Invention Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to focus on developing and improving the school’s curriculum by: making sure that pupils have more opportunities to learn the knowledge and skills of every subject in greater depth

incorporating more reading activities that use high-quality texts and books in all subjects using the rich and varied learning experiences provided for pupils to sustain the strong progress they make in reading, writing, mathematics and science.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• School leaders have extremely high expectations of the whole-school community. The headteacher’s passion and determination have created a culture of aspiration and respect.
• Since the previous inspection, leaders have worked well together to address the areas for improvement cited at that time. They have improved the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that teachers question pupils carefully to promote deeper thinking skills of reasoning in English and mathematics. Consequently, all pupils are making strong progress in most subjects.
• Leaders and governors know the school very well. They have a clear and accurate view of teaching and learning. They know each pupil as an individual. As a result, the school provides an outstanding education for its pupils.
• Middle leaders are very effective, they have secure subject knowledge. Subject plans are robust and strategic and identify next steps for learning. This means that pupils are given very high-quality learning experiences that promote strong progress.
• The curriculum is interesting and well developed. A wide range of visits and visitors enhances the curriculum. Pupils value these opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding. For example, one Year 6 pupil said to the lead inspector, ‘I am really excited about going to Paris. I’ve never been abroad and without the help of the school I wouldn’t be going. The school has really helped my family.’ The school engages in a programme that links schools with volunteers from a range of careers. It aims to help pupils see a link between school and the world of work, and it raises aspirations.
• Music, science, religious education, design technology and physical education all support the broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils make strong progress in all these subjects. Pupils’ active engagement in their learning increases their ability to work together, to value and respect each other’s views, and to develop understanding. This helps pupils prepare for their role in society. However, pupils do not excel in the same way in, for example, French, history or geography. In these subjects there is scope for pupils to learn in greater depth, making links between areas of learning, using high-quality, challenging texts. This will help pupils develop their understanding of key vocabulary, knowledge and skills.
• Staff morale is high. Staff are proud to work in the school and feel well valued and respected. Staff share the headteacher’s aims and aspirations and want, as one member of staff said, ‘To get it right for our pupils.’
• Teachers and teaching assistants value the professional development they receive and the care leaders take of their personal well-being. They are committed to the school and are ambitious for the pupils in their care. Staff value the opportunities to work together. They feel able to work productively without being overburdened. This positivity and enthusiasm creates a cohesive community that supports all aspects of pupils’ learning and well-being.
• The pupil premium funding is well used to support disadvantaged pupils. The funding has been used effectively to support the attendance of this group of pupils. A homework club and the ‘Brilliant Club’ all support disadvantaged pupils to attain well and increase their aspirations. Pupils who are disadvantaged make very strong progress.
• Leaders use the physical education and sport funding very effectively to encourage greater participation in sport. Leaders identified the need to increase the activity of all pupils and provide professional development for staff. Pupils enjoy physical education lessons, taking part in the daily mile and the increased opportunity to represent their school in competitions.
• As a result of the strong outcomes achieved by the school, the local authority provides very light touch support. They think highly of leaders and staff.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the school well. They are regular visitors to the school to speak to staff and pupils to confirm the information given to them by leaders. This enables them to ask challenging questions of school leaders. They are strategic in appointing new governors to meet specific needs.
• Governors share school leaders’ aspirations and high expectations. They are proud of the school’s achievements but eager to continue to support leaders to do even better. Governors support the school in its aims to give pupils every opportunity to achieve well and make strong progress. Governors regularly review school data and have successfully supported leaders to address the areas for improvements identified in the last inspection.
• Governors ensure that extra funding the school receives, for example pupil premium funding and funding for pupils with SEND, is well used. They track the impact that this funding has on the well-being and progress of vulnerable pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have created a strong culture of safeguarding. All staff and governors receive comprehensive training, including regular updates. The care and guidance manager checks that staff understand their responsibilities. Staff are quick to identify, and act on, any signs that a pupil might be at risk. As a result, the school is a safe environment for pupils, and they are always well cared for. Regular safeguarding newsletters are published on the school website. Governors frequently review safeguarding procedures and policies in order to ensure that they meet safeguarding requirements.
• Pupils say that they feel safe in school. Pupils are confident that their concerns and worries will be listened to. They know who they can speak to in school if they need support. Parents value the opportunities provided by staff to explore safeguarding issues, and they receive information about the high-quality support that their children receive.
• The curriculum helps pupils learn how to keep safe. For example, there are regular visitors to school to help pupils understand road safety, fire safety and healthy eating. Pupils are very knowledgeable about how to keep safe online and the risks posed when using social media.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teaching is of a high standard across the school. Teachers have high aspirations for all pupils. They use assessments well to plan learning that supports and challenges all pupils at the right level. Teachers sequence learning over time. Lessons build on pupils’ prior knowledge. This helps pupils learn key skills and make strong progress, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Consistent, high expectations of all pupils are evident across the school. Staff expect pupils to question their own thinking and learning. Pupils have been well taught how to question each other and give reasoned explanations. As a result, pupils are reflective and resilient learners. They check their work carefully and have good editing and proofreading skills.
• Teachers use questioning very effectively to ensure that pupils secure key skills and understand their learning. This strong, immediate assessment and feedback enables teachers to offer the right level of challenge to secure good progress for all pupils.
• Strong links exist between home and school learning. Teachers encourage pupils to think carefully about audience and purpose when reading or writing. Links are made between subjects and with learning opportunities outside the school. This results in very high-quality reading and writing skills. Homework and learning outside the classroom motivate pupils. They enjoy taking part in projects and competitions, writing poetry of a high quality and preparing for the science week.
• Teaching assistants provide excellent support to pupils. They work well alongside teachers, supporting pupils’ progress. Adults who work in school to deliver instrumental music lessons and physical education sessions provide pupils with engaging high-quality learning. All adults share leaders’ high expectations, and they encourage, challenge and support pupils.
• Pupils’ presentation of their work is excellent. They pay careful attention to spelling words correctly, using high-quality dictionaries and thesauruses and punctuating work accurately when writing independently. These high standards are evident in all subjects. Pupils take pride in their work and enjoy seeing what they produce valued in the high-quality displays and working walls across the school.
• Teachers give pupils extensive opportunities to read and write. Teachers encourage pupils to ‘wonder, infer and imagine’. They carefully plan learning experiences, based on strong subject knowledge, that will interest and motivate their pupils. Pupils respond well, producing writing that indicates high standards of prediction, reasoning and inference. Pupils read with confidence, accuracy and enjoyment to inspectors. They were able to talk intelligently about a variety of books and how much they enjoyed reading. However, there are occasions when teachers do not provide enough high-quality texts or books for the most able readers. Leaders intend, rightly, to develop the curriculum further to promote challenge.
• Pupils make outstanding progress in mathematics. Pupils enjoy the challenge of mathematics, including finding different ways to solve difficult problems. Calculation skills are well developed and pupils are confident in, and proud of, their knowledge of times tables and key number skills. Teachers make sure pupils are increasingly accurate in checking their work.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Leaders have created a culture of high aspiration, care and respect that successfully promotes pupils’ well-being. Pupils feel valued and are confident, articulate learners. Displays in classrooms and around the school support pupils’ progress and recognise their achievements.
• Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning. They take pride in their school, their work and their success. Pupils understand that working hard means listening carefully and doing your best. Presentation in books is of a very high standard. This supports pupils’ progress.
• Leaders work hard to raise pupils’ expectations by encouraging them to take part in a variety of activities. For example, the ‘Brilliant Club’ encourages children in Year 5 to think about university. Visits to Cambridge, Oxford and Nottingham universities help pupils become aware of university life. They have a project to take part in as homework and then are given the chance to graduate at a ceremony at Oxford University. Pupils commented: ‘These trips help you understand that learning is important. It helps you do well in tests so that you can go to university and get a good job.’
• Pupils show strong respect for each other. One said, ‘We are all different in a way and that’s okay.’ Leaders have created an environment where everyone is valued and relationships between pupils, and between staff and pupils, are extremely positive. Pupils know they are well looked after.
• Pupils have various opportunities to contribute to school life, such as being head boy or head girl, a school council representative, reading buddies and helping younger learners. Pupils take these roles seriously and are proud to undertake them. These opportunities are helping to prepare the pupils well for the next stage in their education.
• Pupils are confident that bullying in school is rare and that staff deal quickly with any incidents. Pupils have well developed strategies they can use if they are unhappy with comments or actions that are sometimes unthoughtful. They have a very good understanding of what bullying is.
• Pupils have a very good understanding about how to keep themselves safe online and the benefits and dangers of the internet, including social media. They told inspectors that they feel very happy and safe in school and knew that they could speak to staff about any concerns or worries that they have about home or school. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 value the chances, as one said, to, ‘Write a note letting the pastoral lead know we want to speak to her.’
• Pupils are well informed about healthy eating and what makes a healthy diet. The school provides regular opportunities for pupils to learn about fire safety, road safety and first aid, and this ensures that pupils know how to keep themselves safe in their daily lives.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils are very happy at school. They enjoy learning as individuals and from each other. Pupils work well together and are eager to help each other. They know that their cultures, languages and religions are valued at school, and they know how to respect each other.
• Pupils are proud of their achievements and enjoy the celebration assemblies in school. They reflect well on the achievements of others. For example, a visit by an army veteran encouraged pupils to consider how they would act in difficult circumstances. They then reflected genuinely on the contributions of people today and in the past.
• Pupils work well together in class. They readily support each other and pupils from younger classes, including those who find work more difficult. The inclusive and respectful nature of the school ensures that pupils with SEND are well supported. A pupil with a disability spoke confidently, and with much enthusiasm, to the inspectors about the special cheesecake dessert she had made.
• School attendance levels are above national average. The importance of good attendance has a high profile across the school. Leaders track attendance carefully and promptly follow up any absence. Leaders, including governors, have successfully addressed the area for improvement concerning attendance in the last inspection. But they are not complacent and rigorously challenge parents who do not value daily attendance at school. The rich and interesting curriculum inspires pupils, and they want to come to school every day.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Current pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, make strong and sustained progress across most areas of the curriculum. Progress in reading, writing and mathematics is very good for all pupils. In addition, pupils also make strong progress in science, religious education, design technology and physical education.
• The progress made by disadvantaged pupils is the same as other pupils throughout the school. In 2018, disadvantaged pupils made better progress than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because of the effective use of pupil premium funding and the work done by the school to ensure that these pupils attend daily and have high aspirations.
• Pupils with SEND make strong progress from their starting points in all subjects. Highly accurate identification of pupils’ needs ensures that teaching is carefully planned, and interventions are successful. The strong SEND leader ensures that support for these pupils is well targeted and carefully monitors and evaluates the impact of interventions.
• Pupils attain standards that compare very well with national figures. In 2018, 85% attained the expected standard or above in reading, writing and mathematics combined. In reading, 92% of pupils, achieved the expected standard, and this was also the case in writing and mathematics. In mathematics, 48% attained the higher standard. The three-year average attainment score for mathematics was in the top 10% of all schools nationally.
• Progress in writing and in mathematics, was significantly above the national average for all pupils in 2018. Although attainment and progress are high in reading, the school is aware that it could be better, especially for the most able pupils. There is scope to increase the focus on pupils’ use of high-quality vocabulary and books in some subjects.

,

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 104192 Walsall 10058502 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 Beverly Lloyd Alan Pearson 01922 710 376 www.invention-j.walsall.sch.uk postbox@invention-j.walsall.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 1 March 2018

Information about this school

• This is a large junior school.
• The majority of pupils are of White British heritage. The number of different ethnic groups pupils come from is above the average for primary schools nationally.
• The percentage of disadvantaged pupils and the percentage of pupils with SEND are broadly in line with national averages.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed parts of lessons in all classes. Many of the observations were made jointly with either the headteacher or deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books, including work from previous years, across a variety of subjects. Much of this was carried out with subject leaders. Inspectors also looked at work on display in classrooms and corridors, including photographs that captured learning away from school.
• Inspectors considered a wide range of documentation, including the school’s own self-evaluation, school leader’s improvement plans, information and data on pupils’ starting points, achievement and progress, and documents relating to governance, attendance and safeguarding.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, pupil premium leader, English, mathematics and science leaders, and the SEND coordinator. The lead inspector also held meetings with the care, guidance and support leader, careers leader, and four members of the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair of governors. The lead inspector held a telephone conversation with a school improvement adviser from Walsall local authority.
• Inspectors spoke to pupils during lessons, at playtimes and dinner times. Inspectors heard pupils read from Years 3 to 6 and met with pupils from across the school to ask them for their views on the school.
• Inspectors spoke to parents as they brought their children to school. The lead inspector analysed the 51 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, including the 26 free-text comments and one letter handed into school for the inspectors. Inspectors also took account of the 24 responses to the staff survey. There were no responses to the pupils’ questionnaire.

Inspection team

Tina Willmott, lead inspector Janet Tibbits Sian Williams Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector