Moorside Junior School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school needs to do to improve further?

• Strengthen the quality of teaching so that all pupils make rapid and sustained progress and reach the highest standards of which they are capable by:
  • ensuring that the pace of learning always allows pupils to be consistently engaged in lessons and maintain their concentration
  • ensuring that work set for pupils to complete independently is always closely matched to their needs and abilities
  • checking that agreed whole-school initiatives and actions to further improve teaching are implemented consistently in every class.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The executive headteacher and the deputy headteacher have been unwavering in their determination to secure an excellent standard of education for pupils in the school. Alongside governors and senior leaders, they have worked tirelessly and successfully to eliminate underperformance, improve the quality of teaching and accelerate the rates of progress that pupils make in their learning.
• The school has worked hard to implement an accurate system for tracking pupils’ progress in learning across school and the standards they reach. Evidence from the school’s system, matched by work in pupils’ books, clearly shows that progress in all subjects is strong from pupils’ individual starting points on entry to the school.
• Teachers work well together, are supportive of each other and appreciate the collegiate approach taken to school improvement. They benefit from sharing good practice and accessing high-quality professional development opportunities. Teachers’ performance management is rigorous and successfully drives forward further improvements in teaching across the school.
• Leaders and governors have an accurate view of what the school does well, and what it needs to do to be even more successful. Procedures to monitor and evaluate the quality of the school’s performance through checking the quality of teaching are planned carefully, incisive and detailed, involving all leaders and governors.
• Leaders’ plans for further improvements reflect a clear view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. The school improvement plan is comprehensive and detailed, with targets closely aligned to the progress that pupils make in their learning. However, agreed actions and initiatives to further improve teaching are not yet consistently implemented in every class.
• The school’s curriculum is rich and balanced, and it is regularly reviewed to ensure that it meets pupils’ needs and interests. It is closely linked to the local culture and heritage, and is enriched by a range of trips and visits, as well as other outdoor learning opportunities. Creative use is made of visiting specialists, especially in physical education and art. Displays of pupils’ artwork are stunning. The curriculum enables pupils to consolidate and extend their basic skills in reading and mathematics, and especially in writing.
• The curriculum is supported well by a range of after-school activities during the school year, such as art, dance, computing, sports clubs and model building. Special focus events over the year enhance pupils’ learning, such as science weeks, European day of languages or a street party for the Queen’s 90th birthday. As a result of this exciting curriculum and a strong school ethos, pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. In lessons and assemblies, the promotion of British values, such as democracy and the rule of law, prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders have managed pupil premium effectively to provide a range of targeted support for disadvantaged pupils to remove any barriers to learning, such as providing them with a ‘learning champion’ to support their work in school. The positive impact of these actions is seen through the good progress made by the small numbers of disadvantaged pupils across school, including the most able disadvantaged.
• The physical education and sports funding has been used well. Sports coaches have delivered lessons in school and delivered after-school sports clubs. Professional development has been provided to staff, such as in teaching dance, and there has been an increased participation in local schools’ competitions. The school’s sports leader has effectively addressed pupils’ levels of fitness through special events, such as ‘skip to be fit’, and including an after-school session for parents.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. Their individual needs are identified early, and their progress, which is largely good, is tracked accurately. Each pupil has an individualised ‘my plan’ to support their needs and development. Consequently, the special educational needs funding is used effectively by leaders.

Governance of the school

• Governors are earnest and forthright about school improvement and bring a range of appropriate professional skills and experience to the school. The governors rigorously challenge and investigate the actions of leaders, while also offering good support. They have played an important role in driving forward school improvements and eradicating weaknesses.
• Leaders are held to account for the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, as well as for the quality of outcomes for pupils seen in statutory tests and school data. They have an accurate and incisive view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses from first-hand experience, participating in monitoring activities alongside senior leaders. Governors are passionate to see all pupils fulfil their true potential.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school has a tangible ethos that is positive and caring, putting the welfare and well-being of each pupil at the heart of all that it does. This is clearly seen in the friendly, happy and confident manner of the pupils in Moorside Junior School.
• Policies, procedures and records are of high quality and up to date. Summary records of concern are comprehensive and detail timescales and actions. All staff are appropriately trained and have access to well-written policies and guidance. As a result, they have a secure understanding of their individual responsibilities for safeguarding.
• The long-established culture of keeping pupils safe remains evident. Leaders ensure that a mind-set of safeguarding is embedded among all staff and leave no stone unturned in their duty to keep pupils safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection. The impact of teaching on learning, including in reading, writing and mathematics, is reflected in the strong progress that pupils now make in each year group.
• Lessons are usually lively and interesting, capturing pupils’ imagination and engagement. For example, pupils in Year 6 were captivated by a short musical video clip and thoughtfully discussed aspects of body language that demonstrated determination and how to portray tension.
• Teachers use good subject knowledge and structure learning effectively. In the Year 4 and 5 class, pupils reflected the teacher’s use of technical vocabulary when writing the description of a setting, referring to relative clauses and noun phrases and using hyphens and dashes.
• The pace of learning in lessons allows pupils to be engaged and maintain their concentration and application in tasks. Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and stick closely to the school’s behaviour policy. Occasional low-level disruption, often resulting from a slower pace in learning, is addressed quickly and effectively.
• Work is usually pitched well according to pupils’ abilities, including for the most able pupils. In the Year 5 class, most-able pupils were challenged, in their writing about a character, to write in the first person and include an internal monologue of the character’s perceptions. On rare occasions, work for pupils to complete independently is not well matched to their needs and abilities.
• In mathematics, basic skills of number and calculation are taught daily and consolidated regularly. All areas of the mathematics curriculum are taught thoroughly, such as in Year 5 when pupils were finding the size of five equal angles around a point and calculating the size of missing angles on a straight line, as part of their topic on measurement.
• Pupils write often and extensively, usually linking work to the topic that they are studying, such as in the Year 3 and 4 class when pupils enjoyed learning to write a newspaper article about the execution of Anne Boleyn, as part of their topic on the Tudors.
• Minor inconsistencies remain in the extent to which some teachers implement agreed whole-school actions and initiatives relating to teaching, for example in the agreed way in which teachers model work for pupils. These are quickly being resolved.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils show respect and care for each other. They value their classmates’ opinions and work happily and cooperatively in lessons. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are very positive, and most are very keen to succeed and to always produce their very best work.
• Pupils appreciate the positive school environment. Displays are bright and attractive and support learning very well. The gargoyle masks created by pupils typify the high-quality artwork on display around school.
• Pupils reported that they feel safe at all times, including online. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is very good and supports their strong personal development well. Other cultures are promoted effectively, and pupils appreciate learning a few words of other languages, such as Polish.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. The strong relationships in school and high levels of trust between adults and pupils ensure that most pupils conduct themselves well in lessons and around school. Pupils are polite and friendly to each other and to visitors. Playtimes are usually harmonious occasions when pupils play happily together and enjoy the small equipment provided. Older pupils take turns to act as ‘play leaders’ for younger pupils.
• Pupils enjoy their learning, and most work conscientiously. Incidents of low-level disruption are rare, occurring mainly as a result of pupils losing concentration and engagement in lessons when the pace of learning slows. The very few incidents of misbehaviour are deftly addressed, using the school’s behaviour systems involving red and yellow cards.
• Pupils clearly enjoy school. This is demonstrated by their rates of attendance being higher than those found nationally are.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Progress and attainment have improved since the previous inspection. Evidence from the high-quality work in pupils’ books, matched by detailed information from the school’s current tracking system, shows unequivocally that current pupils are making strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics from their individual starting points in Moorside Junior School.
• Progress measures across key stage 2 in writing, as presented in statutory assessment 2016 data, do not paint a clear picture of pupils’ actual progress. The school has demonstrative evidence that this cohort of pupils made solid progress from their individual starting points.
• Progress is continuing to accelerate across key stage 2. Most pupils’ strong progress from their individual starting points means that a much larger proportion of pupils are now working at standards expected for their age.
• The progress of the current most-able and most-able disadvantaged pupils matches that of their classmates and is continuing to accelerate. In the most recent statutory Year 6 assessments, the proportion that attained a high score in reading and mathematics exceeded that found nationally, and the proportion working at greater depth in writing was in line. The school supports the achievement of its most-able pupils very well.
• As a result of the effective and strategic use of the pupil premium funding, disadvantaged pupils in each year group make good progress in English and mathematics and achieve well, although there are small variations in each cohort across school. The small number of disadvantaged pupils in every year group prevents any reliable statistical comparisons to national data.
• The school is quick to identify any pupils who may be at risk of falling behind. Staff make effective provision for these pupils through activities that are well matched to their individual needs and abilities. This includes pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. When needed, individual support plans are in place, with challenging targets. As a result, the progress made by these pupils is largely good from their individual starting points.

School details

Unique reference number 121427 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 10031993 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Junior School category Community Age range of pupils 7 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 134 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mrs Louise Phythian-Lee Executive Headteacher Mrs Louise White Telephone number 01765 604208 Website www.moorside-jun.n-yorks.sch.uk/ Email address admin@moorside-jun.n-yorks.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 6─ 7 May 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Moorside Junior School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium is below the national average.
• The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage and speak English as their first language.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.
• The school meets the current floor standard, which is the government’s minimum expectation for attainment and progress in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6.
• The school meets the Department for Education’s definition of a coasting school, based on Key Stage [2/4] academic performance results in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
• The school has experienced a number of changes to staffing since the previous inspection.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed learning in lessons. Most lessons were observed jointly with either the executive headteacher or the deputy headteacher. In addition, the inspector, alongside the deputy headteacher, reviewed a sample of pupils’ work.
• The inspector held meetings with the executive headteacher and deputy headteacher, members of the governing body and other members of the teaching staff. He also held meetings with a group of pupils and two representatives from the local authority.
• The inspector viewed a range of documents, including information on pupils’ achievements over time, the school’s data on recent and current progress and achievement of pupils and the school’s view on how well it is doing. The inspector also reviewed the school improvement plan, documents relating to safeguarding and records of behaviour and attendance.
• The inspector took account of the 32 parental responses to the online questionnaire and to the school’s own recent questionnaire for parents, and to the seven responses to the questionnaire for staff. The school’s website was also scrutinised.

Inspection team

Phil Scott, lead inspector Ofsted inspector