Prestwood Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Prestwood Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 4 December 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in January 2015.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Pupils come into school each morning eager and ready to learn.

They are welcomed warmly by both staff and the school's therapy dog, Ralph. Parents and carers say that staff are aware of their children's needs. One parent, expressing views... typical of many, commented: 'This is a wonderful, happy school where pupils are encouraged to build their independence and develop strong friendships.'

Nearly every parent who responded to the Ofsted survey, Parent View, would recommend the school to other parents. In 2017, this school federated with Prestwood Infant School to form the Prestwood Village Schools Federation. As headteacher of both schools, you have driven through many positive changes.

Staff in both schools work together to share good practice. Your school is outward-looking. The advice you give other infant and junior schools about the benefits of federation illustrates this.

Your role on the Buckinghamshire Primary Executive Board gives you a good overview of national education policy. The last inspection identified pupils' attainment and progress in writing as an area for improvement. You have worked hard to address this issue.

In 2018, pupils' attainment was broadly in line with national averages. Staff are now well trained and skilled in assessing pupils' progress. You continually seek further ways of improving the school's provision.

An example of this is the project on boys' writing that you are leading for the Misbourne Liaison Group. Your school's improvement plan identifies some aspects of writing that still need to develop. These include increasing the number of most-able pupils who reach the higher standards.

During our learning walk, we saw teachers developing pupils' compositional and grammatical skills well. However, in Years 5 and 6, teachers are not focusing enough on the development of pupils' handwriting skills. Safeguarding is effective.

The safeguarding of pupils is a priority. Staff take collective responsibility to ensure that pupils are safe and secure. The school's designated safeguarding leads provide regular training to ensure that staff are fully up to date with the latest guidance.

All safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Any concerns are dealt with quickly. Pupils learn how to keep safe when out and about.

For instance, they know how to cross the road safely. Pupils said that the school makes sure that they understand how to keep safe when online. They know that they must not divulge their personal information to strangers.

There are strong adult–pupil relationships within your school. Teachers understand the needs of pupils well. Pupils feel safe and know what to do if they have a concern.

When asked, pupils said that there is always someone whom they can talk to. Inspection findings ? During this inspection, I looked at the impact of leadership on improving the school. It is evident that you have high aspirations for all pupils.

Staff share your vision to give pupils the best start in life. All staff spoke of their commitment to pupils' well-being. ? Your leadership team continually strives to develop expertise across both schools.

Middle leaders, for instance, work in the infant and junior schools. They play a valuable role in improving the quality of teaching and raising pupils' achievement. You have just introduced a new middle leadership role to focus on the progress of most-able pupils.

You have done this because you recognise that the most able pupils are not always challenged enough, particularly in writing and mathematics. ? I explored how well governors hold senior leaders to account. I found that the governing body has a good understanding of its responsibilities.

Governors know the school's strengths and areas still to develop. However, they are sometimes unsure about how well pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) progress. This is because the information they receive is often unclear.

• I examined how well pupils are progressing across the school. Most pupils make strong progress because the quality of teaching is good. Teachers have high expectations and have implemented new strategies effectively.

As a result, pupils' progress in reading, writing and mathematics is continuing to strengthen. ? An area of focus for this inspection was to assess the impact of the school's pupil premium spending on eligible pupils. I found that funding is used effectively.

Disadvantaged pupils do well because you provide tailored support. ? The final key line of enquiry for this inspection was to examine the impact of the curriculum on pupils' development. Your school prides itself on giving pupils a broad range of exciting experiences.

You develop pupils' creativity well. Pupils have many opportunities to develop their artistic and musical skills. You ensure that pupils learn several languages, including French, German, Mandarin and Latin.

Extra-curricular activities are numerous and extend pupils' skills and abilities, particularly in sport. ? You work hard to ensure that pupils have many opportunities to take on responsibilities. Junior road safety officers fulfil their roles with diligence.

Subject ambassadors assist younger pupils with reading and mathematics. The school promotes the well-being of all of its pupils effectively. This is illustrated by the school's nurture group, which helps pupils who are more vulnerable.

• Special focus weeks, such as the recent science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) week, help pupils to gain valuable insights into subjects such as technology. Pupils spoke with enthusiasm about the experiments they had carried out. The school is rightly proud of its achievement in coming seventh in a worldwide competition involving sports cars.

Pupils talked about how much they had enjoyed putting their mathematical knowledge 'into action'. They explained how interesting it was to calculate the fuel needed for the circuit when using different types of tyres on the car. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? governors receive clear information about the outcomes of pupils with SEND so that they can evaluate progress more effectively ? the most able pupils are challenged further in writing and mathematics so that they reach the higher standards ? teachers improve the handwriting skills of pupils in Years 5 and 6.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Buckinghamshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Liz Bowes Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, meetings were held with you, members of your senior leadership team and governors.

There was a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority. Discussions were held with pupils, and I took into consideration 25 responses to the Ofsted pupil questionnaire. I spoke to a few parents at the start of the school day and considered 43 responses to Ofsted's online survey, Parent View, including 22 free-text comments.

Together, we visited all classes and looked at pupils' books. The views expressed by 24 staff who responded to the staff survey were also considered. A range of the school's documentation was looked at, including leaders' evaluations of the school's performance and plans for improvement, pupils' assessment, behaviour and exclusions information, the single central record of pre-employment checks, policies and procedures, and minutes of the governing body's meetings.

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