Woodland View Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Woodland View Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 5 March 2019, 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 June 2015. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. In your self-evaluation document, you describe the school as safe, very caring and inclusive. Inspection evidence confirms this to be the case.

One parent's comment that 'children go to school happy and come home happy' is characteristi...c of the confidence that others expressed in the quality of education and care. Parents and carers told me that if they raise any concern about their children's education, staff respond promptly and effectively. Most parents who responded on Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, would recommend the school to other parents.

While many parents agree that the school ensures that pupils behave well, a small number do not. Inspection evidence shows that, in lessons, pupils are keen to learn, polite and supportive of each other in their work. They respond quickly to their teachers' instructions and move between activities with minimum fuss.

Consequently, learning takes place in a harmonious atmosphere. Pupils mostly mix well and play together kindly at breaktimes. However, you have rightly acted to reduce the incidents of boisterous play.

You have introduced appropriate additional support for a small number of pupils to enable them to develop greater self-discipline in their play at lunchtime. When you took up your post three years ago, you judged that aspects of the school's work needed to be better. Your actions to bring about the improvements you deemed necessary have been effective.

For example, you made clear your high expectations of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Teachers told me how much they have gained from the training opportunities you have provided them with. The impact of this training is evident in the improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and in the progress that pupils make.

By the end of key stage 2 in 2018, pupils' progress in reading, writing and mathematics was in line with that of other pupils nationally. Leaders have brought about improvements to the areas identified in the previous inspection report. Pupils apply the techniques learned in frequent handwriting practice sessions to present their work neatly in many subjects.

Pupils' enjoyment of and better progress in mathematics are testament to the effective action leaders have taken. Pupils with the potential to be higher achievers told me how much they relish the more challenging mathematical questions teachers ask of them. Pupils of all abilities routinely explain their learning in mathematics and appear undaunted by the more complex calculations they complete.

You have altered the school's model of subject leadership so that all teachers share responsibility for the design of the curriculum. This system is working well and has been a significant contributory factor in the curriculum developments in subjects such as art and design, computing, English, mathematics and science. Your leaders are rightly implementing a more consistent approach to how teachers assess pupils' progress in subjects other than English and mathematics.

Governance is effective. Staff told me that governors regularly visit the school to check the quality of education, including the effectiveness of safeguarding. Governors gather additional information from audits by the local authority and by headteachers from nearby schools, discussions with pupils, surveys of parental opinion and published assessment data.

Minutes of meetings demonstrate that governors challenge and commend leaders where appropriate. Nevertheless, governors are not clear about the impact of the curriculum in subjects other than English, mathematics and science. Historically, the governing body has been small.

The chair of the governing body has worked relentlessly and with recent success to recruit additional governors. Safeguarding is effective. You and the governors have ensured that the school's safeguarding systems are fit for purpose and kept under regular review.

For example, you recognised the risks associated with the school being located near a busy junction and made appropriate adjustments to the arrangements for pupils' arrival at, and departure from, school. Staff I spoke with demonstrated their detailed knowledge of the school's safeguarding systems. You make sure staff are updated on relevant safeguarding matters, including those relating to criminal activities of 'county lines' gangs.

Consequently, staff are alert to local and national risks and also to their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. Adults understand the importance of recording even the smallest changes in pupils' behaviour, appearance or attitude on the school's 'nagging doubts' forms. Your securely maintained records demonstrate that when a pupil needs additional help, leaders ensure that they receive it.

Pupils say they feel safe and that they are safe. Pupils I met with were in agreement with their friend who commented that this is because 'our teachers are always there for us'. You and your staff have made sure there are several ways for pupils to inform adults if they have any worries or concerns.

Pupils told me how they would be comfortable to tell any adult or to use the school's worry or time to talk boxes. Pupils demonstrate a mature understanding of the importance of acting safely, including when using the internet. Pupils also know what bullying is and they say it does not happen often at their school.

Pupils told me that they have faith that adults will sort out any incidents that may occur well. The overwhelming majority of parents on Parent View agree that their children are safe at school. This evidence endorses the findings of your annual parent surveys.

Leaders carry out the necessary checks on adults working at the school. Governors make sure that the school's record of these checks is up to date and accurate. Inspection findings ? In 2017, by the end of key stage 2, the progress pupils made in writing compared favourably with other pupils nationally.

In 2018, while remaining in line with that of other pupils nationally, pupils' progress by the end of key stage 2 was not as strong. Therefore, my initial line of enquiry was to establish the progress pupils are making in writing. ? Leaders have changed many aspects of teachers' approach to teaching writing.

Teachers have received additional training and make use of their improved subject knowledge to plan learning that is leading to pupils mostly making good progress. For example, in line with your expectations, teachers provide pupils with additional vocabulary, spelling and grammar activities. Pupils become progressively more secure in their application of the knowledge and techniques they learn in these sessions.

• Teachers have the subject knowledge and confidence to make clear the specific success criteria for each writing task. Pupils know what is expected of them and rise to each challenge admirably. Teachers choose writing tasks that capture pupils' imagination and enable them to practise their literacy skills in topics such as whether junk food should be banned from pupils' lunch boxes.

Evidence from work in books shows that pupils are using more complex language and sentence structure. Pupils make good progress and are increasingly accomplished writers. ? Developing aspects of the wider curriculum was identified as an area for improvement in the previous inspection report.

Improving provision in science is also a priority in leaders' development plans. Therefore, my second line of enquiry was to ascertain whether pupils are making good progress in subjects other than English and mathematics. ? Leaders have designed and are implementing a curriculum that is firing pupils' enthusiasm for learning.

Working to leaders' sensible timescales, teachers have willingly embraced their shared responsibility for developing the curriculum. The result is that many pupils are making good progress in many subjects. ? Where the curriculum is delivered consistently well, for example in science, teachers provide pupils with logical sequences of learning that enable them to consolidate their knowledge and skills.

Pupils build on their learned knowledge and skills to develop their own lines of scientific enquiry and then conduct and evaluate their own investigations. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in science rose in 2018 and was in line with that found nationally. Current pupils are making good progress in science.

• The coherence and consistency evident in many areas of the curriculum seen are not matched in geography and, in a few classes, history. Inspection evidence demonstrates that some teachers lack the depth of subject knowledge to plan and deliver learning that matches the standards of other subjects seen. Where this is the case, pupils' progress is slower.

• My final line of enquiry was to establish if pupils with the potential to be high achievers are making the progress of which they are capable. In 2018, no pupils attained greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics combined by the end of key stage 2. ? Leaders have ensured that teachers have a clear understanding of what constitutes the higher standard of work in reading and mathematics and greater depth in writing.

They give pupils suitably demanding work. Pupils told me how, in mathematics, teachers provide them with increasingly difficult calculations that take 'a lot of working out'. Pupils also explained how the school's approach to writing gives them the freedom to show what they are capable of achieving.

The many examples of pupils' mature, interesting and well-structured writing are evidence of how impressively they are responding to this approach. ? Teachers are not as consistently effective in bringing the best out of potential high achievers in subjects other than English and mathematics. In subjects such as history and geography, teachers do not routinely plan learning activities that demand enough of pupils.

On the occasions that teachers do provide these pupils with the opportunities to show what they can do, they respond enthusiastically and achieve high standards. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers develop the subject-specific knowledge and teaching strategies necessary to plan and deliver learning in geography and history well ? governors have a deeper understanding of the quality and impact of the curriculum in subjects other than English and mathematics ? pupils with the potential to be higher achievers attain the standards of which they are capable in all subjects. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Norfolk.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely John Lucas Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection You and I discussed the key lines of enquiry for this inspection. We also discussed the school's development plans and your evaluation of the quality of education.

I also met with the deputy headteacher, all teachers, a member of the administration team, the chair of the governing body and one other governor, and a representative of the local authority. I scrutinised minutes of meetings of the governing body, leaders' surveys of parental opinion, the school's pupil premium and physical education and sport premium reports, records of staff training, external audit reports of the school's effectiveness, and information about pupils' achievement. I also examined the school's safeguarding arrangements, records, files and documentation.

You and I observed pupils learning and looked at examples of their work in each class to explore the progress they are making over time. I spoke with two groups of pupils and with others informally during lessons and at breaktime regarding their learning. There were no responses to the pupil online survey.

I considered the views of parents I spoke with at the start of the school day. I also took into account the views of the 38 parents who responded to Parent View and the 13 parents who left comments on the Parent View free-text service. There were no responses to Ofsted's staff questionnaire.