Wootey Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Wootey Junior School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy school where pupils flourish. Pupils are eager to learn and enthusiastically contribute during lessons.

Relationships between adults and pupils are strong, as staff are very caring. Pupils say that they feel safe and that they can talk to any adult if they have a worry. They are proud of their school.

Pupils know that all the adults have high expectations of behaviour and they do not disappoint them. They follow the school rules of: 'be safe, be kind, be respectful'. Each class writes a charter to help them to follow these rules.

Classrooms are quiet and calm.... Learning is not interrupted. Pupils enjoy playing together, especially games that their young play leaders organise for them.

If bullying is a problem, pupils say that the adults deal with it swiftly.

Year 6 pupils are proud to take on roles of responsibility. As one pupil said, 'It gives us the opportunity to give back to the school as the school really supports us.'

Prefects know their task is to be exemplary role models. Pupils do their best to earn the weekly yellow tee-shirt, which rewards good attitudes to learning and following the school rules.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have designed a broad and ambitious curriculum which motivates and engages pupils.

Subject leaders are knowledgeable. In each subject, they clearly identify what pupils should know, by when, and what the next steps in learning are. Teachers use this information to sequence learning and design tasks that enable pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to recap learning and understand new content.

Teachers check at the start and end of each unit to see if pupils are missing any knowledge, and to ensure the gaps have been filled. Pupils remember important knowledge and make strong progress.

Reading is a high priority in the school.

Leaders are clear that they intend every pupil to leave being able to read and with a wide vocabulary. Pupils' love for reading is evident throughout the school as they explain how the 'Wootey trainline' recommends different books for them to read at each train stop.

Leaders have recently brought in a phonics scheme to support younger pupils, including those with SEND, who are struggling as early readers.

These pupils are making progress. However, a small number of pupils need to read more books that match their phonic knowledge. Leaders recognise that staff need more training, particularly in phonics, if they are to become experts in early reading.

The teaching of mathematics is a strength. The learning journeys the teachers use are well sequenced and there are clear steps which build knowledge as pupils move through the school. Teachers routinely check to ensure that pupils know and understand the new learning.

They make sure that pupils with SEND have tasks that are adapted and that adults break down tasks into smaller steps to support learning where needed. Teachers use knowledge joggers and quizzes to check that pupils remember what they learned in the last lesson, last term and last year.

Leaders are ambitious for pupils with SEND to make strong progress, and ensure that they study the same curriculum as their peers.

There are clear systems in place to identify pupils who need additional support and to make sure that their needs are met.

Leaders have developed the wider curriculum as they have recognised the need for pupils to widen their knowledge of the world beyond Alton. They provide a wide range of activities, school visits and experiences that will develop pupils over their four years at Wootey.

Pupils learn about British values, and Year 6 pupils visit parliament to see democracy in action. Pupils understand and celebrate the differences between people and cultures. During diversity week, they had an opportunity to take part in the young writers' project and wrote poems celebrating diversity, some of which have been published.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Everyone takes safeguarding extremely seriously and knows that keeping pupils safe is everyone's responsibility. Senior leaders have ensured that all staff are regularly trained and well equipped to recognise and report concerns.

They waste no time in contacting external agencies and are persistent and tenacious in making sure support is in place for vulnerable pupils and their families. They have designed a safeguarding curriculum that provides opportunities for pupils to gain the knowledge and understanding to keep themselves safe in and out of school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers do not always make sure that pupils who are still developing their early reading skills are reading books matched to the sounds they have learned.

This hampers these pupils consolidating their skills. Leaders need to make sure that teachers are trained to be experts in early reading, to help these pupils build and develop their fluency.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2012.

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