Ofsted report
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Broadway Junior School
| Unique Reference Number | 108757 |
|---|---|
| Local Authority | Sunderland |
| Inspection number | 337143 |
| Inspection dates | 8–9 February 2010 |
| Reporting inspector | Gordon Potter |
This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.
| Type of school | Primary |
|---|---|
| School category | Community |
| Age range of pupils | 7–11 |
| Gender of pupils | Mixed |
| Number of pupils on the school roll | 235 |
| Appropriate authority | The governing body |
| Chair | Mr Ian Oliver |
| Headteacher | Mrs M Acklam |
| Date of previous school inspection | Not previously inspected |
| School address | Springwell Road |
| Sunderland | |
| Tyne and Wear SR4 8NW | |
| Telephone number | 0191 5535980 |
| Fax number | 0191 5535982 |
| Email address | broadway.junior@schools.sunderland.gov.uk |
| Age group | 7–11 |
|---|---|
| Inspection dates | 8–9 February 2010 |
| Inspection number | 337143 |
ofsted.gov.uk
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Introduction
This inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors. The inspectors spent 60% of inspection time looking at learning, visited 24 lessons taught by 8 teachers, and held meetings with governors, staff and groups of pupils. They observed the school's work, and looked at school policies and documentation, pupils' work, assessment data, monitoring records and strategic planning. They also scrutinised 66 questionnaires returned by parents and carers as well as questionnaires from staff and pupils.
- whether the quality of teaching is strong enough to ensure that all groups of pupils, including girls, are making good progress
- what the school is doing to raise the attainment of girls
- how the leadership of the school ensures that strategies for improvement are having an impact on attainment.
Information about the school
This school is of average size. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is above average. Most pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is well above average. The school has achieved Basic Skills, Artsmark, Silver Sportsmark, information and communication technology (ICT) best practice and School of Creativity Awards.
| Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate |
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| Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms |
Inspection judgements
Overall effectiveness: how good is the school? | 2 |
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The school's capacity for sustained improvement | 2 |
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Main findings
Broadway School is a good school. Pupils have outstanding behaviour, are very keen to learn and make good progress because teachers make learning fun and engage pupils in a range of interesting activities. All staff show very effective care and support which ensure that pupils' well-being and personal development are promoted extremely well. As a result pupils are happy, feel safe and know how to stay healthy. There is a strong emphasis on developing skills in English and mathematics. Occasionally, there is too much emphasis on reinforcing skills rather than allowing pupils opportunities to practise them. In some lessons teachers offer too much information so opportunities are missed for pupils to learn for themselves. The school has much useful data about pupils' skills and abilities but as yet they are not well enough used to ensure that pupils know at what level they are working, or to ensure that work is sufficiently challenging for all pupils. While individual lessons are well planned and the curriculum offers many exciting experiences for pupils, some aspects of curriculum planning do not ensure that the work pupils do becomes harder as they grow older. The school is justly proud of its inclusive nature and its place at the heart of the community. There are outstanding partnerships with outside agencies and the school works exceptionally well in involving parents and carers in their children's learning. As a result, parents and carers are highly supportive of the school and how it supports pupils' social, moral and academic development.
Standards at the end of Key Stage 2 are broadly average in all subjects and the percentage of pupils who achieve the higher level (Level 5) is also average, except in mathematics where it is above average. In recent years girls' attainment has declined but because of the school's clear-sighted self-evaluation, strategies to support girls' learning, such as focused questioning and the girls' reading group, have been introduced. This ensures that all groups of pupils make good progress from their starting points. There are particularly effective procedures to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
The headteacher is highly respected in the community and ensures that the school supports the varied needs of its pupils and their parents and carers. She is very clear about the type of learning experiences she wishes pupils to enjoy and allows leaders at all levels the accountability and freedom to pursue innovation. Given the good quality of provision and good outcomes for pupils, this further ensures that the school's capacity to improve is good, and that it provides good value for money.
Pupils have a developing influence on what happens in school, a good understanding of other faiths and cultures and of life in other countries. However, their understanding of the multicultural make-up of modern British society is less well developed.
What does the school need to do to improve further?
- Raise attainment by:
- offering more opportunities for pupils to use their skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT and ensuring that the curriculum builds progressively on pupils' skills
- improving the consistency of teaching so that lessons have appropriate pace, challenge and questions that encourage all pupils to develop their thinking.
- Ensure that data are used effectively so that:
- work is well matched to the abilities of individual pupils
- pupils know at what level they are working and what they need to do to take the next steps in their learning.
- Develop pupils' understanding of the multicultural nature of modern British society.
Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils | 2 |
|---|
The extent to which pupils achieve and enjoy their learning is good. Pupils behave extremely well, are sensitive and courteous, have excellent attitudes and relationships in lessons and show great keenness to do well in their work. They enjoy their learning, especially when they are involved in lively activities such as using ICT to manipulate digital images; discussing difficult concepts, such as the nature of zero, and when they are sharing books to improve their reading.
Pupils make good progress from their starting points in Year 3 which are just below average. Progress is stronger in Years 5 and 6 as teachers are able to build on the strong foundations of basic skills laid down in Years 3 and 4. Pupils also show good achievement in sport and the arts and are especially skilful at photography. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are vulnerable and at risk receive highly sensitive and effective support and show good progress and achievement.
Pupils are very aware of the importance of a healthy diet and of taking plenty of exercise. This is reflected in their keen involvement in sporting activities, the high take-up of healthy school meals and attendance at the breakfast club. They have great respect for each other and for the adults in the school and say they feel safe. Pupils are confident that they know exactly what to do in the event of a concern.
Pupils make a good contribution to the school community, taking on a range of roles as fruit sellers and as school council members. There are good links in the local area through a range of charities, participation in performances, activities with older residents and with the local churches, as well as through links with the Sunderland Association Football Club Foundation. They also raise money for international charities such as their adoption of a child who lives in Ghana, links to a mission in Zimbabwe and their involvement in raising funds for Haiti. Accordingly, they have a good understanding of different religions and of life in other parts of the world. They have links with a school in Northumberland which has a different social make-up from their own, and links to a school in another part of Sunderland which has a more diverse cultural make-up, although this has not yet impacted on pupils' understanding of the multicultural make-up of modern British society. With average attendance, developing skills in working collaboratively and average basic skills in English and mathematics they are equipped satisfactorily for their future economic well-being.
These are the grades for pupils' outcomes
| Pupils' achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning Taking into account: Pupils' attainment¹ The quality of pupils' learning and their progress The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress | 2 |
| 3 | |
| 2 | |
| 2 | |
| The extent to which pupils feel safe | 2 |
| Pupils' behaviour | 1 |
| The extent to which pupils adopt healthy lifestyles | 2 |
| The extent to which pupils contribute to the school and wider community | 2 |
| The extent to which pupils develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being Taking into account: Pupils' attendance¹ | 3 |
| 3 | |
| The extent of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development | 2 |
1 The grades for attainment and attendance are: 1 is high; 2 is above average; 3 is broadly average; and 4 is low
How effective is the provision?
Good teaching, based on enthusiastic teacher direction, positive relationships and the desire to make learning fun, is a central feature of the school and contributes to the good progress pupils make. Teachers guide learning well using discussion, investigation and interactive whiteboard technology to engage pupils and to stimulate their thinking. This was evident, for example, when teachers were helping pupils to write prayers about Haiti or developing pupils' understanding of how animals adapt to their environment. Teachers make it clear to pupils what they will learn and how they will know if they have succeeded and check regularly that pupils are making progress. While they use questions well to ascertain what pupils already know, they occasionally miss opportunities to encourage pupils to explore their ideas further. Teachers plan a range of interesting activities which are matched to the abilities of groups of pupils, although they do not as yet use data rigorously enough to ensure that work is closely matched to the needs of individual pupils. Also, the strong focus on the quality of teachers' interventions in learning means that pupils are not always allowed sufficient opportunities to get on with their work either independently or to investigate with their friends. Occasionally lessons lack pace, pupils are engaged in low level activities and progress slows.
The curriculum contributes to good achievement by offering pupils a wide range of interesting and creative activities which are increasingly based on pupils' own interests. There are some well-planned opportunities for pupils to write in subjects other than English, for example, when they research and write about Florence Nightingale or when they experiment with eating Chinese food so they can write about taste. Mathematics lessons are based on real life applications, for example on the pupils' recent visit to the Washington Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. However, overall there are insufficient opportunities for pupils to practise and apply their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. There is a strong focus on learning about Christianity, Islam and Buddhism and pupils visit churches and mosques. All pupils learn French, they enjoy physical education, singing and art, and pupils in Year 5 learn the ukulele. The school provides many activities which enrich pupils' learning, for example, visits to HMS Trincomalee, Beamish Museum and residential visits to Derwent Hill outdoor centre. They participate enthusiastically and successfully in a wide range of extra-curricular activities in sport and the arts, such as Jujitsu, film club and writing the 'Broadway Blab' newspaper.
All staff know the needs of individual pupils very well so that pupils benefit from the sensitive and effective care and support they receive. Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and for those who are vulnerable is well managed and there are effective programmes for intervention and support so that these pupils make good progress. There are extremely strong links with a wide range of outside agencies and a range of strategies, including the development of the 'Family Learning Centre', which involve parents and carers in their children's learning and in the life of the school. Well established practices to involve parents and carers when their children enter school, good procedures as pupils move through school and close relationships with the local secondary schools, all ensure that pupils are confident in moving on to the next phase of their education. The school identifies those pupils who are persistent absentees and works closely with families and through the local authority to encourage attendance.
These are the grades for the quality of provision
| The quality of teaching Taking into account: The use of assessment to support learning | 2 |
| 2 | |
| The extent to which the curriculum meets pupils' needs, including, where relevant, through partnerships | 2 |
| The effectiveness of care, guidance and support | 2 |
How effective are leadership and management?
The headteacher and senior leaders have a clear view of what needs to be done to make the school even better and involve all staff in discussion of priorities. The senior leadership team is recently constituted but the school's commitment to professional development and coaching means that there is a continuing commonality of purpose that allows the headteacher to offer freedom and accountability to subject leaders to develop their areas of responsibility. Senior staff are involved in decision making and contribute to the school improvement plan and the monitoring of its impact. The school is proud of its inclusive nature and has very close and effective links with outside agencies through the 'Family Learning' initiative. The support offered to meet the individual needs of pupils from a range of backgrounds and their families, shows the school's commitment to promoting equal opportunities, tackling stereotypes and ensuring that discrimination against any group is avoided at all times. The governing body has been instrumental in supporting the school and has procedures for developing links between governors and individual classes, for evaluating subject areas and participating in school activities. However, strategies are lacking to delegate responsibilities across the governing body more evenly. The school's arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet government requirements and satisfactorily secure pupils' safety. The school makes a good contribution to community cohesion. The sense of community in the school is strong and there are exceptional links with the local community. There is a good awareness of life in other countries but a less clear understanding of Britain as a diverse, multicultural society.
These are the grades for leadership and management
| The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement Taking into account: The leadership and management of teaching and learning | 2 |
| 2 | |
| The effectiveness of the governing body in challenging and supporting the school so that weaknesses are tackled decisively and statutory responsibilities met | 3 |
| The effectiveness of the school's engagement with parents and carers | 1 |
| The effectiveness of partnerships in promoting learning and well-being | 1 |
| The effectiveness with which the school promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination | 2 |
| The effectiveness of safeguarding procedures | 3 |
| The effectiveness with which the school promotes community cohesion | 2 |
| The effectiveness with which the school deploys resources to achieve value for money | 2 |
Views of parents and carers
A total of 66 parents and carers responded to the Ofsted questionnaire and analysis showed that support for the school is very strong. All parents and carers support the work of the school and the way it helps pupils to feel safe, be healthy and enjoy their learning. Parents and carers are also strongly supportive of the leadership and management of the school, the quality of teaching and the way the school meets their children's needs. However, a very small minority indicated that they thought the school offered treats to undeserving children. In the light of the wide range of activities and the high level of care the school offers to all pupils, inspectors disagree that this is an area for improvement.
Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted's questionnaire
Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at Broadway Junior School to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school.
In the questionnaire, parents and carers were asked to record how strongly they agreed with 13 statements about the school.
The inspection team received 66 completed questionnaires by the end of the on-site inspection. In total, there are 235 pupils registered at the school.
| Statements | Strongly agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | Total | % | Total | % | Total | % | |
| My child enjoys school | 41 | 62 | 24 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| The school keeps my child safe | 44 | 67 | 22 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| My school informs me about my child's progress | 39 | 59 | 26 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| My child is making enough progress at this school | 33 | 50 | 31 | 47 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| The teaching is good at this school | 46 | 70 | 20 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| The school helps me to support my child's learning | 31 | 47 | 31 | 47 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| The school helps my child to have a healthy lifestyle | 35 | 53 | 30 | 45 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| The school makes sure that my child is well prepared for the future (for example changing year group, changing school, and for children who are finishing school, entering further or higher education, or entering employment) | 32 | 48 | 30 | 45 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| The school meets my child's particular needs | 37 | 56 | 25 | 38 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| The school deals effectively with unacceptable behaviour | 30 | 45 | 32 | 48 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| The school takes account of my suggestions and concerns | 28 | 42 | 33 | 50 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| The school is led and managed effectively | 48 | 73 | 17 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Overall, I am happy with my child's experience at this school | 44 | 67 | 19 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
The table above summarises the responses that parents and carers made to each statement. The percentages indicate the proportion of parents and carers giving that response out of the total number of completed questionnaires. Where one or more parents and carers chose not to answer a particular question, the percentages will not add up to 100%.
Glossary
What inspection judgements mean
| Grade | Judgement | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | Outstanding | These features are highly effective. An oustanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs. |
| Grade 2 | Good | These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. |
| Grade 3 | Satisfactory | These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. |
| Grade 4 | Inadequate | These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves. |
Overall effectiveness of schools inspected between September 2007 and July 2008
| Overall effectiveness judgement (percentage of schools) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of school | Outstanding | Good | Satisfactory | Inadequate |
| Nursery schools | 39 | 58 | 3 | 0 |
| Primary schools | 13 | 50 | 33 | 4 |
| Secondary schools | 17 | 40 | 34 | 9 |
| Sixth forms | 18 | 43 | 37 | 2 |
| Special schools | 26 | 54 | 18 | 2 |
| Pupil referral units | 7 | 55 | 30 | 7 |
| All schools | 15 | 49 | 32 | 5 |
The data in the table above were reported in the Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills 2007/08.
Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Secondary school figures include those that have sixth forms, and sixth form figures include only the data specifically for sixth form inspection judgements.
Common terminology used by inspectors
| Achievement: | the progress and success of a pupil in their learning, development or training. |
| Attainment: | the standard of the pupils' work shown by test and examination results and in lessons. |
| Capacity to improve: | the proven ability of the school to continue improving. Inspectors base this judgement on what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement. |
| Leadership and management: | the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school. |
| Learning: | how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners. |
| Overall effectiveness: | inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school. The following judgements, in particular, influence what the overall effectiveness judgement will be. |
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| Progress: | the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils' attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started. |
This letter is provided for the school, parents and
carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's
main findings from the inspection of their school.
|
Dear Pupils,
On behalf of the team, thank you so much for making us welcome when we inspected your school.
You go to a good school which has some outstanding features – the best of which is you! The team was impressed by the pride you take in your work, how hard you work in lessons, your art and your photography skills. You behave very, very well, show great respect for one another and look after one another admirably. You are very polite and helpful and we enjoyed talking to you about your school. You told us that you look forward to coming to school because you like your teachers and appreciate the activities the school provides for you, such as visits and clubs. Your parents and carers like the school very much. Your teachers work hard to make your lessons fun. All staff care for you extremely well. Teachers help you learn well and tell you clearly how to improve your work. They also know what to do to make the school even better.
I have asked your teachers to do the following things to help your school to improve:
- help you to reach higher standards at the end of Year 6
- make sure that they use information about how well you are working so that the work you do is well matched to your abilities and you know what the level of your work is
- develop the curriculum further so that your lessons are even more exciting and involve you more in your learning, and so that you get more chances to practise your literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology skills
- help you to learn more about the people from different cultures who live in Britain.
You can help by continuing to do your best and attending regularly. I wish you every success in the future.
Yours sincerely
| Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 08456 404045, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. |