Chester Park Junior School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Mike McNama Headteacher Chester Park Junior School Ridgeway Road Fishponds Bristol BS16 3SY

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Short inspection of Chester Park Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 5 April 2017, 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 September 2012.

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Short inspection of Chester Park Junior School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Chester Park Junior School

Since your appointment in September 2016, you have continued the ethos of ‘caring and happy, purposeful and peaceful’ while jointly achieving success within the diverse community you serve. You have introduced greater rigour and accountability in teaching to ensure that pupils flourish and reach their full potential. Leaders have worked tirelessly to build stronger relationships with parents. This has been a positive shift and parents make the most of the opportunities for them to volunteer to support the school, as well as to share any concerns with staff. As a result, pupils gain from enriching experiences and parents are more confident in supporting their children. This helps the pupils to settle well in school.

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Short inspection of Chester Park Junior School

The breadth of the curriculum has improved since the last inspection. You have made sure that pupils use their English and mathematical skills to full advantage within the foundation subjects. Some of the best examples of this were seen in the work of Year 3 pupils who were analysing bar graphs to identify patterns in science and plot coordinates accurately in geographical map work. Likewise, the Year 6 pupils were writing formal reports on historical events effectively. Their good understanding and skills prepare pupils well for moving on to secondary school. Equally, it helps pupils to understand that what they are learning has meaningful real-life applications.

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Short inspection of Chester Park Junior School

You have focused relentlessly on improving the quality of teaching and pupils continue to make good progress. You are ably assisted by a deputy headteacher, and two middle leaders responsible for English and mathematics. These experienced leaders are making significant improvements to pupils’ reading, writing and mathematical knowledge. However, there are still issues with the presentation of pupils’ work and there are too many careless errors that go unchecked. You and your middle leaders are aware that there is more to do to ensure that pupils in each year group are making progress that reflects their potential and presenting flawless work. Together, you have put support and action plans in place to ensure this happens rapidly.

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Short inspection of Chester Park Junior School

You are vigilant in securing effective safeguarding arrangements and you are proactive in your relationships with external agencies to ensure this happens swiftly. You are resolute in your care for the health and safety of the pupils in the school and have made sure that all staff hold the same principles. This has created a positive culture of safety. All safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and child protection records are detailed and of high quality. The safeguarding policy is very comprehensive. Staff are trained in how to keep pupils safe from abuse, sexual exploitation, and from the influence of radical or extreme views. Staff work sensitively with parents and external agencies to monitor and support any vulnerable pupils. Pupils feel safe and are taught well how to stay safe.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed on the areas that would be considered. Initially, we investigated the improvements made to guarantee better outcomes for the disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Your external review of the work of the special educational needs department provided valuable validation of their work. It identified what was successful and what aspects needed to improve. This has been embraced well by the special educational needs coordinator and her team of teaching assistants. For example, communication with parents has improved. Opportunities are timetabled for parents to come into school, where they are given explicit tips on how to further support their children with their learning. Parents spoke highly of this provision.  You and your deputy headteacher have made staff more aware of disadvantaged pupils’ needs and how to eliminate the barriers that hinder their learning. Through

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Inspection findings

individually targeted teaching and tracking, these pupils are now doing as well as other pupils nationally. The spending of pupil premium funding is monitored well. Evaluations of impact on progress by staff and governors are regular and incisive.  Our next line of enquiry was to discuss the dip in attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents are fully informed as to the implications of taking pupils out of school during term time. Close working with parents by your family support adviser and the adoption of a range of initiatives are improving the attendance of some of these pupils. However, their attendance is not yet on a par with levels typically seen nationally.  Finally, we looked at what had been done to improve the outcomes for middle- ability pupils in reading, punctuation and grammar. Your leader of English has completely revamped the teaching of reading. Class texts are well matched to

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Inspection findings

pupils’ reading ability, and this has raised expectations. Pupils are using more complex vocabulary and are able to infer meaning when reading. Pupils are more engaged with their reading. Pupils say that their reading is often central to their ensuing work and that this inspires them and helps them to concentrate. The leader of English is sharing best practice in reading from year groups where there has been significant improvement. There has been a more explicit focus on the required punctuation and grammar work in each year group. Teaching concentrates on the learning of skills as well as their application. This is producing some improvement in pupils’ work but you recognise there is more to do in these areas.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the presentation of pupils’ work is at a consistently high standard  the leaders of English and mathematics are enabled to further share best practice in their subjects to drive improvement more rapidly  the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities improves so that it is at least in line with the national average.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bristol City. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, you and the deputy headteacher joined me observing learning in classrooms. We looked at a number of pupils’ books. I met with several parents before school. Meetings were held with you, middle leaders and governors. I had a discussion with an officer from the local authority.

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Information about the inspection

I scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the school’s own self- evaluation and development plan, and safeguarding records. I considered the views of 24 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and 17 comments written by parents plus the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaires of nine pupils and 11 members of staff.

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