Yatton Church of England Junior School

Yatton Church of England Junior School High Street, Yatton, Bristol BS49 4HJ

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The drive, determination and dedication of the headteacher has brought about significant improvements in outcomes for pupils during this academic year.  Pupils make good progress in English and mathematics, and standards in these subjects are now good.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning which support the good progress they make.  The school has implemented a successful improvement plan for writing. Pupils enjoy writing and make good of use of their writing skills in a range of subjects.  Pupils are well behaved, feel safe and respond well to the varied learning opportunities provided by the school.  School leaders, supported by a well-informed governing body, take appropriate steps to bring about the improvements needed.  Parents recognise the strengths of the school and support the efforts of the school in becoming a key part of the local community.  With its focus on Christian values, the school

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

promotes a caring ethos and pupils show sensitivity and respect for others.  Leaders use external support and training well to implement improvements.  High-quality teaching leads to well-directed provision and a high degree of challenge, particularly for the most able pupils.  Safeguarding is assigned a high priority. The school has robust and comprehensive systems to ensure the safety of pupils. The school actively promotes a strong culture of safety.  The school works hard to provide the right support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Governance of the school is strong. The governing body provides effective support and challenge to secure ongoing improvement.  Leaders have not focused sufficiently on improving the outcomes for some groups of pupils, and particularly the disadvantaged pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve further the outcomes for all groups of pupils, and in particular disadvantaged pupils, by: – sharing more widely and implementing the good teaching that is present in the school – supporting the work of middle leaders to develop the quality of teaching, particularly in subjects other than English and mathematics, by ensuring that the provision for disadvantaged pupils is sufficiently targeted to their needs.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher, supported by other school leaders, sets high expectations and has taken effective steps to address underperformance which has affected outcomes for pupils in the past.  The school takes seriously its duty of care for pupils. Good systems are in place for pastoral support. Pupils recognise and appreciate the care that they receive from staff.  Monitoring is used effectively to help leaders and governors develop an accurate picture of the school’s performance. This is then used to set targets for improvement with teachers to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistent and continues to improve. This work needs to be extended further to focus more strongly on the progress of different groups of pupils.  Leaders have made good use of external support to develop an improvement plan and also to secure independent evaluation of the improvements made. This has helped leaders to identify well-chosen training opportunities. Staff make good use of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

opportunities to work alongside colleagues from other schools to reflect on their own practice. This has helped teachers at the school to work more closely together and improve the quality of their teaching.  The school makes good use of a range of opportunities to enrich the curriculum for pupils. For example, the ‘learning college’ uses visitors and sports coaches to provide pupils with opportunities to extend their interests in areas such as archery, hair styling, dance and pottery. Nonetheless, the leadership of some subjects across the curriculum is not as strong as in English and mathematics.  The leadership of mathematics and English at the school is strong. As a result, standards are rising. In some other subjects, leaders have identified the need to further develop the work of middle leaders to strengthen the work they do in raising standards in their subjects.  Leaders evaluate effectively the impact of additional funding in improving outcomes for

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and disadvantaged pupils. As a result, these pupils make good progress from their starting points. However, the progress of disadvantaged pupils is not yet rapid enough to reduce gaps between their attainment and that of their peers.  Good use is made of additional funding for sport provision to widen opportunities for pupils and to promote more active and healthy lifestyles.

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Governance of the school

 Governance of the school is good. Senior leaders ensure that governors are well informed and have an accurate view of school performance. As well as offering effective support, the governing body takes appropriate steps to hold the school to account and to ensure that the right steps are taken to address school priorities. Governors have a clear strategic vision for the development of the school.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Following initial recruitment checks, the induction arrangements for new staff set out the school’s expectations for safety and draw their attention to a range of important documents to refer to. Staff sign to declare that they have read these and then receive ongoing training for a range of topics linked to safety, including the ‘Prevent’ duty, e- safety and child protection. As a result, the safety of pupils is given the highest priority. Pupils feel safe and secure at the school.  Leaders take active steps to exercise the school’s duty of care. They support vulnerable pupils well and appropriate use is made of external agencies. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and recognise the steps the school takes to bring this about. Teachers provide guidance on safe behaviours, including what pupils need to know to keep themselves safe while online, and when considering safety on school trips, road safety

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The actions of school leaders have brought about significant improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Pupils benefit from targeted approaches that match their individual needs and support them to make rapid progress. This is most prominently seen in the development of writing where focused work by teachers has resulted in improvement in pupils’ outcomes.  Regular assessments allow leaders to track the progress of pupils. The information gathered is used to provide additional interventions for any pupils who are falling behind, or to set additional, challenging targets for the most able pupils. As a result, most pupils are now making strong progress in their work.  Pupils’ views are taken into account when planning teaching approaches. This is seen in the development of writing where a suggestion for a redrafting strategy has led to pupils making good use of opportunities to review and improve their work. Pupils

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

benefit from clear feedback from their teachers which they act on to secure further improvement.  Teachers plan work which builds on pupils’ prior knowledge. However, sometimes, the additional support provided to pupils does not allow them enough opportunity to explore and apply their own learning. This limits the good progress they are capable of making.  The school uses assessment successfully to ensure that groups of pupils make progress. Disadvantaged pupils make progress in line with other pupils, although a gap in attainment between these pupils and others remains.  The quality of presentation of work in books by pupils is generally good. However, occasional lapses in the quality of work seen in books mean that this aspect could be improved further in terms of consistency.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The school has good systems in place for the pastoral care of pupils. Pupils feel safe, recognise that they are well cared for and are able to identify appropriate adults who they can approach if they need support or have concerns.  The Christian distinctiveness of the school supports effective spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Staff address core values through assemblies. In addition, pupils have opportunities to reflect on the relevance and significance of these principles in their daily lives.  The school has strong links with the local church and plays an active role in a range of community events. Pupils raise money for good causes and this work helps pupils develop an appreciation of good citizenship.  Most parents who contributed their views to Ofsted’s online Parent View site confirm that their children are happy, safe and well looked after by the school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  The school has a clear behaviour policy that is consistently implemented by staff. Pupils respond well to clear expectations and staff challenge any poor behaviour effectively.  Pupils show respect for others. Older pupils in the school are trained to act as peer mentors to support other pupils at playtimes and to model positive patterns of behaviour. Pupils are also welcoming, friendly and polite to other members of the school community and to visitors to the school.  Behaviour at playtimes is good, with few reported cases of bad behaviour and bullying. Staff are assertive and effective at challenging occasional incidents of minor name- calling or other unkindness. Bullying is taken seriously and pupils are helped to understand why such behaviour is unacceptable. Pupils recognise the firm stance taken by the school in relation to bullying and are confident that if a bullying incident is

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Behaviour

reported, swift and appropriate action will be taken.  The school acts effectively to promote good attendance and is quick to contact parents if pupils have problems in attending school. The school supports parents in addressing issues which may prevent their child attending school. As a result of these actions, attendance this year has improved and is above the national average overall. While the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is still below average, the school’s records confirm that the steps the school is taking are bringing about improvements.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and behave well in most lessons. However, where teaching is less strong pupils’ attention and focus waver.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 There is a legacy of underachievement by pupils at the school. However, provision for reading, writing and mathematics is now strong and pupils are making good progress in these subjects this academic year.  In the 2016 national assessments, the progress of pupils in writing at the end of key stage 2 was well below the national average. Pupils’ attainment at greater depth was also well below the national average. However, the school’s assessment information for the current academic year indicates that more than four out of every five pupils in most year groups are now making progress at least in line with other pupils nationally from similar starting points. This is supported by the work in pupils’ books. The number of pupils on track to achieve the higher standards in writing at the end of key stage 2 this year is significantly above the national average.  The school makes effective provision for different groups of pupils, including the less

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Outcomes for pupils Good

able, the most able, those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. All are now making good progress. However, leaders acknowledge that more work is required to close the gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils.  Standards in writing have shown particular improvement, with the most able pupils being successfully challenged to achieve greater depth in their writing. Pupils are now applying their writing skills well in other subjects.  The standard of pupils’ work in subjects other than English and mathematics is more variable and expectations are not consistently high enough. When teachers choose topics that capture pupils’ imagination, the quality of pupils’ work is high. For example, topic work on the Mayan civilisation in Year 6 stimulated research by pupils who then used their writing skills to produce insightful and creative presentations. However, on

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Outcomes for pupils Good

occasion, activities do not sufficiently engage pupils in adding the necessary depth and quality to their work.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

School category Voluntary controlled federation

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School details

Headteacher Mrs Jo Keeble (executive headteacher)

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School details

Email address yatton.jun@n-somerset.gov.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8–9 January 2015

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Information about this school

 The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  The school is part of a federation with the infant school which shares the same site. The executive headteacher has responsibility for both schools, and the governing body is also shared between the two schools.  The school is larger than the average junior school.  Most of the pupils are of White British heritage. Less than 10% of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals is lower than that of other schools nationally.  The number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is lower than that of other schools nationally.  The number of pupils who move in and out of the school during the school year is less than that of other schools nationally.  The Yatton Schools’ Federation runs a breakfast and after-school club to support

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Information about this school

parents with childcare.  In 2016 the school met the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed learning in lessons and in group sessions, including support given to help pupils catch up with writing and mathematical skills.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ current work in books.  Meetings were held with governors, middle and senior leaders, the local authority and groups of pupils. Individual conversations were also held with parents, pupils and staff.  Inspectors took account of 93 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire.  Inspectors also looked at a wide range of school documents, including the school’s self- evaluation, the school improvement plan and the school’s own information system and monitoring records.  Inspectors also reviewed a wide range of safeguarding evidence, including the school’s single central record, and behaviour and incident logs.

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Inspection team

Martin Bragg, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Wendy Marriott Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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