St Budeaux Foundation CofE (Aided) Junior School

Inspection of a good school: St Budeaux Foundation Church of England (Aided) Junior School Priestley Avenue, Higher Saint Budeaux, Plymouth, Devon PL5 2DW

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Outcome

St Budeaux Foundation Church of England (Aided) Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Budeaux is a school that pupils thoroughly enjoy. This is reflected in their high levels of attendance. The school’s values of forgiveness, love, respect and joy permeate the school. High standards of behaviour are ingrained in the fabric of the school. This is because staff have high expectations. Pupils are focused in their lessons and cherish their social time. Warm and caring relationships between pupils and staff contribute to pupils’ resolute attitudes to learning. Staff know their pupils and families well. This provides teaching staff with a strong platform to launch a good quality of education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that they feel safe and cared for. Pupils told us that bullying does not happen. They say that in the past, bullying did happen, but are confident that it does not happen anymore. They also say that staff are quick to resolve any incidents or worries. This view is also shared by parents and carers who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the additional opportunities they have to take on further responsibility. They are particularly enthusiastic about their roles as ‘worship warriors’ to promote the school’s Christian values. Pupils say they feel listened to and that their views are taken into consideration.

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

The very experienced workforce is united and unanimous in support of the headteacher. Staff morale is high. Staff told us that the school is one big family. Leaders prioritise staff well-being. This includes using external agencies to support staff welfare.

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

In reading, writing and science, learning is carefully planned so that pupils know more and remember more. Most pupils leave the school with knowledge and skills typical for 18 December 2019

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their age. Pupils experience a rich curriculum that goes beyond the academic. Pupils are particularly proud of their work in the wider community to support people with Alzheimer’s disease.

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Classrooms have a buzz of learning. Pupils work productively with each other. They listen to each other’s opinions and challenge each other’s views in a mature fashion. Teachers use precise questioning to deepen pupils’ understanding further. Additional adults use timely intervention to provide both support and challenge to pupils.

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The leader responsible for science has received training to enhance the quality of science in the school. This has led to improvements such as science workshops for parents. Pupils’ enjoyment of the science curriculum shines through. In all year groups, pupils can recall every science lesson and explain their understanding of what they have learned. They told us how they are inspired to think and act like a scientist. Science is a strength in the school.

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Leaders have prioritised and invested in reading. This included overhauling the curriculum and providing pupils with a broader range of high-quality texts. Pupils are benefiting from leaders’ actions. They enjoy reading and the opportunities they have, such as becoming a ‘reading ambassador’. Pupils read widely and often, and have a love of reading. However, some pupils who are not confident readers, including those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are not catching up quickly enough. This is because they have not secured the fundamental building blocks for reading. This hampers their ability to read fluently and develop confidence.

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Leaders know that developing pupils’ range and understanding of vocabulary is crucial. The work in pupils’ writing books demonstrates how some pupils have not yet developed a flair in their writing. This is because they have a limited range of vocabulary. A proportion of low-attaining pupils find it difficult to understand the meaning of some key vocabulary. This impedes their learning.

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Governors, including those who are newly appointed, are passionate and committed to the school. Nevertheless, governors do not have precise enough information about how well all aspects of the school are performing. Also, the new governors have not yet received training. Currently, governors cannot challenge leaders efficiently.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff and governors have been trained to a high standard. They are aware of the signs that a pupil may be vulnerable, and they know what action to take. Recently, governors commissioned an external audit to validate their safeguarding systems and processes. The minor areas for improvement were addressed swiftly.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are adamant that they are safe in school. They told us that the curriculum helps them to understand how to stay safe. They are particularly positive about drama lessons delivered by Child Assault Prevention (CAP) on staying safe when using technology. 18 December 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Governors need to be more diligent when checking on the school’s priorities to secure further improvements to the school. This includes the performance of pupils with SEND. New governors also need training so that they can be effective in their roles.  A proportion of low-attaining pupils find it difficult to use and understand key vocabulary. This hinders their understanding of what they are reading and affects their ability to write. Teachers should assure themselves that pupils are able to use and understand unfamiliar vocabulary before progressing.  Reading remains a school priority. This is because leaders and staff are determined that more pupils can read fluently by the time they leave the school. Leaders need to ensure that weaker readers have a secure understanding of the key components of reading so that all pupils read well.

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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 school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, 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 convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 18 December 2019

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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. 18 December 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10058415 Type of school Junior

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School details

Appropriate authority Board of governors

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14–15 January 2016

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in May 2017.  The school was graded good in the last Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) in June 2017.

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Information about this inspection

 We held meetings with the headteacher and subject leaders. The lead inspector also met with the chair of the governing body and eight other governors.  We met with a sample of staff from across the school to find out about their workloads and well-being.  We met with groups of pupils and teachers to talk about the curriculum.  The lead inspector had a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority.  We made visits to classrooms. The headteacher joined the lead inspector on most of these visits.  We looked at pupils’ work in a range of different subjects to see how well the 18 December 2019

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curriculum is applied.  Documents related to safeguarding were reviewed. We checked that safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented effectively.  The lead inspector took account of the 13 responses to Parent View. He also considered the nine responses to the survey for staff. There were no responses to the pupil survey.  We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, writing and science. This entailed discussions with subject leaders, visits to lessons, looking at examples of pupils’ work, discussions with teachers, discussions with pupils and listening to children read.

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Inspection team

Matt Middlemore, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Matthew Shirley Ofsted Inspector 18 December 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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