Stourfield Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Stourfield Junior School Stourvale Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH6 5JG

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Outcome

Stourfield Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Stourfield Junior School is a warm, nurturing place to learn. There is energy and enthusiasm throughout the school. Pupils enjoy lessons and focus well. They savour opportunities to learn across the curriculum and value the importance of learning. They particularly enjoy ‘wow days’, where staff give pupils a flavour of what they will be learning in the term ahead. Pupils have an increasing understanding about what they are learning and why. This is stronger in subjects such as writing and science, where curriculum plans are more established.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. They are keen to demonstrate how well they meet the school’s behaviour expectations and have a clear understanding about how to achieve this. Clear behaviour systems and support are in place to help pupils who struggle to manage their behaviour. At breaktimes and lunchtimes, pupils play well with one another. Some pupils have additional responsibilities, such as being a member of the ‘friendship squad’. They make sure that other pupils have someone to play with.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend well and few frequently miss school. Leaders have placed great importance on promoting good attendance. Any weak attendance is tackled with urgency. Staff want the best for pupils, and relationships between adults and pupils are deep rooted in mutual respect.

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

Leaders have placed reading at the heart of their improvement priorities. They have identified that pupils’ fluency and vocabulary are weaker than other aspects of reading. They have therefore aligned the school’s approach to teaching phonics with that of the neighbouring infant school. This is helping to build on pupils’ prior learning and their familiarity with the programme that was used at an early age. Leaders have also introduced opportunities for pupils to explore word meaning and origin, along with daily storytelling sessions. Interventions, led by well-trained staff, are in place to help pupils with gaps in their phonic knowledge catch up with their peers. Pupils enjoy reading and 8–9 January 2020

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access appropriately challenging texts from a range of genres.

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The school prides itself on teaching pupils about different faiths and cultures. They also learn how to keep healthy and identify right from wrong. Curriculum plans provide opportunities for pupils to revisit key learning, such as knowing how to stay safe when using the internet.

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The writing curriculum is well established and pupils enjoy writing. Teachers sequence lessons towards clear milestones. Several pupils told the inspector that the school’s approach helps them to improve. Curriculum plans enable pupils to learn about a range of genres in all years. In each unit, pupils show what they already know before teachers plan appropriate lessons which aim to build their knowledge. This leads to a final piece of writing. Pupils are well prepared for this. However, for some most-able pupils, the school’s approach narrows their creativity and authorial flair. In these instances, pupils’ writing at the beginning of the unit is of higher quality than at the end.

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Leaders have clear plans in place to develop the curriculum for science and the foundation subjects. This work is further along in science. Here, teachers use the national curriculum to help them ensure that units of work are suitably rigorous. They recognise that pupils have gaps in their knowledge and skilfully adapt curriculum plans to enable these pupils to learn successfully. Teachers sequence science lessons well, helping pupils to build on prior knowledge. In subjects such as history and geography, this is less developed. Teachers are using the national curriculum to help them, but they are not breaking these objectives down into well-sequenced, manageable chunks, which build towards a clear endpoint. Pupils learn about key historical events and locations, but they do not have enough time to deepen their understanding. This prevents them having a secure understanding about what they have been taught.

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The special needs coordinator (SENCo) knows pupils well. Clear systems are in place to identify pupils’ needs accurately. Teachers are left in no doubt about what support they need to provide for pupils. Each term, they set targets for pupils to achieve. However, in a minority of cases, targets are not always precise enough. This makes it difficult for staff to plan for and review pupils’ progress accurately.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders rightly prioritise pupils’ safety and welfare above all else. The leaders for safeguarding are highly effective in achieving this. They make sure that staff are subject to a thorough recruitment process and are trained to identify potential concerns about pupils’ welfare. Staff know that they must record any concerns they have and pass these on to leaders. By doing so, leaders can take the most appropriate action, including whether to involve external agencies. Leaders provide external agencies with detailed information, which strengthens decision-making about whether intervention is necessary. Leaders use their knowledge of pupils and their families well to offer additional support when needed. 8–9 January 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In subjects such as history and geography, plans are not clear about what teachers want pupils to know by the end of each unit of work. Teachers use the national curriculum to guide them, but they are not breaking these objectives into cohesive, sequenced lessons which build clearly towards a clear endpoint. In some units of work, there is too much knowledge to cover, which results in teaching isolated knowledge; this does not link to past or future learning. Pupils do not retain this knowledge because it has not been taught with sufficient detail. To develop this area of the school’s curriculum, teachers need to give greater thought to lesson sequences and cohesion so that the curriculum builds towards clear milestones.  The SENCo has an in-depth and accurate understanding about the support that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) need, based on a thorough identification process. However, teachers’ targets for pupils are not consistently precise

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

across the school. While most are high quality, some are too vague. This makes it more difficult for staff to provide an appropriate curriculum and to review targets based on accurate information about pupils’ progress. For the provision for SEND pupils to strengthen, this will be an area for school leaders to improve.  The writing curriculum is well established. It has been in place for some time and leaders have embedded it well. This has brought about an improvement in pupils’ progress. The curriculum provides pupils with a detailed understanding about the genre they are learning about, which builds up to an end-of-unit piece of writing. For some able writers, the curriculum can shackle some of their creativity and authorial flair. When this occurs, it is more difficult to see their progress across a unit of work. Leaders need to explore ways to adapt the curriculum so that it caters for those pupils

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

who already demonstrate a secure understanding of the genres they are learning about.

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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 predecessor school, Stourfield Junior School to be good in May 2013.

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

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If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 8–9 January 2020

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School details

Local authority Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole

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School details

Inspection number 10122393 Type of school Junior

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Stourfield Junior School has four classes per year group. Most pupils join the school from the neighbouring infant school.  The predecessor school was last inspected in May 2013. The school was judged to be good. In May 2017, the school converted to be an academy and joined the Twynham Learning Academy Trust.  The school has a local advisory board which is primarily responsible for educational standards across the school. This is a responsibility that the academy trust has delegated to the local advisory board.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector looked at reading, writing and science during the inspection. He met with senior leaders and curriculum leaders, considered pupils’ workbooks, conducted lesson visits, and spoke with teachers and pupils. The inspector also spent some time looking at history and geography with the school’s curriculum leader.  The inspector met with the SENCo to determine how well leaders identify pupils with SEND and the support they provide. He also met leaders responsible for pupils’ personal, social and health education and spiritual, moral, social and cultural 8–9 January 2020

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development.  The inspector spoke with the representatives from the Twynham Learning Academy Trust. He also met with most members of the local advisory board.  The inspector met with the designated leaders for safeguarding. Together, they considered how well leaders maintain pupils’ safety. He also reviewed the school’s single central record.  The inspector analysed the school’s attendance information, behaviour logs and records of exclusion.  The inspector considered responses to the online survey, Parent View. In addition, he considered responses to the staff and pupil survey. He also spoke with staff and pupils during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Nathan Kemp, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 8–9 January 2020

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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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