Newlaithes Junior School

Inspection of Newlaithes Junior School Langrigg Road, Carlisle, Cumbria CA2 6DX

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 28–29 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Newlaithes Junior School is a calm and orderly place for pupils to learn. The pupils that we spoke with told us that they enjoy coming to school and that they feel safe. Pupils’ attendance is higher than the national average.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils said that learning is fun. They work hard in lessons. Pupils have many opportunities to take part in musical activities and play sports. Pupils’ learning is enriched by visits, residential trips and visitors to school. One pupil said that this made the school ‘unique’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Throughout the school, pupils behave well. They enjoy receiving house points for their good behaviour. Pupils are polite and well-mannered. The parents and carers that we met spoke positively about pupils’ behaviour at the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take good care of each other on the playground. Older pupils look out for younger pupils. Pupils are trained to be ‘peace makers’. They take this role seriously and do all they can to help other pupils resolve any concerns that they may have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils told us that bullying is rare. Pupils are confident that if it does happen leaders and staff sort it out and make it stop.

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better?

The majority of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6. However, the published data shows that pupils’ progress across key stage 2 is not as strong. In the past, pupils have not always been able to build on their previous learning when they enter Year 3. Partnership work with the infant school has strengthened recently. Leaders are beginning to adapt the curriculum more effectively to help make up for any gaps in pupils’ learning when they start in key stage 2.

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better?

In most subjects, such as reading, mathematics, computing and physical education (PE), leaders have thought carefully about the knowledge and skills that they want pupils to gain. Most current pupils are achieving well in a range of subjects. However, in some subjects, such as art and design, history and geography, pupils do not do as well as they could. This is because pupils’ learning is not sufficiently well- organised. Leaders are reviewing the current curriculum to improve this aspect of the school.

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better?

Leaders have successfully introduced a new curriculum plan for mathematics. Staff have been well trained. Teachers plan new learning that builds effectively on what pupils have learned before. They provide opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical learning in other subjects. For example, pupils draw different graphs in their science work. Pupils talked confidently about their learning in mathematics. 28–29 January 2020

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Leaders want every pupil to be a successful reader. Older pupils read widely. They are familiar with the work of many different authors. Pupils enjoy the class story times. Most pupils we spoke to said that they love reading.

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Some pupils have gaps in their phonics knowledge when they join the school. They benefit from the extra support they receive from well-trained adults. Pupils read books that are well matched to the sounds that they know. Adults check the progress that pupils are making. However, this work is not helping some pupils to catch up quickly enough. This hampers their ability to do as well as they should in other subjects as they move from class to class.

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Leaders have created an exciting PE curriculum. Pupils enjoy taking part in a wide range of sports, like football, golf and hockey. Every pupil works towards achieving their ‘PE passport’. Pupils know the importance of sport and exercise in developing a healthy lifestyle.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective support. Teachers adapt classroom activities so that pupils with SEND have access to the same curriculum as everyone else. Pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan progress well against their individual targets.

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Pupils speak knowledgeably about British values, such as democracy. The school council spoke about being democratically elected. Pupils feel that they have a voice in the school and that leaders listen to their views.

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Governors know the school well. They are ambitious for the school to improve further. The staff that we spoke to are proud to work in this school. They value the opportunities to develop their own learning. Staff appreciate that leaders are considerate of their well-being and workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders take the safeguarding of pupils very seriously. Staff are well trained to spot signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm. They know who to tell if they have concerns. Leaders keep detailed records of concerns and any actions taken to support pupils. Leaders ensure that staff recruitment procedures are rigorous. They make appropriate checks on all adults who work in the school.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe in various situations. For example, they understand the risks of using the internet. They know not to share their personal information online. 28–29 January 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have reviewed the design of the curriculum for most subjects. However, in subjects like art and design, history and geography the curriculum plans are in the process of being implemented. Leaders should ensure that these plans are embedded in all classrooms without delay, so that pupils can achieve well in all subjects. Ofsted’s transition arrangements were used in this inspection to confirm that pupils benefit from a good quality of education.  Pupils’ learning has not always been built on well enough when pupils enter the school in Year 3. Leaders are working in partnership with the infant school to ensure that a stronger bridge is in place to help pupils make a seamless transition when they enter key stage 2. Leaders should build on this work and ensure that gaps in pupils’ learning are identified quickly and the curriculum is adapted to help pupils make the progress of which they are capable in reading, writing and

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Some pupils enter Year 3 with gaps in their phonic knowledge. Catch-up programmes are in place, but these are not helping pupils to make up lost ground quickly enough. Leaders should review their strategies for supporting pupils’ reading in Year 3 to ensure that pupils are successful readers who can fully access the key stage 2 curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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How can I feed back my views?

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. 28–29 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10133426 Type of school Junior

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 May 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There have been no significant changes since the last inspection.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the headteacher throughout the inspection.  We spoke to two members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body.  We spoke with a representative of the local authority.  We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, PE and art. We spoke to staff responsible for the leadership of these subjects. We also spoke with teachers and pupils. We visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and heard pupils read.  We spoke to several parents at the start of the day. The views of 19 parents who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, were considered. 28–29 January 2020

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 We considered the views of 18 members of staff who completed Ofsted’s staff survey.  We considered the views of 45 pupils who responded to the pupil survey. We also spoke to several pupils about their experiences of school.  We reviewed safeguarding records, including the single central record of checks made on staff, governors and volunteers.

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Inspection team

Garry White, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jackie Stillings Her Majesty’s Inspector 28–29 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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