St Margaret's Church of England (Aided) Junior School

Inspection of St Margaret’s Church of England (Aided) Junior School Seaview Road, Morwenna Park, Northam, Bideford, Devon EX39 1EL

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 10–11 March 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

The quality of education is not good enough. Pupils do not learn well enough in a range of subjects. This is because the curriculum is not ambitious enough. Pupils in Year 6 told us that they do not feel ready for secondary school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like coming to school and attendance is good. Nevertheless, older pupils say that the behaviour of some pupils hinders their ability to learn. Pupils like the topics they learn. They like the trips and visits leaders provide. Pupils told us how their visit to ‘Northam Burrows’ strengthened their understanding of events in the Second World War. However, pupils are not always able to remember what they have learned.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe at school. They say that staff help them if they have a worry or concern. Pupils say that bullying does not happen. They do say that occasionally friends fall out. Leaders have put in place additional provision, such as the ‘sunshine club’. This is for pupils who find social times challenging. Pupils like this additional provision. Pupils are very positive about the wide range of extra-curricular clubs they have on offer. They are proud of their school and enjoy representing the school at many events.

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better?

In recent years, there has been a decline in standards. There have been significant changes in senior leadership in the last 18 months. Although leaders have not yet been able to halt the decline in writing, there are signs of improvement. Some curriculum plans are not ambitious enough. This is because some curriculum leaders do not know what pupils need to achieve to be successful. Teachers’ expectations are not high enough. The lack of ambition and low expectations in some classes leads to pupils not reaching their full potential.

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better?

Leaders have carefully planned some subjects. They have deliberately chosen topics that develop pupils’ understanding of different religions and cultures. Additional opportunities, such as visits to different places of worship, prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain. One parent told us, ‘The school is aware of its place in Devon and seeks to broaden pupils’ appreciation of the wider world.’ Pupils support many local and international charities, such as ‘Edu Kid’. They work closely with organisers to fund raise for children in Cambodia.

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better?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils do not always achieve as well as they could. Leaders have not thought carefully enough about the curriculum for these pupils. Some pupils with SEND have broad targets. These targets do not always provide teachers with the information they need. This means that planned activities do not always help pupils build their knowledge and skills well enough. 10–11 March 2020

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Leaders have recently focused on improving the quality of reading. There are positive signs of improvement. However, the curriculum plan is not as well organised as it needs to be. Lessons are not organised coherently. Pupils enjoy reading and the range of books available. Books are well matched to pupils’ ability. Leaders make sure that pupils who do not have support at home read with an adult. There are systems in place to help pupils who are behind catch up. Nevertheless, these pupils spend too much time learning skills they already know. This means pupils are not catching up as quickly as they could.

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Some older pupils lack resilience. They often seek additional support to help them complete their work. This is because they do not have the necessary prior knowledge needed to be successful. If support is not forthcoming, pupils quickly lose their focus. This leads to them distracting other pupils.

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Parents are very positive about the school. One parent’s comment, that encapsulates many, was: ‘I can only say positive things about the school. The teachers and staff are great. My child feels safe and happy to come to school every day.’

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Staff morale is high. The very large majority of staff are proud to work at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders have ensured that all staff, including governors, have received appropriate training. Staff know the signs to look out for if a pupil may be at risk of harm. Staff know how to report concerns they may have. In response to an increase in vulnerable pupils joining the school, leaders have enhanced the school’s capacity. Parents speak positively about the additional support.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to stay safe both inside and outside of school. They told us that sessions from the emergency services and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has given them the knowledge they need to stay safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Curriculum plans, and teachers’ expectations, are not always ambitious enough. These low expectations limit what some pupils can achieve. This means by the time pupils leave the school they are not ready for the next stage of their education. Senior leaders need to ensure that the curriculum is ambitious for all pupils and that teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve.  There has been insufficient training for some curriculum leaders. This has hampered their ability to improve the subjects they lead. Senior leaders need to ensure that all curriculum leaders have the knowledge and skills required to improve the quality of education in the subjects they lead. 10–11 March 2020

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 Leaders recognise that the school’s approach to assessment needs further work. Systems for checking what pupils already know and understand in some subjects are not effective. This leads to some pupils not learning the breadth of the curriculum as well as they should.  The reading curriculum is not as well organised as it needs to be. Leaders need to ensure that the content of these plans are thorough and carefully organised. This will enable pupils to develop their knowledge and skills in a logical order.  There is a need to improve pupils’ behaviour and their attitudes to learning. Pupils have limited resilience with their learning. This means they do not achieve as well as they could. The poor behaviour of some pupils disrupts learning for others. Leaders recognise the need to address this and have recently introduced a new behaviour policy. Leaders need to ensure that the policy is fit for purpose and

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pupils’ poor behaviour and attitudes improve.

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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. 10–11 March 2020

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.st-margarets-junior.devon.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 5–6 November 2015, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in September 2018. In addition to this school, he has responsibility for St George’s Church of England Infant School. The deputy headteacher was appointed September 2019.  St Margaret’s Junior School is part of the Northam Schools Federation. The federation is made up of St Margaret’s and St George’s. The federation is part of Atlantic Coast Co-operative Trust, a partnership of nine infant, junior and primary schools.  The school is designated as having a religious character and received its section 48 inspection in May 2015 when this aspect of the school’s work was graded as outstanding.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 10–11 March 2020

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 We met with the executive headteacher, deputy headteacher, curriculum leaders, the leader with responsibility for pupils with SEND and a sample of staff. We also considered the 17 responses to the staff survey.  We met with two governors from the governing body, including the chair.  We examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including leaders’ self-evaluation, improvement plans and documentation relating to attendance and behaviour.  A significant proportion of the inspection focused on ensuring that pupils are safe. We scrutinised records, tested staff’s safeguarding knowledge and spoke with pupils. We met with the designated safeguarding leader and two members of the pastoral support team.  We considered the 32 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. We met with parents at the start of the second day. There were no responses to the pupil survey.  We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, modern foreign languages,

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geography and writing. This included visiting lessons, looking at pupils’ work, meeting with senior and subject leaders and discussions with teachers and pupils. On day two of the inspection, we looked further into the quality of education in science.

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Inspection team

Matt Middlemore, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Wendy Hanrahan Ofsted Inspector 10–11 March 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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