Kingmoor Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Kingmoor Junior School Liddle Close, Lowry Hill, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 0DU

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 September 2021

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Outcome

Kingmoor Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy to attend the school because their learning is interesting and fun. As one pupil commented, ‘There is never a dull moment.’ Pupils feel safe. They said that staff take good care of them. There is always a friendly adult to turn to if they are worried. Leaders ensure pupils learn to swim and to act sensibly near roads, which helps them to stay safe outside of school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are keen to learn and pleased with their successful learning in a wide range of subjects. They know that leaders and teachers always expect them to do their very best. Equally, they understand that help from staff is on hand if they are struggling with their work. Pupils are especially proud to display the badges they earn for their learning of multiplication tables.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that leaders and teachers expect them to behave. They said that teachers are fair when managing behaviour. Pupils are confident that staff deal quickly and effectively with any incidents of bullying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the opportunities for organised sports activities at lunchtime and after school, especially those run by the local football club. Pupils gain new skills from the many trips and visits on offer, including to residential outdoor learning centres.

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

Leaders have built an ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They carefully plan the knowledge that they want pupils to learn in each subject. This helps pupils to build on what they have learned already. Teachers take every opportunity to connect pupils’ learning between subjects. For example, in history, pupils learning about secret codes used during the Second World War also practise their computing skills by making their own codes. Pupils are curious and the curriculum supports them well to develop as keen scientists, historians and mathematicians. 21 and 22 September 2021

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Leaders’ and staff’s meticulous approach to planning and teaching the curriculum means that pupils develop the knowledge that they need to be successful. By the end of Year 6, pupils are well prepared for secondary school. Skilled subject leaders work alongside teachers to check how well pupils are learning the curriculums in different subjects. Teachers gain much from their access to training and leaders’ expert advice.

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Leaders are determined that pupils become fluent, confident readers who read widely and for a range of different purposes. Pupils said that they love reading and choose to read for pleasure at home as well as in school. They also enjoy books that teachers read to them during the school day. Leaders have made effective links with the local infant school. They receive useful information on pupils’ individual starting points in reading when they start in Year 3. This means that teachers are aware of those pupils who may need extra help with their reading. These pupils receive highly effective support from staff. That said, other staff have not had sufficient training in teaching early reading skills. This means that they are not quite as well equipped as their colleagues to further support pupils in the classroom.

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Leaders and teachers enhance the curriculum through a range of planned additional activities. They continued to do this despite the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic restrictions. For example, pupils experienced a virtual visit to Tullie House museum. Pupils celebrated World Book Day designed to sustain and stimulate their love of reading. All pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, learn to play a musical instrument and many choose to take up more than one.

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Most pupils with SEND have their needs identified accurately and quickly. Teachers make suitable adaptations to the curriculum so that pupils can learn alongside their friends in class. School leaders work well with other agencies to ensure that pupils with SEND receive the support that they need.

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Staff have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Pupils settle in lessons with little fuss and are rarely distracted from their work. They follow instructions and are well mannered and polite. Teachers plan the curriculum so that pupils learn to respect others, including people with different faiths or family structures.

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Governors hold leaders to account for the breadth and quality of the curriculum. They are especially proud of how leaders work on the curriculum with staff from the neighbouring infant school. This link helps pupils to move seamlessly from learning at the infant school to the junior school. Members of the governing body check that staff support all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, to benefit fully from the curriculum.

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Staff speak highly of school leaders. They feel valued. Staff said that leaders are considerate of their workload, well-being and work-life balance. For example, leaders recently reduced the amount of time teachers spend in assessing pupils’ work.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 and 22 September 2021

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Leaders take safeguarding seriously. They make sure that staff know their responsibilities for keeping pupils safe. They give staff access to up-to-date training about safeguarding. They know which signs may indicate that pupils are at risk of harm. They know exactly what to do in response and who to contact about any concerns. Leaders have developed an effective safeguarding team at the school. They work well in partnership with outside agencies to protect pupils and families. They ensure that all adults at the school follow safeguarding procedures. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including when online. They understand that social media has many benefits but can be extremely harmful when misused.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teachers and support staff have not had recent opportunities to enhance their knowledge of how to teach early reading. This means that they do not know precisely how to use phonics as a tool to support any pupils who are at the early stages of learning to read. Leaders should ensure that staff in all year groups are trained in teaching phonics. This is to enable them to help pupils, particularly those who may have missed out on phonics in their earlier education, to gain fluency in reading even more quickly.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2012.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 21 and 22 September 2021

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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. 21 and 22 September 2021

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.kingmoor-jun.cumbria.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 28 June 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, a new headteacher and new chair of the governing body have been appointed.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders, and has taken that into account in her evaluation.  During this inspection, the inspector met with the headteacher and eight members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  The inspector met with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector reviewed a range of safeguarding documentation, including the single central record of checks on staff’s suitability to work with pupils. The inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and checked how leaders record and respond to safeguarding concerns. 21 and 22 September 2021

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector spoke with staff about their workload and well-being.  The inspector considered 53 responses to Ofsted Parent View, the online questionnaire, including 33 free-text comments.  The inspector considered 97 responses to the pupil questionnaire and 40 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Jan Corlett, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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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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