Roe Green Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Roe Green Junior School Princes Avenue, Kingsbury, London NW9 9JL

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Outcome

Roe Green Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are kept safe here. They appreciate teachers always being there to help them if they need it. Bullying is rare. It is dealt with effectively if it does occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour is excellent in lessons, at points of transition and in the playground. Staff expectations of behaviour are consistent. Pupils know what is expected of them and they rise to that. They respect school rules and follow instructions, for example with the lining-up routine at the start of the school day.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils to do well. The curriculum is broad and balanced, and all pupils benefit from the same offer. Subject plans are well organised, which helps pupils to learn more.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like the range of after-school clubs normally on offer. Wider enrichment opportunities ensure pupils are well prepared for their futures. The onsite swimming pool provision enables all pupils to receive regular, high-quality swimming lessons. It also enables them to practise their swimming often. As a result, nearly all pupils can swim by the end of their time in the school, and a significant number exceed the requirement to swim 25 metres.

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

Behaviour is a strength, and pupils are enthusiastic learners. There is a calm, focused and respectful atmosphere in the school, where learning is the priority. There is no off-task behaviour in lessons and the attitude to learning is positive. For example, in mathematics lessons, pupils worked well together using practical resources to solve counting problems.

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

Leaders have developed clear curriculum thinking in mathematics, history, geography, art, physical education (PE) and computing. Plans in these subjects clearly identify the knowledge pupils need to learn, are well-sequenced, and match the breadth and depth of the national curriculum. 2 and 3 February 2022

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In some wider curriculum subjects, the impact of this thinking is not as advanced due to disruptions caused by COVID-19 restrictions. Pupils can remember facts they have learned but are not consistently making deeper connections or links between learning. For example, in PE and mathematics opportunities are provided to revisit ideas and extend pupils’ knowledge. In history, pupils understand the passage of time within that period they are studying. However, they do not understand how periods of history link together or the connections between them over time.

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Leaders want all pupils to be confident, independent readers. Those who teach reading are well trained. Assistance is given to those at risk of falling behind to ensure they catch up and keep up with their peers. This is provided through more suitable choice of text, teacher support and/or individual help. Books used to teach reading and phonics are appropriately matched to the sounds pupils know. For those who are more fluent, reading books are at an appropriate level. As a result, pupils are developing the fluency and independence to catch up with their peers. While a love of reading is promoted through English, limited use is made of staff reading stories to their classes. Pupils say adults do not read to them as often as they would like them to. Leaders accept this is sometimes the case, and that reading to pupils for pleasure must be a protected part of the daily timetable.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities access the same curriculum as their peers. Adults are carefully deployed to provide help to those who need it. Some pupils are supported within lessons on a one-to-one basis, and others through targeted interventions. All support is carefully planned to ensure that pupils’ individual needs are met.

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Pupils’ wider development is prioritised. They have regular opportunities to learn about wider society and global issues. Sustainability is a key learning focus in the school. Staff and pupils are working to becoming a flagship school in this area. Pupils are particularly proud of their achievement to have solar panels fitted. They know that the school is ‘self-sufficient’ with energy and are committed to improving the school’s environmental footprint further.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about leaders’ support with their workload. They say that leaders listen to them; the ‘open-door’ policy means if they have concerns and anxieties they can, and do, share them. Staff are appreciative of the time given to meet and plan together. There is an ethos of support and sharing within the school that ensures best practice is shared.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have created a strong safeguarding ethos. They know families well. They work effectively with external agencies, and use advice, to ensure pupils and their families get the help they need as quickly as possible.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained and identify those at risk of harm. They know who to go to when concerns arise and report them quickly.

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Safeguarding

The curriculum is planned to provide pupils with knowledge around online safety, consent and 2 and 3 February 2022

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bullying. Pupils know how to stay safe online.

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Well-being and mental health are high on the agenda. Leaders have prioritised the importance of PE post COVID-19 restrictions to get pupils active, and promote a lifelong, healthy learning mindset.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have identified the key knowledge that they want pupils to learn. This is well- sequenced to help pupils to learn more. While pupils are remembering key knowledge, they are not always connecting this knowledge over time. Leaders need to ensure that pupils can make and understand these links, and that these connections are reinforced in teaching. This will maximise the impact of their well-planned curriculum and ensure knowledge sticks and pupils develop a deeper understanding over time.

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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 November 2011.

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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.

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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. 2 and 3 February 2022

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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. 2 and 3 February 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211302 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 31 January 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger-than-average-sized junior school.  The school has its own onsite swimming pool.

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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 their evaluation.  The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteacher and members of staff. They also spoke with a representative of the local authority, and met with three governors, including the chair of governors.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and PE. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector also looked at curriculum plans, spoke to pupils and looked at samples of their work for history, geography, computing and art. 2 and 3 February 2022

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 The inspector looked at a range of documents, including those regarding leaders’ priorities for improvement.  The inspector reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising records and through discussions with leaders, staff and pupils.  The views of pupils, parents and staff were gathered through discussions, and Ofsted’s surveys were considered.

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Inspection team

Samantha Ingram, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 2 and 3 February 2022

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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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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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