Bounds Green Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Bounds Green Junior School Bounds Green Road, London N11 2QG

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Outcome

Bounds Green Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils really like coming to this friendly and welcoming school. Staff are caring, have high expectations and make learning fun. Pupils work hard in lessons to achieve their best. Staff and pupils treat each other with mutual kindness and respect. This ensures pupils are safe here.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is consistently strong. They behave well in class, around the school and during playtimes. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and are highly motivated to do well in lessons. Staff help pupils to stay calm and regulate their emotions. Pupils understand different types of bullying. Although they say that bullying is extremely rare, they all know an adult they can talk to if they do have any concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are a range of visits that support the curriculum. For example, pupils enjoy visits to local secondary schools to support their learning in science. Similarly, Year 6 are learning the songs they are due to perform in a festival at the Royal Albert Hall.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most parents and carers spoken with and those who responded to the online survey are positive of the work of school leaders. They say they feel proud being part of such a supportive local community.

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

Leaders have developed an ambitious curriculum in a wide range of subjects. They monitor it to ensure that it matches the requirements and ambition of the national curriculum. The curriculum meets the needs of all pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

The curriculum is well planned in most subject areas. Leaders have sequenced learning so that pupils build up knowledge over time. Teachers regularly check what pupils can remember from previous lessons. This helps pupils to understand important concepts and 15 and 16 March 2022

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vocabulary. For example, in science, pupils understand concepts such as refraction, spectrum and translucence because they have already learned simpler ideas about light.

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Similarly, in design technology, pupils understand the process of designing and making different objects. Older pupils apply this process confidently when making cams. In art, pupils can explain how they are improving at drawing and painting and about the range of artists they study. Pupils enjoy music lessons, although opportunities for them to compose and perform are more limited.

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Leaders place emphasis on developing the key vocabulary that pupils need to know in all subjects. For example, in history pupils could explain in detail the meaning of hieroglyphs, pharaohs and the River Nile. However, leaders are currently developing the content of the history curriculum in Years 5 and 6.

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Leaders prioritise teaching pupils to read. They have made recent changes to the teaching of reading. As a result, most pupils learn to read confidently and fluently. Leaders are successfully promoting a love of reading. Pupils thoroughly enjoy their reading lessons and time in the library. The school has a fully inclusive culture and staff support pupils with SEND well in class. However, some of the additional reading interventions are not always targeted precisely at what these pupils need to practise.

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Members of the governing body provide effective challenge and support for leaders. As a result, senior leaders have an accurate view of what the school does well. The local education partnership provides strong curriculum support and training for staff. While some staff feel their workload is well managed, this is not the experience of everybody. Leaders are aware of this and are considering other ways staff can be supported.

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Pupils enjoy visits to the Tate Gallery and Year 3 recently visited the Natural History Museum, linking to their learning. Pupils eagerly take on additional responsibilities, including as playground buddies.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong safeguarding culture. Leaders carry out all required checks when recruiting new staff. Regular training ensures that staff know what to do if they have concerns. Leaders know pupils’ families well. They engage swiftly with outside agencies to provide help and support for vulnerable pupils.

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Safeguarding

Pupils’ lessons in computing help them learn how to stay safe when online. Leaders have provided specific workshops on dealing with peer-on-peer abuse, and how to discuss their emotions and feelings. Pupils are articulate and know how to respond to any harassment or name-calling. They say they are learning how to be resilient and confident. 15 and 16 March 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Most pupils learn to read confidently and fluently. However, some of the additional interventions for weaker readers are not always targeted precisely at what they need to practise. Leaders need to ensure that these interventions are sharpened so that the specific difficulties these pupils have in reading are addressed.  Leaders have developed a curriculum for most subjects that matches the ambition of what is expected nationally. It is clearly sequenced so that pupils develop a detailed and coherent knowledge over time. This helps pupils understand important ideas and vocabulary that they apply confidently to more difficult learning. However, in a few subjects, the curriculum is not fully developed for all year groups. Leaders should ensure that in history and music all aspects of the curriculum are covered in sufficient depth so that pupils understand important ideas and are well-prepared for secondary

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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 January 2013.

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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 . 15 and 16 March 2022

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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. 15 and 16 March 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211105 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 January 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Bounds Green Junior School is a three-form entry school in the London Borough of Haringey. The infant and junior schools federated in 2007.  The headteacher of the junior school was appointed headteacher of the federated school in 2007.  The number of pupils on roll is higher than at the previous inspection.  The school does not use any 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 the school and has taken that into account in his evaluation.  The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy head and subject leaders. The inspector met with governors, including the chair of the governing body and a representative from the local education partnership. 15 and 16 March 2022

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, science 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 pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. He heard pupils read and observed pupils in all year groups reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects, such as art, design technology, modern foreign languages and music.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at playtimes and listened to what pupils had to say about their school.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation about safeguarding. The inspector scrutinised the records the school keeps in relation to safeguarding and welfare. The inspector looked at the single central record of pre-employment checks and at records

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of staff training. He spoke with staff and pupils to understand the school’s culture of safeguarding.  The inspector reviewed the responses submitted by parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, including free-text responses. The inspector also reviewed the results of the responses to the survey for staff and spoke with parents at the start of the school day.

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Inspection team

Sean Flood, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 15 and 16 March 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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