Bellfield Junior School

Inspection of Bellfield Junior School Vineyard Road, Northfield, Birmingham, West Midlands B31 1PT

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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 29 and 30 June 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Bellfield Junior school are happy, confident and enjoy learning. They try their best and they are proud of what they achieve. Interesting displays around the school celebrate pupils’ work in many subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe at school because adults care about their well-being. Pupils say that there is always someone to talk to. They praise the staff in the pastoral team, who they trust to help them with any problems or worries they might have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are determined that pupils will achieve as well as they can. They want pupils to gain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed academically and socially.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their responsibilities. These include being a school council member, a ‘change-maker’ and serving at the ‘community lunch’ for elderly residents. A high number of pupils attend one of the many clubs that are available.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and welcoming to visitors. They understand the rules well and what happens if these are not followed. Pupils usually behave well, both in lessons and at less formal times. Bullying is rare at the school, and, if it happens, pupils are confident that a member of staff would sort it out quickly.

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better?

Governors and staff are united in their drive to ensure that pupils benefit from a well-planned, broad and ambitious curriculum. Subject leaders have set out the key content that pupils must learn. This is organised carefully so that pupils can build on what they already know with planned opportunities to revisit learning. Teachers have good subject knowledge and use this to deliver the curriculum well. This means that pupils know and remember more over time.

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better?

Leaders plan opportunities for teachers to work together to share good practice, for example by visiting each other deliver ‘open lessons’. Teachers use the feedback they receive to ensure they use the best approaches to meet the needs of the pupils. Teachers use assessment information to find out what pupils know and to plan next steps. However, teachers do not always pick up on misconceptions quickly enough. This means that some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready.

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better?

Leaders have prioritised reading. Pupils at the early stages of learning to read make strong progress. They practice reading using books that match the sounds they know. All classes enjoy daily shared reading time. Leaders have carefully chosen a broad range of high-quality texts with a balance of traditional and modern authors.

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better?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) experience the full curriculum alongside their peers. Teachers have high expectations of what pupils 29 and 30 June 2022

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with SEND can achieve. Occasionally, tasks for pupils with SEND do not match their needs well enough. This affects the progress that some of these pupils make.

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Pupils’ personal development is a strength of the school. Leaders want pupils to become ‘resilient, responsible and socially confident’ to help them prepare for their next steps and future lives. There are a wide range of opportunities for pupils to develop their talents in sport, music, art and languages. This includes after-school clubs, visiting specialists and activities with a nearby university and a local secondary school. Pupils are very respectful of difference and make everyone who joins the school feel welcome.

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Staff expect pupils to behave well. The pastoral team provides excellent support for pupils who struggle to manage their feelings and to follow the rules. Records show a reduction in the number of incidents of poor behaviour over time. Leaders expect all pupils to attend well and do all they can to ensure that pupils come to school every day. However, some pupils do not attend school well enough, and this means they do not make as much progress as they could.

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Governors know the school well. They provide effective challenge and support. Staff enjoy working at the school. They appreciate leaders’ efforts to reduce their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding across the school. Staff are trained to identify signs of abuse and report immediately any concerns they have about a pupil’s welfare or well-being. Leaders respond quickly to make sure that pupils get the help that they need. The pastoral team goes over and above to provide any additional support that they can for pupils and their families. This includes support with essential items such as food or clothing where this is needed most.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. This includes staying safe online and understanding what a safe and healthy relationship is.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not always identify if pupils have any misconceptions about what has been taught. This means that sometimes these misconceptions are addressed as quickly as possible. This can slow pupils’ progress. Leaders should ensure that teachers systematically check that pupils understand what has been taught before they move on to something new.  Sometimes, the tasks planned for pupils with SEND are not matched well enough to pupils’ specific learning needs. This limits how well some pupils with SEND 29 and 30 June 2022

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access the curriculum alongside their peers and slows the progress they can make. Leaders should ensure that all teachers can make appropriate adaptations to the curriculum to ensure that pupils with SEND can make strong progress.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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.

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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. 29 and 30 June 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227943 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 22 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act

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Information about this school

 The school currently has a higher number of pupils in two year groups in upper key stage 2. This was to support increased demand for places and will end when the current Year 5 reaches the end of key stage 2.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives into reading, English, mathematics, design technology and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 29 and 30 June 2022

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 Inspectors also spoke to pupils and staff about the curriculum in some other subjects and looked at samples of work.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and a wide range of other staff. The lead inspector met with members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  To inspect safeguarding, inspectors scrutinised the single central record and a sample of safeguarding records. They spoke to the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) and some of the deputy DSLs. Inspectors also spoke to the pupils, parents and staff about safeguarding.  Inspectors spent time observing lunchtimes.  Inspectors considered responses from parents to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and the free-text comments. Inspectors also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey. There were no responses to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Jo Evans, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Helen Quinn Ofsted Inspector 29 and 30 June 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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