Mundy CofE Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Mundy Church of England Junior School Lockton Avenue, Heanor, Derbyshire DE75 7EQ

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Inspection dates: 11 and 12 January 2023

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Outcome

Mundy Church of England Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school and learning. A typical comment from pupils was, ‘wonderful teachers, kind pupils and subjects are fun!’. There are very positive relationships between pupils and adults. Pupils aim to uphold the school’s values and know the ‘bee’ statements well. Staff care deeply about the pupils and provide a safe environment for pupils to learn. Pupils particularly enjoy the Friday assemblies where ‘magic moments’ for good work and positive attitudes are celebrated. Pupils are motivated and take pride in their work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in classrooms and outside. Pupils are polite to each other and open doors for one another. Pupils said that bullying can happen occasionally. They are confident that, if they went to a member of staff, any problems would be resolved. Pupils said that staff are fair in how they settle disputes. They said that staff speak to all pupils who may have been involved in a dispute before making their decisions about how to resolve the matter.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are supportive of the school. The large majority of parents would recommend the school. Parents say that staff are very approachable and caring. Teachers are ambitious for all pupils. Pupils achieve well.

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

Leaders have ensured that pupils are taught a broad curriculum. Teachers receive regular training and support to deliver the curriculum. Pupils are enthusiastic about their learning. Reading is at the heart of the school’s curriculum. The library is well used. Pupils are supported to choose reading books that they may enjoy.

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

Leaders introduced a new phonics programme last year to support those pupils who have struggled to learn to read. Leaders have trained staff to deliver the new programme. They have also watched adults deliver the lessons and provided feedback. Adults support pupils well to learn to read. Pupils use the phonic sounds to help them read unfamiliar words. Adults support pupils to read fluently. They frequently ask pupils to re-read sentences to 11 and 12 January 2023

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help them become more fluent. Adults listen to pupils read often. The reading books match the sounds that pupils know. Pupils are making good progress to become accurate and fluent readers.

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The mathematics curriculum is well planned. Pupils have opportunities to practise their mathematical skills until they become confident. Teachers set some questions before a new topic starts to check whether pupils have remembered previous learning. If pupils struggle, extra support is put in place to help them catch up. During the lessons, there are occasions when adults do not check pupils’ understanding closely enough. Misconceptions are not always identified. This can slow progress. At the end of a unit of work, teachers check how well pupils have learned. Support is put in place to address any gaps in knowledge.

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Pupils talk enthusiastically about their learning. They enjoy programming in computing. Pupils have made characters move around a maze and composed music using the computer. In history, pupils have learned a lot of knowledge about the Tudors. They knew how the Great Plague had spread to Eyam. However, older pupils were less clear about how historians use sources of evidence to learn about the past. In some subjects, the planning does not cover how important concepts are taught well enough. In addition, leaders do not consistently check how well pupils are learning in some subjects. This means that potential gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not addressed.

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Leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are taught the full curriculum. These pupils are supported well in class. All pupils are expected to complete some work independently to check that they have understood the learning.

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Pupils enjoy the roles with responsibilities that are available. Pupils vote for members of the school parliament. The sports leaders create games for those who do not want to play football or basketball. Pupils lead services at St Lawrence Church.

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Teachers say that leaders are very mindful of their workload and well-being. Staff are very supportive of the leadership team.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders know families well. They work closely with parents and outside agencies to support pupils. If a pupil raises a concern, all staff are very knowledgeable about how to respond. Staff training is up to date. Record-keeping is detailed.

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Safeguarding

Leaders respond well to any safeguarding concerns in the local area. Police officers have come into assemblies to deliver safety messages. The school has pupils who are safeguarding ambassadors. One of their responsibilities is to check that visitors are wearing school badges. Pupils have a good understanding of how to stay safe when online. 11 and 12 January 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have introduced useful systems to check whether pupils are retaining key knowledge in mathematics. However, during lessons, adults do not check closely enough whether pupils are understanding their learning. Pupils’ misconceptions are not consistently identified and corrected in a timely way. This slows pupils’ progress. Leaders should ensure that staff check pupils’ mathematical understanding.  In some subjects, key concepts are not planned well enough. Consequently, pupils’ knowledge is not as well developed as it could be. Leaders should ensure that the disciplinary knowledge is well sequenced and that systems are in place to check how well pupils are remembering what they have been taught.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in October 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.

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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. 11 and 12 January 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Date of previous inspection

27 September 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a voluntary-controlled Church of England school. The school had its most recent section 48 inspection on 3 March 2016. The school is due its next section 48 inspection.  The school has a breakfast club every morning which is managed by the governing body.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher and leaders for English and mathematics. He spoke with the school’s local authority adviser on the telephone.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and computing. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and teaching assistants, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 11 and 12 January 2023

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 The inspector also spoke with leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects. He reviewed curriculum planning and pupils’ work.  The inspector spoke with leaders, governors and staff about safeguarding procedures in the school. He looked at documentation related to safeguarding. He checked that staff training was up to date.

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Inspection team

Martin Finch, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 January 2023

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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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