Gayton Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Gayton Junior School Gayton Avenue, Littleover, Derby, Derbyshire DE23 1GA

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Outcome

Gayton Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Gayton Junior School is a happy school. Pupils arrive with smiles on their faces. Many parents report how keen their children are to go to school. One parent said, ‘I am happy because my child is happy.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. Pupils work hard to keep to the school rules as everyone wants to be a ‘super student’. In lessons, they listen attentively. They do their very best, and relish challenge. They work cooperatively in pairs or groups. The school buzzes as pupils learn together. Pupils’ positive behaviour continues at playtime and lunchtime.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff and pupils enjoy strong relationships that are built on respect for each other. Pupils feel safe in school. They say that there will always be someone in school who willingly listens to them if they have a concern. They know that bullying is not accepted. They are confident that if it happens, it is stopped.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders’ high expectations extend well beyond pupils’ academic success. The ‘Gayton passport of experiences’ is a promise that every pupil will have a wide range of opportunities during their time at the school. These include baking a cake, flying a kite, camping outside overnight and creating a piece of music.

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

Leaders have created an ambitious curriculum. Developing pupils’ communication skills and curiosity are at the heart of this curriculum. Leaders want pupils to become dynamic learners who actively participate in their lessons.

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

Leaders have identified the end-points of learning that pupils need to reach in every subject. In reading and mathematics, the small steps that pupils need to make in order to reach these end-points are clearly identified. In these subjects, teachers are clear about what they need to teach, and pupils learn well. In some other subjects, leaders have not precisely identified these small steps. This can mean that, on some occasions, teachers do 7 and 8 February 2023

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not make explicit what pupils need to learn in lessons. It is not consistently clear how new learning builds on prior learning. This lack of precision can also result in teachers making activity choices that do not help pupils to learn key knowledge as quickly as they could.

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Teachers regularly check that pupils remember prior learning. For example, in mathematics, most lessons start with an opportunity for pupils to recall what they have learned in previous lessons. Teachers identify pupils who have misunderstood or forgotten key learning. These pupils are given the help they need so that they do not fall behind.

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Gayton Junior School is an inclusive school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are included fully in the curriculum and the life of the school. Teachers and teaching assistants are trained so that they have the knowledge and skills to support pupils with SEND. As a result, pupils with SEND do well.

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Leaders prioritise reading. Pupils who do not read with the confidence and fluency they need to access the curriculum are identified without delay. These pupils receive extra help to catch up. Pupils who do not have secure phonic knowledge have a daily phonics lesson. This is working well. These pupils are learning to read with increasing success. Pupils come to love reading. They are animated as they talk about the books they enjoy.

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Pupils celebrate the diverse nature of the school. They accept that everyone is different. They show high levels of respect for the ideas and opinions of others. Pupils enjoy the vast array of trips and clubs on offer. They love the chance it gives them to develop their interests further. Pupils who learn to play the ukulele perform at Derby Arena. The tabletop battle game club members visit ‘Warhammer World’ on a school trip.

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Staff say that leaders value their hard work. They appreciate how much consideration leaders, including governors, give to their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained to identify and report any concerns they have that a pupil may be at risk of harm. Safeguarding leads work closely with pupils and their families to make sure they get the help they need. Vulnerable families have confidence that leaders will support them in challenging times. Many proactively seek support from the school. If necessary, safeguarding leads signpost pupils and families to external agencies for additional support.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about how to identify and respond to possible risks. They know how to keep themselves safe in situations they may face in everyday life. 7 and 8 February 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the key knowledge that pupils need to know and remember is not as precisely identified as it is in others. In these subjects, it is not as clear how pupils’ knowledge builds over time. Leaders should make certain that all curriculum plans explicitly identify this essential knowledge, ensuring that prior learning provides a firm foundation for later learning.  In a few lessons, teachers do not make activity choices that support pupils to acquire the intended learning as well as they could. In these lessons, pupils’ learning is slowed as the key knowledge that teachers want pupils to learn is not fully clear. This confuses pupils about what they are meant to be learning. Leaders should ensure that teachers provide pupils with tasks that focus on the intended learning.

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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 June 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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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. 7 and 8 February 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 September 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school federated with Ridgeway Infant School in September 2020 to form the Blagreaves Federation.  The headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school runs an after-school club for pupils on the Ridgeway Infant School site.  Leaders do not make use of 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 leaders and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and the leader with responsibility for pupils with SEND. She also met with three members of the governing body, including the chair of governors, and held a telephone call with a representative from the local authority. 7 and 8 February 2023

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils from the lessons visited and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector listened to four pupils reading to a member of staff.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector spoke to staff and pupils. The inspector also met with the safeguarding team. She considered safeguarding records and the actions safeguarding leads have taken. The inspector also reviewed the single central record.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, around the school and at lunchtime. She spoke to pupils so they could give their opinions about behaviour and other aspects of school life.  The inspector met with parents at the school gate. She took account of the responses to Ofsted’s free-text service for parents and Ofsted Parent View. The inspector also

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took account of the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey .

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Inspection team

Caroline Poole, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 7 and 8 February 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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