St Julian's Church School

Inspection of a good school: St Julian's Church School Wellow, Bath, Somerset BA2 8QS

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Outcome

St Julian's Church School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this friendly, caring school. Positive relationships exist between staff and pupils. Leaders’ vision, ‘aim high – believe – succeed’, is evident in their high expectations for all pupils. Pupils strive to achieve their best. As one parent commented, ‘St Julian’s is a warm, nurturing school community where my children are thriving, both in their social and educational development.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons. They work hard and are justifiably proud of their achievements. The school is a calm and orderly place to learn. Pupils of all ages play together and cooperate well. Staff teach children in the early years and beyond to work safely and sensibly with each other. This can be seen in their work and play in the outdoor environment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. Bullying rarely happens. However, when it does, pupils say staff are quick to resolve the issues. Pupils are polite and enthusiastic, particularly when talking to visitors.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure pupils take part in a wide range of opportunities to enrich their learning. For example, pupils say trips to Stonehenge and Radstock Museum bring their history lessons alive. Pupils remember what they have been taught. This helps them when learning becomes more complex.

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

Leaders have developed an ambitious curriculum which places reading at its heart. The core knowledge pupils need to know is set out and well sequenced. Pupils’ knowledge builds year on year. However, in some subjects, leaders have not set out all of the knowledge pupils need to know clearly enough. This limits some pupils’ progress in those subjects. 19 April 2023

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Reading is high priority at St Julian’s. As soon as they begin school in Reception, children learn to read. Adults organise children’s learning around different stories. This helps to widen children’s vocabulary and promotes a love of reading. Staff use effective strategies when teaching phonics. Pupils read books that are carefully matched to the sounds they know. Teachers quickly identify pupils who fall behind. Adults who read with pupils are skilled in helping them to catch up.

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Teachers use their subject knowledge well to deliver the curriculum. Pupils speak confidently about what they are learning and how it builds on what they already know. For example, in mathematics, Year 5 pupils’ previous learning about the turn of a circle helps them explain how to calculate the angle of a part turn. Teachers use resources well to help pupils understand key concepts. Assessment is used effectively to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Teachers adapt learning to give pupils opportunities to recap or practise basic mathematical concepts before introducing more complicated ones.

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Leaders have created a culture of high ambition for all pupils. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders work with external agencies to ensure pupils receive the support they need. Teachers provide resources that enable pupils with SEND learn well. Teachers ask probing questions to check what pupils know, and encourage them to think more deeply. This helps pupils to gain a greater understanding of the subject. For example, in history, pupils in Years 1 and 2 know the differences in materials used to build houses in the past and present.

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The curriculum for pupils’ wider personal development is a strength of the school. Leaders plan a range of trips, residential visits, and events they want all pupils to experience. Pupils are enthusiastic about visiting places in other countries, such as Bordeaux and Belfast, as part of the Erasmus project. They say it helps them to learn about other cultures. Pupils relish leadership opportunities, including being librarians, house captains and members of the ‘ethos, equality and eco team’. One pupil said, ‘We enjoy these responsibilities. They teach us to be independent, help others and make our school a better place.’

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The school’s Christian ethos underpins all aspects of school life. For example, pupils display the values of aspiration and resilience in their positive attitudes to learning. They work hard and concentrate in lessons because they want to achieve their best. Pupils learn about different religions through their religious education curriculum. They are knowledgeable about the protected characteristics. Pupils respect and celebrate difference.

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Trustees and governors share an ambitious vision for the school. They know the school well and challenge and support senior leaders effectively. Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel supported and valued. 19 April 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that keeping pupils safe is a priority. Safeguarding training takes place regularly; this includes governors and trustees. Staff are vigilant in spotting signs that pupils might be at risk of harm. All staff report concerns diligently and understand how to keep pupils safe. Appropriate checks are made on staff new to the school. This ensures that they are safe to work with children.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe through the curriculum. They learn about healthy and unhealthy relationships. Pupils know how to share their worries. They know that staff will deal with concerns they raise.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not set out clearly the knowledge they want pupils to learn in some subjects. This prevents pupils from learning as well as they could. Leaders should review and improve the clarity of the curriculum in these subjects so that pupils build securely on their previous learning as they move through the school.

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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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, St Julian’s Church School, to be good in September 2018.

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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. 19 April 2023

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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. 19 April 2023

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School details

Local authority Bath and North East Somerset Council

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School details

Inspection number 10268436 Type of school Primary

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School details

Headteachers Kerrie Courtier (Executive headteacher) Isobel Mills (Head of School) Website www.stjuliansprimary.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Julian’s Church School converted to become an academy school in December 2018. When its predecessor school, St Julian’s Church School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school is part of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership academy trust.  This is a Church of England primary academy in the diocese of Bath and Wells.  As the school is designated as having a religious character, it is inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The most recent section 48 inspection of this school took place in June 2017.  The executive headteacher was appointed in April 2023.  Leaders provide before- and after-school care on site.  The school does not use any alternative provision. 19 April 2023

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the executive headteacher, the head of school, the special educational needs coordinator and other school staff. The lead inspector met with the chair of the local governing board and two representatives from the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector listened to pupils in Years 1, 2 and 3 read to an adult.  The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding leads to evaluate the

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Information about this inspection

effectiveness of safeguarding checks carried out by staff working at the school. Inspectors talked to governors, staff and pupils about how the school keeps everyone safe.  Inspectors considered the behaviour of pupils in lesson visits, conduct around the school and at playtimes and lunchtimes. They also spoke with a range of staff and pupils about behaviour during the inspection. The lead inspector scrutinised leaders’ records of pupils’ behaviour.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school.  Inspectors considered the 51 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including 34 free-text responses. Parents also spoke to an inspector in the school playground. Inspectors also considered 14 responses to the staff survey and 16 responses to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Faye Heming, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Caroline Musty Ofsted Inspector 19 April 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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