Bishop Wood Church of England Junior School, Tring

Inspection of a good school: Bishop Wood Church of England Junior School, Tring Frogmore Street, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 5AU

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. Inspectors are recommending the next inspection to be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bishop Wood is a welcoming and friendly school. Pupils are happy and confident to be themselves. Staff know pupils well. Staff do not always set clear expectations for behaviour or learning. Some pupils are not achieving as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils know how to behave. They know the difference between right and wrong. Some pupils find it harder than others to behave appropriately and occasionally stop others from learning. Pupils know the difference between bullying and disagreements. Bullying sometimes happens and staff deal with it well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy and attend a range of extra-curricular clubs, including football, dodgeball, dance and art club. Pupils represent the school at sporting and community events for example, the Lenten Bazaar. Pupils enjoy the visits to important places in the local area such as the church and museums. They also enjoy the residential trips where they have opportunities to take risks and experience outdoor activities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have opportunities to develop their leadership skills. They know about the democratic approach for election to be a school councillor. They make a difference to their school community through roles such as eco warriors and sports ambassador.

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

Leaders have created a broad curriculum. They ensure that pupils access the full range of subjects. However, pupils do not make the progress they need to in all areas of the curriculum because leaders have not been clear and specific with the knowledge they 21 and 22 March 2023

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want pupils to learn in all subjects. This leads to staff not knowing what important knowledge pupils need to learn to ensure they build upon what they already know. Consequently, some pupils have gaps in subject content and struggle to recall key information. Leaders are not regularly checking how well their curriculum plans are being implemented.

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In a few subjects where staff are clear about what important knowledge to teach, they break down learning into small manageable steps to ensure pupils achieve. In these cases, staff have secure subject knowledge and the experience needed to successfully support pupils with their learning. However, on occasions, staff move on to new content too quickly. Staff check what pupils can do within lessons but beyond this the checking of pupils’ prior learning is not consistent.

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Leaders have responded with urgency to improve reading. They have developed a structured approach to teaching the skills for reading. Pupils are confident at recalling information from texts and are avid readers. Leaders match pupils reading books with their reading stage. This focuses on fluency and success with reading a range of genres. Leaders have identified where pupils need support with reading. Pupils who are at the early stages of reading get the support they need quickly. Leaders track pupils and check on what they can do. All staff have received training to support pupils to decode, comprehend and become fluent readers.

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Leaders know the pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. Systems are in place for identifying pupils with SEND. Leaders support staff with key information to make sure pupils get the support they need to access learning. Staff are highly skilled at adapting tasks to ensure pupils with SEND can access the same curriculum as their peers successfully. Leaders ensure that pupils understand their own needs and can communicate these with adults in the school. All pupils learn how to identify their emotions. They learn strategies that they independently use to help them get ready to learn, for example, breathing exercises or going for a walk.

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Most pupils are well behaved in lessons and around the school. However, leaders have not set out their expectations for behaviour to staff or pupils clearly. Some pupils do not routinely make the right choices and distract others from learning. Staff have not had the training to ensure that they are consistent in dealing with behaviour. Some pupils’ experience of what acceptable behaviour is, depends on which adult they are working with.

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Staff feel supported by leaders. They know that they can ask for help if they need it.

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Governors work in partnership with leaders, working closely on improving the school for its pupils. 21 and 22 March 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders complete all the necessary checks on staff. They make training a priority. As a result, staff confidently identify and report concerns quickly. Leaders address concerns and put support in place for pupils and their families. Leaders work well with external agencies, sharing information to support pupils’ welfare and well-being.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make good use of the school’s pastoral services to give pupils access to support in school. Pupils use this support. They are confident to speak to staff about their worries. Pupils learn how to stay safe online and in the real world, such as crossing the road.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have not set out clearly what they want pupils to learn and do. This means that teachers do not know what important knowledge they should teach and pupils struggle to recall what they have learned. Leaders must ensure that they set out important knowledge and skills that they want pupils to learn and remember so that they are well prepared for future learning.  Staff do not use their checks on pupils’ understanding effectively. This means that pupils have gaps in knowledge as staff are moving on to new learning too quickly or not revisiting previous learning when necessary. Leaders must ensure that staff check what pupils have understood, learned and remembered content and subject knowledge before moving on to new learning.  Staff’s expectations of behaviour are not consistent across the school. Staff do not set out clearly what is appropriate behaviour for learning during lessons or what is

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

appropriate behaviour when moving around the school. This means that some pupils do not have a positive attitude to their learning and distract others. Leaders must ensure that expectations of how to behave and learn are well established across the school. Leaders must ensure that staff are well trained to support pupils with this. 21 and 22 March 2023

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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 July 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. 21 and 22 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10211298 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 31 January 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A new headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection.  Bishop Wood’s Church of England Junior School’s most recent section 48 inspection took place in November 2017. The school’s next section 48 inspection will be within eight school years.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, subject leaders and the special educational needs coordinator. The inspector also met with nine governors, including the chair of the governing body.  The inspector met with a representative from the local authority to gather information about school support and development.  For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with the subject leader, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to 21 and 22 March 2023

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some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and geography. The inspector also looked at other curriculum plans, including for history, art, PSHE, and science.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector scrutinised a range of documentation relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.  The inspector took account of the 83 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the 82 free-text comments. The inspector also took account of the 21 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and the 108 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey. The inspector also spoke to pupils unstructured times and during lessons to seek pupils’ views. She spoke with groups of staff to gather views from a range of staff members.

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Inspection team

Nerrissa Bear, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 21 and 22 March 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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