St Michael at Bowes CofE Junior School

Inspection of a good school: St Michael at Bowes CofE Junior School Tottenhall Road, London N13 6JB

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Outcome

St Michael at Bowes CofE Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are friendly and kind. Pupils who are new to the school are welcomed and helped to settle in quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for pupils to learn a broad range of subjects and gain a wide variety of educational experiences. Pupils achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders provide pupils with a wealth of opportunities to take on responsibilities that have a positive impact on the school. Members of the school council assisted leaders to select new playground equipment and help to organise its use. The eco team take action to improve the environment, including helping tend the community garden. Reading buddies in Year 6 share enjoyment of reading with younger pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff promote pupils’ emotional well-being. Pupils are encouraged to share any worries during ‘A-little-bit-of-me time’ sessions in class, or to place messages in a worry box if they would like an adult’s help. Staff deal effectively with any rare instances of poor behaviour. Pupils are safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders organise special events including visits to museums and galleries and a trip to the seaside, to extend pupils’ learning. Pupils are made aware in different subjects that what they learn is relevant for a range of careers. For example, a former pupil talked to Year 6 pupils about how to become a botanist.

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

Leaders have designed a curriculum that sets out the knowledge and skills they expect pupils to learn and which matches the primary national curriculum. Leaders have carefully considered the content to be taught and how this builds up as pupils progress from year to year. 11 and 12 July 2023

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Links between different subjects help pupils to apply their learning in a range of contexts and everyday situations. For example, pupils in Year 5 drew on their scientific knowledge about plants to help their understanding in geography about deforestation and global warming. Pupils in Year 3 developed their use of printing techniques in art as they created images of fossils they had learned about in science.

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Teachers provide frequent opportunities for pupils to reinforce what they have learned before moving on to more demanding work. Leaders support teachers to develop their subject knowledge. Teachers anticipate and put right pupils’ misconceptions, provide clear explanations and use questions and discussions to deepen pupils’ thinking.

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Teachers regularly check how well pupils learn the curriculum. They adapt their teaching, for example to give more time for pupils to consolidate key facts. In a very few cases, the delivery of the curriculum does not emphasise as precisely the essential knowledge that leaders intend pupils to learn and remember over time. Occasionally, this limits pupils’ recall of key facts to be remembered and applied in later years.

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Teachers have received training and guidance on how to adapt their teaching to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teachers use well-chosen resources and communicate closely to identify specific approaches to meet individual pupils’ needs to enable them to access the same curriculum as others.

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Leaders identify quickly when pupils need more help with learning to read. There is an established scheme for the teaching of phonics which builds effectively on pupils’ reading when they join from infant school.

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Leaders and staff are trained to deliver the phonics scheme effectively. Pupils develop their knowledge of phonics swiftly and become fluent readers. Pupils read frequently and have access to high-quality texts. A range of successful initiatives encourage pupils to read, including visits to a specialist bookshop and meeting authors. Pupils enjoy using award tokens to choose books in the school’s book vending machine.

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Pupils are settled and focused in lessons. They engage enthusiastically in discussions about their learning and are keen to share ideas. Leaders encourage pupils to express themselves maturely and thoughtfully.

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Staff appreciate the support they receive from leaders and their colleagues. Staff feel that leaders are approachable and responsive if they need additional support. Leaders seek and act upon staff views, including helping with workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have well-established routines for ensuring that all staff know and carry out their safeguarding responsibilities. Annual staff training covers latest requirements and makes clear how to report any concerns. Regular reminders ensure that staff are alert to any 11 and 12 July 2023

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signs that a pupil might be at risk from harm. Leaders follow up concerns swiftly, working with professional agencies to help provide the support and guidance families need.

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Pupils are taught about risks to their safety and well-being, including online. Leaders make sure that pupils have access to support from trusted adults and outside organisations if they have any concerns.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 On a few occasions, the delivery of the curriculum does not ensure that pupils learn precisely the key facts that leaders expect them to know and remember over time. When this occurs, pupils are not helped to build on their prior learning as swiftly as leaders intend. The school should continue its work to ensure that the implementation of the curriculum enables pupils to gain the knowledge of key facts they need for their future 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 2014.

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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. 11 and 12 July 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. 11 and 12 July 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10289830 Type of school Junior

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Lawrence Desouza

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, a new headteacher, a new deputy headteacher and an additional assistant headteacher have been appointed. There is a new chair of the governing body.  The school has a religious character. The last section 48 inspection took place in November 2022.  The school does not make use of 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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with school leaders including the headteacher and other senior leaders, the chair of the governing body and two other members of the governing body.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, geography and science education. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with 11 and 12 July 2023

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subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also considered the curriculum in some other subjects.  The inspection of safeguarding included meeting with the leaders with responsibility for safeguarding, review of documentation relating to safeguarding, including records of pre-employment checks on staff and communications with outside organisations, and consideration of relevant themes included in the school’s curriculum.  The inspector considered the views of parents and carers, staff and pupils in their responses to the online surveys.

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Inspection team

Amanda Carter-Fraser, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 11 and 12 July 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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