Kinsale Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Kinsale Junior School Kinsale Avenue, Hellesdon, Norwich, Norfolk NR6 5SG

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Inspection dates: 13 and 14 September 2023

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Outcome

Kinsale Junior School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Roz Robinson. This school is part of the Wensum Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Daniel Thrower, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by John Smith.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very positive about their school. They benefit from good relationships with adults. They are well cared for. Younger pupils have settled in quickly, and they feel very happy. Pupils enjoy their lessons and they like spending time with their friends. Pupils are given many opportunities that supplement their curriculum experiences, for example they speak animatedly about their school trips. Pupils visit Banham Zoo or Africa Alive each year and these trips are extremely popular.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are expected to achieve well. Leaders have made considerable changes to the school curriculum to ensure that pupils learn as well as they should. Pupils enjoy their interesting and challenging lessons. They know that teachers have high expectations of them. Pupils strive to do well in class. They work hard, and teachers help them if they get stuck.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Lessons are calm and orderly. Pupils focus on their learning and show good levels of respect. Learning is rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. This ensures that pupils can maintain focus on their work. Outside of lessons, a small minority of pupils do not behave well enough. They can be unkind, and sometimes too rough, towards their peers. This leaves some pupils feeling worried about other pupils’ behaviour.

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

Since joining the Wensum Trust (the trust), the school has revised its curriculum. It is well designed to meet the needs of pupils, to support pupils to achieve well. Many subject plans are now fully implemented. There are clear expectations of what content will be taught and how the lessons will be delivered. In the majority of subject areas, teachers 13 and 14 September 2023

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are skilled in planning appropriate activities to ensure that pupils do well. They know what pupils need to be able to do, and quickly intervene if a pupil is struggling.

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In some subjects, there are aspects of the curriculum that do not detail sufficiently clearly what pupils need to have learned, or what they need to be able to do. In these instances, teachers do not check precisely enough to identify when a pupil has not remembered or understood what has been taught. When this happens, there are gaps in the teaching of knowledge which results in some pupils not achieving as well as they could.

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The school has acted quickly to raise the profile of reading. Pupils’ early reading fluency and knowledge are checked as soon as they join the school in Year 3. Adults put support in place if pupils fall behind where they should be. Staff are skilled at modelling high- quality reading. Pupils speak positively about books. They read regularly and enjoy the stories they read in lessons. This helps them to become confident readers.

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Systems in place for identifying and supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are appropriate. Pupils with SEND receive individual plans that are closely linked to their different needs. Support staff and teachers are well trained to follow and successfully implement these plans. This helps pupils with SEND to achieve as well as they should.

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Teachers ensure that there is very little disruption in lessons. They are consistent in applying the school’s agreed behaviour policy. Calm and orderly classroom environments support all pupils, including those with SEND, to focus on their learning. At playtime, although the majority of pupils behave very well, a small minority do not. While the school continues to manage behaviour well, a small proportion of pupils do not respond to improving their behaviour even after adults have intervened. This can give them, and their peers, the impression that certain pupils can get away with making poor behaviour choices.

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Pupils’ broader personal development is a priority for the school. There are a range of pupil leadership opportunities for older pupils. All pupils benefit from the school’s close links with the Zoological Society of East Anglia, for example. Pupils learn about important issues such as conservation. Pupils enjoy developing their skills and hobbies through attending clubs – choir and football are popular.

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Trust staff are fully involved in supporting the school to ensure that pupils do well. The trust checks how well school systems are working through regular monitoring visits, external audits and review meetings. This ensures that the trust knows how well the school is faring and is able to provide additional support where needed.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 13 and 14 September 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some areas of the curriculum where it is not as clear about what pupils need to learn, teacher checks are not being used as precisely as they should be to identify gaps in pupils’ understanding or knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that all areas of the curriculum are as sufficiently clear in what knowledge needs to be taught. Leaders need to train teachers so they are secure in checking what pupils know and remember, so that pupils achieve well in all areas of the curriculum.  There is a small minority of pupils who sometimes display unkind behaviour towards their peers, including younger pupils. Occasionally, they can use unpleasant language and are sometimes rough towards others. Adults regularly address this behaviour, but this does not prevent it from reoccurring. Leaders need to continue to support pupils who are not meeting the school’s high expectations to improve their behaviour, so all

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

pupils consistently treat others with respect and kindness.

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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, Kinsale Junior School, to be good in December 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.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and 13 and 14 September 2023

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protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 13 and 14 September 2023

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School details

Website www.kinsalejunior.norfolk.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Kinsale Junior School converted to become an academy school in July 2019. When its predecessor school, Kinsale Junior School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school is part of the Wensum Trust.  A new headteacher joined in September 2019.  The school does not currently use 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 the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 13 and 14 September 2023

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first. The inspector met with pupils to discuss their experience of school, including clubs, behaviour and bullying.  The inspector reviewed the school’s curriculum plans for pupils’ personal development, science and history and looked at a range of books in different subjects.  The inspector met with trustees and governors and scrutinised documents relating to school improvement.  There were no responses to Ofsted’s online pupil surveys. The inspector took account of 22 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and 36 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including 35 free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Bessie Owen, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 13 and 14 September 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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