Filey Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Filey Junior School West Road, Filey, North Yorkshire YO14 9LU

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Outcome

Filey Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Filey Junior School is a place that lives out its vision to be ‘a happy, healthy and positive learning community’. The school’s high expectations of all pupils are seen throughout its work. Its engaging curriculum, as well as the range of opportunities and experiences on offer to pupils, provides a stimulating place to learn. Pupils enjoy coming to school. They are proud to be members of its community. One pupil told the inspector: ‘We have a lot of fun here – and we learn things too!’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school frequently communicates with parents and carers. The school provides regular updates about events in school. Weekly newsletters include valuable information about supporting pupils to keep safe, including online. Parents benefit from being informed about what is happening in school and how they can support their child’s learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave extremely well around school and in class. They are polite and engage maturely in conversations with others. Playtimes and lunchtimes provide a time for pupils to take part in the impressive range of games and activities available to them, including basketball, skateboarding and scooters. Pupils enjoy spending time in the reading and art sheds where they take part in creative activities. Pupils use the resources respectfully. They play well with pupils from different year groups. This contributes to a positive sense of community in the school.

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

The school has implemented a well-designed curriculum. Leaders have carefully considered the important knowledge and skills that pupils need to know and remember as they progress through the school. The school provides regular opportunities for pupils to revisit, revise and build on their prior knowledge. This helps pupils to remember what they have learned.

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

Pupils demonstrate high levels of independence when using technology. Teachers regularly record video clips that highlight important parts of pupils’ learning or explain 5 and 6 October 2023

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tasks to complete. Pupils’ mature approach to using the digital resources available to them supports their learning effectively. For example, during the inspection, some pupils used a tutorial video to check that they understood how to complete a division calculation correctly.

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The provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of the school. Established processes are in place to identify pupils’ needs swiftly. The school provides timely and focused support to individual pupils when it is required. Leaders regularly review this support to ensure that it meets the needs of pupils. In class, pupils with SEND are supported effectively.

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The school prioritises the development of reading. Pupils demonstrate a love of, and interest in, reading. They enjoy visiting the newly refurbished library as part of weekly ‘book share’ lessons. Leaders closely analyse pupils’ reading habits. This enables staff to recommend books that are of interest to pupils. The school’s focus on developing a love of reading broadens pupils’ reading interests. Pupils who need support with their reading participate in tightly focused intervention groups. Staff teach phonics with consistency across the school. Adults regularly check that pupils have grasped the letter sounds they have learned and that they apply them in their reading. Pupils read books that are matched to their phonics knowledge. As part of the school’s evaluation of its effectiveness, leaders have reflected on Year 6 outcomes in reading from the last two years. They have correctly identified that some pupils require further support to develop

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their reading fluency, particularly of more challenging texts.

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Pupils recognise how they benefit from the learning and personal development opportunities available to them in school. School councillors work with their peers to develop projects in school. Recently, pupils contributed significantly to the planning and design of the new climbing play equipment. The school provides visits to local places of interest. These, along with visitors to the school, enhance the curriculum well. In addition, residential visits in every year group, including to France and London, develop pupils’ cultural awareness.

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Governors know the school well. They ask challenging questions of leaders to ensure that the decisions they make are having the intended impact. Governors regularly check that staff’s workload and well-being are not adversely affected by the school’s efforts to achieve and maintain high standards.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Strategies to support pupils’ fluency in reading are not fully embedded. Some pupils do not achieve as well in reading as they do in other aspects of the curriculum. The school 5 and 6 October 2023

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should ensure that they provide the training staff need to develop pupils’ fluency in reading effectively across 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 school to be good in May 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.

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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 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). 5 and 6 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 2 and 3 May 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is above the national average.  The school does not use any alternative provisions.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  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 has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and languages. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also spoke to the curriculum leader for geography and history to consider how the school has designed the curriculum in these subjects. 5 and 6 October 2023

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 During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, assistant headteacher and special educational needs coordinator to discuss developments in the school.  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 reviewed responses to Ofsted’s parent survey, Ofsted Parent View. The inspector also evaluated responses from staff and pupil surveys.  The inspector met with representatives from the governing body. A separate meeting was held with the school’s improvement partner from the local authority.

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Inspection team

Matthew Harrington, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 5 and 6 October 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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