Newsome Junior School

Inspection of Newsome Junior School Newsome Junior School, Castle Avenue, Newsome, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD4 6JN

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 October 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 17 and 18 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Newsome Junior School is safe and welcoming. Pupils enjoy attending. They play well together at social times. Behaviour in lessons is calm and focused.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils demonstrate the school values of being respectful, safe and ready to learn. They show high levels of support for one another. Pupils celebrate their diverse community. The school runs projects to support this. For example, one project involves pupils listening to stories from people who have different backgrounds and life experiences. This helps pupils to develop empathy and prepares them well for life in modern Britain.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has experienced significant change in recent years. There is now a stable staff team in place. The school is being supported by a local multi-academy trust The trust is providing effective support. This has increased the pace of improvement.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for what pupils should learn. The curriculum has been developed. Recent improvements are not reflected in the historical outcomes of pupils attending the school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well, including those who have education, health and care plans.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A small number of pupils do not attend school regularly. However, the school has a range of strategies in place to address this. This is leading to improvements in pupils’ attendance.

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better?

A new phonics scheme is in place for pupils who need it. Pupils who need additional help to learn to read now catch up quickly. Pupils regularly read to staff. This helps them develop their confidence and fluency. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the books that they have read.

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better?

In most subjects, leaders have identified the knowledge and skills that pupils should learn. Teachers know the important knowledge to emphasise and revisit. Where this happens, for example in history, pupils’ knowledge is sophisticated. Pupils explain their learning well. However, in some subjects, some of the knowledge pupils should learn is not identified clearly enough. When this happens, teachers miss opportunities to deepen pupils’ understanding.

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better?

Most staff have strong subject knowledge. Subject leaders receive support and training. However, presently, some subject leaders do not regularly check the implementation of the curriculum in their subjects. Instead, they have informal conversations with teachers. These do not enable subject leaders to evaluate the implementation of the curriculum in their subjects in sufficient depth. 17 and 18 October 2023

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Pupils with SEND receive the right support at the right time. Staff adapt learning for pupils with SEND where needed. Pupils who need help to manage their behaviour, are well supported. The school helps pupils, including those with SEND, to transition from infant school to juniors, and later on to secondary school, very effectively. Those pupils who speak English as an additional language are also well supported in school. Staff understand their needs well. Some recent changes in the provision for pupils with SEND have not been communicated well to parents. Some parents are not clear about the support that their children receive.

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Pupils value the curriculum for personal, social and health education (PSHE). They have meaningful discussions about a wide range of topics, including staying safe online and keeping healthy. They learn about British values and understand that not all countries are democratic. Pupils remember their learning of the PSHE curriculum well. There are clubs and wider opportunities in place, including various sporting clubs and competitions. Some clubs, such as gardening and choir, are scheduled to begin after half term. However, the variety of clubs and educational visits is not as broad, or as carefully targeted, as it could be. For example, while the school monitors pupils’ attendance at clubs, it does not collate and analyse information to ensure that those pupils who might benefit most are encouraged to join in. There is an active school council which is proud to act as a role model in school.

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Governors are committed to the school and have the right priorities. They have clear processes for checking the effectiveness of leaders’ actions. Most staff feel supported. A small number think communication could be improved. Some parents and carers feel that the school could communicate with them more effectively, for example about the support their children with SEND receive.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some foundation subjects, there are aspects of the curriculum that are not fully developed. Where this is the case, staff do not clearly explain and emphasise the most important knowledge to pupils. In some subjects, pupils do not develop the depth of knowledge they could. The school should continue to develop the curriculum so that staff know what to emphasise to pupils.  Some staff and parents do not feel that communication is consistently clear enough. For example, some parents of pupils with SEND are not clear enough about the support their children receive. The school should continue to develop strategies for communicating more effectively with all stakeholders.  Some of the school’s monitoring processes are too informal. When this happens, the information that leaders gather does not enable them to evaluate fully what 17 and 18 October 2023

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next steps might be needed. Leaders should make sure that all monitoring processes are consistently rigorous so that findings can be swiftly acted upon.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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). 17 and 18 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Claire McCartney

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9 and 10 October 2019 , under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is in a federation with Berry Brow Infant and Nursery School.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils who are entitled to pupil premium funding is above the national average.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 17 and 18 October 2023

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 The lead inspector held several meetings with the headteacher during the inspection.  The lead inspector met with two members of the governing body.  Deep dives were carried out in these subjects: English, science and history. For each deep dive, inspectors 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.  An inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors spoke to pupils formally and informally about their learning and experiences at school. An inspector also spoke to parents as they dropped their children off at the school gate.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: 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.

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 Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour throughout the school day, including during lesson visits and at breaktime. Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils about their views on behaviour and the wider experiences they receive at school.  The inspectors reviewed the parental responses received through the Ofsted online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text responses. Inspectors also considered the responses received through Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.

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Zoe Helman, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Helen Lane Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 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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