Woolenwick Junior School

Inspection of Woolenwick Junior School Bridge Road West, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 2NU

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Inspection dates: 13 and 14 December 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 13 and 14 December 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils access a range of learning and life experiences at this school. Pupils enjoy their studies. They know that adults help them and are keen for them to succeed academically and socially. Pupils become fluent readers and gain mathematical understanding. When they need additional help, pupils are well supported. Consequently, results in national tests are improving.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are many opportunities for pupils to get involved in school life. Pupils take up leadership positions, such as training to be peer mentors, standing for the pupil parliament or serving as a house captain. Parents and pupils appreciate the variety of clubs on offer. Pupils are particularly proud of the trampolining club. There is a high take up of clubs and wider opportunities, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value and benefit from the residential trips designed to build their independence, resilience and social skills. Pupils trust adults to advise them with any concerns they have. Pupils get on well together most of the time. If there are friendship fallouts, pupils know adults will support them to sort these out quickly and effectively. Pupils feel safe here.

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better?

Since the previous inspection, the school has put in place a fully developed curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils. Across all subjects, staff are clear about what pupils need to learn and when they need to learn it. Teachers know pupils’ needs and use advice of external specialists to support pupils with SEND. The curriculum is appropriately adapted for these pupils.

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better?

Leaders are knowledgeable about their subject areas. They provide staff with clear guidance about the most effective teaching methods This is starting to have a positive impact on pupils’ learning and achievement. However, there is still some work needed to ensure that all staff deliver the curriculum as well as leaders intend. In addition, the feedback teachers give occasionally is not clear enough for pupils to know exactly how to improve or extend their thinking further. This means some pupils do not grasp some aspects of the curriculum as well as they could.

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better?

The school ensures pupils catch up quickly when they find something tricky to learn. This is especially true in reading. The school provides intensive support to ensure pupils are fluent and confident readers. Well-trained adults are swift to spot and rectify when pupils struggle to recall letter sounds. All pupils have reading books matched accurately to their reading ability. Pupils get regular reading practise using high-quality texts.

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better?

The school regularly checks if pupils remember what has been taught. Where these checks are used well, teachers swiftly fill gaps in pupils’ knowledge. However, in 13 and 14 December 2023

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some areas of the curriculum where these checks are still being developed, staff are not always sufficiently rigorous in ensuring pupils remember or apply new learning.

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Lessons are calm and purposeful. Pupils know the school rules. They generally play happily together at breaktimes. Leaders are working to simplify the school’s behaviour policy to make it easier for staff to apply it consistently. Pupils attend school regularly.

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All pupils are taught to respect differences. They work towards national accreditations about equality to prepare them for adult life among people with different beliefs and lifestyles. Most pupils show maturity in discussing social issues, yet a few still need to demonstrate a more understanding attitude to some fundamental British values. Pupils know the latest updates on how to stay safe, including online. Pupils are also taught about healthy living and mental well-being.

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Staff are very positive about working at this school. They welcome the updates to the curriculum. Staff feel well supported by all leaders.

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Governors bring a high level of expertise to their role. They ask challenging questions, yet also ensure leaders are well supported. Governors are determined the school continues to improve and have a clear strategic plan. They fulfil all their statutory duties.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some feedback given to pupils about how to improve their work is not always precise enough. This means that some pupils do not always understand how to improve their work to meet curriculum expectations. Teachers need to ensure that they provide consistently clear feedback, so that pupils know exactly how they can improve and extend their learning.  A few staff do not deliver elements of the curriculum as confidently and competently as others. This hinders how well some pupils learn. Leaders need to provide the necessary training, so that all staff are confident in the most effective ways to teach the curriculum.  Checks on pupils learning of some areas of the curriculum are still embedding. Staff are not always fully aware of what pupils misunderstand or have forgotten. Staff need to check more robustly that pupils can remember and apply the knowledge taught. 13 and 14 December 2023

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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). 13 and 14 December 2023

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School details

Chair of governing body Wayne Hanson-Prince

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 February 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 The school runs its own before- and after-school club.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school previously had two Ofsted monitoring visits in February 2021 and May 2021.  The current headteacher took up his post in April 2021.

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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.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 13 and 14 December 2023

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 The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, senior leaders, subject leaders, family liaison worker, teachers and support staff.  The lead inspector also met the local authority’s school improvement advisor and reviewed notes of visits from the local authority.  The lead inspector had a meeting with five governors, including the chair of governors.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and geography. For each deep dive, the inspectors spoke to subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with pupils, looked at pupils’ workbooks and spoke with teachers and support staff. The lead inspector also heard pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors also looked at other subject curriculum plans and pupils’ work from intervention groups.  The inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation including the school’s own

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self-evaluation, school improvement plan and governor minutes.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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.  The inspectors considered the responses gathered through Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Parent View, which included 45 free-text comments. There were 18 responses to the staff survey. No pupils answered the pupil survey. However, the inspectors spoke to several pupils from different year groups during the inspection, as well as a range of staff.

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Inspection team

Sara Boyce, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Laura Hewer Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 December 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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