Featherstone North Featherstone Junior and Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Featherstone North Featherstone Junior and Infant School Gordon Street, Featherstone, Pontefract, West Yorkshire WF7 6LW

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Inspection dates: 22 and 23 November 2023

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Outcome

Featherstone North Featherstone Junior and Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

North Featherstone Junior and Infant School is a warm and welcoming school. The school’s values of ‘Respect, Resilience, Aspiration, Success’ sum up the school’s ethos well. Staff care deeply about their pupils and families. The school provides high levels of support for pupils with physical, learning or emotional health needs. This has created a caring and nurturing environment that runs throughout the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending school. They talk positively about the support that they receive from adults. Pupils feel safe and happy. They generally behave well in lessons and at playtimes. Pupils are polite and respectful. All staff and pupils understand the behaviour policy well. Bullying is extremely rare. Pupils know who to talk to if it does happen. They are clear that adults will act quickly to sort any concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, pupils thrive in this inclusive and vibrant school.

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

The school prioritises reading throughout school. Staff have the knowledge and skills they need to teach phonics effectively. Pupils use their phonics knowledge well to read and spell unfamiliar words. They build their confidence with reading quickly, reading books that contain the sounds they know. The school provides tailored support for those pupils who take longer to secure their phonics knowledge to help them keep up. This means they develop their skills and a love of reading. Pupils enjoy reading a range of carefully chosen texts in lessons daily.

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

The school has developed a curriculum that clearly identifies what pupils should know in each subject. The content is organised well to build pupils’ knowledge over time. Pupils 22 and 23 November 2023

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become confident learners because they remember the knowledge that they have been taught and use this to help them understand new learning.

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In most subjects, the school checks that the curriculum is taught as intended. However, in a small number of subjects, such as religious education, these checks do not take place routinely. As a result, the school does not ensure that these subjects are delivered as well as they could be. Where this is the case, a small number of pupils sometimes lose focus in class. Consequently, their learning does not build on what they already know and learning time is lost.

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In the academic year 2022 to 2023, leaders have focused on raising expectations and improving the curriculum. They are quickly addressing the issues that contributed to the below national Year 6 outcomes in reading and mathematics in 2023. Leaders have a clear picture of how well pupils are learning the planned curriculum. This means that staff are taking effective steps to address the gaps in pupil’s knowledge in these subjects.

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The school works closely with parents and carers, and with specialist professionals, to identify and address pupils’ individual learning needs. Pupils with SEND get the help that they need quickly. Staff are effective in supporting pupils with SEND to access the same curriculum as their peers. As a result, these pupils typically achieve well.

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In the early years, the school has designed the curriculum well. Staff know the children’s needs and interests and use this information to provide activities that help engage children in their learning. Communication and language are a high priority. Adults model language consistently well. This helps children improve their language skills.

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The school has considered the broader development of pupils beyond the academic curriculum exceptionally well. There are strong systems in place to identify pupils who need emotional support. Staff in the inclusion team are skilled at providing this help. The school’s personal development programme has been planned with the needs of the school’s pupils in mind. Pupils consistently benefit from a wide range of experiences, including visits, visitors and after-school clubs. All pupils take on a responsibility in school, for example as digital leaders or school council members. This teaches pupils valuable skills of organisation and leadership.

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Leaders know the school well. They have an accurate view of its strengths and areas for development. The governing body has a good range of skills and experience. Staff say that leaders take account of their workload and their well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the school does not ensure that learning activities match the ambition of the curriculum. In these subjects, pupils lose focus in lessons and do not 22 and 23 November 2023

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achieve well. The school should provide the training and support some staff need to present information clearly and efficiently in all subjects.  In some subjects, the school does not monitor the implementation of the sequenced curriculum with enough rigour. As a result, some pupils do not build their knowledge over time as well as they could. The school needs to ensure that the curriculum is consistently embedded across the school so that pupils learn more and remember more.

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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 March 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 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). 22 and 23 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.northfeatherstone.wakefield.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 June 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a breakfast and after-school club.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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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 met with the headteacher, other school leaders, teaching staff, governors and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and religious education. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 22 and 23 November 2023

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 The inspector scrutinised a range of documents, including those relating to pupils’ behaviour and SEND.  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 considered the view of pupils, parents and staff through discussions during the inspection and the Ofsted surveys.

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Inspection team

Gerry Wilson, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 22 and 23 November 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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