Bywell Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Bywell Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School Bendigo Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire WF12 7LX

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Outcome

Bywell Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bywell Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School encourages pupils to be the best they can be. Pupils know that adults believe in them. They are confident that they can learn and grow in this kind and inclusive school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has very high expectations of pupil’s behaviour. Pupils rise to this and are respectful of all members of the school community. Pupils are keen to celebrate the school. One pupil represented the views of many, describing the school as ‘fabulous and safe’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils achieve well in their end of key stage 2 assessments. They enjoy learning and can confidently recall what they have previously learned.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the range of clubs on offer at the school. Opportunities such as dance, yoga and reading club are well attended. Staff are highly committed to providing pupils with a breadth of new experiences.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from high-quality support. The early identification of the support they need ensures they progress well. The ‘Blossom Unit’ provides more bespoke support for pupils when required. Pupils thrive in this caring school where teachers have high aspirations for what pupils can achieve.

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

Staff accurately and swiftly identify pupils who are at the early stages of reading. Skilled adults teach phonics lessons well. They provide pupils with focused support. Pupils rapidly 8 and 9 May 2024

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develop the skills that they need to become confident readers. The school encourages pupils to develop their love of reading. Pupils excitedly talk about choosing books from the library. They are delighted to discuss their favourite books.

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The school’s well-sequenced curriculum helps pupils to develop the knowledge and skills that they need. In mathematics, pupils have regular opportunities to become fluent in their basic skills. Pupils also regularly experience more complex work. Pupils with SEND benefit from adapted tasks if required. For example, Year 4 pupils use counters to develop their understanding of partitioning a decimal.

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The school has identified the important knowledge that pupils should learn in foundation subjects. Adults teach well-sequenced lessons. In geography, teachers use quizzes to help them to check how well pupils are learning. Pupils can recall what they have previously learned. For example, Year 5 pupils accurately remember countries in North America and their biomes. In some foundation subjects, however, the precise teaching of subject- specific vocabulary is still developing. This means that some pupils develop misconceptions about the meaning of key words.

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The school places great importance on the personal development of pupils. The school's ethos is underpinned by the teachings of the ‘parable of the mustard seed’. Pupils are keen to link this to their experience in the school. They will grow together during their time at Bywell. This personal growth is exemplified in the varied leadership opportunities available to pupils. The ‘Bywell Buddies’ support pupils to respect the school environment. ‘Digital Leaders’ help to lead assemblies on how to keep safe online. Pupils respect their peers who have taken on these roles.

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Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment opportunities. Year 6 pupils enjoy a residential to London. Year 3 pupils excitedly talk about their visit to the Royal Opera House. The school equips pupils with skills that will support them beyond their time at the school. All pupils experience outdoor learning. They learn important teamwork, survival and first-aid skills.

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The governing body provides effective oversight of the school’s work. Leaders ensure that staff workload and well-being are at the forefront of their decision-making. Teachers value the shared planning time they have as year group teams. These considerations made by leaders ensure staff feel valued. They are proud to work at the school and be a part of the Bywell family.

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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, the teaching of important vocabulary and concepts is not consistently effective. On occasions, pupils develop misconceptions over time which are 8 and 9 May 2024

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not quickly addressed. The school should work with staff to improve the teaching of subject-specific vocabulary and associated concepts so that pupils learn consistently well across all foundation subjects

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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 December 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 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). 8 and 9 May 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 11 and 12 December 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is of a Church of England religious character. The most recent Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools took place in November 2019.  The school does not 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 carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, geography and mathematics. 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 discussed the curriculum in foundation subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector reviewed the single central 8 and 9 May 2024

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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 members of the governing board, including the chair.  The inspector spoke with the school adviser for the Diocese of Leeds.  The inspector spoke with the senior school improvement officer for Kirklees.  The inspector reviewed a range of school documents, including the school’s self- evaluation and improvement plans.  The inspector considered the views of parents through the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments.  The inspector considered the views of pupils through their responses to Ofsted’s online survey for pupils and through meetings held with pupils across the two days of the inspection.  The inspector considered the views of staff through meetings and through their

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responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.

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Inspection team

Andrew Gibbins, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 8 and 9 May 2024

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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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