Field End Junior School

Inspection of Field End Junior School Field End Junior School, Field End Road, RUISLIP HA4 9PQ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Jacqueline Phelan. This school is part of Vanguard Learning Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Martina Lecky, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Peter Davies.

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Overall effectiveness Good

Ofsted has not previously inspected Field End Junior School under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. However, Ofsted previously judged the school to be Requires Improvement, before it opened as an academy in 2021. The school received monitoring visits in 2019 and 2021.

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Overall effectiveness Good

Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last graded inspection of the predecessor school. 23 and 24 April 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe at this friendly and welcoming school. The school has done much work to ensure that pupils learn well and are supported effectively. The school has high expectations for the achievement of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are motivated to learn in class and their conduct is orderly and calm around the school. Where pupils struggle to meet expectations, the school takes prompt and effective action to support them. The school teaches pupils about the importance of respect and resilience. Pupils enjoy school and attend well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils attend clubs including chess, crochet, dodgeball and sketching. Pupils have opportunities to take up responsibility, including as house captains, school council representatives and reading rangers. Pupils also take part in charity work and have developed a pen-pal scheme with a local care home, where the school choir also performs at Christmas.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school builds effective relationships with parents and carers to create a sense of community. Staff feel valued and are dedicated to the school. Leaders are evaluative and strategic in their efforts to move the school forward and foster a nurturing environment.

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better?

The school provides an ambitious curriculum, which is carefully sequenced to build on pupils’ previous knowledge and deepen their understanding over time. For example, when studying art and design, Year 4 pupils draw on their study of the satirical poem ‘The New Vestments’ to influence their own textiles work. Leaders provide staff with high-quality professional development. Teachers have strong subject expertise and pupils typically produce high-quality work that they are rightly proud of.

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better?

Teachers select approaches that make learning memorable for pupils. Key vocabulary is routinely taught to pupils and teaching promotes useful discussions about what pupils have learned. Teachers have thorough information about the needs of pupils with SEND and make adaptions effectively so that they are supported to learn the curriculum alongside their peers. However, teaching does not routinely check that pupils have understood important concepts before moving on to new content. Likewise, teaching does not support pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to reflect routinely on their learning or act on feedback from teachers to build on what they already know.

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better?

The school makes reading a priority. As such, the curriculum is built around books. Texts chosen are varied and engaging for pupils with some ambitious choices reflecting a range of writers. Teachers familiarise pupils with a range of genres and develop pupils’ comprehension skills with expertise. Leaders quickly identify pupils 23 and 24 April 2024

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who require additional support and provide the help they need to catch up, including through the teaching of phonics. As a result, pupils develop a love of reading and read fluently.

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The school has a strong personal, social, health and economic education curriculum, which prioritises teaching pupils about citizenship and kindness. Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britian. They are taught how to stay healthy and how to keep themselves safe, including online. A range of wider experiences are provided to develop pupils’ confidence and interests further. Pupils take part in poetry workshops, science days, outdoor learning, and bike-riding programmes, in addition to charity work.

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The school has high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Pupils are focused on their learning in class and are respectful towards each other. Pupils are typically confident and courteous towards adults. When necessary, the school addresses pupils’ behaviour well. The school works closely with families to ensure that pupils attend school regularly and to support pupils in their learning.

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Parents are positive about the changes they see in the school and consider it approachable. They recognise a change for the better in the school’s culture and commented positively about the changes that the school is making. Leaders and trustees are determined that all pupils succeed and enjoy their time at school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school does not use assessment routinely well to identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge, errors, or misconceptions. As a result, pupils including pupils with SEND, are sometimes not well supported to understand the important knowledge they need in order to be ready for the more complex ideas that come later in the curriculum. The school should ensure that teaching routinely checks what pupils have understood before moving on to new content.

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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. 23 and 24 April 2024

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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). 23 and 24 April 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Field End Junior School converted to become an academy in October 2021. When its predecessor school, also Field End Junior School, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be requires improvement overall.  The school is part of Vanguard Learning Trust.  The school runs various after-school clubs.  The school uses one unregistered alternative provider.

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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

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. 23 and 24 April 2024

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 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school's education provision.  The inspectors met with senior leaders, some teaching and support staff, trustees and representatives from the Trust, including the CEO of the trust.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, English, mathematics, geography and history. For each deep dive, the 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. Other subjects were also considered as part of this inspection.  The inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for school improvement.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and

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considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors took account of the views of pupils, parents, and staff, as gathered through discussions and Ofsted’s surveys.  Inspectors checked the school’s policies and records, including those related to behaviour and pupils’ wider development.  Inspectors held meetings with staff and spoke with pupils during social times. They observed pupils’ behaviour across the school, including as they arrived and left school.

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Inspection team

Sarah Saunders, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Helen Rai Ofsted Inspector 23 and 24 April 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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