Innsworth Junior School

Inspection of Innsworth Junior School Rookery Road, Innsworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL3 1AX

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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 Good 3 and 4 July 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Innsworth Junior School is a place where everyone is welcome and accepted, no matter where they are from. Pupils are friendly and polite. They greet visitors warmly and show respect towards staff and each other. Pupils benefit from learning in a safe, nurturing environment. They trust adults to help them resolve any worries or concerns they have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils meet the school’s high expectations by behaving well and working hard in lessons. They know why being ready to learn and listen when others speak is important. Pupils relish receiving the ‘always ready’ recognition or the ‘book of excellence’ award for making good choices and trying their best.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have many opportunities to take on leadership responsibilities across the school as ambassadors, librarians and school councillors. The ‘mini police’, who have received training from the local police force, are proud of their role in supporting pupils who need extra help.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum provides experiences that pupils may not have had before. These include residentials, music recitals and theatre productions. Pupils maturely say that events like ‘international evening’ educate them about ‘the diverse range of cultures in the school and make everyone belong’.

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better?

Leaders have made the necessary changes to the curriculum to remedy the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection. They have worked determinedly to devise a new and ambitious reading curriculum and improve staff subject knowledge. Staff value the guidance offered by leaders during this period of rapid improvement.

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better?

Many pupils arrive and leave the school at different times throughout the year. A high proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language. Specialist staff offer tailored support to pupils and their families to help them settle in quickly. Staff use assessment sharply. They provide timely intervention, such as pre-teaching important vocabulary, to help pupils succeed in lessons.

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better?

Reading now underpins the curriculum. Pupils learn to develop and apply skills, such as inference and prediction, through the literature they read. They respond excitedly to the diverse selection of books available from the library. Effective support is put in place for pupils who fall behind or arrive mid-year without the phonics knowledge they need. Most pupils make rapid progress from their starting points and can read fluently by the time they leave the school.

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better?

In established subjects, the important knowledge the school wants pupils to learn is mapped out in precise detail. This enables pupils to build on prior learning and progress through the curriculum. For example, pupils in Year 6 build on their 3 and 4 July 2024

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knowledge of algebra and multiplication skills when designing a theme park. This prepares them well for the transition to secondary school.

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The curriculum design is not as precise as it needs to be in a few subjects. For example, some subjects do not clearly identify the most essential concepts that pupils need to remember and revisit over time. This makes it more difficult for pupils to make links with what they already know. Some checks on important elements of pupils’ learning lack sufficient oversight.

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Classrooms are calm and orderly. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including those who need help to manage their emotions, are increasingly well supported. Pupils with SEND benefit from carefully adapted lessons so they can learn successfully alongside their peers.

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The school fosters pupils’ personal development well. Pupils learn strategies for positive mental health. Aspiration weeks inspire pupils to think about careers they may choose to follow. Visits from an imam and a humanist help pupils understand that individual characteristics should be valued.

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Governors fulfil their statutory duties well. They understand the school’s priorities and offer appropriate challenge, such as ensuring pupils’ attendance remains high. Governors recognise that they now need to delve deeper into how well pupils learn the curriculum. While a minority of parents would like to know more about what their children learn, most have a positive view of the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few of the wider curriculum subjects, the school has not clearly highlighted the key concepts that pupils need to remember and revisit. This makes it difficult for pupils to link new learning to what they already know. The school needs to prioritise the essential knowledge and check that pupils establish deeper connections with their learning over time.  A few subject leaders’ oversight of curriculum implementation is still developing. In a minority of subjects, the curriculum is not being implemented in the way they intend. The school should continue to develop the expertise of subject leaders to evaluate the effectiveness of curriculum implementation in these subjects.  Governors’ procedures for checking on the wider curriculum priorities are developing. Currently, they do not have a secure understanding of what is working well and what could be improved. Governors should continue to refine

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their monitoring work so they can hold leaders to account for pupils’ achievement across all areas of the curriculum.

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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). 3 and 4 July 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 May 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is federated with Innsworth Infant School. Schools in the federation share the same executive headteacher, special educational needs coordinator and governing body.  The school population has high rates of mobility due to the nature of employment in the local area. Pupils join the school at different times in the school year. Many children joining the school speak English as an additional language.  The school currently uses one registered and 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

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 3 and 4 July 2024

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 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, other school staff and members of the local governing board. The lead inspector held a telephone call with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, science and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with the school, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in geography and art.  The lead inspector listened to pupils in Years 3 to 6 reading to an adult.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during breaktime and lunchtime. They spoke with pupils and staff about behaviour.

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 Inspectors spoke with a range of staff to discuss how the school supports their workload and well-being.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead; checked the single central record of adults working in the school; took account of the views of 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.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start and end of the school day. They considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments. They also considered responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Dale Burr, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

David New Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 July 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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