Henleaze Junior School

Inspection of Henleaze Junior School Park Grove, Henleaze, Bristol BS9 4LG

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The headteacher of this school is Jonathan Parr. This school is part of Cathedral Schools Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Neil Blundell, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sir David Eastwood.

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

This school was last inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 11 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between graded inspections under section 5 of the Act. 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. 2 and3 July 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have plenty of enrichment activities that develop their character and interests. However, the curriculum lacks the same ambition. Staff do not have high enough expectations of pupils’ learning. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is an inclusive school where pupils look after one another. The emphasis on their personal development means that pupils appreciate that everyone is different. They have a mature understanding of equity. This is summed up in their belief that ‘fair doesn’t always mean the same’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. The school has worked with pupils to review the policies and practice for securing good behaviour. The new approaches are working. Pupils are respectful towards one another and adults. Older pupils say how much better behaviour is compared to when they started at the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ knowledge about online safety is strong. They know how to keep themselves safe online. The culture of mutual respect means that pupils trust adults to listen to them. Pupils feel safe because adults listen and are effective at supporting them with their worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils develop a sense of citizenship. They are proud of the charity work and fundraising they do. They understand they can make a difference to people and their environment.

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better?

The school has rightly identified that the curriculum needs developing. However, the developments lack rigour. Checks on the impact of these developments are not focused on the effect they are having on pupils’ learning. As a result, the curriculum is not implemented consistently well. The school is not clear enough about the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum.

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better?

The delivery of the curriculum varies too much across year groups and subjects. Many staff do not have a secure grasp of the subjects they are teaching. This includes in reading and mathematics. The school does not ensure staff follow the expectations for curriculum implementation. Checks on the curriculum focus on compliance rather than the impact on pupils’ learning. Governors challenge and support leaders. However, their view of the quality of education at the school is overly generous. This is because the information given to them is not based on an evaluation of the impact the curriculum is having on pupils’ ability to know, remember and do more.

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better?

In some subjects, the content has been coherently sequenced so that pupils build on what they know. Pupils work through sequences of learning that they enjoy. They build knowledge and competence over time through small steps of learning. This is 2 and3 July 2024

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particularly the case where the implementation of the curriculum is better. For example, in languages, pupils learn phonics, word recognition and grammar. They are then able to use these together to speak in short sentences.

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The reading curriculum, however, lacks ambition. The school has identified several books for each year group to study. These texts are supplemented with extracts from other resources. Overall, the selection of books that pupils read is not rich or coherently selected. The school has chosen a specific approach to the teaching of reading. However not all year groups follow this. As a result of these weaknesses, pupils experience a disjointed reading curriculum. The school has recently adopted a sequenced phonics programme to support pupils who are still at the early stages of reading. Staff are working alongside the infant school to develop a smooth transition for those pupils who still require the phonics programme. Consequently, it is in the early stages of development and not yet as effective as it could be.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in the curriculum and wider life of the school. This is down to the inclusive ethos that underpins the school’s values. Pupils learn about visible and invisible disabilities during assemblies. This gives them a compassionate understanding towards their peers. As a result, pupils across the school play and learn harmoniously together. The school’s work has had particular impact on pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs.

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Nevertheless, the weaknesses in the curriculum overall equally affect pupils with SEND. Provision and planning for pupils with SEND are not always precise. Teaching is not always well matched to their individual starting points. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not always learn well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s checks on the implementation and impact of the curriculum are not rigorous enough. As a result, the depth at which pupils learn the curriculum is too variable. The school needs to check the effectiveness of the curriculum robustly so it can assure itself that pupils know more and remember more.  The reading curriculum, including phonics, is not ambitious or implemented well enough. Pupils, including those who have fallen behind, do not develop sophisticated reading skills. The school must ensure that the reading curriculum is ambitious and coherent and that is implemented as intended so that pupils learn to read well, including those who have fallen behind.  Staff do not all have the required subject or pedagogical knowledge they need to plan and teach the curriculum sufficiently well. This leads to inconsistency and a 2 and3 July 2024

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lack of ambition. The school must ensure that staff have the expertise they need to implement the curriculum as intended.  Planning and provision for some pupils with SEND are not precise enough. This means that some pupils struggle to learn well because what they are intended to learn is not matched, or adapted, well enough to their individual starting point. The school must support staff to plan and adapt teaching with precision so that pupils with SEND learn well across 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). 2 and3 July 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 1 and 2 May 2013, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school joined the Cathedral Schools Trust on 1 July 2024, the day before this inspection took place.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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.  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. 2 and3 July 2024

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, and art and design. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, curriculum leaders, teaching and support staff, members of the local governing body, including the chair of governors and the deputy CEO.  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 lead inspector listened to pupils read to an adult.

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 Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site. In addition, they met with pupils informally and formally to hear their views.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text responses. Inspectors also took into consideration responses to the staff and pupil surveys.  Inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including the school’s improvement plan and self-evaluation form.

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Inspection team

Angela Folland, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Paul Williams His Majesty’s Inspector 2 and3 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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