Melbourne Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Melbourne Junior School Packhorse Road, Melbourne, Derby, Derbyshire DE73 8JE

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Outcome

Melbourne Junior School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe at this vibrant and ambitious school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are motivated to learn and achieve well. Their high-quality work is displayed proudly along corridors and in writing portfolios to celebrate their successes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand the school rules of ‘safe, ready and respectful’. Their behaviour and attitudes towards each other are positive. Social times are active and fun, with sports leaders organising games for their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive on the wide range of enrichment opportunities available. Interesting workshops such as wheelchair tag rugby and can-can dancing encourage pupils to be active and try new interests. Pupils have many opportunities to take part in sports competitions, such as cross-country. They are proud of the trophies and awards they win for participating successfully.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are caring and relationships are positive. Parents and carers value the support the school provides. As one parent, typical of many, explained: ‘Teachers go above and beyond looking after the pupils. They are not only interested in pupils during school time but are also really keen to understand their hobbies and interests outside of school.’

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

The school’s curriculum is well sequenced and carefully organised. This allows pupils to build on their existing knowledge and make meaningful links between subjects. In history, for example, pupils relate their learning about the Windrush to their study of equality. In geography, they use their mathematical skills to measure the velocity of a river and draw a profile of its channel. These curriculum connections help to stretch pupils’ thinking.

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

Teachers make effective use of ‘key learning’ prompts to introduce new knowledge. Pupils’ annotations of these prompts help them to remember important information. Clear 16 and 17 July 2024

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explanations of subject-specific vocabulary mean that pupils use these terms accurately. Teachers provide useful examples for pupils to follow. They check pupils’ understanding of the subject content closely. Effective strategies help pupils recall important knowledge. Pupils often go back over previous work so that they remember what they have learned. Many pupils achieve well. However, there are a few pupils who do not do as well as they could.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well so that they can learn alongside their peers. Careful selection of resources and breaking learning down into small steps helps these pupils be successful.

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Reading is prioritised. The school has a well-sequenced reading curriculum that begins with phonics, before developing pupils’ reading fluency and comprehension. Pupils who need support with reading, including some pupils with SEND, have daily phonics sessions to close any knowledge gaps quickly. Pupils’ attitudes to reading are strong. They recently enjoyed hearing a visiting poet bring poetry to life with music.

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Pupils concentrate well on their studies. Classrooms are calm spaces where pupils work hard. If pupils have any worries, they value being able to use the worry boxes for support. Pupils are proud that there is a respectful and caring culture in their school.

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The personal development programme is of a high quality. Pupils benefit from singing and music tuition and they perform in concerts to demonstrate their talents. The school enriches the science curriculum with workshops linked to technology so that pupils can experience different industries. For example, workshops to design a moving vehicle inspired pupils to consider jobs in engineering. Sports clubs, including football, gymnastics, karate and dodgeball, are well attended. However, the school does not track how well different groups of pupils engage with these enrichment activities closely enough.

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The staff form a strong team. They value the consideration given to their workload and actions taken to reduce this. Governors are effective in their roles. They understand their legal responsibilities well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 While many pupils often achieve well, a few pupils do not do as well as they could, particularly some disadvantaged pupils. These pupils do not always have sufficient opportunities to really deepen their understanding. The school should ensure that expectations of what all pupils can achieve are consistently high. 16 and 17 July 2024

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 The school does not routinely evaluate the effectiveness of its enrichment opportunities. It does not always have a clear understanding of how these activities contribute to pupils’ engagement with, and contributions to, school life, particularly pupils who are vulnerable. The school should evaluate the effectiveness of its work to support pupils’ wider development and use this information to inform its future plans.

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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 June 2015.

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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). 16 and 17 July 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.melbourne-jun.derbyshire.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 January 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 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 her evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with school leaders and governors.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and physical education. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. She also heard some pupils read to a familiar adult. The inspector also considered the curriculum in other subjects, including science, history, geography, and personal, social, health and economic education.  The inspector discussed pupils’ attendance and behaviour with school leaders.

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 The inspector considered a range of school documents and reviewed information on the school’s website.  The inspector considered the views of parents who responded to Ofsted Parent View. She reviewed responses to Ofsted’s surveys for staff and pupils. She also held discussions with staff and pupils.  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.

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Inspection team

Donna Moulds, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 16 and 17 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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