Mount Pleasant Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School

Inspection of Mount Pleasant Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School Princess Road, Market Weighton, York, North Yorkshire YO43 3BY

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 11 and 12 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this welcoming school. They form strong, positive relationships with one another and staff. School is a place where they are happy and safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Aspects of the school’s curriculum require further development. It is not clear in all subjects what the important things are that the school wants pupils to learn. As a result, the school does not prioritise the most important knowledge or check that it has been understood by pupils. Despite the school’s high ambitions, pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour throughout the school is calm and sensible. In lessons, pupils demonstrate positive attitudes. At playtimes, they play together cheerfully and cooperatively. Pupils welcome visitors politely, holding doors open for others. They are kind and considerate.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils embody the school values, such as respect and friendliness. They have an understanding of protected characteristics and say that any form of discrimination is unacceptable. They benefit from a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, such as choir, football and golf. Pupils proudly step up to their different roles of responsibility, such as school and eco councillors. In these roles, they learn to have a positive influence on the world.

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

The school is working hard to develop a broad and ambitious curriculum. Professional development is being prioritised to increase subject expertise. The important knowledge that pupils need to learn is currently being identified across a number of subjects. However, these curriculum developments are not securely in place. In a number of subjects, there is a lack of clarity over the most important knowledge that pupils need to learn and how this will be checked.

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

Current pupils benefit from a mathematics curriculum that follows a clear sequence of learning. In mathematics lessons, pupils routinely revisit previous learning. This helps them remember knowledge in the longer term. In mathematics, teachers make regular checks on pupils’ knowledge. This allows them to identify and address where there are gaps in knowledge. However, this practice is not consistently the case across all subjects.

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

The school accurately identifies pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Support and effective adaptations to the curriculum are put in place for these pupils. Despite this, there are still variations in achievement for pupils with SEND. It is not clear what knowledge pupils need to learn and when.

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

The school has introduced a new writing programme. Where pupils have developed fluency in writing, this is contributing to these pupils achieving better in writing. However, pupils who are at the early stages of learning to read or write do not receive the support they need to catch up with their peers. For example, the school does not identify precisely 11 and 12 March 2025

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where pupils have gaps in their phonics or writing knowledge and so does not introduce effective interventions to address these gaps. Pupils read books that are not matched closely enough to the phonics sounds that they need to practise.

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Pupils value the high priority that the school places on their music education. They have regular opportunities to listen and perform. Pupils in Year 3 all learn violin or viola. Such experiences help to develop their interests.

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Pupils thoroughly enjoy the school’s recently introduced outdoor play programme. An extensive range of engaging equipment has been installed with support from parents and the community. This is contributing to the positive lunchtime and playtime behaviour. Pupils love the mud kitchen and digging area. They show high levels of engagement and cooperation with their friends.

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The school prepares pupils well for life in wider British society. Pupils understand about a wide range of faiths and cultures. They have a secure understanding of fundamental British values, such as the importance of respect and tolerance. Pupils understand the importance of keeping healthy, including considering their own and others’ mental health.

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Staff appreciate the investment in their professional development. They feel like valued members of a team in which their workload and well-being are considered. Leaders and governors share a strong desire to achieve the best for pupils. While governors provide appropriate challenge in relation to some aspects of the school’s work, they have not ensured that weaknesses in pupils’ outcomes have been addressed sharply enough.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the school has not identified the most important knowledge that pupils need to know and remember. Where this is the case, pupils are not learning key knowledge well enough. The school should ensure that teaching maps out and prioritises the important knowledge that pupils should learn and better checks how well this has been understood.  The school’s approach for the teaching of early writing, reading and phonics does not meet the needs of the pupils well enough. Books are not consistently matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge. The teaching of phonics and writing does not enable pupils to catch up quickly. As a result, too many pupils have gaps in their phonics and writing knowledge. The school should improve the teaching of these aspects of the curriculum so that pupils become fluent readers and writers.  Governance does not consistently provide the balance of support and challenge to the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

school to influence improvement, particularly in relation to pupil outcomes. Governance 11 and 12 March 2025

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should check the impact of the curriculum with greater rigour, so that accountability processes can support more rapid improvement.

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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). 11 and 12 March 2025

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Nicola Lazenby (co-chair) Hazel Beales (co-chair) Headteacher Dan Nixon

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 18 and 19 June 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently 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. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 11 and 12 March 2025

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 The inspectors met with the headteacher and other leaders. They also met with members of the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, physical education and music. For each deep dive, 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.  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 inspectors took account of responses to Ofsted Parent View, the pupils’ survey and the staff survey. An inspector also spoke to parents at the end of the school day.

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Inspection team

Dughall McCormick, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Darren Marks Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 March 2025

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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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