Hove Junior School

Inspection of Hove Junior School Portland Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 5JA

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The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Previous inspection grade Good 17 and 18 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for their next stage of education. They model the school’s ‘learning characteristics’ well, such as resilience, perseverance and collaboration. The school is a place where everyone is welcome, difference is celebrated and all pupils have equal access to high-quality learning opportunities. Pupils are rightly proud of their school and have a strong sense of belonging. Pupils love their leadership roles, such as house captains and ‘play leaders’. They help and support each other at breaktimes and in lessons. Pupils make a positive impact on the life of the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Across the school’s sites, behaviour is impeccable. Pupils benefit from the strength of their relationships with the whole staff team. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils know what is expected from them and they consistently respond very positively to the school’s clear routines. If any pupils need additional help to manage their behaviour, the school offers swift, caring and effective support. Pupils attend school regularly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have the highest expectations for what pupils can achieve. Across subjects, pupils reach these expectations. By the end of key stage 2, pupils achieve very strong outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics. Disadvantaged pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), receive appropriate support and achieve as well as their peers.

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

Well-being is at the heart of the school. Pupils are happy and feel safe. The school’s carefully designed personal, social and health education curriculum teaches pupils how to recognise risks to their mental health and support each other skilfully. Pupils build a deep understanding of healthy lifestyles. For example, they learn about concepts such as peer pressure, self-image and racism deeply. Pupils learn about online safety. The school provides pupils with a range of responsibilities, such as ‘sports buddies’, ‘learning buddies’ and ‘mental health ambassadors’. Through these and many other opportunities, pupils learn how to be respectful, responsible citizens.

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

The school has a strong awareness and understanding of how to support disadvantaged pupils effectively both in their learning and in accessing fully the school’s wider offer. Pupils with SEND have their needs identified quickly. They are supported exceptionally well with adapted and often personalised provision. The school provides a wide range of opportunities to develop pupils’ talents and interests. These build pupils’ confidence and enable them to celebrate their own achievements and those of their peers regularly.

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

The curriculum is highly ambitious for all pupils. Across all subjects, the school has identified the precise knowledge and key vocabulary that it wants pupils to learn. Sequences of lessons help pupils to build their knowledge cumulatively and very strongly. For example, pupils develop their writing skills in English and publish high-quality outcomes such as 'Explorer's Log' booklets in response to ambitious texts that have been shared together. 17 and 18 June 2025

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Staff have very secure, expert subject knowledge. They use questioning effectively and check pupils’ errors and misconceptions consistently well. Pupils love books and literature. Through expert use of ambitious texts, staff help pupils to develop their reading strongly. If any pupils fall behind their peers, they receive robust support and catch up quickly. Pupils, including pupils with SEND, achieve consistently high outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.

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Leaders are inspirational. They have developed consistent approaches to developing staff subject knowledge, teaching, learning and assessment. They have created routines and policies that help pupils to behave well and to have consistently positive attitudes to their learning. The school creates insightful opportunities to enhance staff professional development, such as using research and working collaboratively across groups of schools. The school often leads the way for other schools across the local area by sharing their expertise. Governors understand their roles and responsibilities well. Staff appreciate the ways the school helps them to manage their workload successfully.

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Parents and carers are supportive. They appreciate the effort and commitment from the whole staff team. One parent summarised the thoughts of many others, saying, ‘Great school - great teachers - great leadership…my children are happy and look forward to each day.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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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). 17 and 18 June 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5 and 6 February 2020

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Information about this school

 The school operates from two sites. One is based on Portland Road and the other on Holland Road.  Hove Junior School is federated with West Hove Infant School.  The executive headteacher and governing body work across both schools.  The school currently uses one unregistered 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. 17 and 18 June 2025

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 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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspection team met with the executive headteacher, senior leaders, teachers and pupils. The lead inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors, and with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science, geography and history. 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

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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 inspection team observed behaviour in lessons and at breaktimes and lunchtimes. They spoke formally with groups of pupils, as well as talking to pupils in lessons and around the school.  Inspectors spoke with parents at the start of the school day. They considered the views expressed in Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors spoke with groups of staff and considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey

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Inspection team

Carl McCarthy, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Catherine Cottingham Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 June 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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