St John Baptist Southend Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: St John Baptist Southend Church of England Primary School Beachborough Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 5RL

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Outcome

St John Baptist Southend Church of England Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils consistently live and breathe the school’s rules of being kind, respectful and trying one’s best. These rules help them to embody the school’s values and its vision, which is to ‘be a shining light’. Pupils show these values through their compassion towards, and celebration of, each other’s achievements. This leads to a strong sense of community, belonging and inclusion.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy, enjoy their learning and are kept safe. Parents and carers are positive about their children’s education. One pupil, whose comment was representative of many, said, ‘We like coming to school because the teachers really care about us.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school sets high expectations for pupils’ learning, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). There is ambition for every pupil to succeed academically and in their personal, social and emotional development. Pupils achieve well. From the early years onwards, pupils have access to a broad curriculum in which many educational visits widen their experiences. Bullying rarely happens. Adults resolve any issues quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take up a range of leadership opportunities, including as leaders of collective worship, as lunch hall playtime leaders and librarians. They attend various clubs which develop their interests and talents. 7 and 8 May 2025

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

Pupils benefit from a rich and ambitious curriculum. The curriculum is designed to offer a variety of engaging learning opportunities to meet the needs of all pupils. Across the curriculum, from the early years to Year 6, the school has identified the important knowledge that pupils need to know. This is sequenced in a logical order.

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

Pupils work hard and produce high-quality work in different subjects, including English and mathematics. Staff have secure subject knowledge, aided by numerous training opportunities.

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

The curriculum places a focus on extending pupils’ subject-specific vocabulary. It does this by integrating literacy knowledge into every subject. Pupils, including those with SEND, are encouraged to use subject-specific vocabulary when speaking about their learning. This is also evident in pupils’ writing in different subjects.

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

Typically, staff use carefully selected assessment approaches to check pupils’ understanding and to reveal and address pupils’ misconceptions. As a result, when pupils are asked to explain the knowledge they have learned recently, their learning is secure. However, sometimes teaching in some subjects does not enable pupils to commit as securely to their long-term memory the knowledge they were taught during previous months and terms. This limits how well some pupils recall and build new knowledge on what they have learned before.

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

Generally, from the early years to Year 6, pupils complete work that enables them to meet the ambitious aims of the curriculum, including for pupils with SEND. However, on occasion, tasks are not as well selected to enable some pupils to embed and apply their learning.

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

Close working with families helps to ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are carefully identified and sensitively supported. Staff adapt their teaching appropriately to ensure pupils with SEND can successfully access the same curriculum as their peers. Pupils with SEND learn well and succeed.

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

The delivery of the school’s phonics programme helps pupils in all years to read at the earliest opportunity. All adults receive training to teach phonics well. The teaching of phonics starts within two weeks of children joining the Reception Year. Most pupils build their reading confidence and fluency by the end of Year 1. Effective support is in place for those pupils who need extra help with reading. The books pupils read are closely matched to their phonics knowledge. The school fosters a love of reading through a range of carefully chosen texts for pupil to read.

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

Pupils behave extremely well. This starts in the early years, where children play safely, take turns and share. Pupils are very polite, showing respect to adults and each other. The school’s approach to ensuring that pupils attend school regularly are successful. 7 and 8 May 2025

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The school has designed a comprehensive programme to promote pupils’ broader development. Pupils are taught to respect different religions and cultures, both within their own community and the wider world. A range of educational visits occur, for example, to the Houses of Parliament and museums. The school ensures that these opportunities are accessible to all pupils. The school offers numerous enrichment opportunities, including some which support pupils to learn to be resilient and compassionate. For example, older pupils visit a hospice and some pupils complete projects working alongside secondary-aged pupils who attend a local school for pupils with complex SEND needs.

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The governing body has an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness and maintains strategic oversight of the school. Governors work closely with leaders and hold them to account. Leaders’ priorities for school improvement are carefully thought through to sustain and develop the school’s effectiveness. Staff find leaders at all levels to be approachable and considerate of their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 On occasion, in some subjects, curriculum implementation does not enable pupils to remember the content taught previously. This means that, in these subjects, pupils’ recall of previous learning is less secure, which sometimes hinders them from building new knowledge effectively. The school should ensure that pupils are helped to remember long-term the content they are taught.  In some instances, tasks are not well selected to enable some pupils to embed and apply their knowledge. The school should ensure that tasks enable all pupils to develop a deeper understanding of the curriculum content they are learning.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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 7 and 8 May 2025

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school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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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This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in January 2020.

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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). 7 and 8 May 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Elizabeth Derham Ralph Demeger (acting headteacher) Website www.sjb.lewisham.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 28 and 29 January 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is a Church of England school within the Diocese of Southwark.  The school’s last section 48 inspection, for schools of a religious character, took place in March 2019. The next section 48 inspection is due within eight years of the last.  The deputy headteacher has been in the role of acting headteacher since November 2024. This is a temporary arrangement set up by the Lewisham local authority and Diocese of Southwark in the absence of the headteacher.  The school provides before- and after-school wraparound care on site.  The school does not currently use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of the school’s education provision. 7 and 8 May 2025

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 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 their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspector held meetings with the headteacher, the acting headteacher and other school leaders, including the special educational needs coordinator, who is a member of the senior leadership team.  The inspector held meetings with members of the governing body, including the vice- chair.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector spoke with a representative of the Diocese of Southwark and with the school’s improvement partner from the local authority.  The inspector observed behaviour in classrooms, during playtime and at other times of the day.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documentation, including nationally published

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outcomes data and the minutes of governing body meetings. Information relating to safeguarding, behaviour, attendance and pupils’ wider development was considered. The school’s development plan and leaders’ evaluation of the school were also considered.  Responses to Ofsted Parent View, including parents’ free-text comments, were considered. The inspector also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  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

Pamela Fearnley, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 7 and 8 May 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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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