St Margaret's Church of England Junior School

St Margaret's Church of England Junior School

Address: Seaview Road, Morwenna Park, Northam, Bideford, Devon, EX39 1EL Unique reference number (URN): 150075

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school’s ambitious programme to support pupils’ personal development and wellbeing means that pupils leave school confident and articulate. Pupils have a deep sense of self- awareness and the positive difference they can make to the lives of others. Pupils have an in-depth knowledge of the ways people are different and protected by law. This is supported by school leaders ensuring that pupils have access to a range of books that include characters who lead lives that are different from their own.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Spirituality has a high profile in the school. Family worship group sessions bring pupils of all ages together. This also supports older pupils to develop a sense of responsibility and act as role models for younger pupils. Pupils are knowledgeable about different faiths and cultures. The school’s focus on 'learning powers' is used to support pupils to understand how they should behave throughout the school.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Learning to share and challenge ideas through debating is a central pillar of the school’s curriculum. Participating in local competitions also supports pupils to develop confidence and an ability to set out their different points of view. Pupils also know that debating is an important aspect of a democratic society, which further supports pupils' knowledge of fundamental British values.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

There are significant opportunities for pupils to nurture interests and talents. All pupils benefit from learning a musical instrument. Pupils learn to swim and have opportunities to learn to surf, which helps to build an appreciation of what is on offer in their local coastal community. School leaders ensure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are able to access the wide variety of clubs, such as chess, football and gardening.

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Achievement Needs attention

While there have been improvements in the outcomes in reading, too many pupils are not ready for the next stage of their education. This is reflected in published outcomes, which are below national averages for Year 6 tests and Year 4 multiplication tests. Following the renewed focus on handwriting, pupils’ presentation is improving. However, the quality of work that pupils produce is too variable. Furthermore, too many pupils continue in their learning with significant gaps in their foundational knowledge. This includes pupils who do not have a secure grasp of age-appropriate spelling and grammar. Furthermore, pupils who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not make suitable progress from their starting points. Pupils discuss and eloquently explain what they have learned across the wider curriculum. They have a clear understanding of timelines and historical periods. For example, they are

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Achievement Needs attention

able to compare similarities and differences between ancient Rome and ancient Greece.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Over time, too many pupils have missed too many school sessions, with rates of attendance well below the national average. This means those pupils miss essential teaching time and learning. This has had a negative impact on academic outcomes for pupils. New school leaders acknowledge that not enough has been done to improve attendance. There is now a renewed focus on working more closely with parents and external agencies to improve attendance. There are also new systems in place to support the robust and regular monitoring of attendance. However, at this stage, it is too early to see the impact.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have raised expectations of how pupils should behave and made the school's values clear. As a result, the behaviour of pupils is a strength of the school. Pupils are consistently polite and kind to one another. In most lessons, pupils behave well. During break and lunchtimes, pupils play well with one another. When incidents of poor behaviour do occur, staff are quick to support all pupils involved. There are no incidents of bullying. For pupils with individual needs, there are personalised plans to support pupils' behaviour. However, leaders are aware that there is further work to do to reduce the number of suspensions.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

School and trust leaders have an accurate and informed understanding of the quality of the curriculum. However, they have not been swift enough to address the gaps in pupils’ knowledge, which hinder pupils from achieving as well as they could. Furthermore, teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too variable and not high enough.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have identified appropriate priorities, including strengthening foundational knowledge and skills, improving mathematics and developing teaching. The curriculum is generally well planned to support pupils to build knowledge over time. However, teachers do not give enough attention to pupils’ starting points. As a result, some of the work that pupils complete does not reflect what they are able to do. Teachers' use of assessment and their feedback to pupils lacks precision. Mistakes in spelling and grammar are not addressed with the immediacy needed to help pupils to understand their misconceptions. Furthermore, assessment is not always used by teachers to inform and adapt future learning.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The reading curriculum is a strength of the school. Those pupils who need extra support to develop their phonics knowledge are swiftly identified and are supported by skilled staff to catch up with their peers.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged benefit from the staff's nurturing approach that ensures pupils feel safe and cared for. However, academic expectations for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are not high enough. Pupils do not progress well enough from their starting points. This means pupils are not well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders are quick to identify those pupils who need extra support. They put in place support plans for these pupils that are generally appropriate. However, these plans are not always consistently implemented across all subjects. At times, expectations and adaptations for pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged are too variable. Some pupils rely too heavily on adult support, while other pupils are not supported quickly enough to access learning successfully.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding do not achieve as well as they should. New school leaders acknowledge that targets to support these pupils have been too broad and there has not been enough rigour to check for the impact of leaders' actions. While there are new and more rigorous systems in place, it is too soon to identify impact.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

The school has recently come out of a turbulent period following changes in leadership. New school leaders, with the support of the trust, have stabilised the school and its community. School and trust leaders acknowledge that more is to be done to raise expectations of outcomes and of what pupils, including those with special educational needs, can achieve.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

While it is very early days for the school's leadership, leaders have correctly identified the areas to drive school improvement. Furthermore, they understand that change needs to happen at pace so that pupils are prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

School leaders, trust leaders and governors recognise that St Margaret’s has historically underperformed. Consequently, the school has received significant additional support from the trust. However, trustees and governors have not challenged the school and trust leaders in a timely manner or with sufficient rigour to evaluate the impact of improvement strategies on pupils’ outcomes. As a result, too many pupils continue to leave the school without the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of their education.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

School and trust leaders are conscious of supporting the workload and wellbeing of staff. As a result, teachers say they feel supported. Teachers also appreciate the professional networks in the trust that support their professional development. Parents are supportive of the school and appreciate staff's approachability.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Each morning, pupils are warmly welcomed into school. There are positive and respectful relationships between pupils and staff. The school is calm and meticulously organised to support pupils to build a positive experience and value coming to school. Pupils develop a sense of belonging and collective purpose through school activities, such as singing assemblies. Pupils are polite to one another and to visitors. They are keen to share what they have learned in lessons. However, pupils do not attend regularly enough and academic outcomes have not been high enough. As a result, too many pupils leave school without the skills and knowledge they need to ensure they are successful at the next stage of their education.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

The school has been through a turbulent period with changes in leadership. New leaders, with the support of the trust and a renewed focus from those responsible for governance, are committed to raising expectations of what pupils can achieve. However, the impact of the recent positive changes is not yet evident.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils at this school are safe and say they feel safe. They know they can speak to any member of staff if they have a concern. Pupils learn to stay safe in their local area, for example with informative visits from the lifeguards. The school’s rich curriculum supports pupils to learn about life beyond their own community. School visits to London provide pupils with first-hand experiences of life in a capital city. Visitors to the school include scientists, mechanics and the police. This supports pupils to learn about different careers they could aspire to.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

As part of the school’s successful drive to develop pupils’ character, older pupils benefit from roles of responsibility such as being part of the green team, ethos team and the school council.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that the pupil premium strategy is appropriately focused on effective strategies to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders should ensure that teachers use assessment consistently well across the curriculum to identify misconceptions and gaps in pupils’ knowledge and adapt teaching precisely so that all pupils build secure knowledge and achieve well. Leaders should ensure that staff have consistently high expectations of pupils’ transcriptional and foundational knowledge across the curriculum, so that pupils become increasingly fluent in these basic skills over time. Leaders must ensure that pupils' attainment in reading, writing and mathematics improves so that pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are well prepared for their next stage of education. Leaders should continue to improve attendance and behaviour by embedding consistent

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Next steps

approaches to monitoring and support, raising the community’s awareness of the importance of regular attendance, and reducing the number of suspensions. Leaders, particularly those responsible for governance, should challenge the impact of actions taken to improve teaching and monitor the impact more swiftly and effectively.

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About this inspection

This school is part of the Harbour Schools Partnership, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive

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Team inspectors:

Matthew Shirley, Ofsted Inspector Cameron Lancaster, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 15 September 2026

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What does this mean?

officer (CEO), Gary Chown, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sean Mackney.

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What does this mean?

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Sheila Bloomfield.

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What does this mean?

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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What does this mean?

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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What does this mean?

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, trust leaders, the CEO, subject leaders and the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator team.

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What does this mean?

The inspectors gathered parents’ views by considering the responses to Ofsted Parent View and by talking with parents and carers. The inspectors also reviewed responses to Ofsted’s online staff and pupil surveys.

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What does this mean?

This school is registered as having a Church of England character. The last section 48 inspection took place in June 2022.

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What does this mean?

The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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What does this mean?

Acting Headteacher: Denise Boyne The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (final) 60% 63% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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