Ilfracombe Church of England Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Since the previous inspection, leaders have taken swift and decisive action to bring about rapid improvement. Their actions have ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good.

Governors are effective in their roles. They use their precise knowledge of the school to challenge and support leaders appropriately. This contributes to securing positive outcomes for pupils.

Middle leaders are highly effective in their roles. They are relentless in their pursuit of excellence in their areas of responsibility. The school's nurture unit provides valuable support for pupils' social and emotional health and well-being.
.../>The curriculum supports pupils' academic development well. Pupils are well equipped with knowledge, skills and understanding that prepares them for the next stage of their education and for life in modern Britain. Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

However, at times, teachers do not plan activities to challenge the needs of the most able pupils in writing. As a result, this group of pupils do not make strong progress. Pupils develop a love of reading during their time at the school.

Pupils learn effectively to write for a range of different purposes. They use grammar, punctuation and spelling accurately. Pupils conduct themselves well in lessons and at social times.

They are polite, considerate and respectful to one another and adults. Leaders are tenacious with their use of additional funding. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make positive progress from their starting points.

Although improvements are evident, disadvantaged pupils' outcomes remain below that of other pupils nationally. Most pupils attend regularly. However, despite leaders' efforts, a small number of disadvantaged pupils have low levels of attendance.

This hampers the progress they make. Pupils are kept safe at school. Nevertheless, some pupils do not understand the danger of online gaming.

Safeguarding is effective. However, more work needs to be done to ensure that all staff have a strong understanding of the risks associated with radicalisation.

Information about this school

The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.

The majority of pupils are of White British background. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is above the national average.

The proportion of pupils with SEND is well above the national average. The proportion of pupils with educational, health and care plans is below the national average. The school is designated as having a religious character and received its section 48 inspection in January 2016, when the school was graded as good.