Alton Park Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to Alton Park Junior School. They are confident to be themselves. The school has implemented strategies to support the pupils who need extra help to behave well.

Pupils know how to behave when they are learning in the classroom. Staff are quick to reinforce expectations. However, pupils do not always follow expectations when moving around the school or during playtimes and lunchtimes.

Pupils know that if their peers are unkind, the staff will address this quickly. Pupils learn that bullying is not acceptable. Staff deal with any bullying effectively.

Too many pupils progress through the school without securing essential knowledge. While th...ere have been changes to what pupils learn, these are very recent. There are still gaps in pupils' knowledge that need to be addressed.

The school provides a range of pastoral support for pupils and their families. Pupils enjoy the various visits, residential experiences and extra-curricular clubs on offer.

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

The school is beginning to develop the quality of education so that it better reflects leaders' vision for pupils.

The English and mathematics curriculums have been prioritised. This now ensures that pupils have the foundations they need to access the wider curriculum. Subject leaders are passionate and knowledgeable about the subjects they lead.

They have set expectations for how their subjects should be taught. However, teachers are not implementing these consistently well. In subjects other than English and mathematics, staff do not always check what pupils know before moving on to new learning.

This means that pupils develop gaps in their knowledge and struggle to recall what they have learned.

The school has prioritised reading to ensure that pupils can access the wider curriculum. Pupils get off to a prompt start in learning to read as they enter the school.

Staff are quick to identify gaps and target learning to ensure that pupils catch up and keep up with their reading. Books that match pupils' phonics knowledge support their ability to read. Pupils who find reading tricky get extra help to support them.

Leaders are equally ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to achieve well. Staff follow clear processes to identify pupils with SEND. However, there is variability in how well staff adapt learning for all pupils, including those with SEND.

This limits pupils' independence and their chance to fully access, and be successful in, their learning.

The school has emphasised the importance of attending school regularly. Initiatives, such as the school minibus, ensure that pupils arrive at school on time each day.

This is helping to improve attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.

Relationships between staff and pupils are positive. Pupils know that they can talk to staff if they have worries.

The school has set high expectations for behaviour, but these are not always realised. A small minority of pupils, on occasion, are rude to one another. Staff do not always remind pupils to behave appropriately.

Pupils' behaviours can sometimes disrupt the learning of others. Most pupils listen to the teacher and engage in discussions with peers well. School leaders have implemented new strategies for managing pupils' behaviour, including training for staff, and these are beginning to have a positive impact.

Pupils enjoy the clubs that the school offers. They make good use of them. Pupils benefit from trips to further enhance the curriculum.

Pupils also benefit from partnerships that help to raise aspirations for life after they leave school, such as 'into university'.

Trust leaders have worked relentlessly to improve the school. Trustees hold leaders to account and check that the quality of education is improving.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's curriculum, in some subjects, is not clearly sequenced or implemented effectively. As a result, pupils do not build secure knowledge over time.

The school needs to develop the wider curriculum to ensure that all subjects have a clear progression of knowledge so that pupils know more and remember more. The school needs to ensure that the curriculum is taught well. ? Some staff do not adapt learning effectively for pupils, including for some pupils with SEND.

This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that all staff have the skills they need to adapt learning effectively so that all pupils can achieve consistently well. ? Some staff do not set clear behaviour expectations.

As a result, pupils do not consistently behave in line with school expectations. This means that some pupils disrupt the school environment and learning for other pupils. The school should ensure that all staff consistently follow the school's behaviour policy.