Arno Vale Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Arno Vale Junior School are kind, polite, and respectful.

In lessons, and around the school, they readily demonstrate the school's values of determination, respect, independence, curiosity, and honesty. Pupils have mature attitudes. They talk confidently about diversity, British values, and the protected characteristics.

The school is calm and orderly. There are few disruptions to learning. At playtimes, pupils play and socialise together happily.

When pupils need help to manage their emotions or regulate their behaviour, caring staff provide excellent support. Pupils say they feel safe in the school. They trust staff to help them when they are worr...ied.

The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve well. The curriculum is broad. It has been developed to support pupils to gain a depth of knowledge across the full range of subjects.

The school has significantly strengthened the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well in these subjects. They are well prepared for their next stage in education.

These changes to the curriculum are recent and did not have sufficient time to impact previous cohorts. Published outcomes do not reflect the achievement of current pupils.

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

The school prioritises reading.

Pupils read widely and often. In whole class reading lessons, pupils read from a range of challenging and interesting texts. These include stories, poetry, plays, and non-fiction.

Texts are well chosen to broaden pupils' understanding of different faiths and cultures. Staff help pupils to develop a rich vocabulary. The school identifies when pupils have gaps in their reading knowledge.

Through phonics lessons and other well-planned support, these pupils catch up quickly.

In mathematics lessons, staff use their strong subject knowledge to explain and model concepts clearly. They provide lots of time for pupils to practise what they have learned.

Staff check learning systematically and address misconceptions quickly and skilfully. There are daily opportunities to revisit knowledge and make connections between topics. This helps pupils to remember what they have learned.

The curriculum for writing identifies precisely the knowledge that pupils should learn. In writing lessons, activities focus sharply on this knowledge and help pupils develop fluency. Staff encourage pupils to check their own work carefully.

They provide useful feedback so that pupils can edit their work and correct mistakes. However, in some other subjects, staff do not always have high enough expectations of pupils' written work. They don't always provide opportunities for pupils to practise writing.

Sometimes pupils' mistakes are not identified or corrected.

In science and the foundation subjects, the curriculums are interesting and ambitious. For example, in art lessons, pupils study the work of artists from around the world.

They use this as inspiration for their own artwork, using a range of materials and techniques. However, in some of these subjects, the school does not have routines for checking how well pupils remember what they have learned. As a result, gaps in knowledge and misconceptions are not always identified or addressed.

The school provides personalised support for pupils with SEND to access the same lessons as their peers. In lessons, staff regularly check pupils' understanding. They prioritise pupils with SEND and break learning into manageable chunks and adapt lesson activities well when needed.

The curriculum for personal, social, and health education (PSHE) supports pupils' personal development well. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and how to maintain good physical and mental health.

The school caters well for pupils' wider personal development.

There are clubs in sports, the arts, games and many other activities. Older pupils enthusiastically take on roles of responsibility, such as playground ambassadors. Pupils are proud to represent their school in different sporting competitions.

All pupils have opportunities to go on trips and residential visits.

Staff are happy and proud to work at this school. They are enthusiastic about opportunities to develop their expertise.

Staff appreciate the support they get to manage their workload. Parents and carers are positive about the school. They value the care that staff show to their children and the education the school provides.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the school has not established routines for staff to check that pupils have learned what they have been taught. As a result, staff are not always clear about the progress that pupils are making in these subjects.

They do not always identify when pupils have gaps or misconceptions in their knowledge. The school needs to make sure that the curriculum in all subjects precisely identifies what pupils will learn and supports staff to accurately check that pupils have gained knowledge securely. ? In some subjects, staff do not always have high enough expectations of the work that pupils complete.

Sometimes they accept written work that is of poor quality without supporting pupils to improve their work or address mistakes. As a result, pupils do not always achieve as well as they might in all subjects. The school needs to make sure that there are consistently high expectations of pupils' written work across all subjects.