Chapel End Junior Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Chapel End Junior Academy continues to be a good school.

The headteacher of this school is Terry Sheen. This school is part of REAch2 Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Cathie Paine, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Gavin Robert.

There is also a deputy director of education, Dominic Hughes, who is responsible for this school and eight others.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a welcoming, caring and joyful school. Pupils are happy and safe here.

They attend school regularly and enjoy their learning across the full range of... subjects. The school encourages its motto of 'Dream Believe Achieve' to support every pupil. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) know that staff will go the extra mile for them to help them achieve.

They are fully involved in the life of the school.

The school acknowledges that many pupils and their families face wider challenges in everyday life. It creates a culture of aspiration and shared success, with a broad and interesting curriculum that opens pupils' eyes to the world around them.

The school works proactively to support refugees and asylum seekers.

Pupils have many opportunities to take on positions of leadership and responsibility. They can join the school council or eco-council, or become science or well-being ambassadors.

Pupils can also achieve the school citizenship award, become play leaders or become house captains. Older pupils help in a local infants' school and mentor younger pupils. Pupils love looking after Archie, the school dog.

They say this supports their emotional well-being.

Parents and carers are exceptionally positive about the school. They value the school's wider support for their children, families and community.

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

Reading is a big priority at the school. A number of pupils join the school still in the early stages of learning to read. The school supports these pupils through its well-organised phonics catch-up programme.

Pupils are given lots of opportunities to segment, sound out and blend the words they are reading. Staff receive high-quality training to help them become early reading experts. The school works hard to create a love of reading in all pupils.

Pupils read a selection of books in lessons that are interesting, challenging and representative of the school's diversity.

The wider curriculum is broad and balanced. The school has selected the knowledge and vocabulary that pupils must learn and the order in which they should learn this.

For example, in mathematics, pupils learn about basic fractions in Year 3, mixed numbers in Year 4 and adding fractions in Year 5. Pupils in Year 6 use these strong foundations to work confidently with decimals and percentages. Staff help to develop pupils' subject vocabulary.

For instance, in science, pupils in Year 3 explained the differences between a hydrostatic skeleton, exoskeleton and endoskeleton.

Typically, teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge and explain new learning well across the range of subjects. However, in a small number of foundation subjects, pupils' learning is not checked and assessed carefully enough.

This means that sometimes teaching moves on to new subject content without having clarified misconceptions precisely, limiting pupils' readiness for new knowledge and skills.

Pupils with SEND thrive at this school. Their needs are swiftly identified.

Staff are ambitious for pupils and receive training to support them to make appropriate adaptations to their teaching. Some pupils receive a more bespoke curriculum to help them to secure the foundational skills that they need. As a result, these pupils make progress against their personalised targets and achieve well from their different starting points.

Pupils work hard in lessons and behave very well around the school. Pupils say that bullying is not a problem at the school, but they are confident it will be dealt with if it does happen. Pupils' attendance was affected by the pandemic.

Leaders have worked very hard to ensure that pupils attend regularly. As a result, pupils' attendance has improved significantly and is now above national averages.

Pupils' wider personal development is very strong.

All pupils access the '11 Before 11' programme, which provides a range of cultural experiences before they leave the school. This includes performing in a Shakespeare play, sleeping under the stars and becoming a 'hiking hero'. Pupils also take part in many outings to support their cultural development.

For example, this year, pupils have visited many galleries to support their learning in art. Pupils have also visited places of worship, including a gurdwara, a synagogue and a mosque. Many pupils take part in after-school clubs, including cooking, boxing, French and British Sign Language.

Staff greatly appreciate leaders' care for their workload and well-being. Trust leaders and governors know the school well. They provide constructive support for the school in the interests of pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of foundation subjects, pupils' learning is not checked or assessed carefully enough, both within lessons and across a series of lessons. As a result, teachers are not fully aware of what pupils know and can do.

This means that teaching sometimes fails to identify misconceptions and moves on too quickly before pupils have fully understood what they are learning. The school must ensure that pupils' learning is assessed systematically both within and across lessons over the full range of subjects.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2015.