Chater Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's high expectations and effective attendance systems ensure that pupils attend frequently. Many achieve 100% attendance.

This strong focus on attendance directly supports the school's commitment to fostering high academic achievement for all pupils.

The curriculum and wider opportunities help pupils to live out the school's values of passion, collaboration, integrity and resilience. For example, they enjoy using the school's welcoming library or give their all in team competitions at cross-school events.

Behaviour is typically calm and respectful. Pupils are full of energy and joy during the improved lunchtimes. They unleash their creativity buildi...ng dens and produce dance routines, as well as show their competitive side in games of hockey and table tennis.

Pupils are grateful to the school and their parents and carers for making these changes possible.

Pupils learn how to stay safe and what to do if something goes wrong. For example, they know to block and report unkind behaviour online.

They also learn how to identify trusted adults they can turn to if they feel worried. Pupils feel safe because they know their concerns are taken seriously by staff and acted upon quickly.

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

The school has thoughtfully curated its curriculum around key themes.

This ensures a clear progression of content from one year to the next. For example, Year 3 pupils explore how farms produce food. This is later built upon in Year 6 with a focus on sustainable farming practices.

A strong focus on reading has had a positive impact. Pupils enjoy the books their teachers read aloud. They eagerly recall recent favourites as well as those from previous years.

For pupils joining in Year 3 who find reading a challenge, additional effective phonics support helps them to catch up. They are provided with books that match their reading level. This helps to boost both competence and confidence.

Regular practice in key reading skills, like retrieving information from texts, enhances pupils' comprehension abilities.

The school has recently improved the writing programme. It now provides more structure, helping pupils learn grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary in steps.

Pupils practise these skills in short exercises before applying them in longer pieces of writing. However, expectations for writing in other subjects are not high enough. Some pupils lack guidance to revisit key writing skills.

As a result, mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and grammar hinder their ability to clearly express their knowledge. Their written work does not always align with their verbal understanding.

The school identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) through clear systems and targeted help.

Recent staff training has made pupils' targets more specific and measurable. This ensures the support is adjusted to ensure pupils with SEND progress well from their various starting points. Parents value the additional parents' evening.

Here, they contribute to decisions about their child's extra support.

The school proactively promotes positive behaviour through rewards, support, and restorative practices. This leads to fewer incidents of poor behaviour and more responsible pupils.

Clear behaviour expectations are reinforced with posters featuring simple illustrations. These help both pupils and staff to follow the rules and ensure more consistent conduct throughout the day.

Many aspects of the personal development programme are impressive.

Leaders train teachers to present scenarios that help pupils discuss important topics like disability and race. This supports pupils' understanding of equality and equity, a key theme in the curriculum. There are opportunities for pupils to develop life skills, like basic first aid and money management.

Additionally, extra-curricular activities have grown in response to the parent survey. New clubs include choir, computing, cricket and football. Pupils also have a range of educational trips.

These include visits to places of worship and the theatre, that broaden their horizons.

Leaders have a clear understanding of the school's strengths and areas for improvement. The school aims to identify challenges early, allowing time to consider necessary changes and the best strategies for implementing them.

Governors fulfil their duties effectively, working with leaders to drive meaningful and lasting change. Staff value their involvement in these developments, recognising how it supports their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• High expectations for writing are not being consistently communicated. This leads to repeated mistakes and habits that limit the quality of pupils' written work across the curriculum. The school should ensure clear writing expectations are established and that staff use appropriate methods to support pupils with their spelling, punctuation and grammar in all subjects.