Chester Park Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Chester Park Junior School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is welcoming and inclusive.

Pupils are happy, polite and friendly. They understand adults' expectations and the school rules 'We are safe. We are respectful.'

As a result, they behave well and have positive attitudes toward learning.

Pastoral support is strong. Staff form caring and supportive relationships with pupils.

Pupils feel safe at school and trust adults to take care of them. Bullying is rare. Pupils are confident that adults will sort out any problems that occur.

Pupils gain an appreciation of the different cultures and faiths in... their community. For example, they find out about the Windrush generation. Pupils visit the mosque and celebrate Eid.

They have opportunities to learn African drumming.

The school supports pupils' wider development well. For example, pupils enjoy clubs such as boxing, cookery and basketball which improve their fitness and talents.

Pupils try activities such as caving and mountain biking when they go on trips. Pupils take on positions of responsibility, such as sports ambassadors and librarians, which provide an understanding of leadership skills.

Parents speak in glowing terms about the school.

They typically comment that the school is 'fantastic' and appreciate all that the school does for their children.

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

Leaders and staff have a shared ambition to provide high-quality, enjoyable learning experiences. Leaders have put an interesting and well-sequenced curriculum in place.

This clearly identifies the knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils must learn. Pupils show an interest in finding things out and usually learn the curriculum well. For example, pupils confidently explain what they have learned about Stone Age Britain and the Second World War.

Staff explain concepts clearly and, in most subjects, check pupils' understanding accurately. Teachers use this insight to adapt learning when necessary. However, this is still at an early stage of development in some subjects as some changes to the curriculum are recent.

Therefore, the impact of the improvements that leaders have made to the curriculum is not reflected in published outcomes.

Leaders have prioritised reading. They inspire pupils to develop a love of reading.

Through practice, pupils secure skills such as comprehension, inference and prediction. Leaders swiftly identify pupils who have fallen behind in reading. They provide effective phonics support and ensure that pupils read regularly.

This is improving pupils' fluency and helps pupils to keep up.

Pupils' mathematical understanding is developed successfully. Pupils routinely revisit previous learning.

This helps them to secure their understanding. Pupils then apply what they know to gain new knowledge. For example, Year 6 pupils use their knowledge of times tables to calculate areas of shapes and multiply fractions.

Staff provide sensitive and caring support to pupils who find it difficult to manage their emotions. This helps such pupils recognise and manage their feelings appropriately. As a result, low-level disruption is rare.

Leaders work closely with staff, parents and outside agencies to identify and meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school provides sharply-focused academic and pastoral support. This helps pupils to progress well.

However, some pupils, including pupils with SEND, do not attend school regularly. While this is often for unavoidable reasons, pupils fall behind in their learning. Leaders tenaciously follow up on the reasons for absence and provide families with support.

Yet, despite leaders' efforts, attendance is still not high enough.

Although some leaders, including governors, are new to their roles, leaders' engagement with staff is highly effective. Leaders listen to staff and help them to manage their workload and well-being.

Staff speak highly of leaders' support. Leaders provide staff with effective professional development to improve their subject knowledge and teaching.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff prioritise pupils' safety and well-being. Leaders do not shy away from tackling difficult issues. They seek help from specialist agencies when necessary.

Leaders maintain thorough records and routinely follow up on their actions.

Leaders make the necessary checks to ensure staff are safe to work with children. They record this information on the school's single central record.

Leaders provide staff with safeguarding training. Staff understand their responsibilities and can explain how to refer concerns.

Pupils learn how to stay safe.

For example, they learn about how to develop positive relationships with others and know how to stay safe when online.The school has suitable policies in place to raise awareness among staff and parents about the dangers of sexual harassment, online sexual abuse and sexual violence.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the improvements that leaders have made to the curriculum and the use of assessment are in the early stages of development.

Therefore, it is too soon to check whether pupils build the deep-rooted knowledge, vocabulary and skills that they need. Leaders must fully embed the curriculum and how pupils' learning is assessed so they can be assured that pupils develop the knowledge they need for what comes next. ? Leaders relentlessly follow up on absence and support families to improve pupils' attendance.

However, despite their efforts, some pupils do not attend school regularly. Leaders must continue to improve attendance so that pupils do not fall behind in their learning.

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 September 2012.

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