Deykin Avenue Junior and Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Over time, leaders at Deykin Avenue Junior and Infant School do not have high enough expectations for all pupils. Teachers and support staff are not fully aware of the support needed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

This means that pupils with SEND do not make the progress of which they are capable.

Pupils feel safe in school. Pupils know what bullying is and that inappropriate name-calling and racism are unacceptable.

However, a minority of staff do not manage pupils' behaviour consistently well This results in some pupils experiencing disruption to their learning.

Children in early years enjoy listening to stori...es. They learn to read and apply their phonic knowledge.

However, teachers do not support them effectively to develop their early language skills in a coherent and consistent way. This slows their progress.

Parents and carers engage well with the school.

They are positive about the pastoral support it offers. Staff are proactive in responding to fundraising activities which come from pupils' concerns about major world events, such as the Turkish earthquakes and refugees escaping war. Together they have raised significant amounts of money to support people in need.

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

Over time, leaders have not established clear aims and expectations across the school. Since the last inspection, developments to improve the curriculum have been too slow. In most subjects, leadership is not being developed to enable teachers to teach a well-planned curriculum that allows pupils to gain the knowledge they need.

As a result, pupils are not successfully building on what they know or remembering more of what they have learned.

Not all teachers have a clear understanding of what pupils should learn in most subjects. Leaders have not carefully considered the smaller blocks of learning that pupils need to know to complete more complex tasks.

This means that pupils do not deepen their knowledge and develop their understanding of subjects in a coherent or logical way.

The interim headteacher has ensured that early reading and phonics are taught well. Teachers and support staff are trained effectively to deliver the phonics programme.

Children are engaged in learning to read and respond well to their teachers. They enjoy reading, and some children read with confidence. Leaders' recent focus on writing is proving beneficial.

There are some encouraging early signs of improvement in pupils' writing.

Children in the early years are settled in a calm environment. They enjoy listening to stories and singing songs.

However, staff do not provide children with sufficient opportunities to access appropriate resources to explore and discover. This limits their ability to improve their fine motor skills, broaden their vocabulary and make more sense of the world. Leaders are aware of these shortfalls and have taken action to improve early years provision more recently.

Leaders do not identify the needs of pupils with SEND precisely enough. This means that pupils with SEND do not receive the necessary support they need to achieve well. Teachers do not have enough knowledge about which pupils have additional needs, and so they do not adapt activities sufficiently well enough.

Leaders do not follow up on the recommendations and guidance from support services. These weaknesses limit the progress that pupils with SEND make.

Most pupils behave appropriately in and around school.

They want to do well and show commitment to their work in lessons. There are still instances of poor behaviour in a minority of classrooms that disrupt pupils' learning. In these classrooms, adults do not consistently reinforce high expectations.

Pupils are beginning to be prepared for life in modern Britain. However, the personal, social and health education curriculum lacks coherence and structure. Pupils are taught how to stay safe online and how to act with kindness and tolerance.

They enjoy the different pupil leadership roles and carry them out responsibly.

Leaders recognise that improving attendance is a priority for the school. They work closely with several families with low attendance.

However, the impact of this work to support attendance is at an early stage and is yet to be fully seen.

Most staff enjoy working at this school and feel well supported. They say that the support network in school is strong, and they all help each other.

Governors have begun to make changes to the school to address weaknesses, acting on external advice. They have appointed an interim headteacher who has quickly identified and acted on the changes that need to be made. However, the impact of these changes will take time to embed.

Consequently, pupils are not receiving an education that enables them to achieve their potential.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Safeguarding is effective.

There are clear systems in place to identify vulnerable pupils and report concerns. Staff receive regular training about wider aspects of safeguarding. This means that they are confident and knowledgeable about the risks that children may face.

Leaders work closely with external agencies to help families get the support they need.

Leaders follow safer recruitment protocols with diligence. They have developed effective procedures to ensure that they manage safeguarding concerns and support vulnerable children and their families well.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculum is not consistently well planned and sequenced. This means that pupils are not building effectively on their learning over time and so do not make the progress that they should. Leaders should make sure that the curriculum in all subjects identifies the important knowledge that pupils need to learn and that learning is sequenced in a logical order so that pupils can build successfully on what they know and understand.

• Pupils with SEND do not have their needs identified or met well enough. Teachers do not have the knowledge to be able to support pupils with SEND effectively. In addition, leaders are not following up on recommendations made by support services in school.

Leaders should take urgent action to improve all aspects of the provision for pupils with SEND so that they are well supported across the school. ? The behaviour of some pupils is not consistently well managed. Some incidents of poor behaviour in the classroom go unchecked.

This means that some pupils experience disruption to their learning. Leaders should make sure that all staff have consistently high expectations of pupils' behaviour so that all pupils show positive attitudes to their learning. ? Leaders and those responsible for governance have not taken sufficient action over time to address the systemic weaknesses in the school.

This has meant that too many pupils are not receiving the quality of education that they should; weaknesses elsewhere have been allowed to persist. Those responsible for governance should continue to work with external partners and the interim headteacher to address the identified weaknesses in the school. ? The provision in the early years does not enable children to explore their environment and develop their language skills.

Consequently, children are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they should be. Leaders should continue to address the shortcomings in the delivery and resourcing of the early years curriculum to ensure children achieve well. ? Leaders and those responsible for governance may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection.

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