Durrington Church of England Controlled Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Durrington Church of England Controlled Junior School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school. They are friendly and welcoming. Pupils enjoy school and they attend well.

They are happy and safe. Staff know pupils and families well. Staff communicate regularly with parents.

Consequently, pupils and parents feel well supported.

The school values of 'truth, respect and kindness' are evident in pupils' conduct and how they treat one another. The values guide pupils to make positive choices about their own behaviour.

The school is ambitious for pupils. It has recently improved the curriculum so tha...t pupils know and remember more.

Pupils learn about responsibility.

They are keen to take on roles such as school councillors, house captains and sports leaders.

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

The school has recently made significant improvements to the curriculum in response to low published outcomes. Pupils now learn a broad, coherent and well-sequenced curriculum.

The impact of recent curriculum development is evident in the current quality of provision. However, this is not yet reflected in published outcomes.

The school has identified the knowledge and skills that pupils must learn.

All teachers follow the school's agreed approach to teaching the curriculum. They ensure that pupils frequently revisit what they have learned before. This helps pupils to build on what they already know.

Teachers show pupils how to apply what they have learned. They provide time for pupils to practise their learning. Teaching checks pupils' knowledge and helps pupils to address gaps in their understanding.

However, pupils' written work does not always show what pupils know and can do. The school knows this and is focusing on improving the quality of pupils' writing.

Staff explain new learning clearly and link this to what pupils already know.

They adapt learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This enables pupils with SEND to learn alongside their peers. Most learning activities that pupils undertake are well matched to the knowledge and skills that staff want them to build.

However, some learning activities do not deepen pupils' understanding well enough.

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum. The books pupils read help them to understand different cultures and perspectives, as well as developing their vocabularies.

Pupils who do not read fluently get the help that they need to catch up with their peers.

Pupils learn without disruption. Staff frequently praise positive behaviour.

Pupils know how they are expected to behave. Most pupils strive to meet these expectations and appreciate the rewards they get for doing so. Social times are harmonious.

Pupils work co-operatively in lessons.

The school helps pupils to understand the contributions made to society by people from a variety of backgrounds. Pupils know what it means to be an active citizen and enjoy contributing to the community.

For instance, the choir sings at church events and pupils visit a local lunch club for older people.

Pupils enjoy the clubs and trips offered by the school. Extra support is provided so that pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged benefit from opportunities to develop their talents and interests alongside their peers.

Leaders understand the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They have ensured that staff know how to improve pupils' learning so that they know and remember more. The school checks that pupils are learning what they should at each stage.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

• Some learning activities do not match the intention of the curriculum. They are not well aligned to the knowledge that pupils are learning.

This means that activities do not always help pupils to deepen their knowledge effectively. The school needs to ensure that all learning activities enable pupils to build their understanding of all aspects of the subjects they learn. ? The written work that pupils produce is not always of high quality.

It does not show all that they know and can do. The school needs to ensure that pupils are supported well to improve the quality of writing so that it better reflects the ambitious curriculum that they learn.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 December 2012.

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