Featherstone Purston St Thomas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The values of hope, love, respect and kindness are central to school life.

Pupils welcome visitors to their school. Adults care about every pupil. There is a strong commitment to supporting pupils' emotional needs.

Relationships between staff and pupils are positive.

The school's ambition for every pupil to do well is not realised. This is reflected in the poor outcomes that pupils achieve at the end of key stage 2.

In some subjects, pupils do not acquire the knowledge and skills that they need to achieve well over time.

Pupils know when and how to report any concerns that they have. Behaviour in lessons and in the school building is usually... calm.

This is not the case consistently when pupils are outside at playtime and lunchtime. Some pupils say that they do not feel safe at these times.

Pupils learn about healthy relationships and online safety.

They understand racism and homophobia. However, this knowledge is not applied in school life consistently well. The actions and language used by some pupils is unkind towards others.

Pupils benefit from a range of extra-curricular clubs. They also take on positions of responsibility, including school councillors and reading ambassadors. Pupils understand their role and value the leadership skills that they are developing.

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

The curriculum is broad and ambitious. However, curriculum developments are at an early stage. Many subject leaders are new to the role.

They have had the training and support to carry out their role effectively. They use their subject knowledge to provide support for colleagues. In some subjects, such as mathematics and phonics, teachers and teaching assistants have had training to help them to teach the curriculum well.

In other subjects, such as history and religious education (RE), the activities and resources provided by teachers are not matched well to the knowledge that pupils need to learn. There is more to do to ensure that curriculum content is taught consistently and effectively in all lessons.

Leaders know how well pupils are learning the curriculum in phonics and mathematics.

The school's systems to check pupils' learning in the wider-curriculum subjects, such as history and physical education (PE), are not developed consistently. In these subjects, the school does not have a clear understanding of how well pupils are learning over time.

The phonics programme is taught consistently and effectively.

The school ensures that pupils who need support with reading access phonics lessons daily. The books that pupils read match the sounds that they know. This helps pupils to practise and apply their phonics knowledge when reading.

Staff are well trained to provide effective support for pupils who are not on track with reading. Pupils are given the support that they need to catch up quickly. There is more to do to develop the reading curriculum beyond phonics.

The school has not identified precisely enough the important reading knowledge that pupils need to learn. Some older pupils are not able to read as confidently and fluently as they should.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the support that they need to access the full curriculum.

The school has effective systems in place to identify the needs of pupils with SEND. The school ensures that adults who support pupils with SEND are well trained. However, the strategies that are used well in lessons are not identified consistently on support plans.

Leaders have implemented a new policy to improve pupils' behaviour. This is having a positive impact. During the inspection, leaders put immediate changes in place to make pupils' play much calmer and more purposeful.

There is more to do to ensure that pupils' behaviour on the playground improves. Pupils' attendance across the school is too low. The systems in place to monitor attendance lack rigour.

The high rates of persistent absence are not reducing quickly enough. Pupils miss out on important learning too often.

The personal development curriculum has recently changed.

The curriculum has been carefully adapted to respond to the risks identified in the local community. For example, the local police community support officer introduces pupils to the importance of keeping safe through regular workshops. Pupils are less secure about how to apply this knowledge in the outside world.

Recently, the school has put plans in place to improve the curriculum and pupils' behaviour. Leaders, including governors, have a clear vision. They are committed to ensuring that the pupils at this school receive the high quality of education that they deserve.

The school acknowledges that more improvement is needed. Although many parents and carers are positive about the work of the school, some say that communication between school and home could be better. Staff feel valued and part of a supportive team.

Leaders take account of staff's workload and genuinely care about their 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)

• The activities and resources that teachers plan are not matched consistently to the knowledge that the school wants pupils to learn.

This means that some pupils have gaps in their learning. The school should ensure that staff are given the training and support that they need to select the resources and activities that will help pupils build their knowledge over time in each subject. ? Systems to check what pupils know and remember are not embedded in all subjects.

This means that the school does not have a comprehensive understanding of how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum in the wider-curriculum subjects. The school should ensure that staff use effective systems to check what pupils know, remember and can do. ? The school's new approach to reading is not fully embedded.

Beyond phonics, the school has not identified the most important knowledge that it wants pupils to learn by the end of each year group. This means that some pupils have gaps in their reading knowledge. The school should develop a clearly sequenced approach to teaching reading, beyond phonics, to ensure that all pupils learn to read confidently, fluently and accurately.

• The school does not have consistently high expectations of pupils' behaviour, during the more unstructured times of the school day. This means that some pupils do not feel safe consistently when they are playing outside. The school should ensure that all staff are trained to follow the agreed behaviour policy consistently so that behaviour improves further and all pupils feel safe.

• The procedures for analysing and monitoring attendance are not rigorous enough. This means that too many pupils do not attend school often enough and miss out on important learning. The school should review its systems for monitoring and responding to attendance concerns, ensuring there is a systematic approach to resolving attendance issues and making sure that pupils catch up on missed learning.