George White Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to George White Junior School. They say that staff really care about them. One pupil commented, 'The teachers are amazing.'

Parents and carers think so too. One parent told inspectors, 'I can honestly say that staff are brilliant.' Pupils feel safe in school and feel that adults keep them safe.

They told inspectors about the safe hands they drew to identify five people they could go to if they were worried or upset.

Leaders and staff expect the very best of all pupils. Everyone at the school knows the school motto: 'All different, all equal, all learning'.

Pupils put this into practice every day in their lessons and at playtimes. ...They say that bullying is rare. When it does happen, adults take it very seriously and deal with it straight away.

Pupils behave extremely well in class and around the school. They know the school rules for behaviour and live up to them. The atmosphere around the school is calm and purposeful.

Pupils enjoy taking part in the clubs on offer, like dance and coding club. Many pupils cannot wait for the drama club to start now that the school has a drama suite.

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

Leaders, trustees and staff have the highest expectations for pupils.

Over the past four years, leaders have rapidly improved the quality of education at the school. They have provided staff with the highest-quality training but are mindful of staff workload. Leaders make sure that teachers only do things that make a difference to pupils.

Staff feel part of the team and share responsibility for the school's development. Trustees check that leaders continue to fulfil their vision for continual improvement.

Leaders make sure that pupils feel included at the school from the moment they start there.

Leaders have excellent relationships with parents. They ask for and take account of parents' views. Leaders model the behaviours they want to see.

For example, everyone, including the headteacher, displays their personal targets.

Leaders have put learning to read at the core of pupils' learning. Teachers teach reading well.

They choose books that extend pupils' vocabulary and knowledge of the world. This helps pupils to produce high-quality writing. Leaders have also improved the mathematics curriculum.

Teachers know what to teach and how to best teach it. Teachers use well-thought-out plans to build on pupils' skills as they move through the school. For example, they make sure that pupils understand what each digit in a whole number represents before learning about decimals.

Pupils achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics. Some pupils' weaker skills in mental arithmetic hold them back when solving mathematical problems.

Leaders have created a cohesive curriculum for all other subjects.

In subjects such as personal, social, health and economic education, the curriculum is well established. In other subjects, such as art and geography, the curriculum is still very new. This means that some pupils have gaps in their knowledge and understanding in these subjects.

Teachers make sure that their teaching helps all pupils learn. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Some pupils attend the specialist resource base (SRB) at the school.

Until now, leaders have not provided enough opportunities for pupils in this unit to fully integrate into the life of the school.

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Learning continues without disruption.

Staff know and use the school's approach to behaviour management.Pupils are keen to receive silver and gold awards for good behaviour. Teachers manage pupils who have challenging behavioural and emotional needs well.

Pupils understand that some pupils have different needs.

Leaders and staff weave the school's values into all aspects of school life. They teach pupils to care about the wider world, for example through the forest school.

Leaders promote tolerance and understanding. Recently, pupils learned about what it means to be a refugee. They foster an understanding of what it means to be a citizen, for example through elections for school responsibilities.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils feel safe in school. Staff keep pupils safe by being vigilant in spotting signs that a child may be at risk of harm.

Staff are well trained. They know, for example, about the risks of 'cuckooing' and county lines. Leaders are tenacious in following up concerns with external agencies.

They take all possible action to ensure that pupils are safe, both when in school and out of school. Staff teach pupils about how to keep themselves safe when using technologies such as mobile telephones and the internet.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Provision within the main school for pupils with SEND is very strong.

However, the SRB is not fully integrated into the life of the school, and systems for checking the effectiveness of the unit are not in place. Leaders should implement their plans for improving provision within the SRB. In liaison with the local authority which places pupils in the unit, leaders should develop systems for checking the effectiveness of the unit in preparing pupils for a successful re-introduction to their home school.

. The curriculum for mathematics is effective in most aspects. Pupils are supported particularly well in developing their reasoning and problem-solving skills.

However, leaders should ensure that pupils' mental fluency in mathematics is improved so that they are able to tackle problems which they understand and can do more swiftly and successfully. . Leaders have very carefully planned a structured and coherent curriculum.

They have provided very focused staff training and have supported curriculum leaders in planning for their subjects. Work in some subjects is well established but others are at an earlier stage in implementation and so are yet to fully show impact. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum for all subjects is firmly embedded so that pupils' knowledge is of the same high standard as in core subjects.