Great Moor Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Great Moor Junior School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a vibrant school that sits at the heart of its local community.

Pupils are happy here. This is because teachers make learning interesting and relevant. Pupils do their very best each day to live up to the school's values and staff's high expectations.

This is evident in pupils' positive attitudes to learning and their respectful behaviour around the school.

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They have developed a curriculum that supports the development of pupils' personal skills as wel...l as their academic knowledge.

Many parents and carers described the school as nurturing, welcoming and supportive.

Pupils feel safe and enjoy school life. They told the inspector that bullying rarely happens at their school.

They said that a member of staff would resolve any bullying incidents by speaking with those involved and reminding them of the school's values.

Pupils are given the opportunity to participate in a wide range of sporting activities including tennis, hockey and cross country running. The school also has a strong reputation for music and drama.

During this inspection pupils in Year 3 were celebrating children's literature by dressing up as characters from the Harry Potter books.

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

Leaders have ensured that all pupils benefit from a broad and ambitious curriculum. They have identified what pupils need to learn and remember in each subject.

They have also thought carefully about how to enhance pupils' learning through educational trips and visiting speakers. Teachers use drama to support learning and often encourage pupils to engage in purposeful conversations to discuss their learning. These well-established routines help pupils to develop positive attitudes to learning and achieve well.

Leaders have prioritised the teaching of reading. They have developed a reading curriculum that is well planned, well ordered and helps to build pupils' vocabulary.Teachers across the school encourage pupils to develop a love of reading.

They read regularly to pupils and introduce a new class novel each half term. Leaders also ensure that pupils have access to a wide range of reading resources. Pupils who struggle with reading are given effective support by well-trained staff who are knowledgeable about the complexities involved in learning to read.

This includes supporting pupils who are at the early stages of learning to read to gain phonics knowledge. The pupils who met with the inspector read fluently and talked confidently about the books that they are currently reading.

Over time, pupils have achieved well at Great Moor, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.

In these curriculums teachers use assessment strategies well to build a picture of how well pupils are progressing. This helps them to plan future learning based on what pupils have learned. However, in a small number of subjects teachers do not check how well pupils are learning and remembering the planned curriculum.

This means that teachers do not have a good enough understanding of where the gaps are in pupils' learning.

Pupils are polite, well-mannered and behave sensibly in lessons and around school. They are supportive of each other and it is extremely rare for learning to be disrupted by poor behaviour.

Pupils enjoy taking on extra responsibilities such as play buddies and learning ambassadors. Members of the school council take their role seriously and appreciate being able to influence school life.

Pupils with SEND are fully included in all aspects of school life.

Staff are quick to identify pupils who may need additional support. Where necessary, they adapt the delivery of the curriculum in line with pupils' needs and provide suitable resources to support their learning.

Governors know the school well.

They have developed effective systems to keep them informed about the school's effectiveness. For example, subject leaders provide regular reports about strengths and areas that are being developed. Governors use this knowledge to provide an appropriate balance of support and challenge to leaders.

Staff are extremely proud to work at this school. They feel well supported by school leaders. They say that leaders care about their well-being and are considerate of their workload.

The parents who responded to Parent View were highly appreciative of the care, guidance and support that staff provide for their children. They were also complimentary about the quality of education that staff have provided throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders provide regular safeguarding training to ensure that staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and stay vigilant at all times. Leaders ensure that safeguarding concerns are followed up promptly. They seek advice and guidance when required from external agencies to make sure that pupils and their families get the help and support that they need.

Pupils play an active role in teaching each other about how to keep themselves safe, both online and in the community. Older pupils enjoy their roles as 'web warriors' and make regular contributions to school assemblies regarding online safety.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, teachers do not use assessment strategies effectively to check that pupils have learned and remembered the intended curriculum.

This prevents teachers from building an accurate picture of how pupils' knowledge is developing over time. Leaders should ensure that teachers use assessment information effectively to support pupils' learning and help them to know and remember more of the taught curriculum.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2012.

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