Jubilee Academy Mossley

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their learning across a wide range of subjects at Jubilee Academy Mossley. Staff quickly forge strong relationships with pupils, and children get off to a good start in the early years. Staff care effectively for pupils' well-being and help them with their mental and physical health.

Pupils know who to turn to if they have a problem. This helps them to feel safe.

The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour.

Staff apply these expectations consistently, and the school is a calm and purposeful place for pupils to learn. Pupils behave well in class. They get along together and treat each other and adults with respect.

Pupils want ...to be in school and attend well.

There are high expectations for what all pupils can achieve. Learning builds on what pupils already know.

Pupils see themselves as experts in the different subjects – as scientists or historians, for instance - and learn well. Trips, including residential visits, help to enrich the curriculum.

Older pupils have the opportunity to stand for election as house captains.

They discover more about democracy and how to take responsibility. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, benefit from taking part in a good range of clubs after school.

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

In 2023, published outcomes in some areas were low.

Since then, the school has better identified the gaps in pupils' knowledge. The school, supported by the trust, has trained staff well to help pupils to catch up faster. Staff have worked with families to make sure that pupils come to school ready to learn.

As a result, pupils learn the detailed knowledge they need to progress successfully through the curriculum.

Reading is a priority. The school has taken important steps to raise its profile.

For example, on a Thursday morning, the school welcomes over half the parents to hear their children read. Pupils follow a structured phonics programme from the start of the Reception Year. Pupils learn sounds and letters in a logical order.

Staff use the programme's resources in a consistent way. The school makes sure that pupils read frequently to an adult. Staff check on what each pupil knows and can do.

Pupils who find reading more difficult are supported well to keep up with the pace of the phonics programme. Books for younger pupils are carefully matched to their phonics knowledge. Older pupils learn the different skills that make up reading.

Across the school, pupils enjoy reading and appreciate the new books that the school has bought.

From Reception onwards, staff develop pupils' spoken language effectively. Teachers plan the day-to-day learning for pupils so that they meet the longer-term learning aims.

This makes sure that pupils build up their learning over time. The school has strengthened this aspect of its work significantly over the past year, thereby improving pupils' outcomes. For example, in mathematics, they use their times tables to do work on common multiples.

In physical education (PE), pupils learn different kinds of pass before using these to attack and defend in team games. The school identifies the key vocabulary for the pupils to learn, which helps them to remember the important knowledge.

In general, staff check on pupils' learning successfully.

They use this information to help fill any gaps in pupils' learning and to improve their teaching. Pupils learn, from an early age, how to correct their work. In class, however, some misconceptions are not spotted as quickly as they might be.

The school is ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These pupils rightly follow the full curriculum. The school works well with families and accurately identifies pupils' learning needs.

It provides guidance that ensures that these needs are met and pupils with SEND make good progress through the curriculum.

The school has recently introduced new and ambitious classroom expectations for pupils' behaviour, 'Jubilee STARS'. These expectations are clear, and pupils already know them well.

As a result, disruption to learning is rare. The school provides effective support for those pupils who need extra help with their behaviour. Children in Reception settle quickly.

Pupils follow a valuable programme of personal, social and health education (PSHE). This teaches pupils about healthy relationships and how to treat others. Pupils recognise that everyone is different and value this diversity.

The trust has supported the school well. Its training programmes enable staff, including teachers new to the profession, to develop their skills rapidly and grow in professional confidence. Staff check, evaluate and adapt effectively how well pupils are learning the curriculum.

Staff believe that leaders take their views into consideration and are mindful of their workload. The school has recently adopted some new record-keeping systems for reading interventions and for behaviour, but it is currently hard for staff to draw information together and see patterns over time.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In class, pupils' misconceptions are sometimes not identified promptly enough. As a result, pupils repeat errors or struggle with the next step. The trust should ensure that the school checks pupils' work consistently and carefully so that pupils can put it right at the earliest opportunity.

• The school has adopted new record-keeping systems. These systems are not yet embedded, which means that the information they hold cannot be used quickly and easily to make the best provision for pupils. The trust should make sure that these systems are fully implemented so that the school has ready access to information and analysis.