Jubilee Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a great school for pupils to go to. All staff care deeply for pupils' welfare and well-being. They make sure that pupils are kept safe and that they are well cared for.

Pupils confirmed that they feel safe and that bullying is unusual. If pupils do experience bullying, they know whom to go to for help. Staff sort things out promptly so that it does not happen again.

Pupils get an education that gives them wide and rich experiences. For example, the relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education programme is designed to support the development of pupils' personal skills effectively. It also aims to give pupils an understanding of different cultures ...and viewpoints and emphasises the importance of respect for, and tolerance of, others.

Pupils achieve well in their learning because adults' expectations of them are high. Leaders and staff encourage pupils to live up to the school's vision of: 'We will be the very best version of ourselves.' That is why professional relationships are strong, and pupils are well-behaved and well-mannered.

Pupils' attitudes to their learning are positive. This ensures that learning is rarely interrupted by silliness. Pupils get on with their work without any fuss and strive to do their best.

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

Leaders, governors and the trust have worked successfully to improve the school since the last inspection. This has not been without its challenges, with the pandemic getting in the way of some aspects of leaders' work and the number of pupils at the school falling. Nevertheless, leaders have taken staff with them to rethink the way the curriculum is designed.

For example, leaders have introduced new ideas about how to help pupils learn effectively and to think about what they want pupils to learn. The curriculum has been significantly rejigged to take these ideas into account, including in the early years. As a result, pupils are increasing their knowledge and skills term by term and year by year.

Leaders' work has had a noticeable impact on the curriculum for reading, writing and mathematics, as well as science and some other subjects. For example, starting in the early years, the approach to teaching early reading is successful. The phonics scheme helps pupils to learn the sounds letters make so that they can put these together to read new words.

Teachers ensure that pupils read books with the same sounds that they have learned. Effective checking and additional approaches, such as an emphasis on vocabulary, continue into Years 2, 3 and 4 to help all pupils become fluent readers. Where pupils continue to struggle, they get effective one-to-one support to help them read confidently and accurately.

In mathematics and science, the planned programme of learning enables teachers to sequence pupils' work in a logical way. In subjects like geography, and art and design, leaders ensure that pupils learn the fundamentals. Like bricks in a wall, facts are built from the ground up, with each new one adding more to what pupils know.

Teachers make a point of going back to past learning so that pupils remember essential ideas. This ensures that pupils have the knowledge they need to tackle more difficult work.

In a few subjects, pupils' learning is not as well structured.

On occasions, the building blocks of knowledge are not logically sequenced. As a result, pupils find it difficult to join up key ideas and see the bigger picture. One of the reasons for this is that, sometimes, teachers do not have detailed subject expertise.

Leaders have identified this as a priority and subject-specific training for staff is imminent now that the pandemic restrictions have eased.

Leaders ensure that pupils get experiences that are broader than the academic side of learning. Right from the start of the early years, the well-designed curriculum, including for RSE and health education, aims to give pupils a wide understanding of the world.

This ranges from promoting understanding about British values, and different viewpoints and cultures, to making pupils aware of how to keep themselves safe.

Leaders have ensured that teachers' workload remains manageable by, for example, reducing the amount of assessment and marking. Informal, ongoing checks are used purposefully to identify pupils falling behind and to adapt the work.

Staff said they feel well supported.

The support given to pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is planned effectively. Leaders make sure that these pupils' needs are identified quickly, including in the early years.

They also ensure that pupils, including those with complex needs, are supported to overcome barriers to learning. Pupils are given the same work as other pupils but receive additional help tailored to their needs, often from well-trained teaching assistants.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Everyone's emphasis on keeping pupils safe and on ensuring their well-being defines Jubilee. For example, leaders are relentless in checking on the safety of pupils who are missing from school and ensuring that the local authority is kept fully informed. Pupils feel safe, and are kept safe, because of the actions of staff.

All staff are trained regularly on safeguarding, including the most recent guidance about sexual abuse. They have a secure understanding of how to spot pupils who may be at risk, or who feel anxious or upset. A new online system is helping to ensure that pupils who may need help are identified quickly.

Leaders work closely with the local authority to ensure that effective extra support for pupils who need it is made available quickly.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, the curriculum is not as logically sequenced as it needs to be. In some cases, the building blocks of the curriculum are not structured in a way that links different ideas and concepts.

As a result, pupils find it difficult to join up the facts, deepen their knowledge and skills and understand the bigger picture. Leaders should build on their existing work to further develop some areas of the curriculum. This includes carrying out their plans for a renewed push on professional development to increase teachers' subject knowledge and expertise.