Kilburn Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Kilburn Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 8 March 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in June 2014. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are an aspirational leader, committed to providing an inspiring and successful education for all pupils. You have developed a loyal and enthusiastic team of staff.

They share your vision of creating an inclusive school where pupils' achieveme...nts are celebrated. You and the staff team know the school's priorities for improvement well. Together you are delivering a highly engaging curriculum.

The federation with a local school is providing a useful source of support and expertise. You provide moderation opportunities, as well as professional development at all levels across the federation. This unique relationship is supportive and well led.

Pupils spoke positively about the opportunities which are provided for them across both schools. Pupils are enthusiastic learners and are highly engaged in their learning. They show good conduct and behaviour in lessons and around the school.

Pupils value the help and support they receive from all adults in the school. Pupils said, 'Teachers make lessons fun and we are able to learn from our mistakes.' They enjoy their lessons because the curriculum is stimulating and matches their interests well.

For example, pupils can learn a range of skills in the school's outdoor learning area. They develop their academic, personal and social skills. Parents and carers spoke highly of you and the staff's warmth and care for their children.

They value the benefits of the federation. For example, pupils enjoy the many sporting competitions across the federation. They said their children are eager to come to school and welcome the broad range of extra-curricular activities on offer, such as cycling, fencing and tri-golf.

The governing body has a high level of expertise and is committed to improving the school further. Governors know the strengths of the school well and recognise the priorities for development. They use their skills expertly to check regularly on the work of the school.

Governors attend relevant training to ensure that they are knowledgeable about wider school development. They target training opportunities based on the governing body's skills audit. Governors know their roles and responsibilities well, particularly for the safeguarding of pupils.

Since the last inspection, you have worked with other staff to ensure that the majority of pupils move on quickly to new or more challenging work during lessons. Well-trained teaching assistants work alongside class teachers to support a range of ability groups. They work with small groups of pupils on reading, writing and mathematics activities.

Pupils assess their own learning with support from adults. Teachers and teaching assistants use this information well to decide the next steps in pupils' learning. During the inspection, we looked at pupils' workbooks together and noted that the most able pupils are not challenged consistently in writing and mathematics lessons.

You have made this a priority in the school's plans for improvement. Arrangements are already in place so that teachers provide consistent challenge for the most able pupils throughout the school. Together, we saw pupils using and applying their literacy and mathematics skills.

For example, pupils who were part of the 'Trailblazer' outdoor learning group performed short stories through drama using the new outdoor classroom. Pupils also created clay Mayan sculptures as part of their work in history. Teachers use the full range of the curriculum well for pupils to develop their key skills.

During the tour of the school, we looked at pupils' workbooks. The most effective teaching asks pupils to practise their writing skills regularly in a range of lessons. Pupils present work well and have opportunities to reflect on the quality of their writing skills.

More generally, pupils do not yet have enough opportunities to practise their grammar, punctuation and spelling skills. You and the mathematics leader have recently introduced more activities that ask pupils to use and apply their problem-solving and reasoning skills. You are both checking how effective these activities have been in developing pupils' skills.

You acknowledge that, sometimes, teachers do not include this element of work frequently enough. You are now adapting the provision to ensure that pupils practise these skills regularly. Safeguarding is effective.

You have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You have trained your staff and governors well, including training on recognising and tackling extremism. They receive regular updates on safeguarding.

You and the staff are knowledgeable about your roles and responsibilities. Staff know they have a duty to be vigilant and know well the different forms of abuse. You make swift referrals and work well with a range of external agencies to support pupils and their families.

Records are well organised and actions taken by external agencies and staff are recorded meticulously. This ensures that the needs of pupils are being met in a timely manner. Information about attendance, welfare and behaviour are carefully logged to form a complete picture of the child, their needs and the support you have put in place.

You meet with parents to resolve concerns if they have them. You have established a nurture group to support pupils who may need additional emotional support. Pupils have responded well to this provision and said that they feel well cared for.

You have also engaged support from the Derbyshire Multi-Agency Team to deliver small-group support for older pupils. The school's focus on the emotional welfare of pupils is ensuring that they settle well in the school and are able to learn effectively. The school's checks to help keep children safe are carried out thoroughly.

The recruitment checks on the suitability of staff and volunteers to work with children are thorough and well organised. The school's record of staff and visitor checks meets all requirements. Inspection findings ? You and the English leader have improved the provision of reading.

You have ensured that guided reading activities in small groups help pupils to develop their comprehension skills. Teachers and teaching assistants ask pupils questions that extend and deepen their understanding of texts. Pupils who spoke to me said that they enjoy reading.

They use and apply their phonics skills and comprehension skills well. Teachers also provide challenging class reading texts so that pupils have opportunities to broaden their vocabulary and knowledge. ? Subject leaders are highly skilled.

They use assessment information effectively to support teachers with training and to organise additional catch-up groups. The headteacher and executive headteacher ensure that all staff, including subject leaders, receive the right training. Subject leaders also support newly qualified teachers with planning and assessment.

Subject leaders work across the federation to share and build on their knowledge and skills. ? Leaders at all levels check pupils' learning regularly and provide feedback to staff. They are skilful at evaluating learning and adjusting the provision to meet the needs of pupils.

The English leader, who also leads provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, evaluates provision regularly. She checks that pupils in additional learning groups make the progress of which they are capable. She provides training to teaching assistants, who are highly effective in their role.

• Pupils' workbooks show that pupils do not have enough opportunities to use and apply their grammar, punctuation and spelling skills in a range of genres. We noted that pupils do not practise their writing skills frequently enough. This varies, however, and some pupils practise their writing skills across the curriculum.

For example, pupils in Year 6 wrote texts explaining facts about Earth and space. Pupils in Year 4 enjoyed writing a persuasive piece of text about keeping a class pet. On this occasion, pupils wrote for a purpose and fish were subsequently purchased.

• The mathematics leader has recently introduced a new book in which pupils record the use of their problem-solving and reasoning skills. Teachers provide opportunities for pupils to practise these skills. The mathematics leader is checking that this new initiative meets the needs of the pupils.

• When we looked in pupils' workbooks, we noticed that the most able pupils were not challenged sufficiently in writing and mathematics. You have already made this a key priority in your plans for improvement. Subject leaders are developing ways to improve the quality of teaching in writing and mathematics to accelerate pupils' progress.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers adapt learning tasks to match pupils' abilities so that all pupils, particularly the most able pupils, make faster progress in writing and mathematics ? all teachers provide more opportunities for pupils to practise their writing skills ? teachers provide more opportunities for pupils to develop their problem-solving and reasoning skills in mathematics. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Derbyshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Emma Nuttall Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I held meetings with you and I also met with three governors, including the chair of the governing body. I spoke with parents before school and with a group of pupils about their school experience. Jointly with you, I visited all classes and we sampled pupils' books.

In addition, I checked the school's safeguarding arrangements and records, including the school's record of recruitment checks on staff. I evaluated the school's documentation about pupils' achievement, planning for improvement and monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning. I met with the English and mathematics subject leaders.

I spoke with them about how they are accelerating progress in reading. I also looked at how middle leaders are developing their skills fully to lead their subject areas effectively. I also considered how leaders use pupils' assessment information and monitoring information to further raise standards.

I took account of the 45 responses to Parent View, Ofsted's online survey, and the 17 responses from parents to Ofsted's free-text service. There were 15 responses to Ofsted's online survey for staff. There were no responses from pupils for me to consider.

Also at this postcode