Long Buckby Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Long Buckby Junior School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Long Buckby Juniors is a nurturing and happy school. Leaders are ambitious and have high expectations of pupils' behaviour and of their commitment to learning.

These expectations are consistently upheld by staff. Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning. Pupils show high levels of focus in lessons.

They achieve well.

Pupils are polite and well-mannered. They interact with their peers and adults respectfully.

At break and lunchtimes, pupils play happily together and help each other. Pupils are proud of their school. They appreciate the opport...unities the school provides for them.

For example, pupils enjoy a range of school trips and taking on different responsibilities.

Pupils feel safe. They know that they can talk to adults if they have any concerns or worries.

The school has strong relationships with families and the local community. As a result, the school is welcoming and staff know the pupils well.

Pupils feel that the school's approach to managing behaviour is fair.

Pupils understand what bullying is, including cyber-bullying. They feel that on the rare occasion when bullying does take place, staff will resolve it.

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

Leaders have prioritised reading and want all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to become confident and fluent readers.

Pupils enjoy the school's creative approaches to develop and foster a love of reading. For example, the school has created a reading garden and uses a reading dog.

The school's phonics programme is well taught.

Lessons provide pupils with the opportunity to practise blending sounds together to build new words. Reading lessons use a range of approaches based around the use of reading 'learning friends'. This supports pupils to develop their comprehension skills.

Leaders have selected books that cover a diverse range of themes and cultures.

The mathematics curriculum is ambitious. Pupils, including those with SEND, practise their mathematical fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills daily.

Teachers model how to use a range of different calculation methods. Pupils revisit their prior learning every day. This helps pupils to progress through the curriculum well.

Pupils answer questions that encourage them to use and apply the skill they have learned in a new context. This helps pupils to extend their thinking at a deeper level.

The curriculum planning for some foundation subjects does not identify the precise knowledge that pupils need to learn.

Pupils do not always revisit prior learning in some of the foundation subjects. Pupils do not always remember what they have learned in these subjects.

Pupils with SEND are well supported in lessons.

Teachers use a range of adaptations to make learning accessible for these pupils. The school works effectively with external agencies to ensure that pupils' needs are met.

Pupils' behaviour is a strength of the school.

Pupils show high levels of concentration and are respectful of each other. They understand that there are some pupils who struggle to manage their own behaviour. Staff consider pupils' individual challenges when managing behaviour so that consequences are appropriate.

The school uses suspensions appropriately.

The school prioritises pupils' personal development. Pupils learn about different types of families and relationships.

Pupils demonstrate a mature understanding of protected characteristics and understand what discrimination is. One pupil said, 'This school is special because if you have a disability the adults treat you like everyone else and give you the care you need. This school accepts everybody.'



Pupils have access to a wide range of clubs. Pupils enjoy the opportunities they get to take on an area of responsibility or to engage with the local community. For example, pupils enjoy being a 'reading garden guardian' or helping to host a community tea event.

The school is well led and managed. Staff, including early careers teachers, feel well supported by leaders with regards to workload. Staff value the training opportunities available to them.

They said that leaders are approachable and supportive. Governors fulfil their statutory duties.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some of the foundation subjects, the specific knowledge that pupils should learn is not yet precisely identified. This limits how well teachers can check pupils' learning in these subjects. As a result, teachers do not always help pupils to build their knowledge.

The school should ensure that the curriculum sets out exactly what pupils should learn and when in these foundation subjects. The school should ensure that there is a consistent approach to assessing what pupils know, so that pupils achieve as well as they should in these subjects.

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

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

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2015.