Lozells Junior and Infant School and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Lozells Junior and Infant School and Nursery has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and enjoy their lessons. They are proud to be members of 'Team Lozells'. Pupils feel safe and looked after by the staff.

The school has high expectations for all pupils' achievement. Pupils know this. They behave well and work hard in lessons to successfully reach the high expectations.

Occasionally, when pupils fall out, the school helps them to resolve any issues rapidly.

Pupils enjoy the extra activities which the school provides. This includes visits to the coastline and... a local zoo.

There is also a planned trip to a local theatre. The school works in partnership with others such as the Aston Villa Foundation and the Birmingham Royal Ballet Company to provide practical and exciting opportunities for pupils to learn new skills. The work with these partners, and others, helps pupils understand they can achieve anything in life.

In conversation, pupils value their school and know it is helping to prepare them for secondary school and university later in life.

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

Children get off to a secure start to their education when they join the Nursery. Throughout the early years, the school gives reading and writing a high priority.

Early years classrooms abound with meaningful opportunities for children to read, write and explore numbers. These successfully prepare them for their future learning. The curriculum in all subjects starts in the early years.

The teaching of early reading through phonics is effective. The school forensically tracks progress in learning to read. Staff ensure children keep up rather than catch up.

As a result, children learn to read well, quickly becoming confident and fluent readers. The weakest readers are well supported to improve their reading fluency.

The school has transformed the curriculum in the past two years.

It is carefully ordered to help pupils know and remember more as they progress through school. For example, in art and design, pupils enjoy learning about the work and styles of artists such as Pablo Picasso. They then use what they have learned about cubism to carefully construct their own works of art.

Pupils take a real pride in their work. The curriculum is successfully helping pupils to achieve well. Those at the end of key stage 2 attain high outcomes which leave them well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported in their learning. The school carefully identifies those pupils in need of extra support. Pupils with SEND access the same work in lessons as their peers because of carefully adapted teaching.

In some lessons, teachers check what pupils know and can do before moving on. At times, teachers do not check pupils' learning effectively enough to ensure pupils have no misconceptions about their learning. When this happens, pupils' learning is less secure.

The school is doing all it reasonably can to achieve the highest possible attendance. The school has tight processes in place to track and analyse pupils' attendance. The school is highly successful in overcoming barriers to attendance for individual pupils.

It goes the extra mile by working with a range of partners, including medical practitioners and the local council, to remove any barriers. As a result, pupils attend well.

The school provides all pupils with many opportunities for their wider development.

The school runs a range of clubs which pupils enjoy attending. One of these is the school choir, which has performed at Birmingham Symphony Hall. The school organises a week when parents from a variety of professional occupations, such as doctors and nurses, and police and fire officers, speak with pupils about their roles.

This opens the eyes of pupils to what is possible in life and helps to raise their aspirations. Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. They are respectful of each other and adults.

Pupils are polite and well mannered.

The school has carefully considered the introduction of the new curriculum. It has put in place rigorous monitoring processes which tell the school what is working well and what needs further refinement.

The new curriculum and other changes made by the school have reduced workload for staff. Parents and carers speak enthusiastically about the dedication of staff and how well the school communicates with them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Not all teachers routinely check what pupils know sharply enough. As a result, some pupils have misconceptions that teachers are not aware of and these hinder learning. The school should ensure that ongoing assessment is accurate so any misconceptions can be addressed rapidly.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2019.

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