Manor Farm Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to school because it is a friendly, welcoming place to be. They are enthusiastic to learn.

Pupils are committed to the school's ethos of 'love school, love learning'. They behave well in lessons and around school, following the school rules and routines sensibly. However, pupils do not do as well as they should in their learning.

This is because the school's curriculum is not ambitious enough, and staff expectations are not always high enough.

Pupils know that it is good to be different, and they say that it would be 'boring if everyone is the same'. Pupils get along well.

They are caring and kind to one another. As one pupil said,... 'It is like I have a second family.'

Pupils told inspectors that bullying is unheard of.

They talk confidently about being 'an upstander, not a bystander' when someone is being unkind. Pupils know who to talk to if they have any worries. They have full confidence in staff to deal with any problems that do arise.

Most pupils feel safe in school. However, the most vulnerable pupils are not supported well enough. This is due to weaknesses in leaders' approach to safeguarding.

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

Leaders make sure that pupils learn the full range of national curriculum subjects. However, in too many subjects leaders have not been clear enough about what pupils need to know and understand. Leaders have not considered the order in which important knowledge will be taught.

Teachers do not build well enough on what pupils know and can do. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Governors have not checked on the effectiveness of the school's work rigorously enough.

Consequently, they are not aware of the extent of weaknesses in the curriculum or in arrangements for safeguarding pupils.

Leaders have not prioritised the teaching of reading and phonics highly enough. Staff do not have the training they need to teach reading comprehension well.

They do not check pupils' learning precisely enough. Phonics is not taught well for pupils who are in the early stages of learning to read. They are not given books that match the sounds they learn in lessons.

This means that most pupils struggle to read new words. Pupils do not learn to read as fluently as they should, or with understanding.

In writing, leaders have thought more carefully about what pupils will learn.

Teachers are well trained in teaching writing. They help pupils develop their use of vocabulary to explain their ideas effectively. Pupils have strong knowledge and understanding of different types of writing.

The new headteacher has identified the weaknesses in the curriculum and has begun to address these. For example, in modern foreign languages (MFL), leaders have provided staff with a well-sequenced curriculum. Pupils achieve well in this subject.

They remember important words and phrases. They are confident to use their growing vocabulary when speaking and writing in French. Pupils' positive attitudes and good behaviour mean that lessons are not disrupted.

However, there is more to do to improve the quality of education.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get extra help in lessons. However, adults do not identify the needs of these pupils clearly.

Therefore, individual plans for these pupils are not effective enough. This means that the support pupils receive does not help them learn as much as they should. Furthermore, parents' views are not considered in pupils' individual plans.

Leaders are in the process of addressing this.

Leaders provide a range of opportunities to promote pupils' broader development. Pupils enjoy learning in the school's forest school area.

They learn to take calculated risks and develop a range of skills. For example, pupils learn to work as a team and to solve problems collaboratively. Pupils are also proud to take on responsibilities.

For example, Year 6 pupils enjoy being 'buddies' to Year 3 pupils when they join the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

Leaders have failed to create a culture where staff prioritise pupils' welfare and safety.

Leaders have not given staff sufficient training on the signs to look out for in order to keep all pupils safe. As a result, staff do not understand well enough what information they must report and how to identify when pupils may be at risk of harm. The culture of vigilance is weak.

Leaders have not followed rigorously the procedures to keep the most vulnerable pupils safe from harm. Leaders do not record their actions well enough.

Through the curriculum, pupils learn how to keep themselves safe.

Pupils do not, however, have enough understanding of how to keep themselves safe when online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's culture for safeguarding is not robust. Adults' understanding of safeguarding is poor because they have not been given sufficient training.

Leaders' procedures for recording and reporting safeguarding issues are not thorough enough. Leaders must ensure that all staff are given detailed safeguarding training as a matter of urgency. Staff need to have a good understanding of the signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm so that they know what information must be reported immediately.

Leaders must also make sure that all the necessary safeguarding policies and procedures are embedded in practice and their work to safeguard pupils is properly recorded and reported.Leaders must make sure that the most vulnerable pupils are supported effectively to keep them safe from harm. Leaders must also ensure that pupils develop a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe online.

• Leaders have not prioritised the teaching of reading highly enough. Leaders have not sequenced the reading curriculum effectively. Teachers do not have strong enough subject knowledge.

Leaders should prioritise reading, making sure that pupils' learning builds cumulatively. Reading books should consistently match the phonics pupils are learning. Leaders must train staff so that they deliver the reading curriculum well and pupils achieve the standards of which they are capable.

• Overall, the school's curriculum is not ambitious enough. In too many subjects, leaders have not planned the content pupils will learn, and in which order they will learn it, effectively. Leaders need to structure the curriculum so that pupils' learning builds cumulatively.

This will ensure that pupils achieve as well as they should across the curriculum. ? Governors do not understand the school's weaknesses well enough because they have not checked on the school's work with sufficient rigour. Governors need to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge they need to monitor the work of school leaders effectively and to hold school leaders to account for the quality of education and safeguarding.

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