Mayhill Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Mayhill Junior School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Staff know pupils well and treat them with care and respect.

Pupils are polite, enjoy their work and show high regard when listening to their classmates' views and opinions.

Pupils achieve well at Mayhill. Leaders and teachers are determined in their efforts to support every pupil to be successful both academically and socially.

Leaders ensure that pupils learn skills that enable them to be safe while away from school. Pupils have a good understanding of how to stay safe when using the internet. They explained to me why i...t was important to keep personal details safe and why they shouldn't share passwords.

Teachers provide a range of opportunities for pupils. Learning is enhanced through visits to places such as Stonehenge and The Living Rainforest. There is a wide range of clubs on offer, including those for ceramics, ukulele and sewing.

These clubs are very popular with the pupils, and many are full.

Pupils say that bullying rarely happens. When it does, they know that staff will deal with it quickly.

Pupils play well together, enjoying the wide range of games that are organised by the older pupils at lunchtime.

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

Leaders have planned a broad and exciting curriculum, which they have adapted to meet the needs of all pupils. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported.

Staff ensure that pupils are fully involved in all school activities. Pupils with SEND learn well and make good progress. Pupils of service families are very well supported.

There are strong links with the local RAF base. Many pupils of service families join during the year. There is a well-planned programme to ensure that their social and emotional needs are met, so they settle quickly into their new school.

In nearly all subject areas, leaders have set out the content to be taught in a way that enables pupils to build their knowledge and skills over time. Where subject leaders are new in their roles, for example in design technology, subject leadership and curriculum development are less advanced. School leaders are aware, and helpful training for these new staff is under way.

Reading is a priority of the school. Pupils who have not reached the expected standard in phonics when they join in Year 3 are given extra support to enable them to catch up. High-quality texts are used throughout the school, for example during guided reading sessions.

Reading comprehension work is well planned and builds on pupils' previous skills and learning. Pupils are regularly exposed to a rich vocabulary, for example through access to texts by carefully chosen authors. Pupils are developing positive reading habits.

They read regularly at school and at home. Pupils who read to me read fluently and were able to make predictions as to what might happen in the text. Typically, by the end of key stage 2, pupils reach above-average standards in reading.

Science is a strength of the school. The subject leader has developed a programme of work that builds on pupils' prior learning. Knowledge and skills are arranged in a carefully sequenced progression and pupils can recall learning from previous years.

Pupils explained to me how what they had learned in Year 3 about light had helped them to understand their current work about space.

Staff work hard to promote pupils' wider development. Leaders make sure that pupils learn about other faiths and cultures, including those found in modern Britain.

Pupils learn about democracy by, for example, electing house captains or through the Year 5 'Fight for Freedom' topic.

Leaders ensure that the well-being of every member of staff is a priority. Staff say they appreciate the changes introduced to reduce their workload.

Governors know the school well. They support leaders and staff and hold them to account. This helps to make sure the quality of education remains good.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong safeguarding culture across the school. The leader for safeguarding ensures that all staff have the training and up-to-date information they need to keep pupils safe.

Staff know what to do if they have any concerns about pupils' well-being. All adults undergo rigorous safety checks before working with pupils.

Governors regularly check that safeguarding procedures are followed effectively by all members of staff.

Pupils say that they feel safe at school. They told me that there is always an adult they can talk to if they have any worries.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Some subject leaders have only recently been appointed and, as a result, their leadership skills are still developing.

Leaders should continue the planned programme of training for these colleagues, to ensure that pupils' learning in all areas of the curriculum is well developed. . Pupils' learning in nearly all foundation subjects is well planned and sequenced.

A minority of these subjects, including design technology for example, require further development. Leaders should redouble their work in less well developed subjects to ensure that teaching builds pupils' knowledge and skills reliably as they progress through the school.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2016.

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