Newsome Junior Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Newsome Junior School is safe and welcoming.

Pupils enjoy attending. They play well together at social times. Behaviour in lessons is calm and focused.

Pupils demonstrate the school values of being respectful, safe and ready to learn. They show high levels of support for one another. Pupils celebrate their diverse community.

The school runs projects to support this. For example, one project involves pupils listening to stories from people who have different backgrounds and life experiences. This helps pupils to develop empathy and prepares them well for life in modern Britain.

The school has experienced significant change in recent years. There is no...w a stable staff team in place. The school is being supported by a local multi-academy trust The trust is providing effective support.

This has increased the pace of improvement.

The school has high expectations for what pupils should learn. The curriculum has been developed.

Recent improvements are not reflected in the historical outcomes of pupils attending the school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well, including those who have education, health and care plans.

A small number of pupils do not attend school regularly.

However, the school has a range of strategies in place to address this. This is leading to improvements in pupils' attendance.

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

A new phonics scheme is in place for pupils who need it.

Pupils who need additional help to learn to read now catch up quickly. Pupils regularly read to staff. This helps them develop their confidence and fluency.

Pupils talk enthusiastically about the books that they have read.

In most subjects, leaders have identified the knowledge and skills that pupils should learn. Teachers know the important knowledge to emphasise and revisit.

Where this happens, for example in history, pupils' knowledge is sophisticated. Pupils explain their learning well. However, in some subjects, some of the knowledge pupils should learn is not identified clearly enough.

When this happens, teachers miss opportunities to deepen pupils' understanding.

Most staff have strong subject knowledge. Subject leaders receive support and training.

However, presently, some subject leaders do not regularly check the implementation of the curriculum in their subjects. Instead, they have informal conversations with teachers. These do not enable subject leaders to evaluate the implementation of the curriculum in their subjects in sufficient depth.

Pupils with SEND receive the right support at the right time. Staff adapt learning for pupils with SEND where needed. Pupils who need help to manage their behaviour, are well supported.

The school helps pupils, including those with SEND, to transition from infant school to juniors, and later on to secondary school, very effectively. Those pupils who speak English as an additional language are also well supported in school. Staff understand their needs well.

Some recent changes in the provision for pupils with SEND have not been communicated well to parents. Some parents are not clear about the support that their children receive.

Pupils value the curriculum for personal, social and health education (PSHE).

They have meaningful discussions about a wide range of topics, including staying safe online and keeping healthy. They learn about British values and understand that not all countries are democratic. Pupils remember their learning of the PSHE curriculum well.

There are clubs and wider opportunities in place, including various sporting clubs and competitions. Some clubs, such as gardening and choir, are scheduled to begin after half term. However, the variety of clubs and educational visits is not as broad, or as carefully targeted, as it could be.

For example, while the school monitors pupils' attendance at clubs, it does not collate and analyse information to ensure that those pupils who might benefit most are encouraged to join in. There is an active school council which is proud to act as a role model in school.

Governors are committed to the school and have the right priorities.

They have clear processes for checking the effectiveness of leaders' actions. Most staff feel supported. A small number think communication could be improved.

Some parents and carers feel that the school could communicate with them more effectively, for example about the support their children with SEND receive.

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 foundation subjects, there are aspects of the curriculum that are not fully developed.

Where this is the case, staff do not clearly explain and emphasise the most important knowledge to pupils. In some subjects, pupils do not develop the depth of knowledge they could. The school should continue to develop the curriculum so that staff know what to emphasise to pupils.

• Some staff and parents do not feel that communication is consistently clear enough. For example, some parents of pupils with SEND are not clear enough about the support their children receive. The school should continue to develop strategies for communicating more effectively with all stakeholders.

• Some of the school's monitoring processes are too informal. When this happens, the information that leaders gather does not enable them to evaluate fully what next steps might be needed. Leaders should make sure that all monitoring processes are consistently rigorous so that findings can be swiftly acted upon.

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