Race Leys Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Race Leys Junior School continues to be a good school.

The head of school is Sue-Ellen Lamb and the executive headteacher is Carrie Clare.This school is part of the Griffin Schools Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Anne Powell, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Mike McCreedy.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school benefit greatly from the 'Griffin Promise'. They learn the importance of the value of perseverance as they begin their journey to becoming lifelong learners. Pupils are proud to be members of their school and are motivated by an ...awe-inspiring environment which successfully ignites imagination and sparks interest in books and authors.

This helps pupils to achieve well by the time they leave the school.

Opportunities to 'widen pupils' horizons' come in many forms. Pupils enjoy a trip to London, where they visit theatres, museums and engage with pupils from a partner Griffin school.

They listen with interest to eminent scientists who work in esteemed universities and learn about legendary leaders in assemblies linked to topics such a neurodiversity and equality.

Being part of a caring community really matters to pupils. They are well looked after and form close relationships with the adults who support them.

This helps many to feel safe and happy. Learning musical instruments, Spanish and experiencing new 'co-curricular' clubs all help to develop pupils' talents and interests.

Developing pupil leadership skills is a key priority.

Being a 'head Griffin' and becoming a member of the junior leadership team carries a responsibility to make improvements to the school. Many pupils feel their voice matters and leave the school wanting to make a difference and do well in future studies.

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

Race Leys is a school where all staff are united behind the vision of raising the aspirations of the pupils it serves.

Leaders have considered deeply how best to motivate, educate and support pupils and have designed a learning environment that enables them to achieve this ambition. Most pupils do well because the school dedicates time and resources to spotting gaps in learning and offering extra support when needed. Assessments are used purposefully and are manageable for staff to complete.

Recent adaptations to the curriculum have supported staff to deliver learning sequences that build progressively on the knowledge that pupils have previously gained. In subjects, such as modern foreign languages, pupils learn how first to identify common words and phrases then in later years how to have a basic conversation in Spanish. In religious education, pupils learn the principles of tolerance and mutual respect.

Many understand that knowing more about other cultures and faiths supports them to be more inclusive and kind.

In some subjects, developments are continuing. In mathematics, many pupils learn their number bonds and times tables and can use these when calculating.

However, not all pupils are consistently provided with the opportunity to deepen their understanding in this subject, and they encounter difficulties when reasoning and solving more complex mathematical problems.

Most pupils enjoy reading. They select books from an extensive library and follow the work of different authors through a series of books.

Pupils enjoy it when authors visit to share their work and read stories. This helps some to get lost in imaginary worlds. Some pupils read at home and if they do so regularly, they get the chance to be awarded tokens to spend at the book vending machine.

Most pupils can read independently by the end of Key stage 2, with further support provided for those at the earliest stages of reading.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are increasingly well supported. Most pupils are helped to access the school's curriculum because support plans identify how best to do so.

The school has effective working relationships with specialist support services.

Most pupils display positive attitudes to learning and are grateful for the time that staff give to making their learning engaging. Most understand that it is their responsibility to demonstrate the correct learning behaviours.

However, a minority of pupils do not behave as expected when learning and this is not consistently being addressed by all staff.

A dedicated team of pastoral staff work to support the social and emotional needs of the pupils and families at the school. They work with leaders to offer early help and provide counselling sessions to those who need such support.

Despite the schools' work to improve attendance, strategies are not working as well as they should for all pupils. Too many pupils are persistently absent from school, meaning that their social and academic development is affected.

Minecraft, cookery, drama and singing are just a few of the clubs that pupils enjoy taking part in.

The arts festival and science symposium provide opportunities for pupils to develop a deeper love of learning and many feel that such opportunities help them to understand the world around them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• A minority of pupils do not behave as expected when learning and this is not consistently addressed by all staff.

Some pupils report that their learning is disrupted and this can affect their understanding. The school should ensure that the expectations for addressing low-level disruption as outlined in the behaviour policy are followed by all staff. ? Despite the school's work to improve attendance, strategies are not working as well as they should for all pupils.

As a result, a significant minority of pupils are absent for extended periods of learning and miss out on the opportunities to develop both academically and socially. The school should continue to develop further strategies to reduce persistent absence and low attendance. ? Not all pupils are consistently provided the opportunity to deepen their understanding in mathematics.

This means that some pupils are not routinely applying the facts and calculation methods when problem-solving and this prevents them deepening their understanding. The school should ensure that there are regular opportunities for pupils to develop their reasoning skills in mathematics.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good on 5 and 6 February 2019.

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