Someries Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to Someries Junior School.

It is a school where pupils are happy and feel safe. Pupils learn about the school's values of respect, responsibility, tolerance, kindness, aspiration and cooperation, and these underpin the daily life in school.

The school has high expectations for every pupil to achieve their very best, regardless of their needs or background.

Pupils rise to this and achieve well overall. Staff work well with parents and carers to engage them in their children's learning. This supports pupils' achievement across the curriculum and helps parents know how they can support their children at home.

Pupils have many opportun...ities to join a large variety of clubs to develop their interests. These clubs are well attended, including by disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils can participate in many activities, such as cookery, gardening and different sports.

This supports the pupils' wider development.

This is a community where diversity and differences are celebrated. Leaders organise a wide range of events, including visiting local care homes and inviting different religious leaders to school.

From these opportunities, pupils learn the importance of making a positive contribution to their community.

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

Pupils enjoy reading. Reading is at the heart of the curriculum because leaders have given it a high priority across the school.

They have invested heavily in books to ensure pupils have a wide range of books and genres to read. Authors and illustrators are invited into school to inspire pupils to read and write. There is a consistent approach to teaching reading which supports pupils' learning.

Any pupils who fall behind receive additional support to help them get back on track.

The school has developed an ambitious curriculum that helps pupils to achieve well. The curriculum maps out the knowledge and skills pupils need to learn.

Learning opportunities are meaningful. They help pupils to understand, remember and build on their learning. In most subjects, teachers check what pupils know routinely and adjust the learning accordingly.

However, in a minority of subjects, teachers do not always check what pupils have learned. This can lead to gaps in the pupils' knowledge.

The school has systems in place to ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are identified accurately and promptly.

The school makes appropriate adjustments that enable pupils with SEND to work alongside their peers in all areas of the curriculum. However, occasionally, pupils with SEND do not have their targets and next steps clearly identified. This makes it difficult for staff to support their learning effectively.

However, pupils with SEND typically achieve well.

Leaders have prioritised attendance. They have effective strategies in place to support pupils and families.

As a result, attendance is high, and pupils and parents value education. There are strong relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning.

The large majority of pupils behave well and enjoy their learning. However, sometimes pupils can be unkind to each other. The school works effectively to address this and ensure pupils live up to the high expectations of their behaviour.

The school's approach to promoting pupils' personal development has been well thought through. Pupils learn to value and respect differences. Pupils learn about life in modern British society.

Visitors to school and trips support pupils' learning of the curriculum and make it relevant. For example, the recent trip to Barton Springs supported pupils' learning about rivers.

Governors have a secure understanding of the school's strengths and areas for improvement.

They are aware of their statutory duties and ensure these are met. Staff enjoy working in the school. They are very positive about how leaders consider well-being and workload.

The school invests in its staff. Staff appreciate the continued professional development that enables them to fulfil their roles effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• At times, next steps for pupils with SEND are not tailored fully to their needs. This hinders how well some pupils with SEND learn across the curriculum. The school should ensure staff identify next steps that meet the needs of pupils with SEND fully to better support their learning.

• In some subjects, assessment of what pupils know is not as well developed as in others. In these subjects, teachers do not use checks on pupils' understanding effectively to adapt subsequent learning. The school should ensure that teachers check pupils understanding in all subjects and use this information to adapt teaching to build on what pupils know and can do effectively.

• The behaviour policy is not consistently applied by all staff across the school day. Therefore, a small minority of pupils do not always live up to the school's high expectations for behaviour. The school should ensure that all staff have the same high expectations for pupils' behaviour and apply the school's behaviour policy consistently.

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