Wensum Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and are well cared for. They have positive relationships with staff.

Pupils know that their teachers will help them and listen to them. They are confident to share any concerns with adults.

Pupils know the school values of 'kindness - honesty – respect'.

Behaviour is getting better. However, while most try their best to follow the behaviour expectations, some do not behave well enough.

Pupils enjoy the wide range of clubs on offer after school and at lunchtime, such as archery.

Some pupils benefit from taking on roles and responsibilities, such as being a school councillor. However, some of the broader work to develop pupils...' understanding of the society in which they live is at an early stage.

Pupils know that leaders now expect them to work hard.

Many pupils are rising to this challenge enthusiastically. More pupils are concentrating and trying hard in their lessons. However, some pupils need more support to maintain these high standards consistently.

In some subjects, pupils do not develop a secure understanding of important facts and concepts, and the quality of education is not good enough.

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

Changes in trust and school leadership from the beginning of the year have helped to bring about positive improvements and ensure that pupils access a broad curriculum. The school has identified what pupils should learn in each subject.

However, the implementation of these plans is varied. In some subjects, the school does not check on pupils' learning well enough, and as a result, some pupils do not make the progress they ought to.

Reading is prioritised throughout the school.

Phonics teaching supports pupils who struggle with reading effectively. The school has provided staff with training and guidance. Adults know which sounds to teach and when, and how, to teach them.

Pupils take home appropriate books that are well matched to the sounds they are learning in class. Pupils are well supported to catch up quickly and read with increasing confidence and fluency. The school ensures pupils access high-quality and challenging texts.

The school ensures that all pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified swiftly. Pupils with more complex needs are well supported. They get the resources they need to help them to achieve well.

However, other pupils with SEND do not consistently receive support that is matched to their needs. This means that some pupils with SEND do not always access the same ambitious curriculum as their classmates when they are capable of doing so.Pupils know about the rewards and sanctions in the new behaviour policy.

Most are motivated to behave by these expectations. Pupils' behaviour is improving as a result. For example, there are fewer reports of negative behaviours.

Despite this, a few pupils' behaviour disrupts learning in lessons for others because staff do not always consistently apply school policy.

The school has recently put in place a curriculum to support pupils' personal development. However, this work is at an early stage.

While pupils learn about the importance of respecting others different from themselves, some struggle to apply this learning in their school and wider community. Staff are connecting experiences beyond the classroom to the wider curriculum, which is motivating pupils to learn. For example, pupils in Year 5 recently visited a local meadow, learning about looking after the environment and the impact of littering.

The school and trust board members know the weaknesses in the school and are working at pace to improve this. Their actions to support pupil achievement and behaviour since the beginning of the year have resulted in swift improvements. They are ambitious in their vision for the school.

Staff are appreciative of leaders' actions and ambitions and recognise that the school is on a journey. Staff are now clear about what actions are needed to ensure the school continues to improve.

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 subjects, the planned curriculum is not being delivered as intended and leaders do not know how well pupils are learning. As a result, pupils are missing out on learning important concepts. The school should ensure that pupils are gaining all the knowledge and understanding they need in each subject and that staff know what has not been remembered by pupils, using this information to inform teachers' and subject leaders' planning.

• Planning and support for pupils with SEND is not consistently effective. This means that some pupils with SEND do not always access the school's curriculum offer. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise and training needed to ensure they make appropriate adaptations to meet the needs of all pupils with SEND.

• The school's actions to improve pupils' behaviour are not yet consistently embedded. This means that learning in class is sometimes disrupted. The school should ensure that the agreed policy and procedures are consistently applied by all staff.

• Aspects of the school's work to support pupils' personal development are new. Pupils are not as well equipped for life in modern Britain as they should be. The school needs to ensure that pupils have the knowledge, understanding and opportunities they need to enable them to be positive citizens in their school and wider community.