Westbury Church of England Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Following a period of significant turbulence at Westbury Church of England Junior School, there is a tangible sense of stability and optimism.

Pupils who attend the school experience kindness and compassion from experienced, caring staff.

Consequently, pupils like and respect adults working at the school. They are confident that staff will help them should they need it. Pupils adhere to the 'calm corridors' expectation.

The school is well organised. Pupils are safe.

The school is working with determination to improve how well pupils learn and remember the curriculum.

Leaders at all levels are aware that more must be done to ensure that pupil...s achieve more. Much has been put in place over recent months. It is too soon to see the impact of many of these actions.

Pupils' achievement has been low and remains low.

Recent improvements to behaviour and attendance means that fewer pupils now have very weak attendance. New behaviour approaches based on being 'calm, kind and polite' are making a positive difference to expectations.

This is an inclusive school that seeks to provide support for pupils who need it. The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) who attend the complex needs resource base well.

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

Current leaders at all levels, including governors and middle leaders, are determined to work together to tackle the long-standing weaknesses that exist.

There has been considerable upheaval and recent changes to how the school is led. Throughout this period, the local authority has provided support for the school. This has had a positive impact on helping the school to begin to make improvements needed.

Some support is still needed, such as for governance.

The school is adamant that pupils develop an ethos of respect. Staff know their community well and a large part of their work is related to raising aspirations for all pupils.

The school's motto 'respect, care, inspire' is well understood by pupils.

The school's work to ensure that pupils experience learning beyond the taught curriculum is successful. Residential trips and visits linked to their curriculum learning as well as involvement in music concerts and competitions help broaden pupils' experiences.

Leaders actively promote equality of opportunity. Termly diversity themes enable pupils to develop a wider understanding of the range of differences within the world and how to accept and be respectful of them.

However, the school is well aware that too many pupils leave the school unprepared for learning at their next destination.

Appropriate plans and actions are in place to make the improvements needed to the quality of education, but these improvements are recent.

A whole-school priority on improving reading has included high-quality training for staff on how to deliver a new approach to teaching phonics. New extra interventions help pupils who need to catch up.

This is already helping pupils to improve their early reading skills. However, the school is aware that some of the most vulnerable pupils do not consistently practise their reading often enough to become confident, fluent readers.

In mathematics, recent improvements to the curriculum mean that pupils now receive well-sequenced lessons.

In other core areas such as science and writing, there is more to be done to ensure that pupils learn and can do more over time. Some pupils' handwriting is underdeveloped, and some workbooks are poorly presented. Subject monitoring is at an early stage in some subjects.

There is not a systematic programme in place to check that all pupils, including pupils with SEND, learn and remember the intended curriculum across all subjects. Systems and practices for supporting pupils with SEND are inconsistent.

Pupils' learning does not consistently build knowledge based on what pupils have understood and remembered.

This sometimes leads to weaknesses in how well pupils achieve over time.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils' learning in some subjects, including in some core subjects, does not consistently build their knowledge over time.

Leaders at all levels, including middle leaders and governors, must ensure that actions to make improvements to the curriculum help all pupils, including those with SEND, to achieve well. ? Information about what pupils know and can do is not securely leading to adaptations in the curriculum. Leaders at all levels, including middle leaders and governors, must ensure that there are consistent systems for assessment across the school so that all pupils, including those with SEND, can successfully learn the curriculum.

• Some vulnerable pupils do not consistently have opportunities to practise their reading. This slows their progress in becoming fluent readers. The school needs to ensure that the most vulnerable readers have the practice they need to catch up.