Abbotswood Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher has nurtured a team of dedicated, highly skilled teachers and leaders who share an ambitious vision for pupils at the school. As a result, increasing numbers of pupils enter their secondary education well placed to succeed.

There is a strong culture of professional development in the school. Staff feel valued and are highly skilled because of the effective coaching that they receive from leaders. Close, regular evaluation ensures that pupils at risk of falling behind are given the help that they need to improve quickly.

Leaders, including governors, have made a significant difference to teaching and pupils' outcomes since ...the last inspection. Teachers use engaging topics, high-quality texts and intriguing 'hooks' to make learning enjoyable. Pupils' interest and success in learning is shared with parents at well-attended events throughout the year.

Pupils are animated when talking about improvements in their work. They use their 'gap targets' purposefully to focus on the skills that they need to develop next. The majority of parents at the school feel that their children are happy, safe and well looked after.

Parents of pupils with additional needs feel that leaders go 'above and beyond' to ensure that their children can learn confidently with their peers. Pupils behave well during lesson time and respond quickly to adult reminders during playtimes. They show pride in opportunities that they have to represent the school or make decisions on behalf of others.

In the past, disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have not made the progress they should, particularly in reading. While this is improving quickly, some of these pupils miss school too often, limiting their progress. Although the most able pupils attain well, opportunities to deepen and extend pupils' learning are not provided early enough in learning activities across the wider curriculum.

Leaders of other curriculum subjects, such as science and religious education, are not yet impacting as strongly on pupils' attainment as those of English and mathematics.

Information about this school

The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.

About one quarter of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium. This is close to the national average. A lower-than-average proportion of pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Most pupils in the school are from a White British background. A much-lower-than-average proportion of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds. A similar proportion of pupils in the school speak English as an additional language.

A quarter of the teaching staff are new to the profession or in school-centred initial teacher training. Core subject leaders and year leaders are new to post. The special educational needs coordinator is newly appointed since the last inspection in January 2015.

Reviews of governance and of leaders' use of the pupil premium grant have been completed since the last inspection. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. The school does not meet the Department for Education's definition of a coasting school based on key stage 2 academic performance results in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

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