Dame Janet Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Dame Janet Primary Academy continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school values of determination, joy, pride and achievement thread through all aspects of pupils' school day.

Pupils from all backgrounds, including those who are most disadvantaged are well known. There is great emphasis towards their care and their emotional well-being is a high priority. The school has trained specialist staff to work with pupils along with support from 'Niko' the school therapy dog.

Pupils value their time at school and build trusting relationships with staff.

Pupils meet the school's high expectations by behaving well and working hard. They par...ticipate in lessons with enthusiasm and want to do their best.

They are proud to be part of the school and live up to these expectations daily through their behaviour and learning. Pupils' successes are celebrated through rewards, certificates and assemblies.

Pupils achieve well.

They get the support they need to develop into well-rounded individuals who are ready for the next stage of their education. Pupils enjoy a wide range of experiences, including sports clubs, and museum trips. Pupil leaders make an effective and positive contribution to the school community.

These include roles such as head boy and girl, prefects, librarians and being part of the trust-wide mentoring programme 'TKAT ACE'. Staff and pupils are rightly proud of their school community.

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

The school has designed a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils.

It sets out and breaks down the knowledge that pupils should learn and remember. This is particularly strong in English and mathematics. The school has robustly reviewed the implementation and impact of the curriculum in these core subjects.

Consequently, pupils achieve well in these areas of the curriculum. They confidently recall their learning over time and know how to apply their understanding to new learning. Staff have agreed on effective methods and approaches to teaching these subjects.

Approaches for recalling knowledge and retrieving prior learning are used frequently. Activities based on the school's 'I do, we do, and you do' approach encourage pupils to practise and learn from their mistakes. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the right support that meets their individual needs.

These pupils take part in all aspects of school life and achieve well alongside their peers.

In a small number of subjects, the curriculum is newer, and the teaching of it is not as consistent as it could be. During lessons, the most important knowledge that pupils should learn and remember is not always focused on clearly.

Checks are not always being made to ensure pupils have secured the intended learning. This means that pupils do not learn as much as they could in these subject areas. Leaders are aware and taking responsive action to support curriculum delivery in these areas.

The school prioritises reading effectively. In Nursery, children listen to, and learn, nursery rhymes and stories to help develop their communication and language skills. As soon as children start school, they learn to share books and stories.

In the Reception Year, children quickly learn important reading lesson routines. This helps to build their confidence. Pupils practise the sounds they are learning with carefully chosen books.

Staff have the right expertise to teach reading, developed through the regular professional development on offer. Teachers check pupils' progress in phonics effectively. Pupils who fall behind with reading receive effective extra support and time to practise.

This helps them to learn to become confident and fluent readers.

Leaders recently identified that improvements were needed in pupils' writing skills. Recent changes that have focused on grammar and sentence structure are now increasing pupils' confidence in writing.

Younger children are beginning to develop their writing skills through opportunities to practice mark making before progressing to letter formation. Adults engage meaningfully and purposefully with children in Reception to help them gain independence. Achievements for children are displayed on 'wow walls'.

Children proudly share their successes as they develop positive and resilient attitudes towards their learning.

There are many opportunities for pupils to develop a deeper understanding of the wider world. They learn about respect and demonstrate an understanding of diversity well.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe in the community, including when online. Trips, school clubs and charity work allow pupils to extend their learning beyond the academic curriculum. Pupils enjoy coming to school because they see the value in the educational experiences offered to them.

Leaders have clear systems and they put effective support in place when needed to help pupils to attend school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In subjects that have more recently been developed, the curriculum is not being taught as consistently as intended.

Pupils, therefore, are not learning as much as they could. The school should continue to ensure that teachers consistently focus on teaching essential knowledge and skills they intend pupils to learn across all subjects. ? The school is still refining its processes to check what pupils have learned.

Consequently, teachers do not always know what pupils have understood and how much essential knowledge they can remember and then apply. The school should continue to develop teachers' expertise and the processes they use to identify and address any gaps in pupils' knowledge.

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 in October 2018.