Outstanding junior school in Bristol now ‘requires improvement’ after Ofsted inspection

A north Bristol school has said it is “very disappointed” after it was downgraded to ‘Requires Improvement’ in its latest Ofsted inspection. Henleaze Junior School in Park Grove, which was inspected on Tuesday July 2 and Wednesday July 3, was rated ‘Outstanding’ when it was inspected in May 2013.

The junior school provides education for 355 pupils aged between seven and 11, working alongside the neighboring Henleaze Infant School. The school, now an academy, joined the Cathedral Schools Trust a day before the inspection.

Ofsted rated two of the four categories ‘Good’, behavior and attitudes and personal development, while quality of education and leadership and management were rated as ‘Requires improvement’. This resulted in a lower grade overall because the quality of education is a “bounded judgement” that limits the grade a school could receive.

READ MORE: Schools in Bristol and surrounding areas rated ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted

READ MORE: ‘Friendly and inclusive’ primary school outside Bristol gets ‘Good’ rating

The report praises the school for providing “a wealth of enrichment activities” for students to take part in, which in turn builds their character. The “inclusive school” is reflected in the actions of students who “take care of each other”. Ofsted added: “The focus on their personal development means that pupils appreciate that everyone is different and have a mature understanding of fairness.”

Students behave well at school and students’ knowledge of online safety is strong. The school has a ‘culture of mutual respect’ and pupils develop a sense of citizenship and pride in the fundraising and charity work they do.

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The curriculum has been criticized by Ofsted as requiring development to a better standard. A lack of focus on checking the impact of the curriculum on students means that the curriculum is not consistently well implemented.

Ofsted said: “Teaching of the curriculum varies too much across year groups and subjects, as many staff do not have a secure understanding of the subjects they teach, including reading and maths. The school does not ensure that staff meet expectations for curriculum implementation.

“In some subjects, the content has been ordered coherently so that students build on what they know. But the reading curriculum lacks ambition. In general, the selection of books students read is not rich or coherently selected.

“The school has chosen a specific approach to teaching reading, however not all year groups follow this, as a result of these shortcomings, pupils are faced with a disjointed reading programme. The school has recently adopted a sequenced phonics program to support students who are still in the early stages of reading.”

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in the curriculum and wider school life, meaning pupils play and learn ‘harmoniously together’, but weaknesses in overall delivery mean pupils with SEND I am affected. Ofsted added: “Provision and planning for pupils with SEND is not always accurate.”

“Very disappointed with this judgment”

Henleaze Junior School responded to the report, telling Bristol Live: “Henleaze Junior School received an Ofsted visit on July 2, inspectors found the school to be ‘good’ in the areas of Behavior and Attitudes and Personal Development and ‘Requires Improvement’ in Quality Education and Leadership & Management. The quality of education is a ‘limiting judgement’ and therefore this means that the school has been generally rated as ‘Requires Improvement’.

“Jonathan Parr, the headteacher, has written to parents and carers to explain that we are obviously very disappointed by this judgement. We recognized that our ability to continue to improve the school as a stand-alone academy was limited, particularly with all the challenges we faced following the pandemic.

“It is against this background that we embarked on the process that led to us joining the Cathedral Schools Trust (CST) on July 1, the same day we were informed of the inspection. The school leaders and CST’s school improvement team have a good understanding of what the school needs to do to improve and are confident that rapid progress will be made.

“The report rightly recognizes the significant impact of all the work we have undertaken on inclusion, personal development, behaviour, respect, citizenship, protection, online safety and enrichment. It is particularly encouraging to hear that inspectors have recognized that “pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are fully included in the curriculum and wider school life. This is due to the inclusive ethos that underpins the school’s values.

“We will be communicating regularly with parents and carers about the actions we are taking to address the recommendations in the report. We will be setting up a parent forum with representatives from all grades so that parents and carers have the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback on how the school is developing. We look forward to sharing information about our progress in the future.”

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