Cavendish Junior School

Overview

Cavendish Junior School is described as a “nurturing school” where pupils are “well looked after and cared for.” The report highlights a “happy, safe and caring environment” with positive attendance and behaviour, though it notes that pupils’ overall achievement is “inconsistent” and below national averages in key subjects.

Strengths

• The school fosters a “positive culture” for reading, with pupils developing a “love of reading” through initiatives like the ‘curiosity cabin’.
• Attendance rates are “positive, and increasing,” with “low” incidents of repeated absence and strong support for disadvantaged pupils.
• Behaviour is managed effectively; pupils have “positive attitudes to their learning” and bullying is “rare.”
• Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is “effective,” with barriers “incrementally reduced.”
• Personal development is “broad and rich,” including a “school parliament” and extra-curricular activities that prepare pupils for life beyond school.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure gaps in pupils’ foundational knowledge in mathematics are “consistently identified and addressed” to raise attainment.
• All staff require training in the school’s phonics approach to ensure reading books are “consistently matched to the sounds that they know.”
• Improvement plans need to clarify how the impact of actions will be “checked and evaluated” to ensure accountability.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with an “open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility” ensuring pupils are “made safer and feel safe.”