Kempshott Junior School

Overview

Kempshott Junior School is rated as ‘Good’ across all inspection categories. The report describes a school where staff encourage pupils to ‘do their very best’ and ‘believe in and celebrate their own and others’ skills and talents’. Leaders maintain high expectations, resulting in pupils who ‘work hard and are keen to share what they have learned’.

Strengths

• The teaching of reading is a priority, with phonics taught consistently and books ‘carefully matched to the sounds they know’.
• Pupils display ‘high levels of tolerance and acceptance of any differences’ and understand the difference between bullying and ‘falling out’.
• Staff plan learning in ‘carefully ordered steps’ in core subjects, ensuring pupils quickly learn key vocabulary.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly and ‘achieve well’ while studying the same curriculum as their peers.
• Staff feel ‘supported and valued by the senior leadership team’, with leaders actively minimising workload challenges.

Areas to improve

• In some foundation subjects, leaders have not been clear enough about the ‘precise knowledge that they want pupils to learn’, meaning pupils do not build on prior learning as effectively as in other subjects.
• In some subjects, teachers do not use assessment well enough to check on pupils’ learning, so they ‘do not necessarily know what has been securely learned’.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with a ‘strong safeguarding culture’ where staff receive regular training and ensure children at risk get help ‘without delay’.