Cuxton Community Junior School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 July 2022

This is a happy school. During the inspection, pupils were excited to share their entries to the forthcoming talent show, enthusiastically listed the wide range of clubs they can join and spoke proudly about the different roles and responsibilities to which they can aspire. This includes a wide range of 'ambassador' roles, or serving as a member of the 'pupil parliament'. Pupils equally enjoy, and are proud of, their academic learning. They behave well during lessons, around the school and at breaktimes. Pupils are respectful of each other and feel safe and valued to be different. Adults want the best for pupils personally and academically. Pupils learn to keep trying and not give up, even when work is tricky. Staff find lots of ways to work in partnership with parents and carers in pupils' best interests. Pupils thrive in this caring community. As one parent summed it up, 'The school values are lived and celebrated by everyone'. Adults carefully log and monitor incidents of any kind that affect pupils. They are vigilant about what may amount to bullying and tackle problems directly. Pupils are understandably confident that teachers are good at resolving any issues.

What the school should improve

• The curriculum in subjects other than English and mathematics does not make consistently clear the knowledge that pupils should learn by the time they leave and along the way. Work towards tackling this issue is already underway. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. Leaders should continue with this important work so that the curriculum in all subjects identifies and organises what pupils need to know in a logical sequence towards agreed end points, to better support pupils' learning.
• Sometimes the importance the school attaches to outdoor, or what staff call 'experiential', learning leads to activities being selected that are not best suited to secure the learning intended. At times, a sharp focus on the most important learning is lost at the expense of making the experience itself memorable. Leaders should ensure that staff have and use a consistently strong understanding of the importance of both long-term and working memory in learning, and use this to help pupils focus on and remember the most important points.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)