Granby Junior School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 15 October 2024

Most pupils enjoy attending the school. They speak of the care and kindness of the staff who look after them. There are strong relationships between staff and pupils. Staff know all pupils well. They understand and address the various barriers and challenges pupils face when they are learning. This leads to a strong, child-centred environment where pupils feel safe and ready to learn. Staff have high expectations of all pupils' behaviour and learning. All staff implement the school's behaviour policy consistently and effectively. This provides pupils with clear boundaries that they stick to. Pupils behave well and work hard in lessons. Although the school wants the best for its pupils, these ambitions are not fully coming to fruition. Changes made to the curriculum are not having the impact the school desires. Aspects of the curriculum are not consistently implemented. Some subjects do not identify exactly what pupils should learn. The school's values of 'care to achieve your best' are understood by all. They are lived out by pupils who care for each other, their school and the local community. Some pupils who are part of the eco-committee help to improve the school environment. Others have developed enterprise skills by running a market stall.

What the school should improve

• In less well-developed subjects, it is not clear what the important knowledge and skills are that pupils are expected to know and remember. In these subjects, pupils do not develop a secure understanding of what they are learning. The school should ensure that the curriculum clearly defines the key content that pupils will learn over time in all subjects.
• There are occasions when the learning activities and work given to pupils do not always support them to know and remember key knowledge. When this is the case, pupils struggle to recall the important knowledge they need. The school needs to ensure that staff are fully equipped to plan precise and purposeful activities that will help all pupils to build knowledge consistently well.
• In some subjects, teachers lack the right information to allow them to assess accurately. This hinders them in identifying, and then addressing, any gaps in knowledge that pupils may have. The school should ensure that assessment systems provide teachers with a precise understanding of whether pupils have learned the key knowledge that they need to succeed.
• Reading support is not precise enough to ensure that all pupils become confident readers. There are some inconsistencies in the delivery of the phonics programme. Pupils who find reading difficult are not yet getting the right help at the right time to enable them to become confident readers. The school needs to ensure consistency and accuracy in the implementation of reading interventions so that those pupils who receive such support become confident readers who can use their reading skills across the curriculum.

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