Picklenash Junior School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 February 2025

Since the previous inspection, pupils' experience of school has been negatively impacted by several changes, including to staffing and leadership. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The school, under new leadership, is determined that all pupils will learn well and be successful. Relationships between adults and children are warm and nurturing. Many pupils understand the new school promises of 'show respect, be kind and show courage'. In classrooms, they behave and engage in learning. Sports coaches help pupils to play structured games, like basketball or tag at lunchtimes. However, sometimes pupils are not kind or respectful. On occasion, when bullying happens, the school deals with it swiftly but this does not stop it completely. This causes some pupils to be unhappy at school. Pupils enjoy extra-curricular clubs like football, dance and gymnastics. They relish events such as the Young Voices choral event in Birmingham. Educational visits help pupils to connect their learning and bring the curriculum to life. For example, Pupils visit the Caerleon Roman site to understand Roman architecture first hand. Older pupils experience the life of evacuees in the Second World War on a visit to a local railway station.

What the school should improve

• In some parts of the curriculum, the school's agreed teaching strategies are not used consistently. This prevents pupils from deepening their understanding of important knowledge as effectively as they should. The school should ensure that staff have the knowledge and support they need to understand how the school's agreed teaching approaches can be used effectively to build on and deepen learning for pupils.
• The school has not ensured that there is a rigorous and consistent approach to the development of pupils' reading, including phonics. This means pupils who need help to catch up are not supported quickly to become fluent readers. Furthermore, some older pupils do not show a love of reading. The school must prioritise support for pupils not reading at an age-appropriate level so they can catch up with their peers and foster a love of reading.
• The behaviour policy is not consistently applied by all staff. Therefore, some pupils do not always live up to the school's expectations for behaviour or how to respect each other in the playground. The school should ensure that there is a consistent approach when applying the agreed behaviour systems, including how bullying is dealt with.
• The school is in the early stages of implementing new systems to check the effectiveness of its work. However, it is too soon to see the full impact of how well pupils learn across the curriculum. The school should sharpen its oversight of how well pupils learn in all subjects so that it can act quickly when improvements are needed.
• Some parents raise concerns that the school does not communicate with them well enough. As a result, some parents do not understand changes and improvements that are being made. The school needs to improve its communication with parents, so they feel fully informed and engage well with school life.

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