Sharmans Cross Junior School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 May 2026

Pupils are happy at Sharmans Cross Junior School. They recognise the positive recent changes to their school. At the start of each day, staff welcome pupils, parents and carers, embracing the school's warm and welcoming nature. Pupils and staff feel as if they all belong in the Sharmans Cross family. Pupils know who to go to if they have a worry. They trust staff to sort problems out. Pastoral support for pupils and their families is effective and valued highly by parents. Pupils attend well and feel safe at school. Staff support pupils to reflect on their emotional wellbeing and understand their feelings. This helps pupils to develop empathy and tolerance for others. As a result, bullying is rare and pupils know that adults would deal with this well. Pupils’ behaviour is shaped by the school’s ‘PRIDE’ values which underpin the ethos of the school. Pupils are proud of how well they behave. They understand the consequences and rewards of the behaviour system which they agree is working well. Pupils benefit from a range of clubs and trips which develop their interests and give them a chance to experience new things. Pupils develop resilience and confidence on residential trips where they face challenges as a team. Pupils become more responsible through leadership roles as safeguarding ambassadors or school councillors. They learn about finance and budgeting through a planned programme that develops their understanding of money and budgeting. Pupils use these skills in enterprise schemes, where they raise money for charity. Leaders make sure that all pupils are able to participate in these opportunities. Disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities learn happily alongside their peers. Pupils typically achieve well in national tests but there are gaps in some pupils’ foundational knowledge that hinder their progress across the wider curriculum.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that staff receive training and guidance, so they understand how to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities using an effective graduated approach that meets all pupils’ needs.
• Leaders should ensure that teachers have the skills to adapt learning to meet the needs of pupils so that the curriculum is consistently implemented effectively and pupils achieve well in all areas of learning.
• Leaders should ensure that there are effective assessment processes in place for all subjects so that teachers understand how well pupils are learning and can therefore provide them with clear feedback, so pupils know what they need to do to improve their work.
• Leaders should ensure that staff are supported to identify and address pupils’ gaps in foundational knowledge, so that any gaps close quickly and pupils apply these skills independently in their work.
• Leaders should ensure that pupils benefit from first-hand experiences of different cultures and lifestyles to gain a deeper understanding of the diversity of life in modern Britain.
• Leaders should ensure that middle leaders have access to support and training to build their expertise aligned to whole-school improvement priorities to improve the consistency of teaching and learning across the school.

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