Starbank School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 June 2023

Across both the primary and secondary phase, pupils embody the STAR values of 'Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect'. A culture of high expectations permeates throughout the school. Pupils happily rise to this. Leaders, alongside staff, work tenaciously to ensure that pupils are successful. Pupils behave extremely well. In lessons, pupils are attentive, respectful and engage purposefully in tasks that are set for them. At social times, pupils play together sensibly with friends. Pupils say that bullying is rare and they value the high levels of pastoral care and support they receive. The curriculum has been well designed, so that pupils learn well across a broad range of subjects. From an early age, pupils are taught to read quickly, so that they grow to enjoy different types of books and access more of their learning. As they move up the school, pupils' knowledge and understanding in different areas expand and develop further. Pupils have many different opportunities to contribute and participate in wider school life. There are several different 'Star Sports' that run during and after school, such as football, martial arts and boxing, which pupils enjoy attending. Circus Smash is a particular favourite of the younger pupils. Pupils are considerate of those in and beyond their local community. They have raised funds for the Turkey/Syrian earthquake appeal, delivered hampers to a residential home and collected toys for a local hospital.

What the school should improve

• Leaders are still in the early stages of ensuring that the curriculum builds sequentially from the primary into the secondary phase. This means that the knowledge and skills that pupils leave the primary phase with across all subjects are not systematically built upon and further developed when pupils arrive in Year 7. Leaders should look to develop a cohesive, all-through curriculum, so that pupils deepen and connect their learning across both phases of the school.
• In some subjects, the curriculum is not implemented sufficiently well to help pupils develop a secure understanding of their learning. This means that some pupils struggle to remember key knowledge and link what they have learned into larger ideas. Leaders should ensure that teachers consistently emphasise and revisit key learning to help pupils deepen and secure their knowledge and understanding over time.

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