Watton Junior School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 January 2025

The school's community is richly diverse, with many pupils coming from other countries. The school celebrates this diversity and welcomes new arrivals warmly. There is an inclusive culture in which pupils value and appreciate difference. The 'Respect code' underpins relationships and behaviour at the school. Pupils learn in calm, orderly classrooms. They move around the school sensibly, showing respect for each other and for adults. Pupils enjoy social times. They chat happily in the dining room and play harmoniously on the playground. Pupils enjoy developing new interests, such as astronomy, at extra-curricular clubs. Trips to castles, a nearby museum or space centres enhance pupils' learning of the curriculum. On 'Passport Day' pupils learn about each other's cultures. The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve well. This includes pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and pupils who are in the early stages of speaking English. However, pupils' achievement at the end of Year 6 last year was well below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. A revised curriculum and new approaches to teaching are helping more pupils rise to the school's high expectations. However, more time is needed for recent changes to have the impact the school intends.

What the school should improve

• Historic weaknesses in the curriculum have resulted in gaps in pupils' learning. For example, some pupils do not have basic skills such as transcription or number fluency. In others, they do not have the prior knowledge of a subject required to access more complex ideas. This prevents pupils from building a secure body of knowledge. The school and trust should ensure that staff adapt and supplement the curriculum to address pupils' gaps in knowledge as rapidly as possible.
• In some subjects, staff's knowledge of the new curriculum is still developing. They are less confident about their subject knowledge and about the content of the curriculum. As a result, there are inconsistencies in how well the curriculum is delivered and pupils do not learn as well as they should. The school and trust must ensure that they support teachers to understand and implement the new curriculum consistently well in all subjects.
• The school's systems for assessment are in their infancy. Staff use various strategies to check pupils' understanding. However, they do not use the information these checks give them systematically to adjust and adapt their lessons. This hinders pupils' progress. The school and trust should embed the assessment systems so that staff effectively adapt their future lessons in order to maximise pupils' progress.
• The school's work on reducing pupil absence needs more time to ensure pupils who are persistently absent attend well. There are still some pupils who do not attend school regularly enough. This means they miss important learning, academically and socially. The school and trust should continue to strengthen their work with pupils and their families to reduce rates of pupil absence.

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