William Martin Church of England Junior School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 21 September 2022

Pupils at William Martin enjoy coming to school. They like the range of subjects they learn about. Pupils appreciate the help adults give them in lessons. They work hard and aspire to reach the high expectations leaders have of them. Many pupils achieve well across the curriculum. Pupils know and understand the school's rules and values. Leaders give pupils opportunities to change and add to these. For example, pupils added 'be kind' to the school rules as this was important to them. Pupils value leaders listening to them. Pupils behave well in and outside of lessons. They look after each other. Older pupils act as role models for younger pupils. Pupils make friends easily because they are kind to each other. Bullying is rare. When it does happen, adults deal with it quickly. Pupils feel happy and safe at school. Pupils enjoy the opportunities leaders have carefully chosen for them, such as 'First- Aid Friday' where all pupils learn first aid. Older pupils welcome the additional responsibilities on offer to them. They enjoy taking on positions of responsibility, such as house captains, leaders of worship and pupil ambassadors. This helps pupils to understand how to be responsible.

What the school should improve

• Leaders have not precisely sequenced the curriculum in a small number of subjects. This means pupils do not always build on prior learning as well as they could. Leaders must ensure that they carefully sequence all areas of the curriculum, so that pupils know and remember more across the full range of subjects.
• Teachers do not always use their checks on pupils' learning to precisely identify what pupils already know. This means teachers do not always carefully match learning to what pupils can already do. Leaders must ensure that teachers carefully identify what pupils know and can do, so that pupils build on prior learning effectively.
• While there have been some improvements, a significant minority of pupils are persistently absent from school. Leaders must ensure that their approaches to promoting good attendance result in these pupils attending school regularly.

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