Wrexham Junior School Receives Positive Estyn Report

A Wrexham Junior School’s current performance has been judged as ‘adequate’, with some ‘excellent’areas in its most recent Estyn inspection.

In a report published about Johnstown Junior School yesterday, Estyn state that the school’s current performance level has been judged as ‘adequate’

The school, which has 174 pupils aged between seven and eleven was inspected by Estyn, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales back in February of this year.

There are four ‘judgements’ that can be given to a school’s performance; excellent, good, adequate and unsatisfactory. An ‘adequate’ judgement means that a school’s strengths outweigh the areas for improvement.

Estyn notes the school’s current performance is adequate because:

• most pupils make good progress in many aspects of their work;
• pupils behave well, are eager to learn and understand how to improve their work;
• the school provides pupils with an interesting and varied curriculum; and
• the school’s care and support of pupils is exceptional, particularly the way in
which staff develop pupils’ social and life skills.

However the report also notes that there is no consistent trend of improved performance at the end of key stage 2; teachers do not always match work carefully enough to pupils of all abilities; and many pupils do not apply their writing and numeracy skills well enough in a range of subjects.

The report goes on to comment on a number of areas in the school, including teaching, the learning environment, partnership working and resource management.

Teaching and resource management were judged as adequate, with Estyn noting: “In all classes, teachers have good working relationships with pupils.” adding, “In a very few classes, where teaching is less effective, the pace of the lesson is too slow or pupils are unclear about the task they have been given.”

‘Learning Experiences’ and ‘Learning Environment’ in the school have been classed as ‘Good’ with Estyn noting that: “The school has a calm and welcoming ethos that provides pupils with a safe and supportive learning environment” and “The school building provides a clean and pleasant learning environment.”

The ‘Well being’ and ‘Care, Support and Guidance’ were both judged as ‘Excellent’.

Speaking about the report, Headteacher Robert Pullen said: “As a headteacher I am happy with the good comments in the report. Children are at the centre of what we do in the school. There are one or two things we are working hard to improve on, which was noted.”

Within each report that is published, Estyn also notes a school’s prospect of improving on their current result. Estyn states that the school’s prospect for improvement is ‘Good’ due to the school’s leadership, procedures and the school’s ‘strong’ partnerships.

Assembly Member Ken Skates said: “This is a very positive report which highlights several areas in which the school excels, and it’s one that staff, pupils and the wider community can be proud of. The Estyn inspectors noted that most children make good progress in many aspects of their work and that pupils behave well, are eager to learn and understand how to improve their work.

“In addition, the report identifies that the school provides pupils with an interesting and varied curriculum – there are many, many positives here.”

A copy of Johnstown Junior School’s Estyn report can be found on the Estyn website here.