James Bateman Junior High School is smaller than the average-sized secondary school. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported through the pupil premium (which provides additional funding for pupils in care and those known to be eligible for free school meals), at around one third, is above the national average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, at around one fifth, is above average. The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6. A very small number of pupils attend alternative provision at the Centre for the Education of Adolescents Requiring Support, Newcastle under Lyme. The school is a member of the Biddulph Schools Partnership Trust. Since the previous inspection: the school has received support from a National Leader of Education at Hempstalls Primary School; a new Chair of the Governing Body has been appointed; there have been a considerable number of changes in staffing, including among the school’s leadership team. In the last two years, the school has taken part in a regional Secondary School Literacy Pilot focused on the development of a whole-school reading culture.