Carlton le Willows Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The experiences of pupils at this school are inconsistent.

Many say that they feel safe and that they enjoy attending. However, they also say that their education too often depends on the individual teachers that teach them.

In lessons, many pupils work hard and want to do their best.

However, teachers' expectations of pupils' behaviour and learning are not consistently high. Learning is sometimes disrupted by pupils' poor behaviour. Some pupils are disrespectful to adults.

Most pupils say that if bullying were to occur it would be dealt with effectively by staff.

Leaders do not have high enough expectations of all pupils. This is particular...ly the case for pupils who are educated off site through remote learning and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Leaders do not ensure that pupils educated off site attend regularly, are safe and receive a good education.

Parents' and carers' views of the school vary. Some parents are disappointed that leaders are not providing enough support and challenge for some pupils to help meet their needs.

Other parents are pleased with the outcomes their children achieve. They appreciate current leaders' recent efforts to address their concerns about the school.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has gone through a period of change.

Recently appointed senior leaders have identified significant weaknesses in the quality of the provision.

However, leaders have failed to create a culture of effective safeguarding. They do not have effective processes to check on, and support, those pupils who access their education away from the school site.

Leaders do not keep accurate registers for these pupils. They are unsure exactly where some of these pupils are, or if they are accessing their provision. Leaders have not reviewed the provision for these pupils.

As a result, some pupils have gained little education for considerable periods of time.

Leaders have not ensured a consistent approach in the planning and delivery of the curriculum for all pupils, including students in the sixth form. In some subjects, the curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced.

Leaders have identified the key knowledge that they want pupils to learn and when this should be learned, for example in art. However, leaders do not have equally high expectations of what pupils should know in all subjects. In other subjects, individual teachers determine the ambition of the curriculum.

This leads to inconsistencies in the expectations leaders and teachers have of pupils, and in the suitably demanding work provided for them. Some teachers do not use assessment information well enough to identify pupils' misconceptions. As a result, some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge.

Leaders are not ambitious for all pupils with SEND. The support for these pupils is not always precise enough to enable them to acquire the knowledge and skills that they are entitled to. As a result, these pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

Leaders have not ensured that there is an effective programme in place to support those pupils who need help to read well. They have developed some initial plans to address this issue. However, they have failed to recognise the urgency needed to help these pupils develop their reading skills.

As a result, these pupils are falling further behind their peers. Some struggle to access aspects of the school's curriculum due to their underdeveloped reading skills.

Most pupils behave well.

However, teachers apply the behaviour policy inconsistently. Consequently, pupils receive mixed messages about how they should behave. Truancy from lessons occurs daily.

The behaviour of some pupils in corridors and between lessons is causing worry for some other pupils. Some pupils do not display respectful attitudes towards other pupils, staff and visitors.

Most students enjoy their experience of the sixth form.

They get on well with staff and with each other. Students benefit from their teachers' subject knowledge and from the wide range of courses on offer.

However, leaders have not thought carefully enough about pupils' personal development, including for students in the sixth form.

Pupils do not gain enough knowledge about British values, the protected characteristics and cultural and religious diversity. As a result, pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they should be. Leaders ensure that pupils receive appropriate careers guidance across all key stages.

In this sense, pupils are well prepared for their next steps in employment, training or education. Pupils benefit from a range of extra-curricular activities.

Trustees and governors do not currently have an accurate view of the school.

They are starting to get an understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.

Staff enjoy working at the school. They appreciate leaders' efforts to improve their well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

Leaders, including governors and trustees, have not acted swiftly to ensure that all pupils are safe. They do not accurately check the attendance of pupils who are educated off site.

Consequently, they do not know if or when these pupils attend. Leaders are not assured of these pupils' welfare.Leaders do not have effective systems to ensure the whereabouts of all pupils and students during the school day.

Some pupils truant their lessons.

Leaders understand local risks. Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe, including when online.

Leaders work well with external agencies. Staff know how to report any concerns they have.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders do not accurately monitor the attendance of pupils who are educated off site or of students in the sixth form.

Consequently, they do not know if or when these pupils attend. Leaders are not assured of these pupils' welfare. Leaders should ensure that all systems and procedures are applied accurately and precisely to assure themselves of the whereabouts and safety of all pupils.

• Governors and trustees have not consistently met their statutory responsibilities nor provided a level of rigorous accountability for leaders. Statutory duties regarding safeguarding have not been fulfilled. As a result, not all aspects of the schools' provision are of the highest quality.

Governors and trustees need to ensure that they fully understand and fulfil their statutory responsibilities to assure themselves that they have rigorous and effective structures and processes in place. ? Leaders have not ensured that there is a well-planned and sequenced curriculum in place for all subjects. This means that pupils do not always learn the important knowledge they need at the right time.

Leaders need to ensure that all aspects of the curriculum are coherently planned and sequenced so that pupils can build their knowledge over time. ? Weaker readers are not supported well enough to access the wider curriculum. They find it hard to keep up and develop gaps in their knowledge as a result.

Leaders must ensure that these pupils are supported as swiftly as possible so that they become fluent readers and are better placed to succeed across all subjects. ? Leaders have not ensured that the curriculum is ambitious and is designed to give all pupils, particularly those with SEND, the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. Some pupils who are educated off site experience a very limited curriculum offer.

Leaders need to ensure all pupils benefit from an ambitious curriculum that prepares them well for their next steps in education, training or employment. ? Staff do not consistently have high expectations of pupils' behaviour or apply the school's behaviour policy. This hinders the creation of a respectful and purposeful learning environment.

Leaders need to support all teachers to ensure there is a culture that promotes high expectations of all pupils' behaviour, and that the school's policy is consistently applied. Pupils are not as well equipped for life in modern Britain as they could be. Pupils do not all fully appreciate the differences and similarities between cultures and religions.

Leaders have not ensured religious education has been provided in accordance with statutory requirements. Additionally, not all pupils understand British values or how specific characteristics are protected by law. Leaders need to ensure that all aspects of the personal development programme prepares all pupils well for life in modern Britain.