All Saints Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know the school has high expectations for them.

They benefit from studying a well-structured curriculum. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils throughout the school take pride in their work.

Children in Reception get the support they need to get off to a good start. This includes with learning to write.

Pupils listen to their teachers.

They are enthusiastic about their learning and typically behave well. Pupils enjoy coming to school. They feel safe.

They know whom to speak to if something worries them. Pupils understand the school motto 'Loving All Our Neighbours'. They show this by ca...ring for one another and being kind.

Pupils have access to a wide range of clubs, including 'Lego', music and football. These are open to all. Pupils learn about democracy by voting for representatives on the school council and the eco-council.

They enjoy the opportunity to take on responsibilities. These include answering the telephone in the school office at lunchtime.

Pupils enjoy enrichment opportunities, including visits to museums and to parliament.

They have benefited from visitors to school, including the police, paramedics, a pilot and a Paralympian. These opportunities help them to develop confidence and to understand future career opportunities.

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

The school has designed an exciting and ambitious curriculum.

This makes clear the knowledge pupils should learn and when they should learn it. It typically prepares pupils well for the next stage of education, both from early years to Year 1 and Year 6 to secondary education.

The school ensures that, in most subjects, staff have the expertise they need to teach the curriculum well.

Pupils learn what teachers intend. In most subjects, teachers assess what pupils know regularly. This means that teachers understand when pupils need extra help.

They make sure that pupils receive this at the earliest opportunity. This helps all pupils to keep up and achieve well.

A few areas of the curriculum are at an earlier stage of development.

Where this is the case, staff's subject knowledge is less well developed. Teachers give pupils work that does not always help them to achieve as well as they should. Teachers check what pupils know and need to learn less effectively in these subjects.

They do not always know when pupils have misunderstood. Pupils do not learn and remember the intended curriculum as well as they do in all other subjects.

Pupils enjoy reading.

The school ensures that pupils at the early stages of reading read books that match the sounds they are learning. Teachers identify pupils who are falling behind and give them help to catch up quickly. This means that all pupils make progress.

Pupils take books home so that they can practise their reading. This helps them to gain confidence and become fluent readers.

Pupils develop a love of reading.

Teachers choose to read to pupils regularly. Pupils can choose their books from the school's well-stocked library. This helps them to access a wide range of books.

Pupils with SEND receive the support they need. The school's guidance for staff clarifies exactly what pupils with SEND need to achieve as best they can. Pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as other pupils and, consequently, they achieve well from their starting points.

Pupils understand what good behaviour is. At the start of each year, they help to write rules. They follow the rules well.

For example, they show respect and good manners. They hold doors open for each other and for adults. Children in Reception learn about the school's expectations and routines.

They show this in the way they respond to their teachers' requests. Pupils attend school regularly.

The school provides opportunities for pupils to become responsible citizens.

They support local and national charities. Pupils visit the local church and cathedral. They learn about festivals from the world's major religions, which helps them to learn about tolerance and understanding.

The trust and governing body provide effective challenge and support to the school. The school works closely with another local school. This enables leaders and staff to regularly share expertise.

Leaders take account of staff's workload and well-being when planning the curriculum and scheduling meetings. Staff are proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some aspects of the curriculum are not as well developed as others. In a few subjects, teachers are less secure in their subject knowledge. They do not consistently provide work that builds on pupils' previous learning.

Teachers do not check what pupils know as effectively in these subjects to spot and address pupils' misunderstandings. When this happens, pupils do not learn the intended curriculum as well as they should in these subjects. The school should ensure that staff are trained well to be able to deliver the curriculum and use assessment effectively in all subjects so pupils achieve consistently well throughout the curriculum.

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