Berkeley Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Berkeley Academy are happy, polite and respectful. This is a highly inclusive school.

The needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are understood well by all in the school. Parents and carers speak positively of the school and consider it to be a nurturing and caring environment. There is a strong sense of community here.

School leaders have high expectations for pupils' learning and behaviour. As a result, lessons are calm and purposeful. Around the school, pupils behave sensibly and show respect and kindness towards adults and each other.

They know to talk to a responsible adult if they have any concerns. This help...s to ensure that pupils feel safe and are kept safe at school.

Pupils play an active part in their school and love to take on extra responsibilities, such as those of student council members, sports buddies and travel ambassadors, and carrying out corridor patrols.

Visits are carefully aligned to the curriculum, with all pupils involved. These include outings to local parks and museums, and a recent trip to the Houses of Parliament. The majority of pupils attend many clubs.

These include choir, yoga, basketball, poetry and creative writing.

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

The school has established a broad and balanced curriculum that meets the scope and ambition of the national curriculum. Teachers have considered how to sequence learning.

In most subjects, starting from the early years, there is a clear focus on the key knowledge and skills, including vocabulary, that pupils need to learn. Children in the early years enjoy learning a wide range of Nursery rhymes and songs. They practise a variety of number skills as part of everyday routines and quickly learn to count to 10.

Reading is a key priority in the school. Children learn formal phonics as soon as they start Reception. The books that pupils read accurately match the sounds that they are learning in class.

Staff get the right training to teach early reading effectively. They teach the phonics programme with fidelity and consistency. Any pupils who fall behind get help to catch up with targeted interventions.

As a result, pupils achieve highly at the end of Year 1 in the phonics check. The school works hard to develop a love of reading. Staff ensure that pupils read a wide range of diverse texts.

Recent work is starting to have an impact on older pupils' achievement, including in their published outcomes in reading.

The school has high expectations for pupils with SEND. The needs of pupils with SEND are quickly identified and appropriate support plans are put in place.

Staff are well trained to make meaningful adaptations to tasks and activities. As a result, these pupils access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers and achieve well from their different starting points.

In many subjects, teachers effectively check on pupils' understanding.

This means pupils typically build secure knowledge in different subjects, achieving well. However, in a few subjects, assessment is not used as precisely. In these instances, gaps in learning can develop over time, meaning some pupils' understanding of the curriculum in these areas is not as secure.

From the beginning of early years onwards, children learn what it means to behave well. Classrooms are purposeful environments where pupils can learn without interruption. The school's approach to improving pupils' attendance has led to an improvement in overall attendance.

However, some pupils do not attend school regularly enough and miss valuable learning time. Leaders know that there is more work to do in supporting parents and carers to ensure their children attend school every day.

The school promotes pupils' wider development exceptionally well.

There is a well- planned and age-appropriate personal, social and health education programme. Pupils have a strong respect for and appreciation of different faiths and cultures. For example, pupils regularly visit and learn about local places of worship.

The school is enriching its curriculum through carefully thought out visits. For example, history is brought to life through visits to Hampton Court, the Tower of London and the Globe Theatre.

Staff, including those new to teaching, are proud to work at Berkeley Academy.

They appreciate the opportunities they have to develop professionally, and the efforts the school makes to manage their workload and well-being. Trustees understand their role to both support and challenge the work of leaders in their drive for continuous improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, the school does not check what pupils have learned precisely. This means that some pupils' gaps in their learning are not addressed, which leads to difficulties in recalling the essential knowledge that leaders expect them to know and remember. The school needs to ensure that it identifies and checks the key knowledge that pupils have been taught, so that it can apply this to their current and future learning confidently.

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