Birchen Coppice Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a welcoming oasis that is firmly at the heart of the community. There is a strong sense of belonging amongst staff and pupils.

The high-quality pastoral care for pupils and their families is a key feature of the school's work.

Pupils grow to contribute positively to the warm and inclusive environment. They are succeeding in many parts of school life.

However, the school does need to improve pupils' achievement in writing and their understanding in some subjects. The school understands what needs to be done next to help pupils do better.

Pupils behave well.

They have a secure understanding of what it means to be part of the comm...unity in school. Pupils' positive attitudes to learning, and strong relationships with adults, reflect the great improvements made in the last two years. Pupils feel safe and know that if they need help, adults are swift to offer support.

The school develops pupils' character well. Pupils are helped to understand what it means to grow up in the wider society. They have opportunities to exercise leadership roles and contribute to the life of the school.

Pupils help to setup assemblies and lunchtime sports, for example. They understand that is important to help to make everyone's life better.

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

Children enter the early years often well behind their peers nationally.

The school acts rapidly to help them settle in and understand how to work well with each other. High- quality interactions with adults mean children develop their speech and language effectively. The strong provision for reading begins with clarity and consistency from the first week they arrive.

The school makes sure that teaching pupils to read is central to the curriculum. Staff have the expertise they need to teach phonics well. Pupils read books that match the sounds they know.

Teachers check that pupils are on track with their reading. If pupils fall behind, they receive support to help them catch up. Pupils enjoy reading.

They understand why reading is important and do so every day.

Pupils' writing is not as strong as it could be. The school has rightly recognised this.

Leaders have recently changed the approach to writing. There is now a rigorous programme to support teachers and help pupils improve their writing skills.

A great deal of work has been done to identify what the school wants pupils to learn overall.

However, there is variability in how well staff deliver this. Sometimes teaching does not seize the opportunities to help pupils to deepen their understanding. The school, with the help of the trust, has ongoing support in place to develop this.

Learning is adapted well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff know how to meet pupils' individual needs. For example, they use modified tasks, additional resources and skilful adult support to help these pupils with learning in the classroom.

Further provision put in place by leaders supports pupils well. For example, pupils with speech, language and communication needs are helped to engage with the ambitious curriculum while achieving important developmental goals.

Some subject curriculum areas are better developed than others.

For example, curriculum thinking in geography is well planned to achieve ambitious end points. Pupils achieve well and enjoy in these subjects. However, in some other subjects this work is earlier in its development.

This means that some pupils do not have secure knowledge and understanding of some key concepts.

Attendance is improving strongly. The school does all it can to get pupils in and it remains a top priority.

Pupils understand that is important to be in school. They appreciate the rewards they receive for attending well, working together and achieving in their work. Arrangements for managing behaviour are especially effective.

However, the school is not complacent and is continually looking at what is working well and what can be improved.

The provision for pupils' personal development is carefully constructed and thoughtfully planned. Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of relationships and health education.

They talk fondly of the residential opportunities they have. Staff use assemblies thoughtfully to increase pupils' understanding of the wider world.

Leaders at all levels are deeply committed to the success of pupils.

Trustees have poured in additional resources to support the school. They are clear that it is about getting things right for the pupils and the community around the school. Leaders have taken strong actions to make sustainable changes in recent years.

They hold a very accurate view of the school. Parents and carers reflect the much-improved provision and inspectors agree.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not develop pupils' writing skills well enough over time. The curriculum has recently been revised to address this but is not fully embedded. The school should ensure that staff receive the support and guidance needed to ensure that the approach to writing is implemented well so that it meets the needs of all pupils.

• The school is still developing staff expertise to deliver aspects of the curriculum successfully. The inconsistencies in staff's expertise hinders how well some pupils acquire and develop a deep understanding of subjects over time. As the school implements its refined curriculum, it should ensure that teachers are supported to develop their subject specific skills and expertise to enable them to deliver the curriculum effectively.

The recent curriculum changes in some foundation subjects are in their early stages of implementation. Due to variability in how effectively he curriculum in different subjects has been developed, some pupils cannot recall what they have learned in these subjects. The school should ensure that the curriculum in foundation subjects is fully developed and effectively delivered so that pupils are able to know and remember the key knowledge.