Bulphan Church of England Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very happy at Bulphan Church of England Academy. They value the positive relationships they build with their peers and the staff who help them. Pupils show the value of friendship in how well they play together on the playground.

They particularly enjoy using their new play equipment.The school's values and ethos are important to pupils. Pupils live these values in all they do.

They reflect deeply on how their actions affect their community. This helps to inspire pupils to be the best they can be. It also helps pupils to reach the high expectations the school sets for them.

Pupils' personal development is planned for comprehensively. Pupils learn a...bout different cultures, countries and religions. As a result, pupils share and celebrate differences.

There are a wide range of trips and workshops for pupils to enjoy. These are carefully planned to enhance pupils' classroom learning.Older pupils learn the importance of responsibility through the opportunities the school provides them to take on many leadership roles.

They do this with enthusiasm. Pupils have an active voice in the school. This has brought about positive changes, such as a more structured approach at lunchtime with a greater variety of planned activities.

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

Across subjects, the school has identified the most important knowledge pupils need to understand. In most subjects, the school has further broken this knowledge down into precise chunks. They have ordered this knowledge into a logical sequence.

This helps teachers to know what to teach and when to teach it. Here, pupils build their knowledge over time. In a few subjects, the school has not broken this knowledge down into precise enough steps.

As a result, teachers are less clear about the small steps of knowledge pupils need. This can lead to missed opportunities to secure learning.

Teachers check how well pupils are learning to identify misconceptions and revisit important concepts.

This helps pupils understand important knowledge. They make links between what they are learning and what they already know. The school has not identified the key vocabulary they want the pupils to know.

This means that some pupils cannot fully explain their understanding. As a result, some pupils do not learn as well as they could.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported.

The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND precisely. This enables staff to make bespoke adaptations to learning or provide targeted interventions. This helps pupils with SEND to learn successfully alongside their peers.

Reading is a high priority. Staff are experts at teaching phonics. They check that pupils remember the sounds they have learned.

This helps pupils to read and spell new words. The books pupils read are well matched to the sounds they know. Staff support pupils who need extra help.

This helps pupils to become fluent readers. Pupils enjoy reading and are exposed to a wide range of books. They read and share these at school and home.

There is a coherently planned early years curriculum. Children receive the teaching that is suitable for them. Staff promote a love of books by reading key texts with children.

Staff regularly revisit learning, which helps children secure their understanding. Children learn to be independent, cooperate and play well together.

Pupils understand the school rules of 'be kind, be safe, be the best you can be'.

They know this is the right way to behave and model this consistently. Leaders have robust systems in place to secure good attendance. They ensure that early help for families is effective.

This is reducing persistent absence levels in the school.

The personal development offer and ethos of the school enable pupils to develop their character, interests and talents. Pupils embrace opportunities to take part in school and local events.

They are an integral part of the Bulphan village community. They raise money for local and national events. For example, the pupil parliament organised a fundraising event to create an outdoor classroom.

Leadership roles support pupils to be resilient and independent. Pupils demonstrate their understanding that everyone is unique and that this should be shared and celebrated. Pupils across the school know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of contexts.

They understand what it means to be a responsible citizen.

The trust knows the school very well. They hold leaders to account through challenge and support.

Staff are happy working in the school. There is a real family and community feel to everything they do. They are well looked after by leaders and appreciate the support from the trust.

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 has not broken knowledge down into precise enough steps. As a result, teachers are not always clear about the small steps of knowledge pupils need to understand.

This can lead to missed opportunities for pupils to secure this important knowledge. The school should ensure that plans outline what key knowledge pupils need to secure and in what order this should happen. The school has not identified the key vocabulary they want pupils to know.

This means that some pupils do not fully develop their understanding of important knowledge. As a result, some pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school should develop a more consistent approach to teaching subject-specific vocabulary to deepen pupils' learning.