Carlton Road Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school The executive headteacher and the academy headteacher provide outstanding leadership. Subject and other leaders provide excellent support and advice to staff on assessment and on the new curriculum. Governance, through the Board of Directors and through the local academy governing body, is outstanding.

Behaviour is exemplary in lessons and also around school. Pupils are courteous and polite, and show respect for adults and for each other. The curriculum is well planned and excites the pupils, who then enjoy their work and achieve exceptionally well.

A wide range of activities that promote outstanding spiritual, moral, social and c...ultural development are built into the curriculum. The learning environment is welcoming, attractive and stimulating. It supports learning exceedingly well.

Attendance has improved significantly as a result of the more rigorous checks on absences. Academy leaders are diligent and rigorous in monitoring the quality of teaching and learning. The quality of teaching has improved over time and is now outstanding in the majority of classes and is consistently good in the others.

Academy leaders and teachers check regularly on the attainment and progress of all the pupils and make sure that all are making good or outstanding progress. Attainment, which is very low on entry, is above national averages by the time the pupils leave at the end of Year 6. Pupils' progress is outstanding, with the percentages achieving better than expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics being double the national average.

Support staff have been trained well. Consequently, they provide excellent support for vulnerable pupils and make sure that these pupils also make outstanding progress.

Information about this school

This academy is larger than the average-sized primary school.

It is part of a multi-academy trust (The Boston Witham Academies Federation) and converted to an academy on 1 September 2012. When its predecessor school, Carlton Road Primary and Nursery School, was last inspected by Ofsted in May 2010, it was judged to be good. Less than half the pupils are from White British backgrounds.

The majority of the school population are from ethnic minority backgrounds, mainly from Eastern Europe, and this number has increased in the time since the academy was formed. Almost two-thirds of the pupils speak English as an additional language. This proportion is much higher than the national average.

The percentage of pupils arriving at the school and leaving the school during the school year is well above average. Almost all of these pupils arrive speaking little or no English. The proportion of pupils supported through a statement of special educational needs or the new education, health and care plan is well above the national average.

The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is above the national average. This is additional funding provided to schools for children in the care of the local authority and those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals. The academy meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.

The academy's local governors manage a daily breakfast club. The academy has plans to further develop the school site. In particular, an extensive renovation of the outdoor learning area for the Early Years Foundation Stage is scheduled to start in October 2014.