Co-op Academy Smithies Moor

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Co-op Academy Smithies Moor has undergone a period of significant change.

Pupils explained to inspectors that these changes have helped to make their school a happy place to be. Pupils achieve well, particularly at the end of key stage 2. The school and multi-academy trust (the trust) are proud to share how they have developed strong links with their local area.

These links are supporting the school on their journey to becoming an 'integral part of their local community'. Trustees and the academy governing committee are working closely with the school to embed high expectations for all pupils. Most parents and carers recognise that the school is on an improving journe...y.

More recently, behaviour has improved across the school. However, there are still regular incidences of poor behaviour. Pupils say that this happens more frequently at playtime and lunchtime.

Pupils know who to speak to if they are concerned. They are confident that trusted adults will keep them safe. Pupils explained that bullying does not happen often, but if it does, staff help them to resolve any worries they may have.

The school has a clear focus on promoting good attendance and punctuality. Attendance is slowly beginning to improve. However, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent remains a concern.

Pupils in upper key stage 2 and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are more highly represented in this group, with approximately one in three pupils persistently absent from school.

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

Recent changes at the school have led to improvements in the English and mathematics curriculum and stronger key stage 2 outcomes. Pupils' attainment in the phonics screening check in Year 1 has also improved and is now broadly average.

However, reading, writing and mathematics outcomes at the end of key stage 1, and the key stage 2 multiplication tables check, remain low. In some classes in key stage 1, pupils' recall lacks depth. There are too few opportunities for pupils to cover previous learning and explore and deepen their knowledge before learning something new.

Despite the weaker outcomes at the end of key stage 1, pupils achieve very highly at the end of Year 6.

The school's wider curriculum is at an earlier stage of development. The school does not adapt the curriculum well enough for pupils who might need it, including pupils with SEND.

Gaps in learning are not addressed quickly enough.

The school and the trust have a clear vision of what they want to achieve and the action they are taking to realise this. Initial changes implemented when the school joined the trust in 2019 were slow to take root.

The trust worked carefully with the school throughout this period to build a stable staff team. A new leadership team took up post in 2022. This change has increased leadership capacity and supported the school to undertake a much more rapid transformation.

However, many of these changes are recent. They have not had enough time to become established and make a sustained, positive difference.

The school has created a bespoke curriculum offer, with the support of trust leaders.

In early reading, this curriculum offer has been implemented with fidelity. The school has prioritised developing a love of reading in all classes. This is supporting pupils to develop their listening, vocabulary and speaking skills.

More widely, the implementation of the school's curriculum is at an earlier stage. Subject leaders acknowledge that staff require additional support to ensure that the curriculum is taught consistently well, in every class. Opportunities for pupils to revisit what they know and remember before learning something new are not well developed.

In a number of subjects, misconceptions are not addressed quickly enough. This allows gaps in pupils' learning to remain and widen in some instances.

The school has strengthened the support for pupils with SEND.

Teachers use pupil learning passports well to help pupils with education, health and care plans meet their individual targets. However, many pupils with identified speech, language and communication needs do not receive the intervention and support that they need at an early enough stage. The school has recently introduced systems within the early years to help address this.

These are in the very early stages of implementation.

The school is working closely with the trust to implement an early years curriculum that is ambitious and designed to prepare children well for Year 1 and beyond. Children are happy and well cared for.

However, learning opportunities in the classroom are underdeveloped. They do not support children well enough to use what they already know to help them learn something new. In Reception, children can talk with confidence about their more recent learning, including the topic of minibeasts.

However, opportunities for children to embed and enhance prior learning, to help deepen an understanding of the world, are limited. Further opportunities for children to participate in, or learn by using familiar routines, stories, rhymes or songs are not consistent. Staff do not regularly follow the trust approach to learning and teaching in the early years.

The personal development of pupils is of the utmost importance to the school. Their 'ways of being Co-op' align with the trust and co-operative values. The school is committed to developing an inclusive environment that celebrates difference.

Pupils are increasingly confident about speaking up when they see examples of unacceptable behaviour. A small proportion of pupils continue to use inappropriate language that some refer to as 'banter'. The school is actively addressing this through their personal, social, health and economic education lessons.

The school raises pupils' aspirations of the careers they can follow in the future. Pupils have the opportunity to meet a range of professionals and ask them about their roles. There is an annual careers week.

Pupils spoke with animation about their recent Dragons' Den activity and how they can apply for different roles in school. Leaders are working towards a national accreditation for careers.Staff feel well supported by school leaders and the trust.

They speak highly of the support and training they receive. Staff appreciate being able to access expertise from the trust's regional team in addition to the support they receive from governors, trustees and colleagues in school. Staff feel proud to work here.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Implementation of the school's curriculum is inconsistent. Some staff do not adapt learning to meet pupils' varied starting points.

Prior knowledge is not routinely revisited to address misconceptions or gaps in what pupils know and remember, particularly in early years and key stage 1. Consequently, pupils struggle to recall significant aspects of their learning or cannot build on what they have learned previously. The school must ensure that children and pupils in the early years and key stage 1 build on more recent improvements, similar to those at key stage 2, by regularly revisiting what they know.

Furthermore, the school should adapt pupils' learning, ensuring that activities match pupils' different starting points. ? Throughout the school, some pupils, including pupils with SEND, struggle to moderate their behaviour. Leaders should ensure that the school's behaviour policy is effective and implemented consistently well so that pupils understand the school's high expectations and receive targeted support to help them to manage their behaviour appropriately.