Colley Lane Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a friendly school with a super climate for learning. Alert, enthusiastic pupils enjoy the wide range of opportunities provided.

This supports their good all-round development. Pupils are energised by teachers who help them to have the confidence to succeed. Positive attitudes to learning are abundant.

Pupils know that they are expected to put in maximum effort, and most do. At Colley Lane, learning is not just about academic development. An extensive variety of extra-curricular activities promote pupils' personal growth very well.

This enables pupils to build resilience. It also prepares them for challenges that they are likely to encounter later in l...ife.

There is a caring ethos throughout the school.

Pupils are safe and well looked after. Leaders listen to what pupils tell them about the school and make changes to make it better. The celebration of pupils' achievements, such as eye-catching art, adorns the corridor walls.

This makes pupils proud. There is a buzz of excitement in classrooms with pupils learning. Pupils act sensibly and usually behave well.

When an incident of bullying occurs, leaders deal with it quickly. This greatly reduces the chance of it happening again.

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

Leaders have worked hard to improve the curriculum.

It provides pupils with the skills and knowledge they need to achieve well. In some subjects, pupils learn through captivating themes. For example, in history, pupils learn about chronology though the theme 'a journey through time'.

The curriculum is carefully planned and sequenced. Teachers ensure that pupils build new knowledge on what they have learned before. This enables most pupils, including those with special educational needs and or/disabilities (SEND), to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

This effective work starts in the early years. In Nursery and Reception, staff develop nurturing relationships with children. Routines are quickly established.

Children show good levels of independence. They start to learn about taking responsibility. Children develop good early reading and mathematical skills.

This sets them up well for when they enter Year 1.

Teachers use their good subject knowledge to plan lessons that ensure that learning is accessible to all pupils. Teachers' expectations of the least able and those with SEND are appropriately high.

Teaching assistants usually provide good-quality support to help struggling pupils get on. However, occasionally, teachers are less successful at adapting learning to meet the needs of the most able pupils. Conversely, in other subjects, such as physical education (PE), pupils, including the most able, excel.

Teachers make learning memorable for pupils by organising visits and visitors linked to themes. For example, pupils visited Dudley Zoo as part of their geography work.These experiences make a strong contribution to pupils' learning and personal development.

Pupils extend their understanding of ethical issues, such as climate change. They respect the beliefs of others. The school also gives pupils access to a wide range of sports, like golf and athletics.

There is a very good uptake for extra-curricular activity clubs.

The supreme importance the school places on reading is very apparent. For some pupils in the past, achievement in reading had not been good enough.

Now, the approach to teaching early reading is working well. Well-trained staff teach phonics effectively. They develop pupils' enjoyment of reading through story time and visits to the local library.

But a few inconsistencies remain in supporting those who need to catch up with their reading. Some pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, sometimes find it hard to read with good fluency.

Pupils enjoy coming to school.

Staff and pupils get along well together. This helps pupils to feel safe. They know they have someone to go to if they are worried or concerned.

Leaders' efforts to improve attendance have paid off. Attendance is now broadly in line with the national average. In classrooms, pupils are responsive and engaged.

There is very little low-level disruption. Pupils are keen to learn and to please adults. They are polite and respectful towards each other and adults.

Pupils report low levels of bullying. They are confident that teachers will resolve any issues. Emotional support for pupils who struggle with their behaviour is strong.

The school is well led and managed. Leaders care about their staff. The staff's well-being is important to leaders.

They help them to enjoy their job and support them to do it well. Leaders and other staff benefit from the strong support that they receive from the trust. This helps to further improve the quality of education pupils receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils have a good awareness about how to keep themselves safe, both online and offline. They know the importance of not sharing personal information in online chat.

The curriculum, supported by special assemblies, enables pupils to learn these vital skills.

All staff understand and fulfil their responsibilities to try and keep pupils safe from harm. When they have concerns, they let leaders know promptly.

Action is taken in the best interests of the child to protect them. School has forged good relationships with parents. Leaders are effective in supporting vulnerable families, enabling them to access the help they need.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Despite the school's focus on reading, further curriculum refinements are needed to ensure that all pupils make good progress in this area. This is particularly in relation to intervention programmes for struggling readers. Some pupils who begin to fall behind do not catch up as quickly as they could.

This is because the interventions they do are not always matched closely enough to their specific needs. For example, a few older readers still have a few gaps in their phonics knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that interventions programmes, especially for disadvantaged pupils in key stage 2, enable them to read confidently, with good fluency.

. Most subjects are planned and taught well. In a few subjects, curriculum plans are not as ambitious as they could be.

This means that the most able pupils do not always get the chance to do demanding enough work. Leaders need to ensure that end points are suitably challenging and clearly defined. They also need to help less confident teachers to adapt and implement plans, so the most able pupils work towards achieving a greater depth of understanding.