Crabbs Cross Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the time they spend together at this caring, happy school.

They feel safe and are confident to speak to adults if they are worried about anything. The school promotes positive values, with pupils and adults treating one another with respect.

Pupils study a broad range of subjects.

They take part in many activities and tasks in lessons, which they find memorable. However, the school has not ensured that the curriculum is taught consistently well in all subjects. This means that pupils are not yet making the progress that the school expects.

The school is typically calm and most pupils follow rules and routines well. However, pupils do not... maintain their focus in lessons as well as the school expects. This means that too many pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not know and remember the things they should to be fully prepared for the next stage of their education.

The school offers a range of clubs that extend beyond the academic curriculum. For example, pupils enjoy attending extra-curricular sports clubs. Pupils also benefit from a range of leadership opportunities such as Head Boy, which help prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.

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

The school has experienced considerable challenges as a direct result of the pandemic, resulting in significant changes in staffing. The quality of education provided by the school has been negatively impacted by this situation. The school has identified the need to improve the effectiveness of the way that the curriculum is taught, to ensure that pupils make better progress.

However, there is much more work to do to ensure that pupils know and remember the knowledge that the school expects.

The school has revised elements of the curriculum in most subjects. This work has included making changes in the approach to teaching reading.

Phonics is taught right from the start of Reception Year, when children quickly settle into routines and benefit from daily phonics lessons. A love of reading is promoted in all year groups. The school's priority focus on teaching reading is helping to ensure that pupils become better readers over time.

Teaching in other subjects is not always as effective. Although the school has identified the knowledge and skills that pupils are expected to learn, often the tasks that teachers set, and the resources that they use, do not help pupils to focus sharply enough on key knowledge. There is variation in staff's expertise.

Often, the lessons are driven by the choice of task rather than the learning intention. As a result, pupils do not remember the knowledge they need to make progress over time.

The school's approach to checking what pupils know and remember is not yet embedded.

Staff ask questions in lessons and review pupils' work. However, they do not make precise checks about how well pupils remember significant subject-specific knowledge. This means that the school does not have the information that it needs to identify pupils' gaps in learning and address them.

Pupils with SEND are included in all aspects of school life. They are expected to learn the same curriculum as others and take part in lessons. Staff care about pupils with SEND and work hard to support them.

However, these pupils are not reaching their full potential because the curriculum is not sufficiently well adapted to meet their needs. Sometimes, pupils with SEND disengage from their learning because the tasks they are asked to complete are not broken down into manageable chunks of work.

The school has identified the need to better develop pupils' attitudes to learning.

This has included the school reviewing its vision and values. The majority of pupils behave well and the number of negative behaviour incidents is reducing. Pupils have positive attitudes toward school, but there are still many pupils who are not fully engaged in lessons.

Staff do not always use effective strategies to help pupils focus on their learning. This means that pupils are often distracted in class and do not learn as well as the school expects.

The school has ensured that the curriculum supports the development of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning.

Pupils know how to live healthy lifestyles and how to keep safe, especially online. They appreciate opportunities to fulfil leadership responsibilities, and this builds their self-esteem. Assemblies extend pupils' learning through planned opportunities to look at and explore diversity and culture.

Leaders, including trust executives, have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses. They successfully engage with parents and carers to share the vision for the school. Staff feel valued and appreciate opportunities for professional development.

They are committed to work with leaders to address areas that need improvement. Nevertheless, further work is needed before their vision for the school is realised.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There is variation in teacher expertise and subject knowledge. The tasks that pupils are asked to complete do not always focus sharply enough on teaching subject-specific knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that all teachers have strong subject knowledge across all areas of the curriculum.

• The school's approach to checking on what pupils know and remember lacks precision. Children are unable to recall much of their learning. Leaders should refine the school's approach to assessment so that staff better identify and address gaps in pupils' learning.

• Staff do not skilfully adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. This means that pupils with SEND do not access learning as well as they might. The school should ensure that adaptive teaching supports pupils with SEND to access the curriculum.

• There is inconsistency in how well staff address low-level disruptions in lessons. This means that some pupils are distracted from learning. The school should ensure that pupils' behaviour is managed consistently so that all pupils focus on learning.