Drake Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school.

Staff go the extra mile to help pupils whenever they need it. This included providing high-quality support following the pandemic and the events that occurred in Keyham during the summer. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), feel happy and safe.

They describe Drake Academy as 'one big happy family'. Pupils generally conduct themselves well around the school, and when they are in lessons. Bullying is rare and pupils say that, when it happens, it is usually dealt with quickly.

Staff have high expectations of pupils. For example, the new Reception children already know the class rules and routine...s, such as tidying up together at the end of the morning, to make this a better school for all.

Pupils learn effectively through a well-considered curriculum.

This provides a secure foundation of knowledge for the next stage in pupils' education, including in English, mathematics and across the range of subjects. However, pupils do not always connect what they know between subjects well enough. Overly ambitious plans in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) do not get all children off to the best start possible.

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

Leaders have high expectations of all pupils, including those with SEND. They provide effective support and challenge to teachers. As a result, pupils benefit from carefully planned learning and positive experiences.

Teachers, and other staff, fully embrace the work of leaders in creating a positive environment. Consequently, Drake Academy is a happy place for staff and pupils alike.

Leaders are not complacent.

They continually strive to make the school better through ongoing checks and review. When leaders identify areas for improvement, they take swift and effective action to remedy these. For example, following a recent decline in pupils' phonics scores in key stage 1, leaders completed an audit of the school's early reading and phonics approach.

This led to the introduction of a new and much improved phonics programme from September 2021. This is already having a positive impact, particularly in helping those pupils who need to catch up, including in the early years.

Reading is a prominent feature of the school's work.

Following the recent overhaul of the phonics programme, the youngest pupils are making great strides. Teachers' assessments are accurate. They use this information to match work and books precisely to pupils' needs.

For pupils with SEND, individual learning plans are suitably adjusted to help these pupils with their reading. Older pupils talk passionately about reading. They like to read books by different authors and study a range of texts This helps them with other aspects of their learning.

By the time they leave, most pupils are confident readers who are well prepared for the challenges of secondary education.

Subject leaders are knowledgeable and enthusiastic. They have high ambitions for pupils.

Curriculum plans are well thought through. Pupils acquire knowledge in a coherent and logical manner. This helps them to know and remember more over time.

For example, in mathematics, pupils are gaining increasing confidence and fluency in their number work to solve a range of mathematical problems. However, despite the many strengths of the curriculum, there is still more to do to enable pupils to apply what they know to a range of different situations. For example, when recounting historical events about Plymouth, pupils found it difficult to explain related geographical information and facts, including where events took place.

Consequently, pupils do not benefit from applying key knowledge between subjects in order to help make full sense of all that they know.

In the EYFS, children are supported to do well. The curriculum is designed to build on previous developmental stages, including early communication and language for reading.

However, leaders' curriculum plans are sometimes too ambitious. They make demands of children which are overly challenging, for example expecting children to design a 'city for superheroes' before they have the necessary knowledge to be able to do this. As a result, children are exposed to making errors or learning misconceptions that are unhelpful for later learning.

This is a highly inclusive school. Equality is respected and diversity is celebrated. The effective pastoral care of the school, including the high-quality work of the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and emotional literacy support adviser, helps pupils to feel special.

This combines with a strong personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education programme. Pupils understand the importance of rules and the need for mutual respect. They enjoy the wider opportunities that the school provides, including the sports and breakfast clubs, which are now up and running again.

As a result, pupils are well prepared for the joys and challenges of life in modern Britain.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders, including governors, ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding which permeates the school.

There are effective systems to protect pupils in place. These include staff recruitment checks and child protection training. As a result, staff are vigilant and curious.

They know what they must do to use the agreed systems to raise any concerns promptly. Leaders take swift action and are tenacious in working with external agencies, to keep pupils safe.

Pupils say that they feel safe.

They trust staff and have confidence in them. Pupils know how to keep safe in different situations, including when working online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculum is coherent and well sequenced.

However, there are some weaknesses in how knowledge is planned to secure cross-curricular learning. This means pupils sometimes find it difficult to relate what they know about a subject to other curriculum areas. Leaders should develop the curriculum further so that pupils can apply their knowledge successfully between subjects, and in different situations.

• Despite the strengths of the EYFS curriculum, some planning is overly ambitious. This results in children having work provided which is too challenging. Leaders should revise the EYFS curriculum so that its content and knowledge is consistently well matched to the needs and previous experiences of the children.