Easton Royal Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Easton Royal Academy continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Easton Royal Academy has a nurturing environment with a family atmosphere. Pupils enjoy school. Teachers have high expectations of pupils.

Relationships are strong. Teachers make learning fun. Pupils are keen to learn, and they thrive in their mixed-age classes.

They like having friends of different ages.

Pupils say they feel safe in school. Parents agree; they are very positive about the school and find the staff approachable and caring.

Pupils develop knowledge about life in modern Britain well. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 visit the Houses of Parliament to learn about... debating, democracy and making laws. Pupils enjoy the wide range of clubs and activities that broaden their experiences.

Highlights for many are attending Latin club or taking on responsibility as 'Reception buddies'. Pupils are proud to host and take part in performance evenings to showcase their talents.

Pupils behave well.

What the school calls the 'high five' approach helps them to resolve their own disagreements and understand each other's points of view. Pupils report that there is no bullying. They feel confident they could report a concern to any member of staff and staff would respond quickly.

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

The curriculum is well designed. Learning builds on what pupils already know. Leaders have planned the order of content in subjects so that it supports pupils working in mixed-age classes effectively.

Teachers and leaders develop the curriculum together. This means teachers have detailed subject knowledge that helps them to teach effectively. As a result, there are lots of opportunities for pupils to revisit key concepts in different contexts to develop a deeper understanding.

For example, in history, they learn about power and conflict when learning about the Romans and the Vikings.

Leaders place a high priority on reading. Pupils start learning phonics straight away and keep up with the phonics programme.

Staff have good subject knowledge and are well trained. This means there is a consistent approach, which helps pupils to learn to read well. Pupils have books to read that match the sounds they are learning.

Work done by teachers to support pupils who struggle to remember common exception words is paying off. Staff provide extra support when older pupils need help to develop their accuracy as readers.Teaching presents information clearly.

The curriculum enables pupils to learn subject vocabulary well right from the start. Pupils have access to high-quality resources. For example, in mathematics, pupils use physical resources to help them deepen their understanding of the concepts they are learning.

Teachers use effective strategies to check pupils' understanding. Staff shape their teaching to help pupils remember their learning. This means that pupils can talk confidently about what they have learned in different subjects.

For example, pupils know the functions of different parts of the blood in science or about trade through the Silk Road in the history of Asia. However, pupils' writing is not always sufficiently high in quality in some subjects. Pupils' misspellings are not corrected consistently well.

This means that these mistakes persist.

Leaders and teachers know pupils well and understand their individual needs. Staff are quick to identify what support pupils might need.

This means that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Teachers make appropriate decisions to adapt, revisit the curriculum or provide extra support.

Parents and carers feel fully involved and informed about their pupils' learning, including pupils with SEND.

Parents speak highly about the leadership and teachers in the school.

Leaders at school and trust level have an accurate understanding of the strengths of the school. They know what actions are needed to make improvements.

Teachers feel well supported by leaders and the trust. Teachers and leaders work collaboratively. This means that senior leaders know what is being taught and when.

However, leaders' work to provide more opportunities for teachers to lead their areas of responsibility is at an earlier stage.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong safeguarding culture.

Leaders are persistent and proactive. Staff know the children and their families well, and there is a rigorous approach to sharing information to identify concerns. Record-keeping is thorough and detailed and shows that any concerns are carefully followed up.

Leaders have a clear focus on keeping pupils safe, and they work well with other agencies to get pupils the support they need.

Pupils are taught about how to stay safe, including online safety.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Staff do not ensure that there are sufficient opportunities for pupils to apply their writing knowledge consistently well across the curriculum.

Pupils' written work is not always of high quality in some foundation subjects. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum that staff implement enables pupils to apply their writing knowledge well so that they write with accuracy across the curriculum.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good/outstanding.

This is called an ungraded inspection and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2014.