Enfield Heights Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do well at this school. They are happy and typically feel part of a school family. The school is calm and purposeful.

Pupils are safe and feel valued. The school's agreed values of respect, kindness, resilience and bravery underpin the work of the school.

Pupils are well behaved.

They are polite, friendly and respectful towards others. Incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils are confident of adult help with any problems that they may face.

They know that their views are important to staff.

Leaders and staff have high aspirations for all pupils. Pupils are given a range of opportunities to broaden their experiences.

This includ...es building pupils' confidence and independence. The strong team spirit which exists within the school supports this well. Pupils make gains in their achievements and receive much support for their well-being.

A sense of pride permeates the school's community, including parents and carers, who are full of praise for this school.

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

The school, supported by the trust, has carefully designed a sequenced curriculum to meet all pupils' needs. It sets out the knowledge and skills that they will teach pupils at each stage, including in the early years.

Thorough consideration is given to support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to access the curriculum successfully. Staff reap the benefits of being in the trust, including the valuable training that they receive. They are overwhelmingly positive about the support they receive for their well-being and workload.

Parental engagement is strong. The school organises workshops which cover issues such as e-safety and on how to support their children's learning at home.

From the time pupils start school, they learn to use phonics to help them to read and write.

Teachers are suitably trained in methods that support pupils to catch up quickly should they fall behind in their reading. Teachers choose appropriate books for individuals which match their phonics knowledge. Reading spaces are colourful, calm and inviting, so pupils enjoy their reading.

Pupils read books that reflect the local community and worldwide issues and captivate their interests. Pupils particularly enjoy listening to their teachers reading to them. As a result, pupils become confident and fluent readers.

Pupils develop secure knowledge and skills across the curriculum. This is because teachers have strong subject-specific knowledge and teaching expertise. In some subjects, such as mathematics, pupils talk excitedly about what they have learned and are learning.

This shows that they have committed their knowledge to their long-term memories. Regular opportunities for pupils to revise what they have learned previously in mathematics help pupils to recall key learning. In early years, adults engage children in positive and effective speaking and listening interactions.

These support children's communication skills development well. Also, the children, along with staff, enjoy reciting poems, for example.

Curriculum thinking is typically strong.

Where changes to the curriculum in a few subjects are at the early stages of implementation, pupils' recall of key knowledge taught previously in these subjects is not as secure as in other subjects. Children's achievement in the early years is strong overall. Occasionally, aspects of their understanding are less secure.

This means that they are not equally well prepared for entry in Year 1 across all areas of learning as they could be.

The school uses effective initiatives and clear strategies to encourage pupils to attend school regularly. Pupils enjoy being at school and attendance rates have risen and reflect this.

Pupils' attitudes towards their learning are positive. They try hard and low-level disruption is a rarity. Children in the early years maintain high levels of concentration.

They learn to share and collaborate well with each other.

There is a strong emphasis on promoting pupils' character, individuality and their personal development. Pupils are taught how to lead healthy lifestyles.

The many clubs on offer, such as debating, drama and journalism, help pupils to nurture and showcase their talents. Pupils, including those in the early years, appreciate the praise they receive; it boosts their self-esteem.

The school's work to promote fundamental British values is woven into all areas of school life.

Pupils are encouraged to be good citizens. They take up opportunities to make contributions to the school, such as being school councillors and playground leaders. Pupils' charitable activities support worldwide causes.

This encourages their strong moral sense of duty towards others in the school and the local and wider community. The curriculum enables all pupils to explore different cultures and faiths. Pupils enjoy themed cultural lunches and visits to places of worship.

Trustees and members of the academy advisory committee make effective use of their experience and skills. They challenge, support and check all aspects of the school's work. Governance structures are effective.

Leaders from the trust and school ensure that pupils and staff achieve ambitious goals. Pupils' strong academic outcomes and their positive behaviours reflect this.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In the few subjects that have recently been refined, there has not been enough emphasis on ensuring that pupils revise their prior subject knowledge. This limits pupils from deepening their knowledge as they lack the essential foundational information and skills they need to draw upon. The school should ensure that teachers routinely enable pupils to remember key knowledge long term.

• Occasionally in the early years, children do not build on what they know and can do equally well across all areas of learning. This means children are not as fully prepared as they could be for future learning. The school should improve the early years provision further so that all children deepen their knowledge equally across all areas of learning to prepare them for future learning in Year 1.

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