Foley Park Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school and enjoy taking advantage of the range of opportunities that are on offer.

Pupils make a positive impact through a variety of leadership roles, such as value champions, young leaders and school councillors. These roles ensure pupils make a real difference to the school. For example, school councillors tasted the school dinners to design the school menu for next year.

The school has ensured all staff share high expectations of pupils' achievement. Recent changes have ensured that pupils study an ambitious curriculum. Pupils talk enthusiastically about their learning and achievements.

Pupils are polite, kind and have excellent ...manners. They understand and follow the school rules of 'be ready, be respectful and be safe.' Pupils feel valued because staff provide high-quality pastoral care.

This helps pupils feel safe and happy.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and who are disadvantaged, engage in a wide range of additional opportunities designed to develop their talents and interests. For example, pupils learn to play the cornet and get individual chess tutoring.

These pupils are then supported to use these talents outside the school, for example in chess tournaments.

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

Over recent years, outcomes across the school have been variable. New leaders quickly identified areas that needed to be improved and worked to address these issues.

All staff now share higher expectations of what pupils can achieve and this is having a positive impact on pupils' progress. For example, staff have raised their expectations of pupils' writing. Pupils have increased their stamina for writing, and handwriting and presentation have improved.

This has ensured that the standards of writing are improving quickly. In other subjects, such as mathematics, subject-specific training has helped staff to teach in a way that helps pupils recall important knowledge. As a result, pupils' achievement across the school is significantly better.

Since the previous inspection, the school has put in place an ambitious curriculum. Learning in the foundation subjects has been well planned and sequenced. It is clear what the pupils need to know and how this builds over time.

Subject leaders know their subjects well and carry out regular monitoring. Leaders are aware that some pupils continue to have some gaps in learning, stemming from when the curriculum was not as well planned. Teachers are continuing to use assessment well to identify and address these gaps in learning.

Reading is central to the school's curriculum. Leaders have ensured there is a variety of high-quality texts that enhance the wider curriculum. Pupils value the stories and texts that staff read to them.

Teachers are skilled in teaching phonics. They ensure that the books that the pupils read are well matched to the sounds they are learning. Children in early years develop the skills to be confident readers and are ready for Year 1.

Pupils with SEND have their needs accurately and promptly identified. They are supported to achieve as well as they can. Staff ensure that curriculum adaptations are put in place to allow pupils to access learning alongside their peers.

Pupils' behaviour has improved significantly. The school has ensured that routines and expectations are known by the pupils and staff. Staff have worked with pupils to help them to understand what good behaviour looks like.

In class, however, while the majority of pupils work hard and are on task, there are some pupils who are not as focused as they could be. While they do not disrupt learning, they do not consistently display positive learning behaviours. At times, this has a negative impact on their own learning and progress.

Leaders are relentless in their approach to managing attendance. They have worked with pupils and parents to ensure they understand the importance of regular attendance. Pastoral support is provided to families if persistent absence is a concern.

As a result, attendance has risen sharply and the number of pupils who are regularly absent has declined considerably.

The trust's values of, 'unity, integrity, courage, curiosity and excellence' are at the heart of the school. Pupils are fully inclusive and empathetic.

They talk confidently about how it is good to be different. They talked eloquently about how pupils may have SEND, for example physical disabilities or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and how activities and support are adapted for individual pupils.

The school is very well led.

Leaders, including those with responsibility for governance, know the school well. They understand issues that impact on pupils' learning, for example attendance. They have systems in place to hold leaders to account for the progress in the school.

Leaders are mindful of staff's workload and well-being. Leaders ensure that staff benefit from high-quality training.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• At times, pupils do not always remember their prior learning as well as they should. This is a legacy from when the curriculum was not as well planned as it is now and consequently pupils have some gaps in their knowledge. Leaders should continue to identify and address important gaps in pupils' learning so that pupils learn as well as they should.

While behaviour around the school has improved, there are some instances when behaviour in lessons is not as strong as it could be. This means that at times some pupils are disengaged or off task. The school should ensure that all staff share consistently high expectations of all pupils in lessons to ensure that learning behaviours are strong.