Glade Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Glade Academy is a happy and calm place for pupils to learn, make friends and take part in a range of opportunities. Pupils like the way that staff celebrate their achievements and efforts in class and assemblies.

Pupils are taught that difference and diversity are something to be celebrated.

In classrooms and around the school, pupils behave well. This is because their teachers have high expectations.

Pupils are motivated to work hard, and they take pride in their work. Pupils show respect for adults and one another. Pupils say that bullying does not really happen in school.

Pupils know that they can talk to any adult in the school. They know that a...dults can help them whenever they need help.

Pupils at Glade Academy can contribute to and take part in the school council.

They can also become art ambassadors and school librarians. Pupils can develop their fitness and teamwork skills by attending a range of sports clubs, such as archery and tennis. Leaders and teachers have created opportunities for pupils to take part in activities within the local community, such as visiting the local care home.

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

Leaders have ensured that the school's curriculum is ambitious and sets out the important knowledge and skills that children need to learn. They have worked together to ensure that subject curriculums build over time, from Reception to Year 6. As a result, teachers have more confidence to plan and teach interesting lesson content.

Pupils are able to remember increasingly sophisticated knowledge, such as the organs and circulatory system of the human body. Leaders are keen to develop further opportunities for pupils to apply their practical skills in subjects such as science and art.

In lessons, teachers are careful in their explanations, and they are quick to notice and help pupils who have misconceptions.

Assessment across the curriculum helps with the timely identification of pupils who need additional support. Teachers teach and model the vocabulary that they would like pupils to learn and use. Teachers also ensure that pupils are given opportunities to revisit and rehearse knowledge learned in previous topics.

In mathematics, teachers are keen to help pupils develop their reasoning and problem-solving. However, in younger year groups, pupils do not have enough practice in basic calculations. This means they have to catch up on this knowledge as they move through the school.

Reading is a high priority at Glade Academy. Leaders and teachers have worked hard to enhance the early reading curriculum. Pupils start to learn to read from the moment they join the school.

Adults frequently read high-quality texts to children. The books that pupils practise their phonics knowledge with match the phonics they have learned at school. Pupils who need additional support are given the help they need to catch up.

As a result of leaders' prioritisation of early reading, pupils are quickly developing confidence and ability to read.

Staff ensure that pupils experience a calm and purposeful environment in which to learn. They make sure that pupils know what is to be expected of their behaviour.

This includes the teaching of playtime rules so that pupils' playtimes are safe and happy. Teachers are committed to being consistent with their expectations. Pupils are taught how to take pride in their work.

Pupils who need additional support to regulate their behaviour are given additional help from the adults in the classroom. This help enables pupils to concentrate more in lessons.

Leaders are keen to ensure that pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain.

For example, pupils are taught about different kinds of families and different religions. They are also given opportunities to learn about democracy and citizenship. Pupils know that everyone is unique.

Pupils are taught to treat everyone fairly.

Leaders and teachers work with parents and outside agencies to provide additional support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), such as with their focus on pupils' acquisition of language. Staff run regular nurture groups.

These nurture groups support pupils with SEND with their social skills and help to develop their independence. Adults set regular 'small-step' targets, and these are reviewed regularly.

Children in early years learn plenty of well-chosen songs, nursery rhymes and stories.

Leaders have also developed the early years curriculum so that it includes interesting and important knowledge. They are ambitious about the vocabulary that pupils will learn. This knowledge and vocabulary help pupils to understand the world and prepare them for the next stage of learning.

Staff are caring and attentive. They help children to learn routines so that lessons and activities run smoothly.

Trustees and governors know the school well.

They are invested in the community and pupils' success. Leaders are ambitious and place a high focus on education. They are supportive of the headteacher and the staff.

They are committed to the well-being of all who work and learn at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have ensured that a culture of safeguarding is shared by all.

Staff are well trained in how to keep children safe, how to spot the signs of harm and how to report concerns. Leaders work closely with parents and the appropriate outside agencies. Children say they feel safe and know that they can go to any adult in the school if they have a concern.

They are taught how to keep safe, including online.

The school's records for identifying, reporting and following up on safeguarding concerns are detailed and robust. This is also the case for the school's single central record of staff's recruitment and training.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In mathematics, younger pupils have yet to develop deep knowledge and understanding of some of their number bonds. This is because opportunities to practise and apply their number bond knowledge, such as through reading and writing basic calculations, are somewhat limited compared to opportunities to reason and problem solve. Leaders need to work with teachers so that they can better support pupils' acquisition of mathematics fact knowledge in younger year groups.

• In a few subjects, leaders have not fully developed the opportunities for pupils to apply their practical skills. This means that pupils are not yet able to regularly apply some of their knowledge in more complex situations. Leaders should identify and sequence further opportunities for pupils to apply and hone their practical skills in subjects such as art and science so that they can deepen their understanding.

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