Gossey Lane Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe at Gossey Lane Academy. They try hard to live the school motto 'together we aspire'. Pupils are polite and kind to each other.

They play well together. Occasional incidents of bullying are dealt with effectively by leaders. Pupils are confident that staff will deal with any concerns or worries they have.

Leaders have not made sure that the curriculum is ambitious enough. This means that expectations for pupils' achievement are not consistently high enough. This particularly affects some disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Recently, leaders have started to review the curricul...um to raise expectations. This work is at an early stage and there is more to do. Parents have mixed views about the school.

Pupils broaden their interests through activities such as trips and visits. A Year 5 visit to a local chocolate museum, for example, deepened their learning about the Mayans. A variety of clubs such as sports and choir help pupils to develop their talents.

Most pupils enjoy coming to school. However, some do not attend school regularly enough, particularly some disadvantaged and SEND pupils. This means they miss learning, which hinders their progress.

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

Leaders have not ensured that the curriculum is ambitious enough for all pupils. In some subjects, learning is not well sequenced. This means that pupils do not build securely on what they have learned before.

Staff have not had sufficient training to teach some subjects well enough. Assessment is not used consistently well, so work is not carefully matched to pupils' needs. As a result, they do not achieve as well as they could.

Reading is prioritised. Staff have the resources they need to teach reading well. Pupils read, and are read to, regularly.

Most staff have been trained to teach the phonics scheme. Books match the sounds that pupils are learning. This helps pupils to practise new sounds when reading in school and at home.

Pupils who fall behind are supported to catch up with their reading. Pupils now achieve well in phonics.

Expectations for pupils with SEND are not consistently high enough.

Leaders have not ensured that the identification and support for pupils with SEND are effective. Weaknesses in the education, health and care plan target-setting process mean that information is not precise enough to support pupils to be successful. Teachers do not adapt enough of what they do to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

Some pupils are not well supported to learn alongside their peers.

In the early years, however, leaders set high expectations. Staff support children well to settle into school life and routines.

For instance, they help them to work and play cooperatively with others and to take turns. This helps them to feel happy and secure at school. The early years curriculum is well planned and prepares children for key stage 1.

They get off to a good start with their early reading, writing and mathematics. For example, some children write full sentences independently.

In the early years, staff build supportive relationships with children and ensure their learning needs are identified and met.

They make sure children get the support they need to be successful. Children enjoy taking on responsibilities, such as 'fish feeders' or 'safety officers.' This helps them to develop respect for their learning environment.

The school provides strong opportunities for pupils' positive personal development.Pupils show respect for others. They are proud of the school's gold United Nations Children's Fund Rights Respecting Schools Award.

Opportunities to be 'Gossey Gardeners' or pupil leaders enable pupils to take on responsibilities. Visits to different places of worship and residential trips widen pupils' horizons. In personal, social and health lessons, pupils listen to and value the opinions of others.

Pupils enjoy weekly discussions and debates about issues, such as the suffragette movement.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic and significant staff changes have slowed school improvement. This is partly why leaders have not improved the school as much as they would have liked.

However, leaders' oversight has lacked focus at times. Recent changes in the Washwood Heath multi-academy trust (MAT) have brought more rigour to holding school leaders to account for the school's performance. Currently, leaders are starting to take more focused and effective action to drive improvements.

However, they have more to do to improve provision, attendance, and outcomes for pupils.

Staff are positive about the support from leaders to manage their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders make sure staff understand their role in keeping children safe. Staff record and report any concerns to safeguarding leaders.

Leaders make the appropriate pre-employment checks when recruiting new staff.

They work well with external organisations to support pupils, and their families, to get the help they need. However, at times, communication and recording are not as robust as they might be. There is no evidence that pupils are unsafe at school.

However, some administrative processes could be tighter.

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They learn about online safety, road safety, fire safety and how to stay safe near water.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculum is not ambitious enough for all pupils. This is because, in some subjects, learning is not sufficiently well sequenced to help pupils know more and remember more over time. Leaders should review curriculum design so that learning in different subjects is carefully sequenced, so that pupils' knowledge builds up logically over time.

• Leaders' processes to identify the needs of pupils with SEND lack sufficient rigour. This means that some pupils do not get the right help and support they need to achieve well. Leaders should review their processes and provision for identifying and supporting pupils with SEND.

They should do this, so that these pupils learn as successfully as possible. ? Leaders' oversight of the quality of education, SEND provision and use of additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is not sufficiently focused. In addition, some safeguarding administrative processes are not robust enough.

Senior leaders should ensure that all leaders and staff with responsibilities undertake their roles effectively. They should do this to ensure robust accountability and consistency of practice across the school. Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should, particularly some disadvantaged or SEND pupils.

This means that they miss learning and fall behind. Leaders should work closely with these pupils and their families to overcome barriers to regular attendance. They should also review how additional funding could be used to support better attendance at school.