Knayton Church of England Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff thrive at this vibrant and happy school. The school has high ambitions for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff make sure that pupils' success is at the heart of everything they do and that every effort is made to meet the needs of every pupil.

Staff work hard to create a family feel to the school. Pupils respond well to this and treat each other with kindness, respect and consideration. There is a real sense of community.

Pupils enjoy receiving rewards for their good behaviour with 'value tokens'.

Developing pupils' character is an important aspect of the school's work. Pupils have acce...ss to an extensive range of opportunities in this regard.

This prepares them well to become well-rounded citizens. Pupils appreciate the important role they have in making a positive difference to their community and the world in general. They actively support charities by raising money and highlighting important causes.

Pupils recently wrote a letter to the prime minister to share some of their concerns about current affairs. They were delighted to receive a response.

The school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour around school.

Pupils respond to these expectations and behave well while moving around the school and during play time. In classrooms, most pupils do well. They respond to teacher requests with enthusiasm.

However, a small number do not respond in such a way and sometimes do not make the most of the valuable learning opportunities on offer.

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

Leaders have been decisive in dealing with areas for improvement highlighted in the last inspection. The support for, and development of, subject leaders has been an important focus of this work.

This has enabled the school, working alongside experts and other leaders from schools across the trust, to create a broad and inspiring curriculum for pupils.

For the most part, the curriculum is well sequenced. This is particularly true in mathematics and reading.

Here, pupils gain new knowledge in a structured and logical way, building knowledge over time. The foundation curriculum is also very strong. However, the progression of knowledge from one topic to another is not always clearly defined.

Pupils can sometimes struggle to create links between topics, or they may forget the important facts that they learn.

Children in the early years get off to a good start. They enjoy learning and playing together.

They follow well-established routines. The learning environment is vocabulary-rich. It supports children's language and communication skills well.

Learning is purposeful, and children know what they are doing. They enjoy learning about numbers and remember their previous learning well. Children have many opportunities to write at length.

They do so with enthusiasm. They are well prepared for Year 1, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.

Leaders, both in school and across the trust, provide highly effective training and support to develop teachers' expertise in delivering the curriculum effectively for all pupils.

Teachers design tasks carefully and present information to pupils clearly and consistently. They check pupils' understanding, correcting misconceptions and taking every opportunity to build on what pupils already know. The school is rightly proud of this work.

The school has a relentless focus on making sure that all pupils can read. This begins with strong foundations in Reception. Children are introduced to reading through high-quality phonics lessons taught by an expert teacher.

The school is stocked with many beautiful and engaging books, which the children enjoy reading with friends and adults. Across the rest of the school, teachers and support staff quickly notice if pupils are at risk of falling behind with their reading. They then arrange extra support to help these pupils keep up.

As a result, pupils learn to read well. Pupils enjoy reading and look forward to the weekly 'Drop Everything and Read' session, where they have an opportunity to spend time immersed in a book.

Systems to identify the needs of pupils with SEND are robust.

The trust provides effective support to develop the knowledge and skills of leaders who support pupils with SEND. Leaders ensure that SEND provision is regularly reviewed and that pupils' needs are securely met. This means that most pupils with SEND are able to participate fully in lessons alongside their peers.

The school and trust are relentless in pursuing additional sources of funding for pupils with SEND to provide even better support where it is needed.

Pupils enjoy responsibility, taking on roles such as house captains, sports leaders or eco-warriors. Pupil leaders are heavily involved in decision-making at the school.

During the inspection, some Year 6 pupils said how proud they were of the support they had provided to Reception children in their role as buddies.

Pupils are confident when debating significant issues, such as discrimination or difference, in an age-appropriate way. This is underpinned by the strong Christian ethos of the school, the robust curriculum and the wide variety of opportunities pupils are given to explore their interests and understanding of the world beyond the school.

The school is ambitious for the pupils and staff in its care. Trustees and governors know the school well and offer appropriate challenge and support. Professional development is given a high priority.

As a result, staff are given the time, support and encouragement needed to develop their knowledge and expertise.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some foundation subjects, the substantive knowledge that pupils need to learn is not explicitly linked to underlying curriculum themes.

In these subjects, pupils miss opportunities to develop a deep understanding of the connections between topics. This means that they sometimes forget the important facts they learn. Leaders should ensure that they continue to refine the curriculum so that it is consistently sequenced and implemented and that it results in pupils learning and remembering the intended content over time.

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