Knowle Church of England Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Patience, gentleness and kindness lie at the heart of Knowle CofE Primary Academy. A strong Christian ethos underpins relationships and expectations.

Pupils are happy to attend school because they believe staff care for them.

Parents, carers and staff want the very best for every pupil. The school has set a high expectation that all pupils will experience 'Life in all its fullness'.

Pupils learn well. Most quickly acquire and understand the important knowledge they need.

Caring relationships promote a sense of calm and self-control.

This is a peaceful and purposeful environment. When pupils need extra help to get the most from their time at ...school, staff act quickly to help them. Pupils, parents and staff agree that behaviour is strong across the school.

As a result, this is a kind and respectful environment where pupils feel safe and are safe.

This school enriches the lives of its pupils and develops a sense of responsibility and pride in the community. An impressive range of clubs, such as gymnastics, musical theatre, cheerleading and others, help pupils develop hobbies and interests.

There are frequent opportunities to support such charities as the local food bank or Royal British Legion, and these help pupils develop a strong sense of social responsibility.

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

Recently, there have been significant changes to the leadership of Knowle. A new leadership team has brought a refreshed enthusiasm to the school.

Supported by a dedicated and supportive governing body, leaders understand what the school is good at and know what they need to do to make it even better. Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They feel that the school is well led and managed and that they are well supported.

In many subjects, the curriculum maps out what pupils need to learn within and across year groups, including the early years. In these instances, the curriculum is well ordered, which enables pupils to build their level of understanding from Nursery to Year 6. This is particularly well done in reading, mathematics and physical education (PE).

In other subjects, the written intent about how knowledge and skills should be built on from the early years and into Year 1 is not yet in place.

Class staff work hard to ensure that sequences of lessons in different subjects build pupils' knowledge. Subject leaders work with class teams to advise them on what pupils should learn and how they would learn it best.

There is consistency across all classes on how teachers provide opportunities for pupils to build knowledge over time.

In most cases, teachers check what pupils learn during lessons and adapt their approaches when needed. For example, teachers use creative ways to get a sense if all pupils understand the lesson's intended aim.

However, there are some cases where this is not as strong, and teachers do not routinely check that all pupils have a sense of whether they have achieved the intended outcome of the lesson.

Reading is a strength of the school. From the early years, there is a strong plan and expectation for how children will learn phonics and be able to build these into words.

Opportunities to build fluency, expression and intonation are well planned. Pupils experience a wide range of different genres and styles of written text. Older pupils talk confidently about such authors as Louis Sachar, J.

K. Rowling and other genres of books.

The support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a real strength of the school.

A highly skilled team around each child works hard with parents, staff and specialist services to assess needs and put the right provision in place. A small group of parents raised concerns through the free-text service and Ofsted Parent View about the support for children with SEND. However, inspectors found that when pupils need help, they get the right support to overcome any barriers to learning.

A strong sense of responsibility and care permeates all aspects of this school. Staff care for pupils, and pupils respond in kind. Pupils whom inspectors spoke to were happy to be at school.

When attendance drops, the school acts swiftly to ensure that pupils return quickly. Consequently, attendance is high, and the small number of pupils who do not attend often enough is reducing over time.

The support for pupils' personal development is a strength of the school.

Lessons in personal, social, health and economic education develop pupils' understanding of how to stay safe, be healthy and take an active role in the community. The school's 'SMILE' programme helps pupils develop skills to maintain positive mental health and well-being.

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 subjects, the curriculum starts in Year 1 and does not build on what pupils have learned in the early years. In these instances, written plans do not clearly define how learning links to and builds on learning from the early years. The school should ensure that, in all subjects, the written curriculum intent in Year 1 builds on what pupils have learned in the early years.

• In some lessons, teachers do not routinely check on what pupils have learned and understood from that lesson. This results in some pupils not being ready for the next steps in their learning. The school should ensure that all staff are skilled in and aware of the school's assessment systems and implement them consistently.