Long Itchington CofE Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Long Itchington CofE Academy is an inclusive school. There is ambition for all pupils to achieve the skills and understanding they need to succeed.

However, this vision is not yet fully realised.

While pupils learn the school values, they do not always show respect for each other or for visitors in school. Behaviour sometimes disrupts learning, and this makes some pupils feel worried.

The school rule of 'ready, respectful, safe' is not yet consistently applied and understood. That said, pupils are confident that if bullying were to happen, adults would sort it out.

Through the 'passport to achieve', the school has identified a range of opportunities ...to widen pupils' experiences.

This includes working with a local theatre company and learning a musical instrument. An 'events committee' of pupils in Year 3 plans events to raise money for charity. While pupils appreciate the clubs on offer, they do not yet see themselves as active citizens who contribute positively to their local and wider community.

Pupils spoken to are happy to attend school. However, they were less clear about whether they would recommend it to others. Parents and staff also have mixed views about the school.

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

The school has been through a period of staff instability. This has not yet been resolved and continues to worry some parents. Changes of responsibility in school, and the staff turnover, have hindered the school's ability to secure consistency in some areas they are seeking to improve.

Where the curriculum sets out what is to be learned and subject leadership is more developed, pupils learn well. In mathematics, the clear sequence of learning is followed in well-structured lessons. Pupils build on previous learning when they encounter new concepts.

Similarly, in history, pupils develop their knowledge over time. Pupils talk about how experiences such as 'Egyptian day' deepen their understanding. Staff appreciate the documents that support the curriculum for history.

These help them to strengthen their subject knowledge.

This successful approach is not yet consistent across the curriculum. For example, in design and technology, pupils remember products they have made rather than the skills they learned.

Some pupils miss too many lessons in design and technology due to organisation of the timetable. This further hampers their learning. In Spanish, pupils cannot consistently remember recent learning.

While they can recall some basic vocabulary, they cannot use this in spoken sentences.

The school has not ensured that phonics lessons are delivered consistently well. Reading books do not always match the sounds that pupils know, including for older pupils who have not secured a strong enough grasp of phonics.

Regular assessment identifies pupils falling behind. Extra support helps them to catch up. However, the timing of the support means that these pupils miss school assemblies and important reinforcement of the school's values during this time.

Recent improvements in the identification of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have been positive. General adaptations now enable pupils with SEND to access busy classroom environments. However, pupils with SEND do not always have the adaptations or resources they need in specific subjects.

This means that their learning is not always as effective as it could be.

In the early years, the curriculum has been developed to ensure that pupils' interests are fostered. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and caring.

However, children do not get off to a consistently strong start. Positive learning behaviours are not well established for all children. Too often, children flit between activities without the independence or resilience to learn from them.

They do not always listen carefully, for example when they are being read a story.

The school has made some changes to how behaviour is managed. However, some pupils sometimes behave in a way which distracts others and hinders learning.

This is because the school has not ensured that all staff are consistent in their expectations or how they manage low-level disruption. Incidents of low-level behaviour are not recorded in way which helps the school to identify any patterns. Suspensions are used appropriately but the number of suspensions is not reducing.

Visits to the local church and other places of interest help to develop pupils' understanding of their local area. Pupils understand diversity and different ways of life. They learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy.

Pastoral support is provided when pupils need it. However, opportunities for pupils to make meaningful contributions to the school and the local and wider community are inconsistent.

The trust has been instrumental in supporting the school to make necessary improvements.

They know that while some positive changes are now in place, there is more work to do.

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, the phonics programme is not delivered as well as the school intends.

Not all pupils read books matched to the sounds that they know. This means that some pupils do not learn how to read as effectively as they could. The school should ensure that the phonics programme is delivered with a high degree of fidelity so that all pupils benefit from high-quality provision when learning to read.

• In a small number of subjects, the sequences of learning are not yet precise enough. This means that pupils do not remember or build on previous learning. The school should continue to refine these subjects so that pupils can build their knowledge and skills effectively.

• Support for some pupils with SEND is not always as effective as it could be. Adaptations to teaching are sometimes not subject-specific enough to ensure that pupils with SEND can always access the curriculum. This means that some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they could.

The school should ensure that teachers have the expertise needed to adapt teaching so that pupils with SEND can access the curriculum successfully. ? Children in the early years do not consistently experience the routines and high expectations that they need to prepare them fully for their next stage of education. The school should ensure that clear routines and expectations are developed and consistently applied so that children get the best possible foundations for learning.

• The school does not manage and track patterns of poor behaviour consistently well. Learning is sometimes disrupted, and some pupils feel anxious about this. The school should ensure that behaviour expectations are consistent and that there is a commonly understood approach to managing behaviour.

• Some parents and staff are concerned about how well the school communicates with them, including about staffing changes. This means that they feel worried about what is happening at the school. The school should strengthen its communication with parents and staff so that all stakeholders can fully support the work of the school.

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