Nuneaton Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not learn the curriculum well enough.

Too often they do not fully understand what they have been taught. Leaders want pupils to learn the curriculum well. This is yet to happen effectively.

Leaders are ambitious for the school and the community it serves. Pupils develop the personal skills and knowledge they need to be successful. They learn how to stay safe, look after their own well-being and be respectful.

They are well prepared to make informed decisions about their future.

Pupils reported that bullying in school is infrequent. They say that when it does occur, staff deal with it appropriately.

Pupils report that staff do not t...olerate inappropriate language, such as homophobic language, if they hear it.

Most lessons are calm and orderly. Pupils behave in lessons and listen respectfully to staff and to each other.

Staff and pupils understand the systems for dealing with poor behaviour. These have helped to improve behaviour. However, these systems can mean pupils miss out on lesson time and they do not routinely catch up on missed learning.

Pupils feel safe in school. Pupils told inspectors that during social times, others generally behave well, although there are some instances of poor behaviour. Many pupils attend the wide range of enrichment activities on offer.

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

Staff do not implement the curriculum effectively. Leaders from across the multi-academy trust have considered what pupils should learn in subjects. Curriculum plans are sequenced well.

However, there is a disconnect between these plans and what pupils experience in lessons. Teachers often move onto new learning before pupils have a secure understanding of what they have learned before. Pupils do not have the building blocks in place to grasp new learning.

Teachers do not identify these gaps and misconceptions in pupils' knowledge readily enough. This means that pupils are not learning the intended curriculum. Instead, they are often simply trying to remember a series of disconnected facts.

Leaders expect teachers to use a range of strategies to support pupils in lessons. However, in many instances, these hinder learning. For instance, pupils often resort to simply waiting for, and then copying down answers without understanding the context, vocabulary or meaning.

This means that pupils are not learning how to study effectively or overcome stumbling blocks as they learn.

Leaders have plans in place to promote reading across the school, but these have yet to inspire pupils to read regularly or for pleasure. Staff read to pupils in tutor time, but pupils do not have the background knowledge to appreciate the texts and so do not see this as valuable.

Leaders expect pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to learn the same curriculum as other pupils. However, teachers do not consistently meet the needs of pupils with SEND in lessons so that they learn well. In too many instances, pupils with SEND are removed from lessons because of their behaviour.

As a result, pupils miss out on important aspects of the curriculum and the support from an expert teacher. There is a similar negative pattern for disadvantaged pupils.

Pupils' personal development is a strength of the school.

Pupils participate in a range of activities and clubs. Leaders track pupils' attendance at these and actively encourage other pupils to attend. Leaders rightly see the school as an integral part of the wider community.

The personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum has been thoughtfully constructed. Pupils learn about the right things at the right time. For instance, pupils learn extensively about digital safety in Year 8 PSHE lessons.

Pupils receive timely information about careers and further education. This means that they are well prepared for their next steps.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff are trained well to know the possible signs that indicate a pupil is at risk. They know the systems for reporting these and the need to report any concern, no matter how small.

Leaders work with external agencies well to keep pupils safe.

They are working hard to continue to strengthen links with families. Staff know pupils well. Pastoral systems support the safeguarding work of leaders and this is effective.

Leaders have recognised the potential risks to pupils in relation to online sexual abuse. They are raising awareness of this issue effectively with staff and pupils.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils are not learning the planned curriculum well enough.

Their experiences in many lessons do not adequately enable them to develop their knowledge. Teachers do not sharply check that pupils have the fundamental building blocks in place. Hence, pupils understanding is frequently shallow.

This leaves them ill-equipped to cope with the demands of the curriculum. Leaders must urgently tackle this disconnection so that pupils remember the content they have been taught, linking new knowledge to what they already know. ? Teachers' professional development has lacked subject specificity.

As a result, they are overly reliant on general pedagogical techniques that often lead to pupils trying to learn a series of disconnected facts. As a result, pupils' understanding is often disjointed. Leaders should make sure that teachers and staff are well trained to deliver the planned curriculum effectively.

Leaders do not support disadvantaged pupils or pupils with SEND well enough. Leaders expect staff to adapt their classroom practice so that pupils with SEND learn the curriculum and disadvantaged pupils engage in lessons. This is not yet happening well.

Too many disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are removed from lessons due to their behaviour, hence missing out on valuable teacher expertise. Leaders must make sure that teachers understand how to help these pupils so that they learn and behave well. ? Leaders have been too slow to prioritise reading.

Detailed plans are now in place. However, many pupils do not enjoy reading and too few read for pleasure. Leaders must act to make sure that reading permeates all aspects of school life and that pupils develop a love of reading, so that they read widely and often.