Oakfield Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Since the last inspection, the headteacher, newly appointed deputy headteacher and REAch2 Academy Trust have worked in close partnership to improve behaviour and teaching and accelerate outcomes for pupils.

As a result, standards across the whole school are rising. In Year 6 in 2015, pupils made good progress; standards were broadly in line with the national averages and the progress they made in reading and mathematics was higher than the national average. This good progress is due to good teaching.

The headteacher has introduced robust systems to check that teaching is effective; leaders and managers use these systems well to monitor pu...pils' progress. Consequently, teachers use assessment information to set work which is at the right level for pupils' different needs and their progress is accelerated as a result. Teachers know pupils as individuals and manage their behaviour well according to their needs.

As a result, pupils' behaviour in lessons, and in and around the school grounds, is now good. Governors from within the school's local governing body are kept well informed by the headteacher. They visit the school regularly, are aware of the progress that is being made by pupils and know what needs to be done next in order to improve.

Children in the early years get off to a good start as a result of good management and teaching. They make rapid gains from their typically lower than expected starting points. Safeguarding training is kept up to date and arrangements for keeping pupils safe in school are effective.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Although outcomes in English are improving, the proportion of pupils making expected, and better than expected, progress in writing is not as good as it is in reading and mathematics. This is because there has not yet been sufficient time for the changes introduced to the teaching of writing to accelerate pupils' learning and impact fully on their outcomes. In some lessons, teachers do not move pupils on to the next stage of their learning quickly enough; when this happens, progress is not as accelerated as it could be.

Information about this school

Oakfield Primary Academy is a sponsor-led academy within the REAch2 Academy Trust. It is larger in size than most primary schools. The current headteacher was appointed just before the last inspection.

Since then, the school has appointed a new deputy headteacher and five new teachers. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after by the local authority) is higher than the national average. The proportion of pupils whose first language is not believed to be English is double that of the national average.

The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is slightly higher than in most other schools. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.