Old Trafford Community Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The rules of 'be ready, respectful and safe' are at the heart of this welcoming school. They are woven through the curriculum and school life.

Pupils learn about differences and being respectful to others. This contributes to the sense of unity and partnership that is felt throughout the school. Pupils are happy in school.

They are ready to learn and learning is rarely disrupted.

The school has high expectations for all pupils. Pupils achieve with increasing success at this improving school.

Recent work to improve the curriculum, supported by the trust, is having a positive impact. However, the quality of education in essential areas such as reading,... writing and mathematics requires improvement as reflected in the published low outcomes for pupils.

Positive relationships between pupils and staff mean that pupils trust adults to help keep them safe.

They know that they can talk to adults if they are ever worried. Pupils feel they are listened to. They know that their views and ideas will be taken seriously and that they can make a difference to their school.

For example, the pupil parliament has secured new basketball equipment for playtimes. Pupils value the roles of responsibility available to them, such as being a class ambassador.

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

The school has taken decisive action to improve the curriculum.

It has identified the important knowledge that all pupils need to learn. The carefully sequenced curriculum is suitably broad and ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The school has focused on ensuring that learning in the key areas of reading, writing and mathematics is secure.

Teachers follow an agreed lesson structure that supports pupils in revisiting prior learning before learning the next step. Teachers provide meaningful adaptations to support pupils with SEND. This enables pupils with SEND to access learning alongside their peers in class.

Teachers use questioning skilfully to check and challenge pupils' learning before they move on. This is having a positive impact on the progress that pupils are now making through the English and mathematics curriculums, although they are still not achieving as well as they could. This is reflected in the published outcomes of 2023 national tests.

The teaching of early reading follows clear and consistent routines from the moment children enter the early years. Staff deliver the well-ordered phonics programme confidently. They select books for pupils to read in school, and to take home, which are carefully matched to the sounds they are learning.

Pupils who do not keep up with the pace of the programme are quickly identified and are supported to catch up.

The reading curriculum, beyond the phonics curriculum, is less well developed. Some pupils do not show a love of reading or talk confidently about stories that they enjoy or would recommend.

This means they are not always developing the positive reading habits that they will need for the next stage of learning. Leaders and the trust already have plans in place to further promote reading for pleasure.

In some subjects other than English and mathematics, the curriculum is in its early stages of implementation.

Staff present subject content clearly in lessons. However, they do not consistently identify and address the gaps in learning that older pupils have as a result of the previous weaker curriculum. This means that these pupils struggle to make connections in their learning to remember and build knowledge over time.

In a small number of subjects, the school has not refined its systems for checking on the implementation and impact of the curriculum across the school. As a result, it does not precisely identify weaknesses and address these swiftly enough.

Routines are well established from the Nursery Year and throughout the school.

This results in a calm and orderly environment in classrooms where pupils can concentrate and learn. The school works hard to encourage regular attendance. It has rigorous processes in place that are driving improvement.

Staff work diligently with families to strengthen attendance and reduce persistent absence.

The school has carefully considered how it promotes pupils' personal development. Pupils learn how to stay safe in school, online and in their local community.

The school understands its context and how to drive improvements. There is a shared vision of there being no ceiling to what pupils can do. Instead, the school teaches pupils about the doors that education can open for them.

To this end, the school is doing much to raise aspirations.

Trustees and members of the local governing body provide effective challenge and support to the school. While they are determined to drive the improvements that this school needs, they are mindful of staff's well-being.

Staff appreciate the training that they receive and the resources that the school has purchased to help to reduce their workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some subjects in the wider curriculum are at an early stage of implementation.

Pupils have not learned the important knowledge that they need to prepare them for their future learning. This means that they have gaps in their knowledge. The school should work with teachers to ensure that these subject curriculums are implemented effectively and enable pupils to achieve well across these subjects.

• In some subjects, the checks that the school makes on teaching and learning are not sharply focused. As a result, learning is not consistent. This affects how well pupils build their knowledge over time.

The school should ensure that its checks focus on the consistency and precision of pedagogy and its impact on pupils' learning. ? The school has not ensured that there is a rigorous and consistent approach to the development of pupils' reading, beyond phonics, across the school. This means that some pupils do not show a love of reading or talk confidently about stories they enjoy or would recommend.

The school should implement and embed the intended reading curriculum so that all pupils read widely and foster a love of reading