Pilgrim Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pilgrim Academy is a friendly school, where pupils feel happy and safe. Pupils like coming to school and enjoy positive relationships with the staff.

Most pupils attend school well, but there are too many pupils who regularly miss school. Pupils talk positively about recent improvements at the school, including the things they learn in their lessons. They enjoy the subjects they learn about in their termly themes.

They enjoy practical work, discussions and going on visits. They know that their lessons have more practical and interesting activities now. The curriculum helps pupils to learn about a wide range of subjects.

The new executive headteacher and new s...enior leaders have made lots of positive changes. These have helped to improve the quality of education. As a result, teaching has improved so that pupils make good progress.

Pupils enjoy attending the breakfast club and have a wide range of other clubs to help them to develop their talents and interests. Pupils understand the difference between bullying and falling out. Pupils say that there is occasional bullying, but staff deal with it.

Most pupils behave well in classrooms and around the school.

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

Since the new executive headteacher and leadership team started in September 2019, there has been a determined effort to improve pupils' learning and progress in in reading, writing and mathematics, particularly across key stage 2. Pupils' behaviour and attitudes to learning have improved, and classrooms are typically very calm and well-ordered places to learn.

Leaders have led a drive to improve the teaching of reading; new resources, staff training and a clear programme for teaching phonics have all helped to improve pupils' reading across the school. The phonics programme is carefully followed and any pupils who fall behind are identified quickly so that they can be given extra help to catch up. Staff are well trained in the teaching of phonics.

New resources mean that pupils at the early stages of learning to read have access to books that match the sounds they know. Pupils develop a love of reading; they particularly enjoy listening to stories at the end of most days. They make good progress in reading, which means that they can access the full range of curriculum subjects when they are in key stage 2.

Although reading skills are taught effectively, sometimes pupils do not get to practise these skills in a timely manner.

In mathematics, a coherent and embedded plan helps teachers to build pupils' knowledge and skills over time. Teachers' good subject knowledge is used well to explain new ideas, and effective questioning is used to check pupils' understanding.

Pupils use and apply their mathematical understanding to reasoning and solving problems. Work to introduce a new curriculum, planned around termly themes in some subjects, has led to well-thought-out sequences of work in some subjects. This is helping pupils to learn more and remember more.

For example, in religious education (RE). pupils thought about places that were special to them. They went on to look at why churches are special to Christians.

Pupils then learned about the features of synagogues and why these are special to Jewish people. However, not all learning activities are well planned and sequenced. Leaders know that more work is needed in a small number of subjects, including some of the RE topics and science.

Most teachers have good subject knowledge, but some staff say they have not had training to ensure that they are fully able to implement all aspects of the planned curriculum. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are included well in the life of the school.

The leadership of the early years has improved.

Consequently, the early years curriculum has been well developed to interest and engage children. A wide range of well-planned activities capture their imagination. Children in Nursery and Reception are well looked after and behave well.

They benefit from daily mathematics and phonics sessions. Consequently, they are well prepared for their move into Year 1.

Leaders promote pupils' personal and social development effectively.

Well-thought-out activities are used to tackle local social issues. For example, the police visited to talk to pupils about hate crime, and a charity visited to talk to pupils about stereotyping. Pupils now have more opportunities to take part in local sporting events and to go on visits.

The capacity of the senior leadership team has been enhanced through the appointment of experienced leaders. They have made many successful changes in their first term. This has led to improvements in the curriculum and teaching across the school, but leaders know that there is still more to do.

Some curriculum leaders are less confident and do not have the skills they need to judge and influence the work of other teachers. Governors know the school well, but there is scope for them to challenge the work and impact of leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils feel safe in school. They trust the adults in school to help them if they are worried. They learn about staying safe online and in other situations.

Leaders ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children before they join the school. Staff receive regular training and understand what they must do if they have concerns about a child. Leaders work with outside agencies to provide extra support for the most vulnerable pupils.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Sometimes pupils do not get enough time to practise and apply new reading skills. This means that some pupils do not become fluent readers. All teachers need to ensure that pupils have enough time and opportunity to use new skills soon after they have been taught.

The new curriculum is well planned in most subjects, but not all. Carefully sequenced activities are planned in subjects such as mathematics and history, which helps pupils to learn more and remember more. However, in subjects such as religious education and science, activities do not build securely on previous learning.

This hampers pupils' learning. Further work is needed to ensure that activities are well sequenced in all subjects. It is clear from the work that has taken place so far that leaders have the capacity to bring this about.

. Teachers are well trained in reading and mathematics. However, in a small number of subjects, teachers have not had the necessary training to prepare them fully for teaching the new curriculum.

Providing teachers with appropriate subject-specific training will improve their confidence and ability to accurately sequence learning. Similarly, some curriculum leaders need further training to develop the skills and knowledge they need to judge and influence the implementation of the curriculum and the work of other teachers. .

Despite a raft of actions, attendance rates remain stubbornly below average, and the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is above average. There are procedures for monitoring pupil absence. Leaders should review and refine the attendance procedures to ensure greater impact.