Pilton Bluecoat Church of England Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy, safe and rightly proud of Pilton Bluecoat Church of England Academy. The school has high expectations for all pupils to succeed.

Pupils learn in a nurturing environment where staff help them thrive. Everyone is welcome here. One pupil said, 'This is a place where we are kind and caring to everyone.'



Parents are overwhelmingly supportive and value the many opportunities offered to pupils. The wider development of pupils is a strength of the school. They benefit from a range of opportunities that embed the school motto of, 'life, love and learning to the full.'

This helps pupils to be responsible, respectful and active citizens. Pu...pils gain from a variety of pupil leadership roles. For example, 'ethos ambassadors' promote the school values and praise pupils who follow these well.

Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. They have a lived experience of democracy. They know their voice matters.

The residential trip to the Houses of Parliament enhances their understanding even further.

Pupils value the pastoral support in place to help them. The school yurt is described by pupils as a safe space to share any worries they may have.

Pupils are confident their concerns will be resolved quickly.

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

The school has designed a broad and ambitious curriculum. The development of staff subject knowledge has supported the successful implementation of the curriculum.

For example, in physical education (PE), teachers benefit from focused training before teaching the next unit of learning. This supports staff in enhancing their expertise when teaching the curriculum.

In many subjects, assessment is used to identify and support any gaps in pupils' knowledge.

For example, in mathematics, 'in the moment' checks are used to spot misconceptions that are subsequently addressed. This helps pupils to build their knowledge well. However, in some other subjects, assessment is not used with enough precision to check what pupils know and remember.

As a result, some pupils have unknown gaps in their knowledge. This makes it harder for them to build on what they already know.

A culture of reading is at the heart of the school.

High-quality texts have been selected to enable pupils to experience a wide variety of genres and authors. These texts are carefully selected to promote equality. Pupils love reading.

They take great pleasure in sharing their favourite books. When pupils begin in Year 3, the school identifies how well pupils can read. A phonics scheme is in place to help pupils who have not yet grasped the basics of reading.

However, some pupils do not get all the support they need to develop their reading knowledge securely, including some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Gaps in the phonics code are not addressed quickly enough. As a result, these pupils find their learning more challenging.

Teachers adapt learning to help pupils with SEND to access the curriculum. However, in a minority of cases, some pupils do not get all the help they need. Learning targets are not precise enough to support pupils to develop their reading, writing and mathematics knowledge.

As a result, some pupils make slower progress.

Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour across the school. Pupils respond well to these and show positive attitudes to their learning.

Pupils' attendance is high because leaders are relentless in their drive to promote this.

The school are ambitious about promoting pupils' wider development. For example, the 'big events' curriculum supports pupils to learn the key values of 'building community, building futures, building learning power, building self-esteem.'

This supports pupils' wider knowledge, such as economic understanding. All pupils benefit from aspects such as learning musical instruments and trips to enhance the curriculum. As pupils move up the school, this is enriched further.

For example, pupils in Year 5 enjoy reading to pupils at another local school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment is not effective, in some subjects, in identifying what pupils know and remember.

As a result, some pupils have unknown gaps in their knowledge. The trust needs to ensure that assessment is effective in identifying what pupils know and remember to help pupils build their knowledge securely. ? Some pupils with SEND do not receive all the support they need, including when learning to read.

This is because some learning targets lack precision or do not focus on the most significant areas of academic need. As a result, some pupils do not build their knowledge well enough. The trust must ensure that pupils receive all the support they need to learn the curriculum well.

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