Radford Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school in which everyone is made to feel welcome and included.

Pupils enjoy coming to school. They speak positively about how staff help them with their learning. Pastoral support is available and prioritised for pupils at the right time.

Pupils say that they feel safe in school and bullying rarely happens. If it does, they are comfortable to ask for support and say that teachers would resolve it quickly.

Leaders have high expectations for pupils.

Their work to promote pupils' personal development is a strength. Pupils enthuse about a range of extra-curricular clubs that are on offer, such as netball, sewing and reading. Staff work hard to ...ensure that all pupils benefit from valuable experiences.

Senior leaders prioritise important values such as unity, respect and care. They are at the heart of this school and the curriculum. Staff promote these through all that they do.

Pupils of all ages understand what these values mean and why they are important. Pupils are kind to each other; they are polite and show good manners. Behaviour across the school is generally calm and positive.

Leaders have revised and developed the curriculum. The curriculum is ambitious. They have considered what they want pupils to learn and when.

Pupils are prepared well for their next steps.

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

The school has been on a journey of improvement. Senior leaders have set out the key learning for pupils, starting in the early years.

Governors and senior leaders have ensured that subject leaders receive the appropriate challenge, support and training to lead their subjects well. Leaders have focused on the right things at the right time for pupils, including for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff say that they are proud to work at this school and feel valued by leaders.

Children in the early years are happy, settled and work well together. Staff use established rules and routines to support children's learning. For example, singing together or exploring the outside area with their listening ears develop children's communication.

Children achieve well and are ready for learning.

Leaders prioritise early reading. Leaders make sure staff are well trained and that they teach phonics in the way it is intended.

Staff spot if pupils are not keeping up and quickly put support in place. This helps pupils to progress and read with increasing accuracy. Pupils enjoy choosing books from the library and the classroom book boxes to take home.

They also speak positively about the reading dogs that visit school each week.

Leaders organise pupils' learning through a chosen theme. This helps pupils to connect their learning and vocabulary.

Pupils of all ages can talk about their learning confidently. The support pupils receive helps them to do well. Teachers have good subject knowledge.

However, in some lessons, teachers do not present subject matter clearly or adapt content to meet the learning needs of all pupils. This can result in pupils having varying learning experiences.

Pupils with SEND are supported and immersed into the full curriculum offer.

Where necessary, staff make amendments to the learning to enable pupils to access the curriculum. Leaders get to know pupils at the earliest stage and are quick to identify pupils' needs. Consequently, pupils with SEND receive the right support and achieve well.

Most teachers use assessment well to identify what pupils already know and can do. However, younger pupils do not always form letters correctly and some older pupils do not develop enough fluency in their handwriting. Teachers do not always identify mistakes and help pupils to put them right.

As a result, pupils do not make the progress that they should with their writing.

Leaders have thought carefully about pupils' personal and social development. They have crafted a meaningful curriculum that extends beyond the academic.

Pupils enjoy participating in a rich set of experiences. This includes meeting authors and people with different occupations. Pupils learn about democracy through school elections.

They contribute positively to school life through their leadership roles.

The school has a calm and respectful culture. On occasion, some pupils do not behave well in lessons.

While some staff manage this well and support pupils back into learning, this is not consistent. Leaders manage attendance with rigour and take appropriate actions to best support pupils in attending well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a positive culture of safeguarding. Leaders and staff receive appropriate training for their roles and responsibilities. When staff are worried about pupils, they report concerns quickly.

Leaders take effective action. External support is followed up to secure the right outcomes for pupils.

Staff know the pupils well.

Leaders and staff know and understand the challenges and risks that pupils face. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. As a result, they can share things they have learned, and this includes knowing how to keep safe when online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers have not provided enough guidance to some pupils to enable them to develop their handwriting well. As a result, these pupils struggle to communicate their ideas clearly in their writing and are not making as much progress as they should over time. Leaders should accelerate their plans to support pupils with the acquisition of effective handwriting skills.

• Not all staff consistently follow the school's behaviour policy. This means that some pupils' poor behaviour goes unchallenged and they do not behave as well as they should. Leaders should provide further training and ensure that all staff apply the school's behaviour policy consistently.

• At times, there is variability of teachers' expertise in implementing the curriculum. In these instances, pupils do not learn as well or as much as they should. Leaders should continue to support staff in developing expertise and ensure that the curriculum is delivered in line with their aims.