Redfield Educate Together Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not receive a good quality of education. In some subjects, the important knowledge and concepts that pupils need to learn are not set out clearly enough.

As a result, pupils do not build a deep understanding of each subject over time. This means they do not learn as well as they could.

Pupils enjoy coming to school.

They describe it as a place which enables them to 'express their personality'. Pupils understand how the school's values help them to feel part of a community and be understanding of others.

The school has clear systems in place to manage behaviour.

Most pupils are polite and well mannered. However, the expectations of ...some staff are not high enough. In the early years, for example, learning is disrupted as some children struggle to settle and do not follow instructions well.

Staff take time to form positive relationships with pupils. Pupils know there are adults who they trust to help them with any concerns they may have. This enables pupils to feel safe.

Pupils value their roles as 'change makers' and members of the eco team. They talk with pride about their work to promote mental health by creating a mindfulness garden.

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

The school has endured a turbulent period of staffing and leadership instability.

The trust acknowledges that this has led to a decline in standards that are evident in the most recent published outcomes. The recently appointed acting headteacher has brought stability to the school. Robust plans are now in place to bring about the necessary improvements.

However, it is too early to see the impact on the quality of education that pupils receive.

The school understands the importance of reading. It ensures that pupils read and listen to a range of texts which builds their understanding of the world around them.

Pupils love reading. They say that reading makes them feel that they are 'inside a book'. Older pupils read a range of texts with increasing accuracy and expression.

Pupils learn to read through a carefully sequenced phonic programme. Most pupils learn and remember new sounds well. Pupils read books that match the sounds they learn.

This helps them to build fluency and confidence with their reading.

In some subjects, teachers have the subject knowledge they need to teach the curriculum effectively. This helps pupils build their knowledge well over time.

In mathematics, for example, older pupils use their previous knowledge of shapes to confidently calculate the missing angles in a triangle. However, there are other subject areas where staff subject and pedagogical knowledge is not secure. In geography, learning is not adapted well enough to meet pupils' needs.

Teachers do not use assessment to check with precision that pupils have retained knowledge over time. As a result, some pupils struggle to recall their current learning about the physical features of different continents or make links to what they have learned before. This slows the progress pupils make though the curriculum.

In the early years, the curriculum is not designed well. It does not make clear the small steps of learning that build children's knowledge progressively. Staff do not design tasks to address children's gaps in language or to extend their learning.

As a result, many children are not well prepared for Year 1.

The school is improving its systems to identify and meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Where the support is effective, pupils with SEND progress through the curriculum well.

For example, pupils develop their language skills, using words such as 'mischievously' in their writing. Despite this, the quality of this support varies across the school. This hampers the progress that some pupils with SEND make.

Pupils play well with one another during social times. However, some pupils display negative attitudes to their learning and do not take pride in their work. The school has effective systems in place to track the attendance of pupils.

This is leading to improvements in rates of attendance, particularly for those pupils who are persistently absent.

The school's 'Learn Together' curriculum is well designed. It enables pupils to develop their knowledge of concepts such as equality and to understand the importance of positive relationships.

Despite this, pupils lack a secure knowledge of faiths and cultures different to their own.

Trustees and local governors have an accurate understanding of what the school needs to do to improve. While staff appreciate the recent leadership changes, some have mixed views about their workload and the support they receive to manage pupil behaviour.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some of the wider curriculum subjects, the school has not identified the important knowledge that pupils need to learn. This means that pupils do not learn more and remember more of the curriculum over time.

The trust needs to ensure that all subjects identify the knowledge that pupils must learn, and when. Some teachers lack the necessary subject knowledge to teach their subjects well. They do not use assessment well enough to check that learning is secure or adapt learning to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.

Pupils find it difficult to remember their learning, have gaps in their knowledge or struggle to access their learning because of this. The trust needs to ensure that teachers deliver the planned curriculum effectively to help pupils know more and remember more. ? Expectations of behaviour are not high enough in some parts of the school.

Some pupils do not show positive attitudes to their learning and disrupt others. The trust needs to ensure that staff have consistently high expectations of behaviour for all pupils. ? The expectations for what children can achieve in the early years are not high enough.

Children do not gain the knowledge and skills they need to learn well across the curriculum. As a result, they are not well prepared for the next stage of their education. The trust needs to ensure that there is a suitably ambitious early years curriculum that enables children to become confident and independent learners.