St Ann’s Well Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Ann's Well Academy continues to be a good school.

The headteacher of this school is Emma Thorne. This school is part of L.

E.A.D academy trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school.

The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Diana Owen, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Andrew Buck.

What is it like to attend this school?

St Ann's Well Academy is a nurturing and inclusive school. It has high aspirations for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, to achieve well.

Relationships are at the heart of everything the school does. Pupils show courtesy and respect to each other and t...he staff. Pupils approach their learning with resilience and determination.

Pupils demonstrate the school's high expectations both in their conduct and also in their highly positive attitudes towards their learning. Pupils are happy and feel safe.

In lessons, pupils show consistently high levels of engagement.

They listen intently and show a willingness to do their very best. Pupils are proud of their school and their individual achievements. One pupil shared, 'My school is special to me because it is safe and friendly.

The adults here help me and I get a good education.'

Pupils enjoy taking on extra responsibilities, for example by being a school councillor or a mental health ambassador. They take these roles very seriously and are proud of the positive contributions they make to their school community.

Pupils can also access a wide range of after-school clubs. They value these opportunities along with the range of trips and experiences the school also provides.

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

Children in the early years get off to a secure start.

The environment is well organised into different learning areas. There is a clear focus on supporting children to develop their early language and communication skills. Relationships between children and staff are warm.

Staff plan clear opportunities for children to embed their learning through play. Children enjoy exploring the environment and take carefully planned risks. Clear routines and high expectations support children to be well prepared for their transition to key stage 1.

The school prioritises early reading and phonics. The reading curriculum is well organised and supports pupils to become confident readers. The reading books that pupils take home are carefully matched to the level they have been working at in school.

This helps them to build confidence and develop their reading fluency. The school has carefully chosen high-quality texts which ensure that the school's diverse community is represented in the books that pupils read. Pupils enjoy collecting reading tokens for reading regularly at home.

They can exchange these tokens for a reading book of their choice which they can take home and keep.

The mathematics curriculum is ambitious and well developed. The mathematics lesson structure allows pupils to regularly revisit what they have previously learned.

For example, the 'active number' part of lessons gives pupils the chance to practise and refine different calculation methods. This is helping further develop their mathematical fluency. Pupils enjoy working collaboratively to reason and problem solve.

There is a high focus on the use of correct mathematical vocabulary. As a result, pupils increasingly answer questions in full sentences using the correct subject-specific terminology.

The school considers aspirations in every single subject area.

Staff discuss and explore possible future careers with pupils. Lessons highlight links between individual subjects and how they are used in the real world. Pupils' behaviour in lessons is mature.

They show a real interest in their learning. The majority of pupils can talk about what they have learned with confidence. However, in a small number of the foundation subjects, the knowledge that pupils can recall is not yet fully secure.

This is because some subject curriculums have only just been introduced. As a result, some pupils still have gaps in their knowledge. There are also some inconsistencies in how well subject matter is discussed with pupils.

Some staff skilfully check pupils' understanding, identify misconceptions and provide clear, direct feedback. However, this is not always the case.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the support they need to thrive.

The school works proactively with a range of external professionals to make sure that pupils with SEND access suitably ambitious lessons that meet their individual needs. The school's 'Comets' room offers tailored support for pupils with the most complex needs. This is a joyful and highly effective provision where pupils are happy, very well supported and achieve well.

The school prepares pupils very well for life in modern Britain. Pupils have a strong understanding of equality and diversity. They talk about these topics with maturity and respect.

One pupil shared: 'Everyone is unique. You should not make judgements about others or discriminate them because of their protected characteristics. We are taught not to judge anyone because of their religion, race or culture.'



Staff feel supported with their workload. Leaders carefully consider staff well-being when introducing new ways of working. Staff highly value the training opportunities available to them.

In particular, they enjoy being able to network with other professionals across the trust. Those with responsibility for governance offer the school appropriate support and challenge.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of foundation subjects, the curriculum is at a relatively early stage of implementation. As a result, pupils' recall of knowledge in these subjects is not secure and some gaps in knowledge remain. The school should ensure that the curriculum is fully embedded across all subjects and regularly check the impact of this work so that pupils know and remember more of the intended curriculum.

• There is some inconsistency in how well subject learning matter is discussed with pupils. Some staff skilfully check pupils' understanding, identify misconceptions and provide clear, direct feedback. However, this is not always the case.

On some occasions, misconceptions are not addressed quickly enough and subject matter is presented inaccurately. The school must ensure that subject matter is discussed with pupils consistently well so that pupils know and remember more of the intended curriculum.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2014.