Stockingford Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love their school.

They know that the adults care about them and will listen to them. Pupils thrive in the caring environment. The school's values of excellence, resilience, nurturing, fairness and partnership are evident in how pupils and adults treat each other.

The school has high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In the past, expectations were not high enough, and pupils did not achieve as well as they should. However, there has been significant improvement since the school became an academy, and now pupils are learning and remembering more, which is helping them to achieve well.

...>Pupils behave well at Stockingford Academy. There are warm, respectful relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils learn to understand and talk about emotions in themselves and others.

They recognise that, at times, some pupils find it hard to manage their own behaviour but know that adults will deal with this well.

Pupils learn to be responsible by taking on leadership roles, such as those of school councillors, eco-councillors, and house and sports captains. They learn about recycling, raise money for charity and support local food banks.

Pupils enjoy meeting visitors, such as authors, theatre companies and firefighters, to enrich their learning.

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

The school has developed a well-sequenced, ambitious curriculum. In core subjects, the school has clearly defined what it wants pupils to know.

Teachers check pupils' learning and provide extra support to those who need it. This means that pupils build their knowledge in these subjects and generally achieve well. However, for some foundation subjects, the school is still refining its work to identify the most important information that pupils should know.

As a result, pupils are not always clear about what they have learned.

Teachers explain learning clearly and design appropriate activities to engage pupils. The school and trust have provided staff with the training and subject knowledge they need to assess pupils' learning effectively.

Staff provide pupils with helpful feedback where needed. In Reception, well-trained staff are knowledgeable about how to support children's learning. Adults plan activities that focus on the children's needs.

As a result, the children in Reception show a high level of motivation and curiosity. They work both independently and with each other to develop positive relationship skills.

The school prioritises pupils' reading.

Everyone enjoys and values reading. Right from the start, staff in early years ensure that children build their vocabulary through speech and language activities. All staff receive training to enable them to teach phonics effectively.

They support pupils who need help with reading to catch up. Pupils benefit from reading books that accurately match the sounds they know.Pupils also enjoy the carefully chosen books that teachers read to them each day.

All this helps pupils to develop into fluent and confident readers.

The school's provision for pupils with SEND is a real strength. Leaders identify and understand pupils' needs very well.

Clear plans for each child with SEND give staff the information they need to provide precise and effective support. The Hive and The Haven provide bespoke support for pupils with more complex needs from expertly trained staff. This provision is highly personalised, with clear, individualised targets linked to pupils' learning and social and emotional development.

Pupils are happy and they thrive in The Hive and The Haven.

Pupils have positive attitudes towards learning. From the start of Reception, children learn how to follow instructions, listen, share and take turns.

Pupils are proud of their work and are keen to talk about it. The school's hard work to improve attendance has improved rates of attendance for many pupils. Despite this, some pupils are still absent too often.

This means that these pupils are not able to benefit from the good education provided by the school.

Pupils follow a personal development curriculum that supports them to learn how to keep themselves safe when online and in the wider world. Pupils learn about managing money by planning their own enterprise schemes to raise funds for exciting trips.

They learn about important topics, such as equality and diversity. As a result, they respect and celebrate differences between people. However, there are limited opportunities for pupils to broaden their aspirations for future careers and education and to extend their understanding of fundamental British values.

Pastoral support for pupils and their families is highly effective. The Nest is a calm space where pupils get support with well-being, learning and social skills. All pupils benefit from daily 'R' time, which allows them to reflect on their successes and mistakes and prepares them for the next school day.

The school is led and managed well. The trust provides effective support and challenge to the school. It checks that the school's actions have the intended impact on the quality of education for pupils.

Leaders balance decisions about improvements with demands on staff workload. Staff are united and work with positivity and purpose to put the needs of pupils first.

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 foundation subjects, it is not always clear exactly what pupils are learning because the precise knowledge pupils need to know is not explicit in the curriculum. This means that pupils do not always build their learning securely over time. The school should continue to refine the curriculum in some subjects, so that teachers know exactly what pupils need to learn.

• Pupils do not experience enough opportunities to learn about fundamental British values or to raise their aspirations for future careers and education. This means that some pupils are not as well prepared to make the most of their future life in modern Britain as they could be. The school should ensure that opportunities to raise aspirations and to develop pupils' understanding of British values are purposefully planned and delivered.

• Some pupils are absent from school too often. These pupils miss important learning. The school should continue to extend and develop the strategies that it uses to improve attendance, including its work with parents and carers.