The Crompton House Church of England Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

The Crompton House Church of England Academy continues to be a good school.

The head of school of this school is Susanna Hegarty. This school is part of Crompton House 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), Karl Newell, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Victoria Musgrave.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils uphold the school's core values of caring for each other and achieving excellence in all that they do. Pupils, including students in the sixth form, develop trusting relationships with staff and each other. Pupils benefit from strong pastoral supp...ort.

They feel happy and safe in school.

The school is ambitious for pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to succeed. Pupils are attentive in lessons and work hard.

They achieve well in a range of subjects. Pupils are well prepared for their next steps, including moving on to further study and apprenticeships.

Pupils engage positively with a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities.

These activities help many pupils to explore their interests and talents. Pupils enjoy taking on leadership opportunities such as becoming ambassadors, being part of the sixth-form management team and supporting younger pupils with their reading. This prepares pupils well to become active citizens in school and in their community.

A large proportion of pupils complete the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Sixth-form students are strong role models for younger pupils. Pupils behave well in lessons, in corridors and during break and lunchtimes.

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

The school has put in place a well-thought-out curriculum. This ensures that pupils build their knowledge from topic to topic and across subjects. Pupils study a broad range of subjects, including the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects.

This prepares them well for the future. In the sixth form, students have an offer of subjects that equip them well to go on to university or into apprenticeships.

Teachers ensure that pupils learn important knowledge in a carefully considered way.

Across all key stages, teachers have strong subject expertise due to the high-quality training that they receive. In many subjects, teachers use their expertise to design activities that enable pupils to practise, revisit and remember their learning.

Teachers typically use assessment strategies well to check on pupils' learning during lessons and at the end of topics and modules.

However, in a small number of subjects, pupils' gaps in learning are not identified and acted on swiftly enough. This means that some pupils' learning is less secure. This slows their progress through the curriculum.

Reading is a high priority. The school's library is a hive of activity throughout the day. Pupils typically read often in school.

Across all subjects, the importance of reading is promoted. Pupils who find reading more difficult are identified quickly. They benefit from well-considered strategies to improve their reading knowledge.

This improves pupils' confidence and fluency in reading and supports them to access the wider curriculum.

Staff identify pupils' additional needs quickly and effectively. The support that staff provide enables pupils with SEND to access the full curriculum.

The school is a calm, purposeful place to learn and work. Pupils move around the building in an orderly way. They arrive at lessons on time and they behave well.

Staff know how to deal with any occasional incidents of poor behaviour. The school's work to improve attendance is effective. Attendance levels are above the national average.

Pupils learn about healthy relationships, consent and how to keep themselves safe from harm. They learn about the dangers that they may face as they get older. Careers education across the school is highly effective.

Pupils learn about apprenticeships and universities, as well as what life is like living in modern Britain.

Trustees and members of the local governing body have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development. They are proud of their school and the impact that it has on its community.

Trustees and governors support and challenge the school to improve the quality of education for pupils and sixth-form students. Staff are proud to work at the school. They appreciate the steps taken by leaders to manage their workload and well-being.

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 subjects, teachers do not identify or act on the gaps in pupils' knowledge quickly enough. This means that pupils' learning is not as secure as it should be.

This hampers their progress through the curriculum. The school should ensure that gaps in knowledge are spotted and remedied so that pupils learn all that they should.

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 April 2015.