The Parkgate Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

The Parkgate Academy has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

The principal of this school is Reece Davy. This school is part of The Forge Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school.

The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Jamie Macintyre, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sue Trentini.

What is it like to attend this school?

Parkgate is a caring and ambitious school where everyone is made to feel welcome. Developing a sense of belonging and creating a safe climate for learning are at the core of all of the school's work.

The school has high e...xpectations for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, to obtain the best possible outcomes. Pupils live up to this expectation and achieve well.

Pupils are eager to do their best.

One pupil told the inspector, 'The best thing about Parkgate is the teachers. They help you with everything: your work, if you are upset and if you need to calm down.' The school's high behaviour expectations are consistently followed by all staff.

Pupils aspire to be the best version of themselves. They consistently treat each other and adults with courtesy and respect.

Pupils relish the opportunity to put themselves forward for a range of leadership roles such as becoming a 'junior town councillor'.

Pupil voice is highly valued. Regular ballots take place in school where all pupils have the opportunity to cast their vote on certain ideas. Pupils are extremely proud of the impact their actions have had both in the school and their local community.

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

The school fosters a love of reading. Phonics sessions teach pupils to identify sounds and blend them together to decode new words. The reading books pupils take home are carefully matched to the sounds they have been working on.

This helps them to practise and use the sounds they know. It has a positive impact on their overall reading fluency and confidence. Pupils value the range of creative reading opportunities they have.

The school library incorporates a community library which is led by the school's 'reading champion'. This helps to promote the importance of reading at home.

Children's reading journey starts in the early years.

They enjoy a home-from-home experience. Relationships between adults and children are warm and nurturing. Children are encouraged to develop their independence and learn through play.

Children concentrate for increasingly sustained periods of time. Adults ask children questions and skilfully capture learning opportunities in the moment. The different outdoor learning areas provide children with the opportunity to explore and take risks.

Children are well prepared for their transition to key stage 1.

The school's curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced. Important knowledge that pupils should know and remember builds progressively from the Reception Year onwards.

Teaching focuses on the use of subject-specific vocabulary. Teachers introduce new words and encourage pupils to use them in their responses. Pupils show high levels of engagement in lessons.

They listen intently and ask and answer questions with enthusiasm. Pupils can talk about their learning with confidence and share their knowledge using appropriate language.

Teachers use a range of methods to check how well pupils are remembering what they have been taught.

Pupils say that the '3 thinkers' questions at the start of some lessons really help them to recap previous learning and to 'jog their memory'. In some subjects, teachers do not always present information to pupils clearly. The school monitors the quality of teaching in every subject.

These checks do not always lead to the actions needed to remove inconsistencies in teaching and learning.

The school works proactively with a range of external professionals to ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the support they need. Lessons are suitably adapted so that pupils with SEND can access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.

Many pupils receive tailored support from the school's own speech and language therapist. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

The school, with the support of the trust, continues to refine the systems and approaches it uses to track and improve attendance.

The school works proactively with families. Despite, the school's best efforts, the number of pupils who are persistently absent remains too high.

The school's personal development offer is a strength.

The school carefully plans opportunities to broaden pupils' horizons and to promote aspiration. Pupils learn not to discriminate against anyone who is different to them. As a result, pupils have a mature understanding of equality and diversity.

They talk with respect about different world faiths and cultures.

The school and the trust both carefully consider staff workload in all of their decision making. Consequently, staff feel valued.

Staff access a range of training opportunities and enjoy networking with other professionals across the trust. The trust board fulfils its statutory duties and offers 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)

• Despite the school's best efforts, too many pupils are persistently absent from school. This has a negative impact on their progress. Building on the work the school has already undertaken, it should continue to explore different ways to improve pupils' attendance.

• There is inconsistency in the quality of teaching in some subjects. As a result, some pupils do not learn and remember essential knowledge across the whole curriculum. The school must support staff to ensure that teaching is consistently effective across all subjects.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness May 2019.