Lime Academy Watergall

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

At Lime Academy Watergall, the quality of education requires improvement. In subjects other than reading, the teaching does not consistently help pupils to remember what they have learned.

Because of this, they do not achieve as well as they should.

Pupils at the school experience a caring school culture. Large numbers come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is larger than average. The pandemic has had a particularly harsh impact on this community. Through all this, pupils say that they feel safe, and their needs are met.

Behaviour is orderly. Pupils respond positively to the high expe...ctations and clear routines set by leaders and staff. Pupils focus on learning and enjoy their lessons.

Pupils are well behaved around the school. They say that bullying is rare. If it happens, it gets resolved quickly and effectively.

Pupils enjoy a range of opportunities that contribute to their personal development. They expand their horizons with trips to London. Pupils go on local visits that link to what they learn at school.

They develop their characters by volunteering, for example in having a role on the school council. Pupils value the range of clubs on offer, such as those for gardening, sewing and a choir.

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

Leaders have recently reviewed their curriculum.

As a result, it is now well considered. In all subjects, leaders identify the most important knowledge that pupils should learn. Leaders plan this so that what pupils learn builds on what they already know.

Although this is the case, leaders have not ensured that the curriculum is put into place effectively. Teachers are implementing leaders' plans, but they do not consistently check well enough that pupils remember what they have learned. On occasions, teachers move on to new content too quickly without correcting misconceptions.

As a result, pupils in some subjects struggle with learning opportunities because they have gaps in their knowledge.

Leaders have made reading their priority. Staff are knowledgeable and well trained in teaching reading.

Leaders make sure that pupils who fall behind get help from the most experienced teachers. Because of this, pupils quickly learn to read with fluency. This includes those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Leaders help pupils develop a love of reading. Older pupils talk with pleasure about the books they are reading.

Pupils with SEND get strong support.

Staff are well trained and knowledgeable about these pupils' needs. They plan effectively to ensure that they meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Consequently, pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers.

The quality of education in early years is currently better than that in the rest of the school. This is because leaders have successfully designed an ambitious curriculum for the youngest children. Staff are skilful in checking that children develop what they know.

As a result, children show increasing independence. They quickly learn important skills and knowledge, which stands them in good stead for Year 1.

Leaders plan the curriculum to make sure that pupils' personal development is considered.

For instance, leaders select books for pupils that help them learn about diversity. Pupils talk eloquently about their views on race. However, leaders have not ensured that teachers implement their plans consistently well.

Because of this, pupils do not remember enough of what they have learned about other areas of difference. For example, they have not developed their knowledge of different types of families as well as they might.

Governors, working with the trust, do not have an accurate view of the quality of education.

As a result, they do not challenge leaders effectively on how well they are implementing the curriculum. In part, the pandemic has made this oversight harder to achieve successfully. Governors have the skills they need for their roles.

They check closely that leaders' work on safeguarding is effective.

Staff say that their workload is high. However, they feel that leaders consider this, and that they positively support staff well-being.

Staff say that leaders help them get the training they need to develop professionally.

Leaders engage well with the wider community. Parents and carers praise what staff do for their children.

Parents typically comment that their children have been 'happier and more confident in themselves since attending this school'.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a robust and vigilant culture of safeguarding.

Leaders deal effectively with serious safeguarding concerns and are knowledgeable about appropriate actions to take. Records are detailed and thorough. When leaders need to refer cases to agencies, they do so promptly.

Staff are well trained in how to keep children safe. Leaders know the risks in the local area, such as domestic violence and neglect. Leaders and staff liaise well with agencies to tackle these, for example with charities, to provide furniture and clothing to vulnerable families.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers do not check effectively that pupils remember what they have learned. Consequently, pupils struggle with new content because they are not secure in their prior learning. Leaders must provide effective training for teachers so they know how to check learning well, and then make sure that this is carried out effectively to ensure that pupils achieve well.

• The curriculum does not help pupils have a secure understanding of difference. Pupils do not remember enough of what they are taught about this. Leaders need to improve the implementation of the personal, social and health education curriculum so that pupils understand, remember and apply in their day-to-day life what they have learned about respectful relationships.

• Those responsible for governance do not monitor leaders' work on the curriculum closely enough. Because of this, governors and the trust do not have an accurate view of the quality of education. Governors must work with the trust to check what leaders are telling them, so that they can knowledgeably challenge leaders to improve the way in which the curriculum is implemented.

Also at this postcode