A school in Sandbach has received one of the first ungraded Ofsted inspections – although it would not take an A-grade student to work out what it would have been.
Sandbach Primary Academy was rated good across the board, said to be good for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and early years provision.
Its previous inspection grade was good.
One or two-word Ofsted judgements for schools in England have been scrapped following an inquest into head teacher Ruth Perry’s suicide, which concluded that a critical Ofsted inspection “contributed” to her death. The report expressed concerns over safeguarding, which may have led to school becoming an academy and Mrs Perry losing her job.
Sandbach Primary Academy, part of the Aspire Academy Trust and on Crewe Road, was said to be “friendly and welcoming” and taught the pupils the importance of kindness and respect. Pupils played their part through their roles as “happiness heroes”.
The report said the school had a has high expectations for what pupils could achieve. Typically, pupils achieved well across the curriculum and pupils, including those with special educational needs or disabilities, left the school “well prepared” for the next stage in their education.
The school’s extra curricular activities on offer supported pupils to develop resilience and independence. Pupils “excitedly” shared their experiences from after school club and their recent residentials. Pupils “relished” taking on responsibilities in roles such as ambassadors and safety officers and were “especially proud” of their recent project to promote cleaner air as well as the trust’s speech competition, the report said.
The report flagged up the fact that the school had successfully “fostered a love of reading” and “created a buzz” among the pupils, who took “great pleasure” in choosing th eir books from the school library.
In the two-year-old provision, children learned songs and rhymes and listened carefully to the sounds around them. Staff used picture books to engage children well as they move through the early years, and children were ready to start learning phonics as soon as they entered the reception class, another area that was singled out as good.
The report also praised the “effective” staff training that developed the knowledge and skills required to help pupils become confident readers in readiness for year one and beyond.
The school was also praised for its “carefully organised” curriculum.
Criticims were that in a couple of subjects, including some areas of learning in the early years, the school was still determining the most important knowledge that pupils should learn, which meant that staff occasionally found it difficult to design learning to help pupils to build their knowledge securely.
In a few subjects, the school was also not as adept at checking pupils prior learning before introducing new information, which meant that some pupils did not recall their learning over time as accurately as they should.
The report added: “The school’s work to improve attendance has been remarkable. It is a high priority . For the very small number of pupils who need support, the school takes effective action to improve their attendance.”
The headteacher of the school is Claire Caldwell. The school is part of the Aspire Academy Trust and run by the chief executive officer, Kevin Simpson, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sue Bowen. It has 141 pupils aged between two to 11.
(Photograph: Google Earth.)
