Gosberton Academy

Inspection of Gosberton Academy High Street, Gosberton, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE11 4NW

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected 1–2 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school are happy and safe. Adults care for them well. Pupils and staff enjoy very positive relationships. Pupils know that if they have a problem they can talk with staff to sort it out. Pupils behave well. They know how to behave in different situations, for example on the playground and during assembly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are a few incidents of poor behaviour. When these happen, staff help pupils to moderate their behaviour.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well rewarded for their achievements. Weekly and termly awards recognise the effort and kindness that pupils show. Staff encourage pupils to take on responsibilities. Pupils elect the head boy and girl, and school council representatives, democratically. At the lunchtime reading club, Year 6 pupils help younger pupils to practise reading. The older pupils guide their younger peers to choose books and to overcome difficulties.

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What is it like to attend this school?

By the time pupils leave the school, most have achieved well in English and mathematics. The quality of education has improved in these subjects. However, this is not the case in all subjects. The curriculum in some subjects is too narrow. Pupils do not learn enough about the world, and their own or other cultures.

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better?

Leaders have recently begun to the review the curriculum. They have started to identify what they want pupils to learn in different subjects. This work is at a very early stage. The quality of education is not good enough in all subjects.

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better?

In some subjects, such as history and geography, leaders have decided what pupils should learn. Yet, leaders have not given teachers enough help to know what they need to include when planning learning. Sometimes activities do not match what teachers want pupils to learn.

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better?

The curriculum in some subjects is narrow and lacks ambition. Pupils have limited knowledge in these subjects. For example, in music pupils learn to play instruments. However, they do not learn to appreciate different types of music or to compose and write down music. Some subjects, such as computing and modern foreign languages, are at a very early stage of development.

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better?

Leaders have begun to raise the profile of reading across the school. In some classes, pupils learn to read and appreciate books. Inspectors saw children taking part in a lively story time. They acted out ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. However, the phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) curriculum does not help some pupils to know and remember sounds. Teachers do not help these pupils to catch up quickly. Not all teachers follow the agreed plan for teaching reading. 1–2 October 2019

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The curriculum for mathematics is strong. Teachers plan mathematics in a sequence, building on pupils’ knowledge. The use of ‘cold maths’ tasks helps teachers know what pupils can already do. They plan learning which meets the needs of pupils. Pupils revisit aspects of the mathematics curriculum to help knowledge stick.

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The provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) varies. Some pupils get good support which helps them to succeed. Yet, for others the curriculum does not meet their needs. Some pupils receive extra support out of lesson time. This means they miss out on other parts of the school day.

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Adults in the early years are caring and look after children well. They are enthusiastic and have positive relationships with children and parents. However, the early years curriculum is not ambitious enough. Teachers do not have high enough expectations of what children should be able to do. In some areas of the curriculum, adults do not build on children’s knowledge quickly.

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Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They take part in lessons well. Some aspects of pupils’ personal development are lacking. This is because the curriculum is too narrow. Pupils do not learn enough about different lifestyles, the wider world or their own and other cultures. Some pupils are taken out of activities to help them catch up in other subjects. This means they miss out on things that would help their personal development.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff have received recent training in how to keep pupils safe and spot signs of potential abuse. Staff refer concerns quickly. The school and the trust safeguarding leaders follow these up. Records of incidents are well kept. Leaders understand families’ needs. They make sure that pupils and families receive the support they need. Leaders seek early help and support to prevent cases from becoming more serious. Staff are aware of the risks to pupils.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum for early reading is not coherent. Current provision does not support the least able pupils to know more and remember more. Once they fall behind the support provided for them does not help them to catch up quickly. Leaders need to implement an approach to teaching phonics which provides all pupils with consistency and helps them to remember sounds and apply this knowledge to reading words.  The curriculum in some subjects is not well established. Teachers are not clear about how they should be using the school’s curriculum to plan learning. Leaders 1–2 October 2019

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should provide teachers with the support they need to implement the school’s new curriculum. Leaders should ensure that teachers know how they should develop pupils’ subject knowledge within topics and over time.  Some subjects are at a very early stage of implementation and have narrow content, or are not being taught well enough. Leaders urgently need to implement a curriculum that is ambitious and broad so that pupils are not disadvantaged by a lack of opportunities to learn well in all subjects.  The provision for pupils with SEND is not consistently effective. In some instances, these pupils do not receive high-quality teaching to enable them to succeed. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum and high-quality teaching meet the needs of these pupils.  There is a large amount of intervention taking place outside of lesson time. These interventions mean pupils do not participate in other parts of the school day.

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Leaders must ensure that high-quality teaching is enabling all pupils to succeed in lessons, rather than having to rely on high levels of extra support. Leaders should ensure that pupils do not miss out on other aspects of the school’s provision.  The ambition for pupils in early years is too low. Children’s knowledge is not built on quickly enough. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum fosters high ambitions for children, enabling them to achieve well.  There is a lack of breadth in the curriculum for pupils’ personal development. Leaders must ensure that pupils have a wide range of opportunities to develop cultural knowledge and their understanding of diversity.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 1–2 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110022 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The academy is part of the Boston Witham Academy Federation.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors focused on reading, mathematics, geography and music. This included lesson visits accompanied by members of the school’s staff. Inspectors also talked with pupils about their school and looked at examples of pupils’ work in these and other subjects.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, the leader of the provision for pupils with SEND, the early years leader, teachers, teaching assistants and leaders of English, mathematics, music and geography. Inspectors also spoke with the trust’s chief executive officer, the chair of the governing body and one other governor.  The inspectors spoke with parents informally and considered the 13 responses to the online parent questionnaire, Parent View, and the 12 responses to the staff survey.  The inspectors looked at a range of documents, including: the school’s curriculum 1–2 October 2019

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plans, plans for improvement, the most recent published information on the achievement and progress of pupils and information relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Helen Williams, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Rebecca King Ofsted Inspector 1–2 October 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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