Gretton Primary Academy

Inspection of a good school: Gretton Primary School Kirby Road, Gretton, Corby, Northamptonshire NN17 3DB

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Outcome

Gretton Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Gretton is a warm, welcoming community. Pupils feel safe and well cared for. Pupils are keen to take on responsibility. They appreciate opportunities to become part of the sports crew, act as reading buddies, school councillors and ambassadors, and help younger pupils at lunchtimes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a calm place to learn. Pupils behave well in lessons and play together happily in the well-equipped outdoor areas. The school’s values help pupils know the difference between right and wrong. They understand what bullying is and say that it does not occur in the school. Pupils use ‘worry boxes’ to share any concerns they may have. They say adults help pupils promptly when issues are raised.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between staff and pupils are positive. Pupils enjoy learning and achieve well in different subjects. Sometimes, staff do not have high expectations of what pupils can do.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum provides additional opportunities for pupils. Pupils enjoy sports competitions, for example in netball, basketball and football. Pupils learn about a range of careers from the ‘careers fair’ workshop. They enjoy residential visits, learning to play musical instruments and visiting the theatre in Kettering. They support the community by raising funds for different charities.

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

Subject leaders are reviewing each subject to make sure that curriculum plans set out all the important knowledge pupils need and when they should learn it. When this works best, they check that knowledge is introduced in the right order. They ensure that staff receive the training and support to plan and deliver an effective curriculum that meets the needs of all pupils. Most pupils achieve well. Leaders know that, in some subjects, there is more work to do to ensure that pupils build on their previous learning and that staff are ambitious enough for what pupils can achieve. 28–29 January 2020

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In the early years, children settle quickly. They concentrate when they learn new sounds to help with their reading and writing. Staff are trained well to teach phonics and understand the order in which pupils should gain phonics knowledge. They regularly check pupils’ understanding and help those who fall behind to catch up quickly. Pupils are enthusiastic about working with numbers in mathematics. They enjoy applying what they have learned to creating and solving new calculations.

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Pupils achieve well in mathematics in most classes. Sometimes, though, some pupils misunderstand important knowledge and teachers do not check carefully enough their understanding before moving on to new content. Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could because teachers do not plan learning that is demanding enough.

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Leaders plan well the curriculum to develop pupils’ reading and writing. They make reading a priority. Leaders and teachers have nurtured a love of reading and pupils enjoy hearing the carefully chosen books teachers read to them. These extend pupils’ knowledge of vocabulary and stimulate their imagination. However, again, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in reading comprehension because teachers’ planning sometimes does not build as well as it could on pupils’ previous knowledge and understanding.

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Leaders are swift to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They make sure that pupils with SEND receive the right kind of specialist support. Staff make sure that pupils are helped with their learning. This is a strength of the school.

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Staff are effective at helping pupils’ personal development. Leaders ensure that pupils learn about the need to respect people whose faith, culture or family background is different to their own. Staff help pupils to understand the wider world and to be aspirational. The school does this well. Pupils really appreciated a recent careers fair at the school.

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The governing body is enthusiastic and highly motivated. Governors hold leaders to account for the work they do to raise standards. They are also mindful of staff workload. Leaders are supported well by multi-academy trust partners. The trust provides relevant, high-quality training opportunities for leaders, other staff and governors.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are trained well in safeguarding and know what to do if they have a concern about a pupil. Leaders act swiftly on concerns that are brought to their attention. They work well with other agencies to make sure that pupils and families get the support they need.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that records relating to safeguarding and behaviour incidents are thorough and managed well. Leaders make appropriate checks to make sure that everyone who works in the school is suitable to work with children. Parents and carers say their children are safe and well cared for. 28–29 January 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers are sometimes not as effective as they could be in checking pupils’ learning, addressing misconceptions and adapting their teaching to meet the pupils’ needs. They are sometimes not as ambitious as they could be for what pupils can achieve. Some pupils sometimes do not achieve quite as well as they should. Leaders need to ensure that all staff use their subject knowledge and teaching expertise to plan and assess pupils’ learning in different subjects effectively so that pupils can achieve their very best. They should ensure that teachers have consistently high expectations of what pupils can achieve and plan sufficiently demanding work.

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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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 4–5 February 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

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 are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 28–29 January 2020

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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. 28–29 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10110134 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4–5 February 2016

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Information about this school

 There have been no significant changes to the school since the last inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 I held meetings with the principal, the assistant principal, middle leaders and other staff.  I held a meeting with the executive principal of The Brooke Weston Trust and with six members of the local governing body.  As part of this inspection, I visited lessons and was joined, at various times, by the principal, the assistant principal and subject leaders.  I considered reading, mathematics and history in detail to evaluate the quality of education. I visited lessons, met with curriculum leaders, teachers and groups of pupils, and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  I examined a range of documents, including school leaders’ self-evaluation summary, school improvement planning, curriculum plans, records of leaders’ monitoring of the quality of education, minutes of the meetings of the local governing body, safeguarding documentation and information on the school’s website. 28–29 January 2020

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Inspection team

Liz Moore, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 28–29 January 2020

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