Oasis Academy Long Cross

Inspection of a good school: Oasis Academy Long Cross Long Cross, Lawrence Weston, Bristol, Bristol BS11 0LP

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Inspection dates: 15 to 16 September 2021

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Outcome

Oasis Academy Long Cross continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff are proud of their school. Leaders and staff know families well. This means they can help pupils get the best out of their time at the school. Leaders put pupils at the heart of their decisions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school. They learn about a wide range of subjects. Pupils are enthusiastic about learning to read and they enjoy reading.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and well looked after. They know who will help them if they are worried about anything. Pupils say that bullying is rare. However, they are confident that staff deal with any incidents swiftly and effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well and are quick to help each other out. They work hard. Learning is rarely disrupted. Pupils say it is important to be brave and not give up.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders make sure that pupils get lots of opportunities to try new things. Pupils enjoy a range of clubs from sports and chess to animal care and Cantonese. Leaders encourage pupils to be ‘change makers’ in areas that are important to them, such as the environment. The school’s careers events help pupils to learn about future job opportunities beyond their locality.

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

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils. Trust and school leaders know the school’s strengths and weaknesses well. Leaders have created a purposeful environment where pupils and staff are keen to learn. Staff, including early career teachers, say that leaders support their development and well-being.

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

The school provides a broad, balanced and diverse curriculum for pupils. Teachers follow curriculum plans that progress systematically from Nursery to Year 6. In mathematics, there is a coherent and embedded curriculum that helps build pupils’ knowledge and what 15 to 16 September 2021

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they can do over time. In history, pupils learn about a wide range of historical places and events. Pupils enjoy learning about history. However, although leaders have identified essential concepts that pupils need to know, it is not clear when pupils will encounter these concepts again, to deepen their knowledge.

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Teachers regularly check pupils’ learning and adjust their teaching accordingly. This is especially effective for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers plan activities that help pupils to recall their knowledge. However, assessment is undeveloped in subjects in the wider curriculum. This sometimes means leaders do not have as detailed an understanding of the impact of the curriculum as they would want.

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The school’s phonics programme is well planned and gets pupils off to a good start in reading. Staff work skilfully with children in the Nursery to develop speech and language. Children in Reception class settle in quickly and build strong relationships with staff. Activities in the early years promote a love of reading from early on. Pupils’ books are usually matched to their phonic knowledge. However, on the rare occasion where they are not well matched, pupils struggle when sounding out words, so they do not make sense of the story.

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The reading programme extends beyond the teaching of phonics. Teachers select a wide range of books, poetry, plays and non-fiction that complement the wider curriculum. Older pupils enjoy reading. Leaders use assessment well to identify pupils who need additional support. ‘Priority readers’ receive appropriate support that is helping them to catch up.

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The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and inclusion leader work with teachers to identify needs at an early stage. Teachers are well trained and, as a result, provide appropriate support for pupils with SEND. The school’s resource base has an ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of pupils. Staff in the resource base know their pupils well. Leaders ensure that individual pupil plans are clear and precise and are communicated with parents. This helps staff and parents to check pupils’ progress and celebrate each step of their development.

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Staff have high expectations for behaviour and attendance. Staff model positive relationships and respectful behaviour for pupils. Pupils say teachers use the behaviour policy fairly. Pupils respond well to the school’s focus on positive rather than negative behaviour.

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There is a well-structured curriculum in place in the school and in the resource base, to support pupils’ wider development. This is helping pupils to develop positive relationships with their peers. Pupils learn about a range of faiths and beliefs. The school celebrates diversity and pupils understand and appreciate how people lead different lives to them.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 15 to 16 September 2021

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Leaders have created an environment of vigilance in the school. They ensure that staff are well trained. As a result, staff are able to identify concerns quickly and confidently. Staff have confidence in leaders to deal with concerns they have raised effectively.

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Leaders work closely with external agencies. They seek out effective ways to support children. Leaders are tenacious and skilled at getting appropriate support that makes a difference for pupils and families. Pupils say they feel safe. They know how to keep themselves safe, including online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Assessment is underdeveloped in wider curriculum subjects. This means that leaders do not always have as detailed an understanding of the impact of the curriculum as they would want. Subject leaders need to strengthen assessment in these subjects, so they are more confident that the curriculum is having the strong impact leaders intend.  Subject leaders have identified concepts that pupils need to know; however, it is not clear when pupils will encounter these concepts again. Leaders need to ensure opportunities to revisit learning are explicit in curriculum planning, so that teachers are clear how to connect and deepen pupils’ knowledge.  On a few occasions, the books that pupils read are not always precisely matched to the sounds pupils know. When this occurs, it can slow the development of fluency in pupils’ reading. Leaders should ensure that books in the reading programme are always well matched to pupils’ phonic knowledge so that pupils gain confidence and read

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that a good 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 deem the section 8 inspection as 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 14 to 15 September 2016.

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

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

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If you are the school and you are 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. 15 to 16 September 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200027 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14 to 15 September 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average primary school. It is part of Oasis Community Learning (OCL).  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is well above the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is above the national average. There is a specialist resource base for pupils with severe and complex learning difficulties, who are placed there by Bristol local authority.  There is a nursery on site.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation. 15 to 16 September 2021

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 The inspector met with the headteacher, senior leaders, and the chief executive officer and national and regional directors of OCL. Meetings were also held with curriculum leaders, class teachers and the SENCo.  The inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and the pupil and family support leader, examined school records and discussed safeguarding cases.  The inspector completed deep dives in the following subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and the views of staff and pupils in Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Tracey Reynolds, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector 15 to 16 September 2021

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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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