Clements Primary Academy

Inspection of Clements Primary Academy Greenfields Way, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 8NJ

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Inspection dates: 12 and 13 October 2021

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 12 and 13 October 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Clements Primary Academy is a caring and inclusive place to learn. Pupils are well supported to do their best and they behave well. Pupils enjoy coming to school. They achieve well because of the quality of the curriculum and the high expectations staff have of them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils who attend the school have a wide range of needs. Similarly, as for pupils throughout the school, pupils in the specialist resourced provision are supported well so they learn effectively alongside their peers. Pupils are helped successfully to access and use strategies to help them make the right choices.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour in school is good. Bullying rarely happens and if it does, pupils say it is dealt with quickly by staff. Pupils understand that some pupils need help to follow the rules and they support each other to do this in class and around the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are typically happy with how well their children achieve. They overwhelmingly feel that their children are well cared for and supported. Parents are positive about pupils’ behaviour and say that staff are approachable. A parent summarised what many said, saying that ‘children flourish at Clements; the learning is tailored to children’s needs’.

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better?

Leaders at Clements Primary Academy have designed and implemented an ambitious curriculum in all subjects. Leaders have high standards of what is expected of pupils, including those pupils who attend the specialist resource base.

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better?

Leaders have checked what pupils have learned throughout the pandemic. They have prioritised areas of the curriculum such as mathematics, reading and science to make sure any content pupils have missed are taught. The carefully planned curriculum is based on revisiting important knowledge so pupils are able to use this to help them remember and learn more. On some occasions, where staff are less confident with their subject knowledge, such as in religious education (RE), pupils do not always have the chance to link or develop their learning as deeply as in other subjects.

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better?

Children in the early years get off to a good start in learning to read. Children learn how to recognise everyday sounds in nursery. They then learn to link sounds to letters as soon as they enter the Reception Year. Leaders are successfully addressing any gaps children have in reading, writing, personal, social and physical development. However, while this is the case for core areas, leaders have not been clear enough about what they want children to know and remember in some of the other areas of learning. 12 and 13 October 2021

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Leaders ensure pupils use the strategies they have been taught to quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to become confident, fluent readers. Following the pandemic, leaders have prioritised reading for pupils in Year 2 and 3, who have additional reading sessions. These carefully delivered sessions have ensured that nearly all pupils have caught up by the time they leave Year 3.

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Behaviour in and around school is positive. Leaders have ensured that all staff have appropriate training to manage behaviour consistently across the school. Staff use shared scripts to deal with unacceptable behaviour effectively, and expectations are high. This results in positive adult and pupil relationships and minimal disruption to pupils’ learning.

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Leaders have a clear rationale for how pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the curriculum. Regardless of whether pupils are in the main school or the specialist resourced provision, pupils with SEND receive the correct support. Some pupils benefit from additional focused sessions that help them to understand and control their emotions. This is because staff have high expectations and make suitable adjustments to support pupils’ individual needs effectively, while ensuring pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers.

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Pupils are offered a wide range of opportunities which support their personal development effectively. The school provides sport, music, sign language and eco clubs. The carefully considered personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum teaches pupils to understand rights and responsibilities, leadership skills and diverse family units. Pupils can explain the terms democracy and tolerance due to what they have learned in lessons and assemblies about British values.

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The local governing body (LGB) understands the school’s priorities and what needs to improve. They have used expertise within the trust which has successfully supported improvements in reading and mathematics. Governors understand their roles well. They visit the school and talk to leaders regularly to check that leaders’ work is improving the quality of education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong safeguarding culture throughout the school.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have robust systems in place to log and monitor safeguarding concerns. Staff are well trained. They are confident about how to report concerns. They are aware of specific issues to be vigilant about, such as domestic abuse and county lines.

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Safeguarding

Pupils say that they feel safe in school. They know to go to a trusted adult if they are worried. The well-planned and delivered PSHE curriculum ensures pupils can talk with confidence about online safety and mental and physical well-being. 12 and 13 October 2021

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have ensured that there is a well-sequenced, ambitious curriculum in place. Some staff are not as confident in delivering this across every subject. This means pupils do not always have the secure knowledge they need to build on prior learning. Leaders need to make sure all staff have the skills and knowledge to implement the curriculum plans, ensuring the quality of education delivered supports pupils to achieve well.  While the curriculum in the early years is ambitious to ensure children have the personal, physical, communication, reading and social skills they need, leaders are not clear enough about what they want children to learn in the other areas of learning. Leaders must ensure staff are confident to plan and implement a curriculum that identifies the specific knowledge and skills children need from when they join the school until the end of Reception, so children are well prepared for Year 1.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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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 .

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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. 12 and 13 October 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200544 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

 Clements Primary Academy has undergone significant changes. In May 2017, the school joined the Unity Schools Partnership. After a period of instability, the current headteacher started in September 2017.  In September 2020, the school was commissioned to open a moderate learning difficulty (MLD) specialist resourced provision for key stage 2 pupils with cognitive and MLD needs. There are currently 14 pupils on roll.  In September 2021, the school extended their age range to accept two-year-olds into the Nursery.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector(s) carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation. 12 and 13 October 2021

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator and the primary director for the trust. They met with the chief executive officer for the trust and 6 members of the LGB.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, science and RE. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about history, PSHE, relationships and sex education and early years.  Inspectors spoke to leaders and visited the specialist resource base for pupils with cognitive and moderate learning difficulties. They visited the breakfast and after- school club and spoke to parents at the beginning and end of the day.  To inspect the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors checked the school’s

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single central record of recruitment and vetting checks, considered its safeguarding policy, and looked at pupils’ safeguarding files. Inspectors also scrutinised behaviour logs, risk assessments and the incident and accident records held by the school.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of information about the school, including the school website, leaders’ improvement plans, their self-evaluation, curriculum plans and minutes of the LGB meetings.  Inspectors considered 10 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey from this academic year, including seven free-text responses submitted during this inspection. Inspectors also considered 18 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Isabel Davis, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Joseph Figg Ofsted Inspector 12 and 13 October 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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