Queen's Church of England Academy

Inspection of a good school: Queen’s Church of England Academy Bentley Road, Nuneaton, Warwickshire CV11 5LR

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Inspection dates: 9 and 10 November 2021

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Outcome

Queen’s Church of England Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Queen’s Church of England School is a friendly and welcoming school. Pupils are happy and feel safe. The school has a strong Christian ethos that filters into every aspect of school life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is calm and orderly at all times. Pupils behave well in lessons and at breaktimes. They respect each other and listen to what others have to say.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a clear understanding of what bullying is. They say that it happens rarely in school because staff help them sort out any problems at an early stage.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are positive about the school. They appreciate the work of leaders and staff to create a supportive and nurturing environment in which their children feel safe and happy. They recognise that staff do their best to help all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

Leaders have constructed a curriculum based on the needs of the local community and on the school’s values. Their vision of ‘Love in Action’ aims for children to be happy, feel safe and learn well; they are encouraged to be resilient, respectful, honest and add ‘oomph’ to all they do. Leaders’ curriculum planning is effective and usually supports pupils’ achievement well in subjects across the school.

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

Subject leaders work collaboratively with teachers to carefully consider the knowledge and skills they want pupils to learn. Pupils can recall much of their past learning in detail. For example, in history, pupils were able to discuss why Henry VIII created the Church of England. However, sometimes the important knowledge that leaders have planned pupils to know is lost. Instead, teachers put more emphasis on making lessons appealing for pupils rather than teaching core knowledge. When this happens, pupils’ learning does not build effectively on what they already know. 9 and 10 November 2021

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Pupils enjoy reading. Leaders have placed reading at the centre of their curriculum. Daily reading lessons, linked to other subjects, help pupils to deepen their understanding. For example, following their study of Goodnight Mr Tom, pupils were able to speak in detail about how it felt to be an evacuee in World War II. Pupils experience a wide range of texts in school, and books are well matched to their reading abilities. Phonics is taught consistently well to help pupils to learn the sounds they need to read successfully.

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The mathematics curriculum is well designed and clearly sequenced. Pupils have many opportunities to practise and recall important mathematical knowledge. This improves pupils’ mathematical fluency and confidence. For example, pupils in Year 6 were recalling what they had learned about opposite angles and were able to apply their knowledge to solve more complex problems about angles.

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Leaders have established new ways, following the pandemic, to check how well pupils are learning across the curriculum. All subjects were redesigned following assessments that highlighted the gaps in pupils’ learning. Teachers use this information well, and, as a result, most pupils make strong progress in their reading and mathematics, as well as across the wider curriculum.

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There are effective systems in place to identify and support pupils with SEND. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum is suitably broad and ambitious for these pupils. Leaders work closely with a range of external agencies to enable pupils with SEND to thrive in school. As a result, they learn successfully in classrooms alongside other pupils. However, some pupils with SEND have poor attendance and do not access the same level of support as others. Similarly, disadvantaged pupils do not attend as well as others.

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Governors support the curriculum changes being introduced by school leaders. They know most aspects of the school well and hold leaders to account. However, they do not have a clear enough view of the impact of the curriculum in subjects other than English and mathematics.

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Leaders and governors place high importance on the ways in which the school, through its deeply Christian ethos, supports pupils’ personal development. Queen’s is a very diverse community and pupils are provided with multiple opportunities to learn about the beliefs of others in school. Pupils are provided with a broad range of opportunities to develop their talents and interests. The school provides a breadth of extra-curricular activities and visits that give pupils the opportunity to broaden their horizons.

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Staff say that leaders have meaningful engagement with them, and issues that are identi- fied are dealt with quickly. The leadership team takes the staff’s well-being seriously. They have been successful in reducing staff workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 9 and 10 November 2021

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Leaders have ensured that staff receive the training they need to recognise pupils who may be at risk. Staff know what actions they need to take if they are concerned about a pupil. Leaders have developed a culture where it is safe for pupils to speak to adults if they are worried about anything.

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Leaders work well with external agencies to make sure that pupils get the help they need to stay safe. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe throughout the curriculum. In response to the pandemic, there has been a sharper focus on keeping pupils safe online. Pupils aware of the dangers of cyber-bullying and the wider risks of using the internet, social media and mobile devices.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, teachers are sometimes too focused on making activities engaging rather than keeping a tight focus on the key knowledge and skills to be learned. Subject leaders should support teachers to deliver curriculum plans that are focused sharply on the intended learning outcomes so that pupils are able to know more, do more and remember more.  Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND attend less well than their peers. Leaders need to continue their work with pupils and families to improve the attendance of this group of pupils so that they do not miss out on learning.

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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 evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 in November 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 9 and 10 November 2021

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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. 9 and 10 November 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10205155 Type of school Junior

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 15 and 16 November 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Diocese of Coventry. The most recent section 48 inspection of this Church of England school, which is an inspection of the school’s religious character, took place in April 2015. Section 48 inspections were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They restarted in September 2021. The next inspection will be within eight years of the last section 48 inspection.  Since the previous inspection, the senior leadership team has been extended and there have been a number of new staffing appointments.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation.  The inspector met with the headteacher, other senior leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, curriculum leaders and a range of staff, parents and pupils. The 9 and 10 November 2021

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inspector spoke with members of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the Diocese of Coventry Multi-Academy Trust.  The inspector visited lessons, examined pupils’ books and listened to four pupils reading to adults in school.  The inspector did deep dives in reading, mathematics, history and geography. He reviewed the curriculum plans for a range of other subjects with school leaders.  The inspector examined safeguarding records, including the single central record of recruitment checks on staff. He considered leaders’ safeguarding processes and questioned staff’s understanding of these procedures. The inspector observed pupils during playtimes, lunchtimes and at the breakfast and after-school clubs. He also discussed safeguarding with pupils.  The inspector considered the views of parents by reviewing the 23 responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. He also spoke with parents as they brought their

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children to school. There were 22 responses from the survey for staff and 57 responses from the pupils’ survey, so the inspector also considered their views by meeting with a group of staff and a group of pupils.

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Inspection team

Max Vlahakis, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 9 and 10 November 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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