Queen's Park Academy

Inspection of Queen’s Park Academy Chestnut Avenue, Bedford, Bedfordshire MK40 4HA

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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 Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 4 and 5 May 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school feel part of a happy, caring community. They say that everyone is welcome here. Pupils follow the school rules ‘be safe, be kind, be ready to learn’ throughout the day. They behave well in lessons and at play time. Bullying is rare. Pupils are confident that teachers will quickly resolve any problems. They feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their lessons. Everyone is keen to do well and ‘SHINE’ in lessons. This means they are ready to work hard and learn. From Nursery to Year 6, everyone learns to work together in harmony. Pupils pay attention in class and help each other with their learning. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get carefully planned support and help.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They learn about different religions, lifestyles and cultures. Through the school council, pupils raise money for a range of different charities. Older pupils enjoy the many opportunities to take responsibility, such as the Eco Warriors who take special care of the school environment. They also enjoy looking after younger pupils as play leaders.

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better?

Since joining Advantage Schools, there is a clear vision for the school. Leaders have put in place a well-sequenced and thought-out curriculum, which meets the needs of pupils. The detailed plans support teachers in knowing what to teach and how to develop learning over time. This starts in the early years where teachers ensure that pupils have the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed in key stage 1. For example, in Reception pupils learn about the local area and simple maps, ready for Geography in Year 1.

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better?

In most subjects, these plans are implemented well. Teachers check understanding and adjust their teaching when needed. Pupils have regular opportunities to revisit learning. This is helping them to understand and remember more. Consistent approaches to teaching mean that pupils understand how to approach new learning quickly. New vocabulary is introduced effectively in lessons. This ensures that pupils develop the language that they need to be able to articulate their learning. In a few subjects, the planned curriculum is not yet securely in place. Leaders’ monitoring of these subjects is in the early stages of development.

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better?

Pupils with SEND access a broad curriculum. For those pupils with the most complex needs, many receive additional support from staff in the school’s specialist provision. This additional help is supporting more pupils to access their lessons successfully with their classmates.

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better?

Children make good progress in learning to read from when they start in the early years. They follow a well-planned and sequenced phonics programme. Their learning is regularly checked by staff. Reading books match what pupils are learning. 4 and 5 May 2022

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Older pupils talk with enthusiasm about a wide range of authors they have heard in story time with their teachers. They receive regular opportunities to read.

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Pupils behave well in lessons. There are strong, consistent routines in place across the school from the early years. These enable everyone to focus on their learning. Pupils are skilfully helped to manage their feelings when they need it. Everyone moves around the school calmly. Relationships between adults and pupils are consistently positive and respectful.

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Most pupils enjoy and attend school regularly. However, a significant minority do not attend routinely and miss too much learning time. Leaders work with families and external agencies to try and improve attendance, but the attendance of some pupils remains stubbornly low.

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Breakfast club helps some pupils to settle in before lessons begin. Pupils and many parents enjoy starting each day with the ‘daily mile’. A wide range of clubs are available for everyone – cricket is a popular choice. Pupils can develop their talents through a range of activities such as instrumental tuition and opportunities to perform. Leaders provide a broad range of opportunities to enrich learning, such as visits by artists to work with clay and trips to museums.

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Teachers care about the well-being of pupils and check this every day. From Reception, pupils learn to understand and describe their feelings. This enables adults to provide timely support where needed. Pupils are also provided with time to reflect in assemblies and lessons.

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Pupils learn to be responsible citizens. In the early years, children learn to collaborate and support each other. Older pupils understand democracy through the work of the school council. They learn to debate and take part in debating contests with other schools. They take on responsibilities around the school.

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Leaders are mindful of staff well-being and workload during this period of change. Staff appreciate this.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders know their families well. They regularly check on vulnerable pupils. Everyone understands their responsibilities. They are vigilant and proactive in safeguarding their pupils. They are confident to gather and record information about concerns. This enables leaders to identify where they need to take further actions. These next steps are timely and are recorded in detail. Leaders make changes in school to keep pupils safe. They also work well with external agencies. Pupils learn about safety as part of the curriculum. They know how to stay safe and the importance of telling a trusted adult if they are concerned. 4 and 5 May 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, the planned curriculum is not yet securely in place. In these subjects, staff training and assessment processes are not as well established as they are in other subjects. Leaders’ monitoring is less well developed than elsewhere in the school’s curriculum. As a result, leaders do not know precisely how well pupils are faring in these few subjects. Leaders should ensure that planning, training and monitoring help staff deliver all subjects to the same high standards. This should be done in a way which is mindful of teachers’ workload.  Systems to monitor absence are used to support and challenge parents whose children are frequently absent. However, persistent absence is still too high for some pupils. These pupils miss out on learning. Leaders should use their analysis of absence information to further refine their strategies and use of funding to reduce persistent absence.

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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. 4 and 5 May 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227829 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5 May 2021, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average primary school.  The school joined Advantage Schools Trust in December 2021.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and teachers, including subject leaders.  The lead inspector met with representatives from the board of trustees and the school improvement board.  The lead inspector met with the chief executive officer and director of education.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in the following five subjects: early reading, mathematics, geography, art and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample 4 and 5 May 2022

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of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and, where relevant, looked at samples of pupils work.  The inspectors met with the designated safeguarding lead and other staff to discuss safeguarding.  The inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation during the inspection, including curriculum plans, school development plans and safeguarding and behaviour records.  The inspectors considered 20 responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and free-text comments. They also considered 49 responses to the survey for staff and 26 responses to the pupils’ survey.  The inspectors also spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences of school life and their learning in lessons to understand what it is like to be a pupil in their school. The inspectors also observed the behaviour of pupils across the school sites.

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Inspection team

Lynne Williams, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Mark Sim Ofsted Inspector 4 and 5 May 2022

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