All Saints CofE Academy Denstone

Inspection of a good school: All Saints CofE Academy Denstone Oak Road, Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire ST14 5HT

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Outcome

All Saints CofE Academy Denstone continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils who attend All Saints Academy thrive. Staff teach pupils the Christian values of love, kindness and respect. This starts in Nursery. As a result, the school is calm, and pupils usually behave well. Pupils say they enjoy school because they ‘learn lots of new things’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships in the school are warm and caring. A view of a parent is shared by many others: ‘A genuinely lovely school, it’s like a home for the children and parents as it’s like a little community.’ Pupils are not worried about bullying. If they are upset, they know staff will sort it out quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for what pupils can achieve both in the classroom and beyond. Pupils realise these ambitions. The school’s programme ‘50 things before you’re 9’ provides pupils with a wide range of experiences. They record these in their memory book. This includes building a raft, having a pen pal, visiting Lichfield cathedral or running around in the rain!

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a valued part of the local community. There are strong links with the local church. Every year, members of the school council take part in the village remembrance day parade and lay a wreath at the war memorial.

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

Leaders have thought carefully about the subjects that pupils learn. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), follow a wide range of subjects. The curriculum is well planned and sequenced. Subject leaders from across the key stages plan lessons together. This means that pupils build on what they know year on year. For example, in geography, pupils in Years 1 and 2 can remember many things about Kenya from the work they did in Reception.

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

The trust supports the school effectively. It provides training for staff and ensures that 21 June 2022

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good practice is shared across the schools. As a result, staff have good subject knowledge. In many cases, teachers set work that matches pupils’ ability. This is particularly the case for pupils with SEND who achieve well. Staff provide pupils with additional support when needed. However, in mathematics, the most-able pupils do not always achieve as well as they could. This is because, sometimes, the work is too easy for them. Work in their books shows that sometimes, teachers are not setting work that fully develops their reasoning skills.

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The Nursery and Reception class provide a welcoming environment, both indoors and outdoors. Staff know their children’s needs well. As a result, children are happy, settled and keen to learn. Children of different ages enjoy working together and learn to take turns. Developing children’s language is a priority for the setting. This has a positive impact on all areas of learning.

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The teaching of early reading is a school priority. Every classroom has a reading corner. Authors visit the school. Parents and members of the local community come in to listen to pupils read. Pupils read every day. This starts in Nursery. Leaders check how pupils are doing. They put help in place quickly for those who need it. As a result, pupils are developing into confident, fluent readers. Leaders are introducing a new phonics scheme in September.

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Teachers find ways to make learning enjoyable for pupils. For example, they invited a bank manager into school to talk to pupils. This helped place mathematics in the real world. Occasionally, pupils get over-excited in lessons. They need reminding about expectations for behaviour. But, usually, pupils are well engaged in their learning.

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A strength of the school is how it promotes pupils’ personal development. Pupils who have emotional difficulties are supported well through the ‘Relax Kids’ programme. At breaktime and lunchtime, pupils keep themselves physically active by playing football or playing with hoops. Leaders prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils learn about different faiths and religions; this includes celebrating Diwali.

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Leaders have a secure understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for further improvement. Members of the local academy council support leaders effectively in their work. They provide leaders with an appropriate balance of support and challenge. For example, they asked leaders to justify their choice of phonics scheme for next year.

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Leaders consider staff’s workload and well-being. Staff say that working with other schools across the trust helps to share their workload. They appreciate the access to the trust’s councillor. Staff’s morale is high.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Keeping pupils safe is the responsibility of everyone. All staff, including those responsible for leadership, receive appropriate training. Staff are clear on how to report concerns. They are confident that leaders will deal with these effectively. Leaders complete all 21 June 2022

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necessary checks on adults who work at, or visit, the school.

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Staff teach pupils how to keep themselves safe in lessons and assemblies. This includes online safety. Leaders also provide information on the school’s website or the school’s social media platform to help parents and carers keep their children safe from cyberbullying. As a result, all pupils say they feel safe. Parents agree.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In mathematics, the planned curriculum is not as ambitious as it should be. This means that at times, some pupils find the work too easy. The curriculum is not supporting pupils to develop their mathematical reasoning skills sufficiently well. Leaders need to make sure that the mathematics curriculum is appropriately demanding for all pupils and supports them to build their knowledge and ability to reason well over time.  Leaders are introducing a new phonics scheme in September. Leaders need to ensure that the new scheme is fully embedded across all phases so that pupils continue to enjoy reading and read widely and often, with fluency and comprehension appropriate to their age.

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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 predecessor school, All Saints CofE (C) First School, to be good in December 2011.

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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.

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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. 21 June 2022

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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. 21 June 2022

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School details

Website www.allsaints-denstone.staffs.sch.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 In 2015, the school federated with St Peter’s CE Academy, Alton and St Augustine’s CE Academy, Draycott in the Clay.  In 2018, the three schools joined the Staffordshire University Academies Trust (SUAT) and the school became known as All Saints CofE Academy Denstone. SUAT consists of twenty schools.  The federated schools are led by the same senior leadership team and governed by one local academy council.  The school provides wraparound care.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school is within the Diocese of Lichfield. Its most recent section 48 inspection took place in February 2017. Section 48 inspections were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They restarted in September 2021. The next section 48 inspection will be within eight years of the most recent one.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic 21 June 2022

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began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, other leaders, members of the local academy council, including the chair, a trustee, staff and pupils. The lead inspector spoke on the telephone to a representative of the diocese.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start and the end of the day.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors talked to pupils at unstructured times during the day.  The inspectors evaluated a range of school documents and looked at information on the school’s website.  The lead inspector checked the single central record and met with the school’s

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safeguarding leader.  The inspectors considered the responses to the online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Lesley Yates, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Ellen Taylor Ofsted Inspector 21 June 2022

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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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