Langley Mill Academy

Inspection of Langley Mill Academy Bailey Brook Crescent, Langley Mill, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG16 4FZ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 12 and 13 July 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

‘I feel very lucky to come to this school,’ sums up the views held by many pupils who attend Langley Mill Academy. Most pupils demonstrate positive attitudes and understand the school’s values of respect, confidence, aspiration, determination and kindness. However, some pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values such as tolerance and democracy are less well developed. This includes some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite, courteous and welcoming. Most pupils move around the school in a calm and purposeful manner. They understand the school rules and expectations well. However, there are a small number of pupils who do not get the precise help they need to modify their own behaviour.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils said that they feel safe in school. They know who they can go to should they have any concerns or worries. They told inspectors that adults quickly resolve any issues, including any instances of alleged bullying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All adults want the best for pupils in school. The school’s curriculum has been revised recently to help pupils understand their community and the wider world. However, some pupils cannot practise their reading in lessons because the texts they are given are too hard for them.

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better?

There have been some significant changes in leadership recently. Leaders have ensured that the safeguarding of pupils has remained a priority during this period of change.

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better?

Leaders are refining the school’s curriculum. They have prioritised pupils’ vocabulary development and educational experiences. In subjects such as mathematics and history, leaders have carefully set out the curriculum. Pupils can remember the important knowledge they have been taught. However, some subjects are still in the early stages of development. In these subjects, leaders have not precisely identified the important information that they want pupils to remember. This hinders teachers’ ability to know exactly what pupils have learned in the past. Teachers cannot revisit and deepen pupils’ learning in these subjects. This means some pupils, including those with SEND, do not know and remember more over time. Many subject leaders are in the early stages of checking how well their subject is taught.

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better?

All adults in school have received training to deliver the school’s programme for early reading. Leaders are beginning to check that it is delivered consistently and accurately. However, some pupils do not receive reading books that are well matched to their stage of reading development.

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better?

Leaders have ensured that pupils have access to a wide range of books in school. They have considered which books they would like all pupils to read before they 12 and 13 July 2022

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leave school. Sometimes in lessons, pupils who require additional support to read are given texts that are too difficult for them. This limits their ability to access some parts of the curriculum as well as they could.

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Leaders have recently introduced a new approach to supporting pupils’ behaviour. Pupils, parents and carers recognise the recent improvements. Teachers typically manage pupils’ behaviour well. Some pupils, including those with SEND, need bespoke support to regulate their behaviour. However, leaders do not reliably identify the needs of some of these pupils. For some pupils, leaders have not provided the right support to ensure that their behaviour improves.

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Pupils enjoy the wide range of clubs that the school has to offer. Leaders help pupils to stay safe by helping them to understand local risks. For example, leaders arranged a visit from the fire service to help pupils understand water safety. Pupils learn about healthy relationships and the importance of a healthy diet and exercise. However, some pupils’ understanding of wider British values is less well developed.

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Staff say that leaders’ recent actions have supported their well-being. They enjoy working at the school. The trust is ensuring that their work to improve the curriculum is reducing staff’s workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have ensured that safeguarding is a high priority in school. There are robust procedures in place to ensure that all adults are suitable to work in school. Leaders ensure that all staff have the expertise to identify and report various safeguarding concerns. Leaders ensure that the records and systems used in school help them to meet the holistic needs of pupils. They ensure that they involve other agencies to help pupils and families who may need additional support.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils who are at the early stages of reading do not learn to read quickly and efficiently because they sometimes receive reading materials that are not well matched to their reading development. This slows down their ability to learn to read and hinders their ability to access the school’s curriculum. Leaders must ensure that all adults in school provide pupils with reading material that is well matched to pupils’ early reading development.  Some pupils with challenging behaviour do not receive the right support quickly enough. Leaders do not have clear and consistent systems and procedures to support these pupils’ needs. Leaders are unable to put the right support in place because they do not understand the scope and nature of all the issues that pupils face. Leaders must ensure that the systems they use help them to identify, 12 and 13 July 2022

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manage and support the behaviour of pupils who need additional help to regulate their behaviour.  In some foundation subjects, the curriculum is not well sequenced to ensure that pupils know and remember more of the school’s curriculum over time. This means that teachers are not clear about the knowledge pupils have and what they need to learn next. Leaders should ensure that subject leaders have the necessary knowledge and expertise to develop and implement the school’s curriculum and have a secure overview of the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ long-term memory.  Some pupils do not have a secure understanding of British values, including respect, tolerance and democracy. These pupils are often the most disadvantaged in school. Some pupils are not fully prepared for life in wider society. Leaders must ensure that all pupils receive a curriculum that prepares them well for life in a democratic, multicultural Britain.

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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 July 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school joined the Djanogly Learning Trust in February 2018.  The school has undergone a period of significant changes in leadership. In the last year, a new headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed.  The school does not use any alternative provisions.

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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

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The headteacher was absent from school at the time of the inspection. Meetings were held with senior leaders, representatives from the trust, including the chief executive officer, and members of the local governing body.  Deep dives were conducted in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and art and design. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject 12 and 13 July 2022

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leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers and talked to some pupils about their learning. Aspects of the school’s personal, social, health and economic education programme and computing were also sampled.  Information recorded on attendance, behaviour and safeguarding records was considered. The school’s single central record was reviewed. Inspectors met with leaders to discuss the school’s safeguarding and attendance procedures.  Pupils’ behaviour was observed at various times of day, including in lessons, around the school and at lunchtime. The school’s records of behaviour and exclusions were also considered.  The views of parents, pupils and staff were considered through the Ofsted surveys and by meeting parents during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Shaheen Hussain, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Roxanne Fearns-Davies Her Majesty’s Inspector 12 and 13 July 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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