Lacey Gardens Junior Academy

Inspection of a good school: Lacey Gardens Junior Academy Lacey Gardens, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 8DH

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 February 2023

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Outcome

Lacey Gardens Junior Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy school where everyone gets on well. The relationships between adults and pupils are consistently positive. As one group of pupils told the inspector: ‘Our teachers are just the best. They are always there when we need them.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well during lessons and around school. They understand how the school’s ‘Bee-haviours for learning and life’ help prepare them for life. As one pupil said: ‘These teach us how to get on with each other and to work hard.’ Pupils value the rewards on offer. They are motivated by the certificates that they can earn for being ‘bees of the week’. The ‘hot chocolate’ celebration is highly prized. Pupils who need help to live up to the school’s high expectations get the help they need. The care team is always on hand to provide help and support.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils make a positive contribution to their school. Happiness ambassadors are recruited to help other pupils ‘restore and repair’ any conflicts that might occur. They wear their golden jumpers and lanyards with pride. Other roles, such as academy parliamentarians, mini police and the school nutrition action group, ensure that, over time, pupils get to take on leadership responsibilities.

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

Pupils who need help to master phonics are supported well. The transition from the infant school is seamless. No ground is lost in the continuity of learning in phonics. Teachers know which sounds pupils need to learn and remember. Leaders have ensured that staff are trained well and are given ongoing support; this has resulted in phonics being taught consistently well.

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

Pupils develop positive attitudes to reading. They are motivated by the certificates that they can earn for reading regularly. Teachers read to pupils daily. Pupils thoroughly enjoy this and listen intently. The reading curriculum ensures that pupils study a wide range of texts and genres. Pupils are taught to use a range of techniques that supports their 21 and 22 February 2023 development in reading comprehension. However, the reading curriculum is not sequenced as well as it could be. In some places, it does not make clear which aspects of reading pupils are expected to have mastered and when.

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

Most of the school’s curriculum is well planned and sequenced. Across the full range of subjects, there is clarity about what pupils should learn term by term. The curriculum helps pupils to build their knowledge and to make links between different subjects. In some subjects, including mathematics, pupils remember the curriculum well. For example, in mathematics, pupils can recall what they have learned with ease. They use what they have learned to help solve new and increasingly difficult problems. They can explain their reasoning articulately. However, in a small number of subjects, plans do not make clear the precise content that pupils are expected to know and remember. In these subjects, the teaching of knowledge is not sequenced as clearly as it could be. Consequently, pupils’ recall of what they have learned is inconsistent.

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

The school has identified a higher-than-average proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These pupils receive well-tailored support. Leaders responsible for SEND provision have a deep understanding of the diverse range of pupils’ needs. They ensure that the right sort of support is put in place and is working effectively. They have created a united ambition among all staff to ensure that pupils with SEND achieve well.

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

Provision for pupils’ personal development is underpinned by a well-structured curriculum for personal, social and health education (PSHE). Pupils know that it is important to treat everyone respectfully. However, on rare occasions, some pupils use homophobic language in a derogatory manner. Pupils say that when this is reported, leaders deal with it swiftly. This aligns with the school’s records. However, some pupils do not report these incidents when they occur. This means that some incidents go unchallenged.

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

Senior leaders know their school well. They work cohesively and with a shared ambition to ‘move mountains’. They have secured many significant improvements in a relatively short period of time. They have built a team of staff who are proud to work at the school. Leaders’ ambition and determination are commonly understood and shared.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The school has a busy safeguarding caseload. Leaders ensure that this is prioritised. The safeguarding policy and procedures are consistently understood and applied. All concerns are recorded comprehensively. The members of the safeguarding team regularly check on the help that pupils receive to ensure that it is having a positive impact. They quickly identify any new or emerging concerns.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know who to tell if they need help or feel unsafe. They say that they are confident to do so. They know that the care team will quickly provide them with help and support should they need it. 21 and 22 February 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s reading curriculum does not make clear which aspects of reading pupils are expected to have mastered at precise points in their education. This means that leaders cannot be sure that pupils are acquiring the reading curriculum as systematically as they could. Leaders should ensure that the reading curriculum consistently makes clear which aspects of reading pupils are expected to have mastered at each stage of their education.  A small number of foundation subjects do not make clear the specific content that pupils are expected to know and remember. As a result, in these subjects, there are some inconsistencies in how well pupils remember what they have learned. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum, across all subjects, makes clear the most important content that pupils are expected to know and remember.  Pupils do not consistently report incidents of homophobic, derogatory behaviour. As a

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

result, a few incidents go unchallenged. Leaders should ensure that all pupils know why this type of behaviour should not be tolerated and that all incidents should be reported.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Lacey Gardens Junior School, to be good in January 2014.

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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.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 21 and 22 February 2023 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 and 22 February 2023

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School details

Inspection number 100254886 Type of school Junior

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6 February 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Lacey Gardens Junior Academy works in partnership with Eastfields Infant and Nursery Academy. Together, they are known informally as ‘LaceyField’.  Both schools are part of the Wellspring Academy Trust. The schools share the same leadership team and local governing body.  The school does not make use of 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 leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation.  The inspector held meetings with the executive principal, the executive vice-principal, the curriculum leader, the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinators and curriculum leaders.  The inspector carried out deep dives in three subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and met with teachers and pupils. The inspector listened to 21 and 22 February 2023 pupils read. He also looked at curriculum documentation for art and design, physical education and PSHE.  The inspector met with representatives of the local governing body, including the chair. He took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and considered the

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Information about this inspection

responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.  The inspector met with safeguarding leaders. He reviewed school documents relating to safeguarding, behaviour, attendance and governance.  The inspector visited the dining hall and the playground during breaktime. He visited a singing assembly.  The inspector met with the chief executive officer of the Wellspring Academy Trust.

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Inspection team

Vic Wilkinson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 21 and 22 February 2023 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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