Reaside Academy

Inspection of Reaside Academy Tresco Close, Frankley, Rubery, Birmingham B45 0HY

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 8 and 9 March 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Reaside Academy is a friendly, welcoming school where pupils are happy and safe. Leaders are aspirational and want the best for every pupil. Leaders do all they can to make sure that pupils attend school regularly. For example, ‘Mondays Matter’ and ‘Enrichment Fridays’ develop pupils’ curiosity and excitement about learning. Pupils want to come to school and enjoy their lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The teaching of reading is at the heart of the curriculum. It is well taught by highly skilled staff. They ensure that pupils have the knowledge and skills they need to read well. This means that they achieve well and enjoy reading.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders set high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils meet these expectations. Incidents of poor behaviour are rare. Leaders take pupils’ concerns seriously. They deal with incidents of bullying effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders establish effective relationships with parents and carers. Parents are extremely positive about the quality of education that their children receive. They value the range of information and support that leaders provide. This helps them to support their children at home with reading, healthy lifestyles and behaviour management techniques.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the variety of trips, clubs and visits on offer. This helps them to broaden their horizons.

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better?

Reading is very well taught by staff who are well trained to teach it. Leaders ensure that a wide range of books are available to pupils. This includes phonics books for those pupils who need to practise the sounds they are learning. Pupils read, and are read to, daily in school. Older pupils buddy up with younger pupils to share books and support them with reading. Leaders make sure that any pupils who fall behind receive effective support to catch up quickly. During their time at school, pupils develop the fluency and confidence they need to read well.

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better?

The curriculum in other subjects is also ambitious for all pupils. Leaders provide the resources teachers need to undertake their work effectively. Teachers check pupils’ learning regularly and support them to know and remember more over time. They make sure that any mistakes pupils make are addressed so that pupils can learn from them. This helps pupils to make the necessary improvements to their work. All this means that pupils learn the curriculum well in the majority of subjects. In the main, teachers have had the training they need to teach different subjects with confidence. However, in a few subjects, teachers are less secure in their knowledge of the curriculum. This means that pupils do not always learn these subjects in as much depth as they might. 8 and 9 March 2023

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Leaders make sure that pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND) are identified and receive targeted help. Staff support pupils well to access learning in class alongside their peers. In addition, the school’s effective relationships with external agencies mean that specialist support is also available, if needed. However, leaders do not do enough to check on the progress of pupils with SEND. This limits their view of how well some of these pupils are doing. It also makes it harder for them to make informed plans for pupils’ next steps in learning.

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Beyond the academic curriculum, leaders provide activities that support pupils’ personal development. Opportunities to take on roles such as eco-warriors and school councillors allow pupils to take on responsibilities, and learn about democracy. They recognise and respect other people’s differences by learning, for example, about different faiths and cultures. Pupils plan and run a book club, which helps them to develop enterprise skills. They learn to make responsible choices and express their views in balanced ways. This supports pupils to be well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Leaders, including leaders of Greenheart Learning Partnership, have set informed priorities for further school improvement. They hold the headteacher to account effectively for the school’s performance. Staff are highly positive about the support from leaders to manage their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that pupils’ welfare is a top priority. Staff know how to identify and respond to concerns. They respond swiftly and rigorously to any concerns about pupils’ safety. The school’s strong relationships with a range of external agencies enable effective support for pupils who need it.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn the importance of healthy, safe relationships and how to stay safe online. They know that there are trusted adults in school who will always listen to them and take their concerns seriously.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that all staff are appropriately vetted before taking up employment at Reaside Academy.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, for example art and design, staff’s confidence to deliver the curriculum is not strong. This means that pupils do not learn some subject content in sufficient depth. Leaders should support staff to develop the knowledge and skills to teach these subjects with greater competence and confidence, in order to improve the quality of pupils’ learning in these subjects. 8 and 9 March 2023

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 Leaders identify pupils with SEND swiftly and provide appropriate support. However, they do not check carefully enough on the progress these pupils are making, which limits how well they can plan and refine next steps in their learning. This means that pupils with SEND do not make as much progress as they could. Leaders should strengthen their checks on how well these pupils are learning so that all pupils with SEND are supported to achieve as well as possible.

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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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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. 8 and 9 March 2023

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School details

Type of school Junior School category Academy

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 16 and 17 November 2021, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use alternative provision.  The school runs a breakfast club.  The school is part of the Greenheart Learning Partnership.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 This was the second routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: art and design, early reading, history and mathematics. For each deep dive, 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. 8 and 9 March 2023

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 Inspectors observed pupils reading to a familiar adult. The inspectors reviewed reading resources.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation on the school’s website.  Inspectors scrutinised the school’s safeguarding arrangements. This included examining the record of employment checks on school staff.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at other times during the day.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the designated safeguarding leader, curriculum leaders, representatives of the trust board and the chief executive officer of the trust.  Inspectors took account of responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and the pupil and staff surveys.

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Inspection team

Lorraine Lord, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Bev Petch Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 March 2023

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