Mablethorpe Primary Academy

Inspection of a good school: Mablethorpe Primary Academy High Street, Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire LN12 1EW

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Outcome

Mablethorpe Primary Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders work hard to ensure that pupils have a positive experience of school. To this end, leaders engage with the community and hold ‘join-ins’ and workshops to welcome parents and carers into the school and share how pupils learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe. They enjoy coming to school. They can name their favourite subjects. They take pride in their work. Staff help pupils to learn about and respect their local area. They also help pupils to increase their awareness of different ideas, beliefs and cultures and to respect difference.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff form positive and trusting relationships. Pupils say they share any concerns they have with staff. When they do, pupils are confident staff take them seriously and address their worries. Leaders have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils live up to these expectations.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have ensured that pupils have access to wider opportunities. Pupils take part in a range of clubs. They enjoy sports club, dance and cheerleading. They meet visiting authors, doctors and scientists. Pupils develop their leadership skills. They are members of the school council, through which they raise money for school projects. Some pupils are digital leaders and arts councillors.

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

Leaders have designed a curriculum which sets out the important knowledge that pupils will learn. Subject leaders ensure that all teachers know what they should teach and when. This includes encouraging pupils to consider how professionals such as historians and scientists approach the study of these subjects. Teachers do not routinely support pupils to learn, for example, how and why historians disagree about the past. 3 and 4 July 2023

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Leaders have redesigned the school curriculum following national lockdowns. They have changed the way in which teachers check pupils’ understanding over time. Teachers have identified the gaps in pupils’ knowledge after lockdowns. They build time into the curriculum to ensure that pupils fill these gaps. This time, and other strategies, are also used to address pupils’ misconceptions should they arise.

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The curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to revisit learning. As a result, pupils develop secure knowledge of the subjects they study. However, this is yet to be reflected in the school’s published outcomes.

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Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They share important information with pupils in an accessible way. Teachers think about how to interest pupils to help them remember their learning. They check pupils’ understanding in lessons. Sometimes, teachers do not identify precisely when some pupils are ready to move their learning on.

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Leaders have prioritised reading. They have ensured that all staff have completed training about how to help pupils learn to read. Pupils regularly practise their reading using books matched to the sounds they have learned. Pupils enjoy reading. They talk about their favourite books. Children and pupils at the early stages of reading know which sounds they are learning. They can spot those sounds in words and sentences. Most children quickly become accurate readers. Staff promptly identify those who need extra help. They provide the support that these pupils need.

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Staff ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn the curriculum alongside their peers. Adults provide specific support to these pupils based on their precise needs. They help pupils with SEND to focus on and understand the most relevant parts of the texts that the class is reading. They use a range of resources in mathematics lessons to help pupils with SEND develop a secure understanding of what they are learning. Children in the early years with complex needs benefit from tailored support. They learn about sequences and patterns and then practise their learning independently.

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Leaders have established a well-sequenced personal, social and health education curriculum. Pupils learn about careers, identity and celebrating difference. Pupils benefit from educational visits. They visit a mosque connected to their learning about early Islamic civilisations in history. Children in the early years visit places in the local area, including the beach. They think about how their local community has changed over time.

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Pupils behave well. They are calm and attentive in lessons. Most pupils enthusiastically share their ideas and the knowledge that they have gained. Pupils are respectful during social times. They are polite and confident when speaking with visitors.

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Staff share positive views of the leadership of the school. They say that leaders care about their well-being. Staff talk about changes to policies to reduce workload. These changes ensure that pupils receive the advice they need to develop their learning. 3 and 4 July 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff know that they are all responsible for keeping pupils safe. Leaders have ensured that there are systems in place to identify and share concerns. Staff know and use these systems well. Leaders complete thorough pre-employment checks. They work in collaboration with the trust to ensure that safeguarding procedures are robust.

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Safeguarding

Leaders take the necessary action to ensure that pupils are safe, including by working with wider agencies when this is appropriate.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe. They talk about their knowledge of online safety as well as potential hazards, including from strangers.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have included in their subject curriculums the disciplinary knowledge that they want pupils to learn. However, teachers do not always ensure that they provide pupils with sufficient opportunities to develop this knowledge. As a result, some pupils are not secure in their ability to connect their learning by thinking like a historian or a scientist, for example. Leaders should ensure that, in each subject, teachers know how best to help pupils understand the approach that professionals adopt in studying that subject.  On occasion, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding in lessons as precisely as they could. As a result, pupils are not always supported to move their learning on when they are ready. Leaders should ensure that staff have the knowledge and strategies they need to identify pupils’ strengths and misconceptions and respond appropriately to move learning on or provide support as appropriate.

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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 school to be good in May 2014. 3 and 4 July 2023

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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.

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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. 3 and 4 July 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10267970 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.mablethorpeprimaryacademy.org

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School details

Date of previous inspection 27 February 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provisions.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school has received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken this into account in his evaluation.  The inspector undertook deep dives in reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector also spoke with the curriculum leaders for science and art.  The inspector listened to pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 read to a known adult.  To evaluate the provision for children in the early years, the inspector met with leaders and visited the early years setting. 3 and 4 July 2023

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 The inspector held meetings with those responsible for behaviour, pupils’ personal development and the provision for pupils with SEND.  To evaluate the school’s safeguarding arrangements, the inspector viewed the single central record, held meetings with leaders, spoke with staff about safeguarding arrangements and reviewed the school’s safeguarding records.  The inspector met with the chief executive officer, a trustee and members of the trust executive.  The inspector took account of the views of pupils and staff through formal and informal meetings. He also considered the free-text responses of parents to Ofsted’s survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Matthew Fearns-Davies, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 3 and 4 July 2023

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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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