Clee Hill Community Academy

Inspection of a good school: Clee Hill Community Academy Tenbury Road, Clee Hill, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 3NE

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Outcome

Clee Hill Community Academy continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Ceri Little. This school is part of Shropshire Gateway Educational Trust which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by an executive headteacher, Katie Jones, and is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Leonora Castledine.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love attending this busy, caring and welcoming school. They arrive happily and always do their best. The school strives to give pupils a range of meaningful experiences such as becoming trained anti-bullying ambassadors and visiting places of worship. This is a ‘small’ school that provides ‘big’ opportunities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, pupils achieve well. They become fluent, enthusiastic readers and competent mathematicians. They revel in the broad, exciting curriculum on offer and talk with confidence about their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of how pupils should behave. Pupils always display positive attitudes and behaviour, and disruption in lessons is very rare. The school culture is open and inclusive. Pupils feel safe, involved and listened to. They are caring and thoughtful, always being prepared to help one another in lessons and in the playground.

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What is it like to attend this school?

On the rare occasions when behaviour falls short of expectations, pupils know that adults will help put things right. They say that adults are good at ‘talking it through to help us understand how to behave’.

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

This school has a broad and ambitious curriculum. It is engaging and enjoyable, while providing pupils with the knowledge they need. Good use is made of the school’s local area, which provides unique curriculum experiences because of its rich history and geographical location. 4 and 5 October 2023

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There is some variation in how well subjects are implemented. In some, including geography and mathematics, the school has been successful in identifying precisely what and how pupils will learn. This includes how the learning is organised in mixed-age classes. Pupils are becoming knowledgeable and developing good skills in these subjects. For instance, in geography, they are able to describe exactly how rivers and mountains form. In a small number of other subjects, the implementation of the curriculum is not as strong. Pupils are not remembering as much of the curriculum as they should. The school is aware of this and has put in place plans to address it.

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In lessons, teachers present information clearly and ask questions skilfully to make sure pupils understand. They select resources and activities that engage pupils. Pupils enjoy their learning, and low-level disruption is rare. Staff make appropriate adaptions so that all pupils can access the curriculum. They are skilled at supporting pupils who have SEND. They work with parents and agencies to provide pupils with high-quality support which allows them to thrive.

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Children get off to a flying start in the early years. There is a focus on spoken communication from day one, and so children become confident at sharing their feelings and ideas. The school provides carefully selected resources both indoors and outside. Children are happy and becoming independent from an early age. This sets them up well as they join Year 1.

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Learning to read is a priority. From Nursery, children begin to learn phonics. Daily lessons in Reception and Year 1 ensure pupils quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to become readers. Staff quickly identify pupils who are struggling and give additional help so that they do not fall behind. Staff and parents hear pupils read very regularly, which helps them practise and improve their reading fluency. Pupils enjoy hearing the books which staff read to them and this helps them develop knowledge of literature and a love of reading. Reading does not stop in class, and pupils often choose to read at playtimes in the ‘reading realm’ or at book club.

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Pupils benefit from an extensive breadth of opportunities. There are regular trips to enhance the curriculum, including to the local church, a mosque, a synagogue and a Hindu temple. Pupils attend residential trips and take part in sporting competitions at the local secondary school. They act as school councillors, digital leaders, eco-club members and anti-bullying ambassadors. They run clubs for other pupils such as ‘jumping jacks’ and have even run training sessions for school staff on using the computing equipment. Pupils take these roles seriously and are being well prepared to be active citizens in their next schools and in later life.

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The school has been highly successful in engaging the community and working with parents and carers. This is a strength of the school. The sense of community here is celebrated and appreciated by all.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 4 and 5 October 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not implemented curriculum improvements effectively in a small number of subjects. This means that pupils do not retain as much knowledge in these subjects as they could. The school should ensure the implementation of these subjects becomes as effective as those which are strengths of the school.

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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, Clee Hill Community Primary School, to be good in October 2013.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 4 and 5 October 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a part of Shropshire Learning Gateway Educational Trust.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher and other senior leaders.  The inspector met with the executive headteacher, the chair of the board of trustees and members of the local governing board.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, 4 and 5 October 2023

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visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of work.  The inspector also discussed with leaders the curriculum in other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector considered a range of documents, including minutes of governors’ meetings and the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school and talked to them about behaviour, bullying and welfare.  The inspector considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including parents’ free-text responses. The inspector also took account of responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil

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surveys.  The inspector also spoke to parents and carers at the school gate.

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Inspection team

Gareth Morgan, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 4 and 5 October 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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