The Crescent Academy

Inspection of a good school: The Crescent Academy Pinewood Crescent, Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST3 6HZ

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might be outstanding if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. The school’s next inspection will be a graded inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Adam Clewes. This school is part of The Crescent Academy trust. The trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Lorraine Hurst.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are provided with the best possible start to their education at The Crescent Academy. This stems from the high levels of ambition the school has for all pupils. The school’s vision to ‘enrich through experiences, to educate and enjoy learning’ is realised. Pupils excel in the rich range of academic, personal and social learning opportunities that the school provides for them. The comment of one parent reflects the thoughts of many, ‘This school is nothing short of amazing. The things they do and teach the children are incredible.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils meet the high expectations of behaviour that the school has. This begins from the moment children join the Nursery. Pupils live by the school rules of ‘always tell the truth, respect everybody and give everything your all’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and enjoy coming to school. They appreciate the many opportunities that the school provides for them. Pupils make good use of the school’s gym, cinema and other facilities. In addition, leaders plan a wide range of activities that are deliberately designed to prepare pupils well for life in their local community and beyond. One pupil commented, ‘The school helps us to achieve our goals and have a good life.’

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

The school has a highly ambitious curriculum that enables all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to be extremely successful. From the 23 and 24 April 2024

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moment that children join in the early years, they benefit from an aspirational and carefully considered curriculum. The curriculum is based on providing valuable experiences. For example, in Nursery, pupils learn about and explore the local area. This then builds well into key stage 1, where pupils visit the area around Stoke. In key stage 2, pupils visit cities such as York, Chester and London to understand the history of these cities. Additionally, older pupils also have the opportunity to visit Paris. All of these experiences help to broaden pupils’ knowledge. For example, pupils could recall how an educational visit on a steam train had deepened their understanding of life for evacuees in the Second World War.

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Pupils’ knowledge builds effectively as they move through the school. By the time pupils reach the end of Year 6, they have developed a deep and rich body of knowledge across the curriculum. Teachers have good subject knowledge. They quickly spot pupils who are stuck and provide additional support when needed. Furthermore, they deliver the curriculum well, including for pupils with SEND. This is supported by effective systems to identify the needs of pupils with SEND.

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The school is proficient in making sure that pupils develop into confident and fluent readers. This begins in the early years. Staff deliver the phonics programme with confidence and precision. Highly effective support is quickly put in place for any pupils who need it. This helps them to keep up with their classmates. Young pupils make an excellent start to reading. They get lots of opportunities to practise the sounds they have learned, including through carefully chosen books. Pupils develop into keen readers. They enjoy choosing books from the school’s reading trees and choosing books with their parents from the reading boat in the playground.

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The school provides a range of opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and interests. There are a vast range of different clubs on offer. Many of these have been requested by the pupils themselves. These include a Star Wars club and a culture club. The school has carefully planned events throughout the year which builds pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness over time. The range of personal development opportunities experienced by pupils prepares them exceptionally well for life in modern Britain.

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There is a strong team culture and ethos shared across the school. Staff are extremely supportive of the school and all its work. They feel well supported by leaders in their well- being and workload.

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Trustees are kept incredibly well informed regarding the school and its work. They share the school’s high ambition for the pupils and the community the school serves.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school 23 and 24 April 2024

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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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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 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.

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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). 23 and 24 April 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 December 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses one registered alternative provision.  There has been a change of headteacher since the previous inspection.  The school is part of the Crescent Academy trust, which consists of one school.  The school operates a before- and after-school 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.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the lead inspector held meetings with the headteacher and assistant headteachers. He met four trustees. He also held a telephone conversation with the head of the registered alternative provision used.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered 23 and 24 April 2024

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, art and design and physical education. They met with subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke with teachers and pupils and viewed examples of pupils’ work. An inspector also spoke to pupils about geography and design and technology. He also looked at work in science and history.  An inspector observed children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 read to a trusted adult.  The inspectors spoke with members of staff about their workload and well-being.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school.  The inspectors considered the responses, including the free-text comments, to Ofsted Parent View. They also considered the responses to the staff and pupil surveys. An inspector spoke to parents at the start of the school day.

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 Inspectors looked at a range of documentation provided by the school. This included the school’s improvement priorities, school policies, curriculum documents, SEND records, behaviour records, attendance records and minutes of meetings held by the trust board.

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Inspection team

Barry Yeardsley, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris Wright Ofsted Inspector 23 and 24 April 2024

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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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