Reynolds Primary Academy

Inspection of Reynolds Primary Academy Machray Place, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire DN35 7LJ

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Inspection dates: 24 and 25 September 2024

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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The principal of this school is Rebecca Scott. This school is part of Lincolnshire Gateway Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Martin Brown, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Philip Bond. 24 and 25 September 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school and feel safe. They know that there are trusted adults in school who they can talk to if they are worried about something. Pupils know that it is important to attend school. In recent years, the proportion of pupils attending regularly has increased. The school continues to work with those pupils and families who do not attend school regularly enough.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils behave well in class and around school. They know what is expected of them. Sometimes, some pupils lose focus in lessons. This occurs particularly when the work they are given is too easy or too difficult.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online. The school provides opportunities for pupils to learn how to swim and ride a bike safely. Assemblies and visitors to school enable pupils to learn about, for example, fire safety and first aid. Pupils recognise the importance of these skills in their life outside of school. Pupils’ appreciation and understanding of how individual characteristics make people unique is less secure.

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What is it like to attend this school?

In recent years, the school’s high expectations of pupils’ achievement have not been realised. A significant proportion of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have not achieved as well as they should.

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

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum. It has provided staff with training to support recent developments in some subjects. There is still further work to do to embed these changes and ensure that teachers are confident in how to teach the curriculum. Teachers usually demonstrate confidence in their subject knowledge. However, they do not consistently use effective strategies to support pupils to learn important concepts. Where this is the case, pupils do not make as much progress as they could.

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

Leaders have taken action to improve provision for pupils with SEND. Until recently, the school did not accurately, or swiftly, identify pupils’ learning and development needs. The support pupils with SEND receive is inconsistent. Sometimes, pupils receive too much support within lessons. For others, the work they complete does not accurately meet their needs. Although there have been some improvements, leaders recognise that further actions are required to ensure that pupils with SEND are supported effectively.

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

Children in Reception learn the sounds that letters represent from the beginning of the academic year. Teaching and support staff across the school have been trained in how to teach phonics. However, there are inconsistencies in practice. Staff do not consistently check that pupils know and pronounce sounds and words with accuracy. This means that errors and misconceptions are not addressed swiftly enough. In key stages 1 and 2, some pupils at the early stages of reading are given books that do not accurately match their phonics knowledge. This prevents them from making as much progress as they could. Pupils like visiting the recently developed school library. 24 and 25 September 2024

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The school has ensured that the early years curriculum is clearly designed. This provides meaningful learning experiences for children. Consequently, children are happy, curious and independent learners. Children benefit from opportunities to develop their language and vocabulary through songs, rhymes and poems. During the inspection, children in Nursery enjoyed making actions and listening to the story ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’. Children enjoy learning and remain focused in their play for sustained periods. The school provides opportunities to learn about important concepts in different ways. For example, children worked together to sort materials into ‘hard’ and ‘soft’. Later, children decided for themselves how to categorise a group of objects.

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The school provides opportunities for pupils to learn about local artists. This helps them to appreciate finding out about arts and culture within the town. The school provides leadership opportunities for pupils, such as school councillors and well-being ambassadors. However, it does not check that strategies to support pupils’ broader development are meaningful and enrich their understanding of their role in society.

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The local governing board has recently developed strategies to ensure that it has an increasingly accurate view of the school. Leaders, including those with responsibility for governance, recognise that the school’s published outcomes in recent years have not been acceptable. They have implemented a plan to bring about improvements. However, the school does not routinely check that what it sets out to achieve has had the intended outcome.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not use effective strategies to teach the curriculum consistently well. This prevents some pupils from understanding important concepts, including in their personal development. In addition, it contributes towards some pupils becoming less engaged in their learning. The school should ensure that teachers use strategies that enable pupils, including those with SEND, to fully benefit from the school’s curriculum.  Some pupils at the early stages of reading are given books that do not accurately match their phonics knowledge. This prevents pupils from making as much progress in their reading as they could. The school should ensure that pupils read books that are aligned with their phonics stage.  The support for pupils with SEND is inconsistent. Some pupils with SEND do not make as much progress as they might. The school should ensure that the support for pupils with SEND is consistently strong across subjects.

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 The school does not routinely check that actions taken to improve the school are having the intended impact. The school does not accurately know if the steps it has taken have made a difference to pupils’ learning and development. The school should ensure that it regularly checks that actions taken to improve the school are timely and have the intended impact.

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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). 24 and 25 September 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 19 June 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Lincolnshire Gateway Academy Trust.  The trust has delegated responsibility for the oversight of pupils’ achievement to the local governing board.  An executive principal oversees the work of this school and the two other primary academies within the trust.  The school runs a breakfast club.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 24 and 25 September 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors spoke to the principal, executive principal from the trust, assistant principals and the special educational needs coordinator.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, physical education and religious education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the

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extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  An inspector visited the school’s breakfast club.  Inspectors spoke to parents and carers at the beginning and end of the school day.  Inspectors reviewed responses to Ofsted’s parent survey, Ofsted Parent View. They also considered responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.  The lead inspector met with members of the local governing board. A separate meeting was held with members of the board of trustees.  A meeting was also held with the CEO.

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Inspection team

Matthew Harrington, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Neil Butler Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 September 2024

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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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