Gooseacre Primary Academy

Inspection of Gooseacre Primary Academy Gooseacre Avenue, Off Merrill Road, Thurnscoe, Rotherham, South Yorkshire S63 0NU

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

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The principal of this school is Jack Moore. This school is part of Astrea Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Rowena Hackwood, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Benjamin Brown. 11 and 12 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Gooseacre Primary Academy is a warm and welcoming school at the heart of the community. All staff expect the very best of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils conduct themselves well. They are polite, courteous and committed learners. As a result, learning in classrooms is rarely interrupted. Positive relationships between pupils and adults mean pupils feel safe. They know their teachers care about them. Bullying is very rare, but when it happens, adults take pupils’ concerns seriously and deal with it quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The recent changes to the curriculum have raised expectations for pupils. The curriculum is highly ambitious and emphasises vocabulary. Pupils work hard in lessons to meet these ambitions. They enjoy the way in which the curriculum challenges them to think carefully. Pupils are proud of their work, and they remember what they have learned. Over time, pupils’ outcomes in national tests at the end of key stage 2 have improved.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the leadership responsibilities they have. Sports leaders promote the importance of physical health by encouraging pupils to play together and stay active during breaktimes. The school’s values of scholarship and respect are bought to life through the actions and attitudes of the pupils.

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

The school is uncompromising in its aspiration for pupils. Pupils enjoy an ambitious, broad and exciting curriculum, which the school adapts for its pupils. Where curriculum changes and improvements are more established, pupils are achieving particularly well. The needs of pupils with SEND are quickly identified. Teachers make the necessary adaptations to the curriculum so that it is fully accessible. The support pupils with SEND receive is regularly reviewed and evaluated to check it is having the necessary impact.

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

Staff have been supported to improve how they teach the curriculum. In most subjects, teachers are quick to address gaps in pupils’ knowledge. They revisit misunderstandings and ensure pupils are secure before moving on. However, pupils who are in the early stages of learning to write are sometimes moved on too quickly. This is before they have fully understood the spelling and grammar rules that they have been taught. Some pupils’ writing can therefore be punctuated incorrectly.

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

The school’s curriculum is rich in vocabulary. This starts in the early years, where staff immerse children in language-rich experiences, retelling familiar stories through puppets and play. Reading is a high priority for the school. Teachers identify gaps in pupils’ phonic knowledge accurately and use this information to plan which sounds to revisit. The books pupils read are carefully matched so that they practise the sounds that they have been taught. As a result, most pupils become fluent readers by the end of key stage 1. When this is not the case, pupils get the help they need to catch up. Pupils enjoy the time in the day when staff read to them. A carefully selected set of books helps to promote pupils’ understanding of equality and diversity issues. 11 and 12 March 2025

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Children thrive in the early years. Highly skilled practitioners model the ambitious expectations they have for children’s behaviour. This quickly establishes positive learning routines and builds children’s independence. Children are curious and work hard in the well-designed learning environment. The early years provides a secure foundation for children’s future learning.

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Pupils’ behaviour in school is calm and orderly. Pupils enjoy working with pastoral staff when they need support or some extra help to manage their emotions. The school monitors attendance closely. It takes swift and appropriate action when pupils’ attendance declines. However, persistent absence remains too high for some groups of pupils. This means that they do not fully benefit from the curriculum or wider opportunities that the school offers.

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The school carefully adapts its curriculum for personal, social and health education so that pupils understand the local issues that may affect them. Older pupils appreciate the many different types of families that exist in modern Britain. Pupils understand the importance of British values. They accept and celebrate people’s differences. They say this is because ‘everyone is free to be who they want to be’. Pupils’ understanding of protected characteristics is age appropriate. Well-planned visits and residential opportunities further broaden pupils’ world views. Some pupils work as ‘well-being warriors’ to support their friends to manage their emotions and stay positive. Through this work, pupils see themselves as active and responsible members of the school community.

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Governors and trustees have a detailed understanding of the school’s performance. Curriculum changes are carefully monitored to check the impact on pupils’ learning. Feedback from staff is regularly gathered through surveys and consultations. Staff are positive about the curriculum changes that have been made. The majority of staff feel that their well-being is supported by leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s attendance strategies are not reducing the persistent absence of some pupils as well as it would like. Consequently, some groups of pupils miss out on important learning and experiences. The school should refine and refocus its approaches in order to reduce persistent absence further for these pupils.  Some pupils who are at the early stages of learning to write are not given sufficient opportunities to practise what they have been taught before they are moved on. As a result, pupils struggle with later writing tasks. The school should ensure that the spelling and grammatical rules that pupils are taught are securely understood before moving on to more complex written tasks. 11 and 12 March 2025

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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). 11 and 12 March 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 11 and 12 March 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Astrea Academy Trust.  The early years includes provision for two-year-olds.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school runs a breakfast club.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth-form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 11 and 12 March 2025

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors met with the principal, vice-principal and special educational needs coordinator.  An inspector met with the chair of the local governing committee.  Inspectors held discussions with staff to consider their views.  Meetings were held with trustees, including the chair of the trust, CEO and regional director for the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also discussed the school’s work in some other curriculum areas and reviewed a selection of pupils’ work in English.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single

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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.  An inspector spoke to parents at the start of the school day.  Inspectors reviewed responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View. They also considered responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  To evaluate pupils’ behaviour, inspectors visited lessons, analysed behaviour records, met with groups of pupils and observed their play at breaktime and lunchtime.

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Inspection team

Chris Pearce, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Michael Watson Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 March 2025

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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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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