All Saints Interchurch Academy

Inspection of All Saints Interchurch Academy County Road, March, Cambridgeshire PE15 8ND

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

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The headteacher of this school is Michael Harrison. The school is a single academy trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is overseen by the board of trustees, chaired by Jacqueline McCamphill. 10 and 11 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are warm and welcoming. The school’s new values are well known and lived out by everyone. They guide everything that is done at the school as everyone contributed to their development.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are ambitious for pupils to do well at school. Many pupils do achieve well. However, some pupils are not as motivated to learn as they should be. These pupils do not engage as positively in lessons as others do. This sometimes contributes to behaviour that distracts others and impacts negatively on learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most of the relationships between staff and pupils are strong. However, some pupils do not always behave in a way that meets adults’ high expectations. This can be in lessons as well as at other times of the day. Pupils have trusted adults that they can go to and a safe space if they need time away from their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a wide range of trips, which broadens their knowledge of the curriculum. Pupils develop their interests through the range of clubs that they can attend, such as various sports, chess or building bricks. Older pupils enjoy taking responsibility for the salad bar in the lunch hall to encourage pupils to eat healthily and look after their well- being.

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

Leadership at all levels has changed considerably in recent months. This has provided the school with more stability. The school has accurately identified what it needs to do to improve and already moved these areas forward. There is a shared vision throughout the school to provide high-quality education.

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

The school is developing its curriculum to ensure that it is as broad and ambitious as it should be. The curriculum builds pupils’ knowledge over time, including in the early years. In most subjects, teachers’ subject knowledge is strong, and they check what pupils know and remember. However, in a few subjects the information that the pupils receive is not clear and the activities pupils complete are not focused on the intended learning.

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

The school prioritises reading. A welcoming school library and comfortable book corners encourage reading throughout the school. They ensure that pupils have high-quality texts, including a range of genres to read or to have read to them. Staff teach phonics consistently throughout the school. Staff check pupils’ phonics knowledge regularly. They provide additional support for pupils to keep up. By the time pupils leave the school, they can read fluently and confidently.

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

Staff are working more effectively to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They receive training to deliver a range of different strategies to cover most needs. This includes adapting the curriculum to ensure that pupils can learn alongside their peers in the classroom. Staff have developed the process to identify pupils’ needs so that support can be quickly put in place. The school works 10 and 11 June 2025

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effectively with a wide range of external agencies and parents and carers to support pupils with SEND.

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Routines are well established in the early years and around the school. Staff have started to address pupils’ conduct with new approaches. There are already signs of improvement throughout the school. However, the school’s approaches are not as effective for all pupils because they are not consistently followed by staff. This leaves some pupils having their learning disrupted or feeling uncomfortable.

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The school has been focusing on improving attendance. However, the number of pupils who are persistently absent is still significantly high. The school has started to work with families to break down barriers to regular attendance. As a result, overall levels of attendance are improving.

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The school’s personal development offer supports the academic curriculum alongside the school’s personal, social and health education programme. This promotes the school’s values and British values well. Pupils learn about the importance of diversity and mutual respect. The school provides high-quality pastoral support for pupils. This includes quiet spaces to ensure positive starts to the day and develop pupils’ self-esteem and confidence. Pupils learn about the impact of a positive environment and contribute towards this. They complete activities like litter picking at lunchtime, for example.

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Recent changes to the board of trustees have ensured that they have expertise and knowledge to support and challenge school leaders effectively. Staff workloads are well considered, especially as changes happen. There is a wide range of professional development opportunities for all staff. Staff are positive about working in the school. Parents are supportive of the school and are optimistic about the future.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Staff lack the subject knowledge to teach some foundation subjects as effectively as they teach other subjects. Consequently, they do not present some information clearly in these subjects. Sometimes, the activities that they provide for pupils do not focus on the knowledge the school intends pupils to learn. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they should in these subjects. The school should ensure that staff have the subject knowledge they need to deliver the curriculum effectively in the full range of subjects that they teach.  The school’s approach for managing pupils’ behaviour is not consistently applied. As a result, there are pupils who disrupt learning and some who make other pupils feel 10 and 11 June 2025

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uncomfortable. The school should ensure that all staff consistently follow and apply behaviour strategies.

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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). 10 and 11 June 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 15 and 16 November 2022, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a single academy trust.  This is an inter-church school and is part of the Church of England in the Diocese of Ely and the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia. The school had an inspection of its religious character, under section 48 of the Education Act 2005, in June 2024. The next section 48 inspection is due within 8 years.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher took up their posts in January 2025.  The school has provision for two-year-old children.  The school does not currently make use of alternative provision.  The school manages an after-school club for pupils.

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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 10 and 11 June 2025

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provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s educational provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The lead inspector spoke with trustees, which included representatives from both Diocese boards.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, computing and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also spoke to school leaders, including those responsible for pupils with SEND, behaviour, attendance and personal development.  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

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors gathered and considered the views of pupils, parents and staff. This included considering the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Katie Devenport, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jennifer Brassington Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 June 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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