Lift Charles Warren

Inspection of Charles Warren Academy Old Groveway, Simpson, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK6 3AZ

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

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The principal of this school is Danielle Barnes. This school is part of Lift Schools multi- 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), Rebecca Boomer Clark, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Alastair Da Costa CBE. 8 and 9 July 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils embody the school’s values of being big hearted, unusually brave, pushing the limits and discovering what is possible. Pupils follow the rules and routines of the school from Reception Year onwards. Social times are joyous times of the day. Pupils demonstrate high levels of respect and kindness to each other at breaktime and lunchtime. They appreciate the range of activities they are provided with and share and play well together.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school are enthusiastic, resilient and confident learners. Pupils value the high expectations that the school has for their learning and conduct. They constantly strive to meet these expectations and do so well. Pupils know how to stay healthy and safe. Staff know and care for all pupils well. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported by the school effectively. Pupils and their families are well known and benefit from the positive and nurturing relationships they have with the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils benefit from a rich offer of wider activities both in school and the wider community. Pupils are proud of the various leadership roles that they have. As eco- warriors, reading champions and school councillors, pupils make a tangible contribution to their school community.

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

The school has an ambitious curriculum that is well matched to the needs and context of the pupils who attend here. The curriculum is well sequenced from Reception Year through to Year 6. The school has considered carefully the knowledge pupils need to learn and in what order.

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

A small number of non-core subjects are still being refined and improved by the school. In these areas, the school has not yet made sure that staff have the knowledge to check pupils’ understanding or put in place effective activities to help pupils build knowledge over time. However, in most of the curriculum, particularly in the core curriculum areas, staff exhibit secure subject knowledge. They make regular checks on how well pupils are learning. They use information from these checks well to inform future ambitious learning activities.

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

Children in Reception Year benefit from the high-quality provision in place for them. Expert early years practitioners know the children and their needs well. Staff put in place effective activities in the classroom. These ensure that children secure the foundational knowledge required to be ready for learning in key stage 1. This is most evident to see through the expert teaching of phonics, which begins as soon as children start at the school. Daily checks are made on how well pupils are learning to read. When staff spot that a pupil is falling behind with their reading, they put in place effective extra activities to help close gaps in knowledge. This enables all pupils, including those with SEND, to build reading fluency as quickly as possible. 8 and 9 July 2025

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The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND rapidly and effectively. All staff have a thorough understanding of the needs of the pupils they teach. Well-trained staff provide precise support that meets the needs of these pupils well. They make careful adaptations to activities so that all pupils can access the same ambitious learning. The highly inclusive approach ensures that all pupils achieve well.

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The school has a calm and purposeful environment. Staff know and consistently apply the school’s behaviour management approach. They build positive and trusting relationships with pupils. Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning. In classrooms, they engage consistently well with their learning. Low-level disruptions are very rare and do not impact on how well pupils learn the intended curriculum.

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There is an exceptional personal development offer at the school. Pupils have access to a broad range of activities. This offer has been carefully designed by the school to ensure that it meets the individual talents and interests of pupils. Pupils are very well prepared for life beyond school. The school’s work to develop character is a strength. The curriculum of ‘50 things to do’ before leaving the school encourages pupils to access activities such as present to an audience or visit a library. The school’s personal, social, health and economic education curriculum teaches pupils how to stay safe both online and in their community. They understand diversity and democracy and understand how their actions can impact others. This work to prepare pupils for their next steps is impressive.

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Leaders at all levels are focused on providing an excellent education for all pupils. Those responsible for governance know the school well. They provide support and challenge effectively. Staff feel well supported. They value the focus school leaders have had on their well-being and workload. Leaders ensure that all pupils have opportunities to flourish with a high-quality education and rich experiences.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not refined the curriculum in some foundation subject areas. As a result, pupils do not learn as well as they could in these areas. The school should support teachers to have the knowledge and understanding to plan precise and purposeful activities and check for understanding in those subject areas. 8 and 9 July 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). 8 and 9 July 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 23 and 24 January 2024, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Lift Schools multi-academy trust. This is a multi-academy trust with 57 schools. While retaining overall accountability, the board of trustees delegates many responsibilities and governance functions to a number of leadership teams and committees.  The school has a resourced provision for children in key stage 1. Pupils in the provision all have an education, health and care plan for communication and language needs. This consists of six places. Places for the provision are allocated by the local authority.  The school currently uses one unregistered alternative provision.

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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 8 and 9 July 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 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.  The inspectors met with the regional executive principal, other senior and curriculum leaders, staff and pupils. They also met with the national primary director, who represented the CEO, and the regional education director, who provides governance of the school.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, geography and computing. 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.  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.  The inspectors spoke to a representative of the alternative provider used by the school.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and spoke to a range of staff about their views of the school.  The inspectors took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire, including the free-text responses. They also spoke to parents at the start of the school day.  The inspectors met with a range of pupils to discuss their views about the school and talked to pupils informally during social times and in lessons. They also took account of the responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  The inspectors reviewed a range of the school’s documents, including the school’s self- evaluation report, minutes of board of trustee meetings and behaviour incident records.

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Inspection team

Simon Graydon, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sarah Brinkley Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 July 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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