Grove Academy

Grove Academy

Address: Ladbrooke Road, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 2SR Unique reference number (URN): 149897

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders ensure that children make a positive start to their education in the early years. They have put in place a curriculum that closely reflects the starting points of children. Leaders make appropriate changes to the curriculum, when they identify that children are not learning as effectively as they could. For example, they have recently improved the way that writing is taught. Staff ensure that children have sufficient opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge in all areas of learning. Leaders provide effective support to children, who join the early years with barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing. They are particularly aware of children who struggle to read and ensure that swift interventions are put in place to support these children to catch up. Typically, children make positive progress from their starting points and are ready to progress to key stage 1.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff know and care for children well. They build positive relationships from the start, which helps children to thrive. Typically, staff interact with children well, encouraging them to develop their social and communication skills. Children are confident. They collaborate effectively with their peers and are able to learn independently when required. Children routinely align to well-established routines and behave well.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have effective systems in place to identify any additional barriers to learning and/or wellbeing that pupils may have. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language benefit from timely and appropriate interventions, including specialist support where needed. Leaders ensure that pupils' needs are understood and communicated clearly to staff. Typically, staff adapt their practice effectively to meet pupils' needs. Leaders ensure that staff develop further expertise if they identify any variability in the quality of support pupils' receive. Leaders monitor the impact of support and adapt provision where needed.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Pupils who are known, or previously known, to social care are well supported. Leaders have a clear understanding of their individual needs. Leaders collaborate effectively with wider professionals to ensure a swift response to any change in circumstance or emerging needs.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders know the specific vulnerabilities that disadvantaged pupils may face in their local context. They make effective use of pupil premium funding to ensure that disadvantaged pupils are able to access learning and participate fully in wider experiences.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The school uses alternative provision appropriately and only where it is in the best interest of pupils.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders, at all levels, have a clear understanding of the school’s context, its strengths and priorities for further improvement. Leaders have made considerable improvements in areas of the school's work that needed to be most urgently prioritised. For example, they have established a very positive safeguarding culture and made significant improvements to how pupils behave. In other areas of the school's work, leaders recognise there is further work to do. They are taking appropriate actions to improve attendance and how effectively pupils' learn and achieve. However, it is too early to see the full impact of this work.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Those responsible for governance are highly knowledgeable in their roles. They fulfil their statutory responsibilities diligently. Governors have robust systems in place to test out the school’s work and to challenge leaders appropriately. Governors provide effective support to leaders and are committed to continued school improvement.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders routinely make decisions that are in the best interests of pupils. They forge positive and effective partnership working with wider professionals to ensure that pupils access specialist support in a timely manner. Leaders strive to build positive community relationships. They recognise that there is further work to do in building more purposeful engagement with parents and carers, however.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders provide staff with regular professional learning, closely matched to school priorities. Staff appreciate the regular opportunities that they have to collaborate with other professionals within and beyond the school. Teachers in the earliest stages of their careers are very well supported. Leaders are considerate of staff wellbeing. They take proactive steps to ensure workload is manageable.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils are well supported in their personal development. Leaders have put in place a well- considered programme of learning that supports pupils to be ready for the next stages of their development. Pupils learn about relationships and health education and sex education effectively. They understand the risks they need to be aware of online and in the community. As a result, pupils have an age-appropriate awareness of how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Staff make appropriate and helpful adaptations to the curriculum to support pupils, who have particular barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils are proud to attend a culturally diverse school. They enjoy learning about faiths, cultures and traditions that differ from their own. Pupils understand the importance of equality. They are are knowledgeable about the different characteristics that are protected by law. Pupils are consistently respectful and recognise any form of discrimination to be unacceptable.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils benefit from a wide range of opportunities that broaden their experiences and nurture their talents and interests. They participate regularly in a range of clubs and enjoy representing the school in academic, sporting and creative competitions. Pupils value the opportunities they have to exercise and participate in healthy activities during social times. Leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who are disadvantaged are enabled to participate fully in enrichment opportunities.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils receive timely and appropriate careers guidance that supports their understanding of future pathways. Staff encourage pupils in the primary phase to start thinking about their future aspirations. This ensures that pupils are thoroughly prepared for their next steps as they move through the school.

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Needs attention

Pupils are very proud of the various leadership positions they hold, such as prefects, librarians and subject leaders. They understand how these opportunities help to build their confidence, develop their life skills and prepare them for the world of work.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pupils do not achieve as securely as they should in national tests and examinations. While there have been some improvements in different subjects at both key stages 2 and 4, pupil outcomes remain lower than they need to be. Some pupils continue to have gaps in their knowledge and skills, particularly in writing. As a result, they are not as well prepared for the next stages of their learning as they could be.

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Achievement Needs attention

Often pupils who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make suitable progress from their start points. This is not consistently the case, particularly for pupils who join the school late with gaps in their knowledge or barriers to their learning. While leaders are swift to identify pupils' needs and provide support, the impact of their interventions are sometimes not clearly understood and used to refine provision.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pupils are starting to achieve more securely, particularly in mathematics and reading, as improvements in the curriculum and teaching embed.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Attendance is not as high as it should be across the school. Leaders understand the context of the school and the challenges that some pupils face in attending school regularly. They have made recent improvements in their work to reduce barriers to positive attendance. It is too early to see the impact of this work, however.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Pupils behave very well. Leaders ensure that all pupils understand what is expected of them. Starting from the early years, children are taught clear behaviour expectations. Staff consistently reinforce these high expectations as pupils move through the school. Typically, pupils have positive attitudes to learning. Pupils feel happy and safe. They know that unkind behaviour, including bullying and discrimination, will not be tolerated. Leaders manage any incidents of poor behaviour very effectively.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Staff develop highly positive and nurturing relationships with pupils. In turn, pupils demonstrate kind and respectful attitudes to staff and their peers. Pupils' emotional needs are well understood. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged are effectively supported in managing their behaviour. Staff make thoughtful reasonable adjustments, where pupils need additional help to make the right choices.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The quality of teaching in the school is variable. In particular, teachers do not use assessment sufficiently well to help reduce gaps in pupils' knowledge or to address misconceptions in a timely manner. There are some areas of learning that are taught less well. Notably, pupils are not yet supported to develop their writing with sufficient accuracy and fluency.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have made important improvements to the curriculum. They have ensured that each subject is well planned, ambitious and considers the needs of pupils. Some areas of the curriculum have been more securely embedded than others. For example, the school uses well-established and consistent routines to teach reading and mathematics. Leaders recognise that in other areas, such as writing, there is further work to do so that pupils develop their knowledge and skills more securely.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Typically, teachers have secure subject knowledge. Sometimes, new content is not explained as clearly as it could be, which can lead to pupils falling behind.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Staff know pupils well. They understand that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or other barriers to learning, may need different teaching approaches. Often, staff provide helpful adaptations to learning to support pupils. This is not yet consistently the case, however.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

This is a warm and very welcoming school. Pupils have a clear sense of belonging and value the high levels of care that staff show for them. Staff know pupils well and understand their needs. Pupils with barriers to learning and/or wellbeing generally have their needs met. Pupils who join the school late and those who speak English as an additional language are well supported so that they settle quickly and feel included.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils, from the early years upwards, build positive relationships with staff and their peers. They quickly understand the high expectations that staff have for them. Pupils consistently meet these high expectations. They behave very well and are routinely respectful. Pupils feel safe because they are safe. They are confident that bullying and discrimination would never be tolerated and happen rarely in their school. Most pupils attend school regularly, but absence is not reducing as quickly as it should for some pupils.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Staff ensure that pupils feel included in all areas of school life. Pupils enjoy a wide range of opportunities to broaden their experiences and develop their life skills. Pupils embrace the diversity and multiculturalism within their school. They have a well-developed understanding about the importance of equality and are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils typically enjoy learning. Children make a secure start to their learning in the early years. However, as pupils move through the school, there is variability in how effectively they learn. Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge and do not achieve as securely as they could in national tests and examinations. This means they are sometimes insufficiently prepared for their next steps. Disadvantaged pupils typically make positive progress from their start points. The school is beginning to improve the consistency of pupils’ learning experiences and their achievement.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that assessment is consistently and effectively used to understand where pupils have misconceptions or gaps in their knowledge. Leaders should ensure that staff have the expertise to address knowledge gaps swiftly so that pupils achieve more securely. Leaders should ensure that they have a consistent approach to developing the accuracy and fluency of pupils’ writing. Leaders should embed their approaches to improving attendance so that absence rates are reduced.

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About this inspection

This school is part of The Slough and East Berkshire C of E 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, Christopher Spencer, and the trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Vishal Mehta.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty's Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the school leadership team, members of staff, groups of pupils, representatives from the board of trustees, trust leaders and members of the local governing body during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school makes use of one alternative provision.

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Team inspectors:

Alison Robb-Webb, Ofsted Inspector Sara Staggs, His Majesty's Inspector Gavin Thomas, His Majesty's Inspector Nic Browne, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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English and maths GCSE

Percentage of pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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national average

2023/24 (final) 41.6% 45.9% Close to average

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Attainment 8

A measure of pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Progress 8

How much progress pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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national average

2023/24 (final) -0.06 -0.03 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 47% 47% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 60% 63% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 60% 59% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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national average

2024/25 (revised) 25.6% 25.8% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 30.4% 25.8% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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national average

2024/25 (revised) 36.8 34.9 Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 35.0 34.6 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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national average

2023/24 (final) -0.49 -0.57 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 9.3% 8.9% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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