Coaley Church of England Primary Academy

Coaley Church of England Primary Academy

Address: The Street, Coaley, Dursley, GL11 5EB Unique reference number (URN): 145408

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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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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils achieve very well in this school across all subjects. They talk about their learning with confidence and enthusiasm. Published data shows that pupils' attainment at the end of key stage 2 is typically above the national average. Pupils’ results in the Year 4 multiplication test are also usually above the national average. Teachers provide regular, effective support to pupils. As a result, all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make steady progress through the curriculum from their starting points.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils produce high-quality work across the curriculum and show increasing independence. For example, pupils make acute observations when looking at items from the past. They compare artefacts from the Bronze Age and carefully present their mathematics and English work.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils develop secure skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Staff act quickly to close any gaps in pupils' knowledge and skills following swift assessment. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders have fostered a culture that encourages and celebrates high attendance. Pupils love coming to school. They value the varied opportunities on offer during the day and after school. As a result, they attend very well. Leaders are meticulous in their analysis of attendance. In some cases where attendance falls below leaders’ expectations, they act quickly and sensitively to offer support. Regular phone calls, meetings and focused work with families swiftly help leaders to understand barriers. Adaptations to support pupils are individual and impactful. This can be seen in the improved attendance over time for several pupils with complex needs.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Pupils' behaviour across the school day is calm and orderly. Staff maintain high expectations and ensure pupils understand these. Pupils meet these expectations with the support of clear and well-established routines. At social times, younger pupils enjoy mixing with the older ones, who act as thoughtful and caring role models. Pupils understand the importance of being kind to one another and showing respect. Bullying is rare. Pupils feel confident that staff will support them should it occur. In lessons, pupils enjoy learning. They contribute eagerly to discussions. Leaders provide effective support on the rare occasions when pupils struggle to meet their high behaviour expectations. Strategies, including access to spaces such as the ‘hummingbird room’, support pupils to manage their emotions.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have created an inclusive school, where pupils have their needs identified accurately. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), disadvantaged pupils and pupils who are known or previously known to social care. Leaders act quickly, listening to parents, carers and professionals. They ensure that sharply focused support reduces barriers effectively, enabling pupils to flourish academically and personally. For example, staff follow plans that identify pupils’ strengths and areas they need to develop. These are highly individualised. This ensures that teachers precisely match any extra support to pupils' needs. Leaders closely review these plans to ensure that support remains effective and relevant.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Teachers are well trained to understand pupils' needs and to make adaptations in class to ensure that all pupils, including those with SEND, have full access to the school's curriculum. Adaptations in lessons are seamless. Pupils use a variety of aids, when necessary, such as sentences starters and scaffold prompts. As a result, they make steady progress in lessons.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The school uses the funding for disadvantaged pupils well. Disadvantaged pupils make accelerated progress during their time at school. Most leave Year 6 equipped with the key knowledge they need in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

‘As a family, we flourish’ is the school’s vision. Leaders, governors, trustees and most staff consistently reflect high expectations and an aspirational culture for all pupils through their actions. School and trust leaders have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development. They use a wide range of evidence to evaluate the school's work. When they identify weaknesses, they take timely action. Improvement work is well thought out and focuses on what will make the biggest difference to pupils.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Governors and trustees know the school very well. Through regular visits, training and performance information, they challenge leaders effectively. Focused questions on outcomes and attendance maintain a sharp focus on high standards. They fulfil their duties diligently and maintain a clear focus on improving experiences for pupils.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Staff are proud to work at the school. They recognise the care that leaders show for their workload and wellbeing. The school and trust provide well-considered professional development opportunities for staff. Staff, including those new to the school, speak highly of the recent training. For example, they have benefitted from professional development to further enhance their understanding of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, staff are confident when supporting pupils with their learning.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Parents and carers speak highly of the school and say their child feels valued at Coaley. They praise leaders for the family feel they have created. Many are grateful for the inclusive culture that leaders have established.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders have developed a clear and coherent personal development curriculum. It is based on the school's values. Whole school assemblies and current news learning help deliver this core offer. Pupils benefit from learning an instrument during their time at the school. Leaders have established a strong pastoral approach with well-established systems, including ‘zones of regulation’ and ‘quiet spaces’, which help pupils build independence and resilience.

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Expected standard

The school's personal, social, health and economic education and relationships curriculum is appropriate. Pupils show a secure understanding of the concepts taught to them. For example, pupils confidently distinguish between safe and unsafe decisions, including the benefits and risk of online activity. They understand the importance of water safety, such as how to stay safe in and near water. Leaders utilise the locality of the school. The nearby railway is included in key safety learning.

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Expected standard

Pupils understand fundamental British values well. They learn to express their views confidently, listen carefully to others and engage in discussion with respect. Pupils value diversity and understand the importance of treating everyone fairly. They recognise that their school does not have a range of pupils from different cultures or faiths, but they have a secure sense of right and wrong and show respect for others' beliefs and opinions. This broadens their awareness of the wider world beyond their local community.

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Expected standard

School leaders have carefully planned and integrated a blend of trips, visits and external speakers into the curriculum to enhance pupils' learning, including for children in the Reception Year. Pupils have opportunities to visit local museums, theatres and an inner-city school. This is part of the schools ‘passport offer’ of experiences they access before they leave. Varied clubs have high attendance from pupils. As a result of these opportunities, pupils discover new interests, develop their talents and raise their aspirations for the future. Leaders work effectively to remove barriers to participation so that all pupils benefit. For example, leaders introduced a recent new ‘hama beads club’ after acting on pupil voice.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

School and trust leaders have an accurate understanding of the curriculum. They have built a sequenced curriculum that helps pupils build their knowledge over time. For example, in history, pupils learn about different civilizations. They build an understanding of time (chronology). Pupils learn how the Anglo-Saxons built on the achievements of earlier civilisations, such as the Romans. Pupils explain that Anglo-Saxon jewellery was influenced by Roman designs.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The reading curriculum is a strength of the school. Skilled staff swiftly identify those pupils who need extra support with their phonics and support them to catch up with their peers.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have identified appropriate priorities to improve the curriculum, including strengthening foundational knowledge and skills, especially in writing. Leaders set out clear expectations. This includes correct sitting, pencil grips and letter formation. Every class follows these expectations and, as a result, pupils' handwriting progresses well and work in books is typically neat. Modelling of handwriting and letter formation from staff is highly effective.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have set out research-informed teaching practices. Staff receive training in these practices, and they are typically well delivered. However, in some cases, this teaching is not always as precise as leaders expect it to be. Expectations of what pupils can do vary across classes. As a result, some pupils do not always progress as much as they could.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders are ambitious for all children and ensure they have a positive start to their time in school. They have developed an early years curriculum that supports children’s learning and development effectively so that they are ready for Year 1. Leaders review the quality of education regularly and use this information to make changes to the curriculum. They respond to children's changing needs. Recent improvements to the outside space provide varied activities for learning. For example, leaders focus on providing opportunities that develop children's physical development. This is improving children's balance, coordination and strength.

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Early years Expected standard

Typically, teaching is effective in the early years. Staff explain new concepts to children clearly. Teachers carefully plan the activities that children access so that they can practise new learning. Children benefit from warm interactions with staff, which generally help them to learn well. However, sometimes interactions between children and staff are not as effective as they could be in developing children’s language. This is because teaching and learning expectations are not embedded well enough yet.

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Early years Expected standard

Positive relationships help children feel safe and settled. Children develop independence and typically manage their emotions well. They understand and follow routines and rules.

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

Pupils at Coaley benefit from a school filled with opportunities, where everyone feels part of a family. Pupils flourish because they love coming to school and they enjoy learning. As a result, pupils’ attendance is typically high. The school's rules of, ‘be ready, be respectful, be safe’ deeply influence school life and underpin pupils' experiences across the curriculum and stretch to the wider community. Pupils feel like they belong in the school. Older pupils know they are role models to the younger pupils. They take pride in being buddies for the children in Reception, who look up to them.

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

Pupils behave with maturity and self-discipline. They live up to the high expectations that leaders have. This means pupils treat visitors and staff with the utmost respect. Pupils are confident that discrimination of any kind would never be tolerated at school. They know they can speak to staff should they ever have any concerns.

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

Leaders know pupils and their families very well. They use effective systems to identify pupils' needs early and to evaluate the impact of support. This helps all pupils to be successful, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils achieve well. They are typically well prepared for the next stage of their education. Across the school, pupils thrive. Pupils are proud of their work and talk excitedly about their learning across many subjects. They are keen to demonstrate their growing knowledge. For example, pupils shared detailed knowledge about ‘Edward Jenner,’ who discovered the first smallpox vaccination, and lived in Gloucester.

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Team inspector:

Lizzy Meadows, Ofsted Inspector Pupils access a full range of opportunities that support their wider development. For example, pupils develop leadership skills by being a worship leader, or an eco-councillor who look after the environment by making the decisions, such as purchasing litter pickers. Some clubs are deliberately in place to help pupils understand the wider world. For example, every pupil will learn first aid and some pupils recently organised a book sale to raise money for a national charity.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to ensure that the evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning that they have recently introduced, are embedded over time and used consistently well by all staff.

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About this inspection

The school is part of the Diocese of Gloucester Academies Trust, which means that other people in the trust have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Canon Rachel Howie, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Canon Craig Huxley-Jones.

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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 school leaders and trust leaders. The lead inspector also met with a trustee.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

This school is registered as having a Church of England religious character. It is in the Diocese of Gloucestershire. Its last section 48 inspection was in June 2019.

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About this inspection

The school currently uses one unregistered alternative provision.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 22 September 2026

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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 6 years. National average: 26.5%

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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 needs support 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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average

2023/24 (final) 71% 74% Close to average

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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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average

2022/23 (final) 75% 73% 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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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

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

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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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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

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

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average

2022/23 (final) S 59% S ‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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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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average

‘S’ in the table above indicates the data has been suppressed, which is usually due to small cohorts. The suppression rules applied by the DfE when publishing the data have been mirrored and applied in the report card.

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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

2024/25 (3 term) 4.6% 5.2% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 5.1% 5.5% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 6.6% 5.9% 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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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 15.6% 16.2% Close to average

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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

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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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