Lidget Green Academy

Strengths

• Early years provision gives children an excellent start, with warm relationships and consistently high-quality interactions.
• Phonics is taught skilfully and effectively from the moment children arrive at the school.
• Children in early years thrive, behave politely and respectfully, and become confident, resilient learners.
• The early years curriculum builds vocabulary, knowledge and skills quickly, and gaps are addressed swiftly.
• Leaders have implemented a very effective relationship-focused behaviour system.
• Pupils behave respectfully and kindly, and low-level disruption and bullying are rare.
• The curriculum is ambitious, generally well sequenced and has improved provision in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Teaching generally builds well on pupils' starting points and adapts to support pupils facing barriers to learning.
• Inclusion is a clear strength, with pupils' needs identified accurately and quickly.
• Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, looked-after children and pupils with English as an additional language is effective.
• The pupil premium strategy is evidence based and has notable impact, especially for younger pupils.
• Leaders and trustees share a strong moral purpose and meet statutory responsibilities fully.
• Quality assurance and professional learning systems are rigorous and build staff expertise effectively.
• Personal development is well planned, with strong pastoral support, a nurture group, clubs, trips and pupil leadership opportunities.
• Pupils feel happy, confident and safe, and parents are very positive about the school.
• The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding, and safeguarding standards are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement in national tests and assessments at the end of key stage 2 is significantly below the national average for all pupils and for disadvantaged pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils' performance gaps are large, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Attendance remains below the national average, and persistent absence is above the national average.
• Some older pupils still have gaps in their knowledge and skills.
• Some pupils in the specially resourced SEND provision are less fully integrated into the wider life of the school than others.
• Some staff feel that systems to support workload and wellbeing could support them more effectively.
• Improvements to curriculum and teaching are not yet fully realised in pupils' achievement across the full curriculum and in national outcomes.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools