Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy

Overview

Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy is described as having an “inclusive ethos” where pupils are “accepting and kind” and feel “safe and happy.” The school delivers a “well-planned curriculum” known as ‘GROW’, which fosters curiosity and resilience, resulting in high standards of behaviour and effective early years provision.

Strengths

• The curriculum is “ambitious” and allows pupils to “develop links between different subjects,” such as applying history knowledge to art.
• Staff are “experts in teaching early reading,” ensuring books are “well matched to the sounds they know,” helping pupils become “fluent readers quickly.”
• Children in the early years benefit from a “well-planned and well-delivered curriculum” and “settle in quickly.”
• The school is “calm and orderly,” with a consistent approach to behaviour that ensures pupils know to be “ready, respectful and safe.”
• Governance “understands and carries out their statutory duties well,” allocating resources effectively to support the school’s growth.

Areas to improve

• In some foundation subjects, teachers’ choice of activities “distracts pupils from learning the most important points,” hindering effective learning.
• Staff do not always use information to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) “precisely enough,” affecting their achievement.
• The school has not “reached out well enough to some parents,” who remain unaware of the good work taking place.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”