Discovery Primary Academy

Overview

Discovery Primary Academy is rated ‘Good’ across all inspection categories. The report describes a school where pupils “enjoy belonging” and feel supported by adults who “care for them and want them to do well.” Leaders have designed an “ambitious curriculum” that ensures pupils make “swift progress from their starting points,” particularly in reading and early years.

Strengths

• Pupils benefit from “consistent routines” and a calm environment where they are “very respectful” and understand that bullying is rare.
• Reading is “prioritised” with a “systematic approach to teaching phonics,” enabling pupils who struggle, including those for whom English is not their first language, to “catch up quickly.”
• Teachers “skilfully adapt the curriculum” for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), ensuring inclusive learning.
• Staff report “high levels of well-being” and a “manageable workload,” applying training effectively in their practice.
• Governors and trustees “accurately identify areas in which to strategically support the school to improve” and hold leaders to account.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must support teachers in embedding the new writing scheme so pupils with lower starting points can “write with increasing accuracy and fluency unaided.”
• Subject leaders need to clarify the specific knowledge pupils must remember in recently updated foundation subjects, as the current scope is “too broad.”
• Leaders and governors must ensure pupils with SEND “successfully access the full foundation curriculum,” as some are currently missing out.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are “effective,” with staff receiving regular training and leaders responding to concerns “swiftly and with tenacity.”