Grange Academy

Overview

Pupils at Grange Academy “love attending” the school, where they feel safe and are “well cared for.” The inspection found that leaders maintain high expectations, resulting in a “calm, purposeful atmosphere” that allows pupils to concentrate and achieve well. The school is rated as “Good” across all inspection categories, with particular praise for its ambitious curriculum and effective safeguarding arrangements.

Strengths

• Pupils behave well, are respectful, and feel confident that adults will deal with bullying effectively.
• The curriculum ensures pupils learn “essential life skills” and are well prepared for further education or employment.
• Staff are “warm and friendly,” understanding individual needs and supporting pupils’ personal development and career aspirations.
• Leaders have developed a “strong culture of safeguarding” with thorough systems for recruitment and recording concerns.
• Teachers select meaningful texts for reading sessions, helping pupils improve comprehension and access other areas of the curriculum.

Areas to improve

• The curriculum in some aspects of key stage 2 is “less clear,” meaning pupils do not always build knowledge securely.
• Not all teachers use the assessment system consistently, so some pupils do not always remember what they have been taught.
• Some staff do not fully understand the difference between curriculum implementation and effective assessment, leading to uncertainty about next steps for pupils.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective,” with thorough systems in place and positive communication ensuring concerns are rapidly acted upon.