Laceyfields Academy

Overview

Laceyfields Academy is described as a ‘happy school’ where pupils enjoy attending and relationships are positive. The report states that the quality of education, behaviour, personal development, and leadership are all ‘Good’, with effective safeguarding arrangements in place.

Strengths

• Pupils understand the school’s values, such as being ‘responsible, respectful, collaborative, resilient and creative’, and playtimes are described as a ‘happy time’.
• Teaching reading is a priority; phonics lessons are ‘interactive and engaging’, and books are ‘closely matched to the sounds that they know’.
• The curriculum is ‘well planned and sequenced’, making clear what pupils are expected to learn, with most subjects showing pupils recall learning ‘with ease’.
• Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is ‘working well’, with needs identified accurately and help ‘well-tailored’.
• Early years provision is strong, with staff helping children to become ‘curious and creative’ and building spoken vocabulary effectively.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, the curriculum does not specify when skills are to be mastered, leaving teachers to choose the order; leaders should ensure skills are ‘fully sequenced’.
• Records of ‘time out’ sanctions lack detail and are not routinely evaluated by leaders, preventing the identification of trends; these must be recorded with ‘sufficient detail’ and checked regularly.
• Some parents and pupils report inconsistent behaviour policy application and would not recommend the school; leaders should ‘engage further with pupils and parents’ to address these concerns.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are ‘effective’, with ‘meticulous’ records, swift action when help is needed, and staff who are alert to changes in behaviour.