Lincroft Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 December 2024

Pupils enjoy coming to school and seeing their friends. They benefit from the school's welcoming community, where they are well cared for. Pupils take up the many opportunities available to develop their interests. For example, they build their confidence by taking part in activities such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award or a residential trip to Wales. Theatre trips to see shows such as 'Les Misérables' in London are popular, as are the numerous sports and performing arts clubs on offer. The school is aspirational for its pupils' academic achievement. Pupils enjoy the challenge of the curriculum, which is well designed to build on what they already know. Pupils benefit from teachers' high expectations. The majority of pupils take pride in their work, completing their activities to a high standard. Pupils are encouraged to persevere, even when tasks are demanding. As a result, pupils are well prepared for future learning. Pupils appreciate the significant improvements in behaviour since the previous inspection. They learn in a calm environment, where disruptions to learning are rare. When low-level disruption does occur, adults typically address it swiftly and effectively, ensuring lessons continue smoothly. This positive environment supports pupils to concentrate well and enjoy their learning.

What the school should improve

• At times, teachers do not check pupils' understanding or use assessment effectively to help pupils build on what they already know and can do. As a result, some pupils do not receive the most appropriate guidance that they need to improve their work. The school should ensure that teachers provide pupils with clear feedback, and support pupils to use this feedback effectively, so they consistently achieve highly.
• Adults do not always have high enough expectations of pupils' engagement in their learning. As a result, some pupils do not complete work to a sufficiently high standard. The school should ensure that adults intervene promptly when pupils are not sufficiently focused, providing pupils with appropriate support to engage fully with the learning and meet the challenge of the curriculum.
• A minority of pupils do not consistently show kindness and respect towards others and sometimes use derogatory language, often linked to sexuality or gender. As a result, some pupils do not feel that the school culture and peer relationships are as positive as they should be. Some pupils choose not to report these incidents because they lack confidence that doing so will lead to positive changes in their peers' behaviour. The school should educate pupils further on the importance of treating others with respect and the impact of offensive language. They should also focus on building trust with pupils, ensuring they feel confident to raise concerns and that doing so will result in positive change.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)