Scawby Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 22 November 2023

Pupils understand what it is to be part of 'TEAM Scawby'. They celebrate being part of a class, a school and a community. Pupils know staff care about them. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. This makes pupils feel welcome and safe. Pupils are happy in school and attend regularly. The school sets high expectations for pupils' academic achievement. Pupils are interested in their learning because lessons are fun. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well. Pupils behave exceptionally well in classrooms and around the school. Learning time is not disrupted and pupils listen attentively to each other and their teachers. Pupils thoroughly enjoy playtimes because of the range of activities that are available. Pupils from different age groups play together harmoniously. The school provides an extensive programme of wider curriculum opportunities. Pupils welcome the opportunity to attend the many clubs and tournaments available to them. They are keen to develop their talents and interests. One pupil said, 'Winning the badminton tournament may make me consider playing this sport in the future.' Older pupils receive opportunities to become leaders within the school. They talked about leading play with the younger pupils or becoming digital leaders.

What the school should improve

• In a few subjects, leaders have not identified the key knowledge that pupils should learn in each year group. This means pupils do not build on their prior knowledge progressively. Leaders need to review these subjects and decide what knowledge should be taught and when so that pupils can achieve as well as they can.
• In some mathematics lessons, teachers do not provide the required problem-solving or reasoning activities that some require. As a consequence, these pupils, who have demonstrated secure mathematical understanding, are not given the opportunity to apply their conditional knowledge to abstract or real world problems. Therefore, these pupils miss the opportunity to deepen their understanding further. Leaders need to train the teachers to utilise appropriate problem-solving activities and recognise when these need to be introduced.
• Pupils do not have a secure understanding of different faiths and religions. This means pupils are not well prepared for life in modern Britain. Leaders need to review the religious education curriculum to ensure that knowledge is built up progressively and revisited regularly. This will ensure pupils are fully aware and accepting of religious differences.

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