The Lacon Childe School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 11 June 2024

Pupils get many opportunities at Lacon Childe school. They take part in clubs and activities. Most pupils participate in the popular house competition. Personal development for pupils is planned well. Teachers encourage pupils to get involved in a range of activities. This helps to ensure they are ready for life after school. Pupils feel safe and they value the care they receive from their teachers. Bullying is rare. When it happens, teachers deal with it well. There have been significant changes in leadership and teaching. Expectations of behaviour have not been consistent. A minority of pupils have disrupted the learning of others. Not all teachers successfully manage behaviour in lessons. This means some lessons do not run smoothly. Many pupils are frustrated by this. New leaders have made changes that have begun to improve behaviour. Too many pupils are absent from school. This means they miss out on vital learning and opportunities. The school is ambitious for pupils to do well. Staff know pupils as individuals. The curriculum is well planned. Teachers are clear about what pupils need to understand. However, disadvantaged pupils are not always given the help they need to succeed.

What the school should improve

• Staff do not apply the behaviour policy consistently and a minority of pupils too frequently distract others and are defiant towards their teachers. This disrupts learning for other pupils. The school must ensure that all staff implement the agreed behaviour strategies effectively so that all pupils can learn the intended curriculum.
• Not all teachers use assessment well in order to identify what pupils do not fully understand and remember. As a result, gaps in pupils' understanding are not addressed and misconceptions remain. This particularly affects disadvantaged pupils. The school must train teachers to ensure that all use assessment appropriately to enable all pupils to achieve well across the curriculum.
• Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. As a result, they miss out on vital learning and the opportunity to benefit from the school's personal development provision. The school should implement strategies to ensure pupils come to school as often as possible.
• Teachers do not consistently use information about the specific needs of pupils with SEND in order to adapt learning. This means these pupils do not make as much progress as they should. The school must ensure that all staff routinely meet the needs of pupils in lessons.
• The school's strategy to support disadvantaged pupils is not working well. Leaders and teachers do not clearly understand what they should do to help these pupils. There is not enough evaluation about what works well and what does not. This means that too many disadvantaged pupils do not get the most out of school. The school must ensure that the pupil premium strategy clearly sets out what needs to be done and how the success of each approach will be evaluated.

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