White Hall Academy and Nursery

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 February 2024

Pupils here are well cared for. They have positive relationships with staff. Pupils know that their teachers will help and listen to them. They are confident to share any concerns they may have. The school sets high expectations for pupils' behaviour. Pupils reflect these in their positive and respectful behaviour, both in and out of lessons. Pupils demonstrate the school's values of 'be kind, be safe, be responsible' throughout the school day. Pupils enjoy learning new knowledge in their lessons. Staff have high ambitions for pupils. This motivates them to concentrate and try their best. Pupils listen well to their teachers. They value education and know why it is important. This helps them to develop their confidence across the curriculum. Pupils benefit from a range of carefully designed activities. They enjoy the different clubs on offer, such as science, art or 'Shakespeare Club'. These help pupils to learn new skills and develop their interests. This wider offer helps pupils to think about their next stages of learning. For example, older pupils benefit from visiting local universities and businesses as part of the 'IntoUniversity' scheme. This helps to broaden pupils' experiences outside of their local area.

What the school should improve

• In a few subjects, the school has not broken down the broad knowledge and skills pupils need to learn into smaller steps. As a result, lessons in these subjects do not routinely build on pupils' prior learning. This makes it hard for pupils to make links between what they already know and what they are currently learning. The school should ensure that it breaks this important content down into the building blocks of knowledge pupils need to know and remember so that pupils are better able to secure their understanding of important content.
• The school is in the process of changing its approaches to the teaching of phonics. There are occasions when staff do not teach pupils consistent strategies for reading new and unfamiliar words. This means there are times when pupils do not become as fluent as quickly as they might. The school should ensure that it continues to provide the ongoing training and support staff need in how to teach consistent strategies for reading.

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