Aspire Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn how to be enthusiastic and successful learners at this school.

For many pupils, this contrasts with their previous experience of education. Careful consideration of pupils' special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) shapes the school's curriculum design. With appropriate support from skilled staff, pupils achieve the school's aspirations.

Effective use of praise, encouragement and challenge means that individual pupils' needs are well met.

Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Staff know pupils well.

Pupils feel safe and most are keen to attend school regularly. Staff help pupils to develop the tools to recognise a...nd express their emotions effectively. Pupils trust staff to listen and help them when needed.

As part of their personal and social development, pupils explore what it means to be part of a community. This begins with school activities such as fundraising for charities and camping together. Career guidance and work experience help pupils to learn important life skills that prepare them well for adulthood.

Increased expectations for pupils' learning and behaviour are raising standards. The highly individualised curriculum ensures that pupils gain recognised qualifications before moving on to college or employment post-16. Pupils know that practice helps them to learn and reach their potential.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The Futura Learning Partnership is currently working with the North Star Academy Trust to develop the school's offer for pupils with SEND. Significant changes to the school's curriculum and behaviour expectations have had a substantial and positive impact on pupils' development in a short time. The newly formed leadership team has carefully considered how to ensure these changes are manageable for staff, well understood by staff and sustainable.

Checks on school development priorities are frequent and accurate. Consequently, there is an ambitious and shared vision for school improvement.

The school focuses on ensuring pupils are ready to learn.

A sequenced curriculum that identifies what pupils must know and remember from Reception Year to Year 12 is now in place. Staff adapt the curriculum to match pupils' personal, social and emotional needs as set out in their education, health and care (EHC) plan. This includes working with a range of external agencies to meet pupils' needs.

The school's curriculum is ambitious and the number of subjects growing to offer pupils more options. This academic year, pupils are completing GCSE qualifications.

The school expects all pupils to learn to read well.

Pupils who need additional support to secure their phonics knowledge are identified swiftly. Teachers' understanding of how to develop pupils' phonics knowledge is secure. They use this to check pupils' pronunciation of phonemes successfully.

Reading books match pupils' phonics knowledge appropriately. Where pupils have secure phonics knowledge, they read with accuracy and fluency. Staff support pupils to develop their reading comprehension by sharing and discussing high-quality texts.

This also helps pupils to develop their social and emotional skills and knowledge.

Staff check what pupils can do and remember. In some subjects, staff use this information effectively to plan appropriate learning activities.

For example, in English and mathematics. The school is developing techniques to help pupils to remember long-term as pupils have gaps in their knowledge, skills and vocabulary across the wider curriculum. The gaps in pupils' knowledge are not closing as quickly in some of these subjects.

This is because subject leadership and the use of assessment information are not as well developed in the wider curriculum.

The school has worked relentlessly to embed routines and raise expectations for pupils' learning behaviour. This can be seen in the calm and purposeful learning environments.

Pupils' behaviour and attendance have significantly improved over the past year. Pupils' social and emotional needs are woven into lesson structure and content. Adults are skilled and change learning activities when necessary to re-engage pupils in their learning.

The school's approach to behaviour management helps pupils to increase their understanding of what they are feeling and their ability to explain themselves. This work is successful.

The school prepares pupils for life in modern Britain well.

Pupils learn that it is okay to have different opinions. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe online and in the community. This includes how to form positive and healthy relationships.

Leaders seek advice from external agencies and value their input to secure support for pupils and their families. Pupils' safety and welfare sit at the heart of the school's work.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Improvements to assessment in the wider curriculum are very recent and have not had time to have an impact on pupils' gaps in knowledge. In a few subjects, pupils do not always learn as well as they could. The school must continue its work to refine assessment so that learning builds on what pupils already know and closes gaps in knowledge across the wider curriculum.

• Subject leadership is not fully developed across the wider curriculum. Therefore, the school does not have sufficient oversight of the impact wider curriculum subjects have on pupils' learning. The school needs to develop the effectiveness of subject leadership to ensure pupils know more, remember more and can do more across the wider curriculum.

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