Coppice Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The achievement of students and the progress they make from their individual starting points is good. A high proportion of students make progress better than that found nationally.

Teachers have high expectations and because : they know each of their students so well they meet individual needs and help them reach their full potential. Behaviour is outstanding. Particularly impressive is the way that students help and support each other, in lessons and generally around school.

Safety is also outstanding. Students, parents and carers emphasise strongly that school is a safe place. Great care is taken to make sure that around the school and... when students go out on trips and visits they are kept safe.

Senior leaders have a strong vision and total commitment to a school that is focused on making sure that its students do well, enjoy their learning and are successful when they leave. The sixth form is good and offers effective support to students as they prepare for the next stage in their life after school. With a strong emphasis on training, leaders and managers have made sure that staff have many opportunities to develop their expertise.

In turn this has led to the school improving, rising standards and students making better progress. Governors play a strong and effective role in school life, playing an important part in driving school improvement. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Occasionally marking does not help students understand how their work could be even better, or support them in reaching their demanding learning targets.

The roles of key subject leaders and the head of the sixth form are not fully developed, limiting their overall impact in helping to raise standards.

Information about this school

Coppice is a special school for students with moderate and severe learning difficulties and, increasingly, more complex needs that include rising numbers of students with an autistic spectrum disorder. All students have a statement of special educational needs.

Nearly all are from a White British background. The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium (additional government funding for specific groups that include those known to be eligible for free school meals, or those in the care of the local authority) is well above average. The additional government grant in Year 7 to provide additional support for students who had failed to reach expected standards at the end of Year 6 is not identified specifically in special schools' budgets by the local authority, since it would apply to all students.

Its specific impact cannot therefore be measured. Since April 2009 the school has been federated with Blackfriars School, another local day special school, under a single governing body and an executive headteacher. Each of the schools in the federation has its own head of school.

The executive headteacher is a National Leader of Education and supports other schools that have been identified as requiring additional help. The expertise available at Coppice is also shared with some local mainstream schools and this enables those schools to provide more effective support for some of their students with special educational needs. There are strong links with local university departments of education, including the University of Keele, where federation leaders contribute to the teacher training programme.