Eden Girls’ Leadership Academy, Manchester

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are strong advocates for Eden Girls' Leadership Academy. They are extremely proud of all that they achieve. They are delightful pupils who are respectful and courteous towards each other and towards staff.

All staff have extremely high expectations of pupils' behaviour at this school. There is no disruption to learning. Pupils' behaviour is simply stunning.

Pupils model the very essence of scholarly excellence in their approach to learning.

Pupils' rates of attendance are exceptionally high. They are very rarely late for school.

Pupils said that they feel happy, safe and appreciated by staff.

Pupils thrive in a learning environment th...at is characterised by ambition. Leaders successfully work to address social disadvantage.

In this all-girl school, leaders empower pupils by promoting and harnessing gender equality. Staff are determined that every pupil takes their rightful place in modern Britain. Leaders' high aspirations are borne out in pupils' strong academic achievement.

Pupils value individuality. Pupils celebrate and capitalise on each other's rich cultural heritage and that of the school's staff. Pupils know that there are staff that will help them to iron out any issues that they may have, including incidents of bullying.

Pupils experience an expertly planned and varied programme of wider personal development. Careers education is seamlessly woven into every lesson. Pupils are exposed to many leadership opportunities that enable them to see the world through different eyes.

They benefit immensely from these opportunities.

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

Leaders, governors and trustees are well on their way to securing academic excellence. They have developed a curriculum that is commensurate with the national curriculum and one which is underpinned by academia.

For example, practically every pupil studies the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects. Pupils described how much they enjoy the range of subjects on offer. They clearly take advantage of their teachers' strong subject knowledge.

Senior leaders, governors and trustees articulate a strong rationale for the structure of the curriculum. However, in designing the curriculum, senior leaders have not paid sufficient attention to those pupils who may wish to continue learning some subjects in key stage 5. For example, pupils stop studying religious studies and art and design in Year 10.

Consequently, if these pupils wish to continue learning these subjects post-16, formal taught lessons are unnecessarily curtailed. Even though pupils achieve highly in these subjects by the end of Year 10, leaders' decisions affect continuity in learning for a few pupils.

Across many subjects, directors of learning and teachers engage in debates about how best to teach the curriculum.

Most teachers think deeply about how to present subject matter to pupils in a clear and effective way. They systematically check how well pupils are learning the curriculum and are quick to address any misconceptions that pupils may have. Teachers engender a deep sense of determination in every pupil, coupled with a can-do approach to learning.

Pupils respond to their teachers' efforts by focusing exceptionally well on their studies and by producing work that is of a high standard. Pupils have impeccable attitudes to learning.

Directors of learning at Eden Girls' Leadership Academy have the autonomy to adapt the trust-wide curriculum framework.

This is to ensure that it meets the needs of pupils. In most subjects, directors of learning have seized the opportunity to define the essential knowledge that pupils must learn and in what order. However, in one or two subjects, directors of learning have not fully identified the key subject content that pupils must remember.

There is a focus on topics rather than the non-negotiable knowledge that sits beneath those topics. Senior leaders are supporting directors of learning in the remaining subjects to finalise their curriculum thinking.

Leaders prioritise reading.

There is a strong culture of reading across the school. It is not uncommon to see pupils pick up a book to read for pleasure. The library is the beating heart of the school.

Leaders are strengthening how they support those pupils at the early stages of learning to read, for example international new arrivals. They are also training some staff to be teachers of phonics. This is so that all pupils, regardless of the time they spend at the school, gain a love of reading as well as the reading knowledge that they need to access the curriculum.

Leaders and teachers provide excellent support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teaching assistants are highly valued, knowledgeable and well trained. Staff are quick to identify where pupils may have additional needs.

Pupils are furnished with a spectacular range of extra-curricular opportunities. They are exposed to political, cultural and economic debates with guest speakers. Pupils engage in a raft of charity work.

Every pupil takes on additional roles of responsibility, for example as journalists, subject leaders and anti-bullying ambassadors.

Trustees and governors hold leaders to account for the quality of education that pupils receive. Leaders are supportive of staff's workload and well-being.

Many staff said that this is the best school they have ever worked at.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding across the school.

Leaders ensure that staff are trained to spot potential signs of abuse and harm which pupils may experience. Leaders regularly evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements with governors and trustees.

Leaders have thought carefully about how they handle allegations and instances of sexual harassment and online sexual violence and abuse.

More recently, leaders have realised that some older girls may be more reluctant to approach certain staff with concerns that may be of a sensitive nature. They are proactively working on a strategy to improve this important aspect of their work.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a minority of subjects, directors of learning have not thought deeply enough about the essential knowledge that pupils must learn and in what order this will be taught.

This prevents some pupils from gaining the depth of subject knowledge that they could. Directors of learning should finalise their curriculum planning in these subjects. This is so that teachers have a firm and consistent understanding of exactly what knowledge they must teach pupils.

• Senior leaders' decisions around how they structure the curriculum mean that some pupils stop learning a few subjects at the end of Year 10. This prevents pupils from deepening their knowledge of these subjects in Year 11, even if they intend to study the subject post-16. Leaders should review their decisions around the structure of the curriculum to ensure that pupils have a rich and deep experience of those subjects which they intend to pursue in the next stages of their education.

Also at this postcode