Iceni Secondary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Iceni Secondary Academy is a safe and calm place for learning. Pupils like being here. They benefit from strong relationships with caring and committed staff.

Pupils get wide-ranging support for their well-being. They praise how the school has recently improved.

Pupils have experienced staffing disruption over time.

Older pupils have suffered from low expectations of what they can achieve. They have learned a curriculum that has not been designed or delivered successfully. These issues are now better, but they have left pupils with gaps in their knowledge.

This includes pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Be...haviour is orderly and purposeful. Pupils are keen to learn.

They conduct themselves well, such as in corridors or at breaktimes. Bullying is not typical. If pupils are worried about issues, they trust the school to resolve them.

Pupils engage well with the school's aspirations and values. They learn to 'aim high, work hard and be kind'. The coherent personal development programme helps pupils to build positive character traits.

For example, pupils show respect in the way they interact with peers and adults. Pupils enjoy a range of opportunities, for instance in sport and drama. They also initiate new ones, such as the school magazine.

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

The trust recognises that after the previous inspection its actions to improve the school did not have the desired impact. It has now worked with the current leadership to rectify long-term weaknesses with urgency. Where leaders have most focused, such as resetting the culture of behaviour, this has been successful.

They have been effective at developing better provision for pupils. The school knows where there is more to do.

The school has revised its curriculum.

This is now broad and ambitious. In some areas, pupils do well. For example, in mathematics, they develop strong skills in reasoning and problem-solving.

However, some pupils also have historical gaps in their knowledge. The school is not effective enough at assessing and addressing these. This means pupils often lack the prior knowledge needed to understand new content confidently.

They do not achieve as well as they should.

Mostly, staff now teach the curriculum well. The trust and school provide high-quality training.

This means teachers often explain and model learning effectively. Where this is the case, pupils remember and apply what they know. For example, in physical education (PE), pupils learn movement skills in football and use these adeptly in dance.

The school is supporting an increasing number of pupils with SEND. Some pupils with SEND have significant gaps in their learning. In most cases, these were caused by previously poor provision.

The school identifies need accurately. Often, the school puts in place a range of well-considered support, such as regarding attendance. However, sometimes learning is not tailored as closely as it should be to pupils' needs.

Some pupils with SEND do not learn as well as they should.

Reading receives a high priority. The weakest readers get the help they need to access the curriculum.

The school has raised its expectations for behaviour. Staff apply these consistently. This has led to an increase in sanctions.

That said, the school identifies and meets the needs that underlie any misbehaviour. Consequently, pupils behave well throughout the day.

Attendance is improving, from a low base.

Some pupils have high absence. In these cases, the school does all it can to help them to attend better. This is an ongoing priority for the school.

The school prepares pupils well for life in a changing world. Pupils receive appropriate advice on future careers, such as a lot of information about apprenticeships. This enables them to make informed choices about their next steps.

Pupils learn important content, for instance about democracy. They articulate their understanding maturely. Pupils show tolerant attitudes.

The trust and governors work closely with leaders to support staff well-being. Workload for staff has been high in the drive to improve provision. Yet staff buy into the need for this.

However, the school has not communicated its aims to parents and carers as well as it could. As a result, some parents do not see or understand its actions to improve provision.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils with SEND do not get the precise support for learning that they need. This means they do not make the progress through the curriculum they should. The school should ensure it puts in place precise support to meet the individual learning needs of pupils with SEND, so that they achieve as well as they should.

• The school does not use assessment as effectively as it should to address gaps in pupils' learning from previous weak curriculums. This means in some areas pupils struggle to remember previous learning and do not build up the connected depth of knowledge they need to be successful. The school should ensure it identifies gaps in learning that pupils have from previous years and adapts the curriculum delivery successfully to rectify these.

• The school does not engage as well with parents as it could. As a result, some do not see the improvements that the school has made to provision. The school should review the way it communicates and engages with parents, so that it works in closer partnership with them to continue the journey of improvement.