King’s Leadership Phoenix Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils recognise and value the fresh start that the ASPIRE Centre provides. They enjoy the supportive relationships that they make with dedicated staff.

This helps pupils to feel safe and happy. Pupils appreciate spending social times with their friends. This includes when they eat alongside peers and staff during family dining time.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), improve their attitudes to learning over time. This is because leaders set high expectations for pupils' learning and behaviour.

Pupils can show signs of low-level disruption.

However, this rarely interrupts learning. This is because staff... challenge any signs of poor behaviour in a carefully considered way. Pupils told inspectors that staff deal with bullying quickly and effectively.

Pupils enjoy taking part in visits locally and far from home. Pupils recalled with enthusiasm gorge walking and climbing in Wales. They visited Liverpool and took a boat trip on the River Mersey.

These opportunities further enhance pupils' resilience and social skills. Pupils develop their leadership skills as part of the Combined Cadet Force.

Pupils study a broad range of subjects.

However, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. This is because the early reading curriculum is underdeveloped. Some curriculums are not delivered well enough by teachers.

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

Pupils at the ASPIRE Centre have experienced significant disruption to their education. Many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, have been permanently excluded before they join the school. Leaders focus on improving pupils' education and, where appropriate, their return to mainstream education.

Leaders have ensured that the curriculum matches the ambition of the national curriculum. The curriculum identifies the knowledge that pupils will learn. This reduces the chance that pupils form gaps in their knowledge while at the ASPIRE Centre.

Leaders have thought carefully about the qualifications on offer. These match closely to pupils' aspirations for the future. For example, pupils can gain accreditation in vocational subjects such as health and social care, sport and hair and beauty.

Leaders have acted to ensure that pupils' love of reading improves. However, pupils display different levels of enthusiasm for reading. For those who can read with fluency and confidence, leaders have ensured that the curriculum is ambitious.

This includes the use of age-appropriate texts. Pupils enjoy listening to staff reading a range of engaging novels. This helps to develop pupils' comprehension and vocabulary.

Leaders have not ensured that pupils at the early stages of reading become confident and fluent readers. There is no systematic approach to supporting these pupils to learn to read. Leaders do not assess pupils' phonics knowledge well enough.

Pupils have limited access to books that match their phonics knowledge. As a result, they do not catch up as quickly as they should.

Teachers and staff use checks on pupils' learning during lessons to identify pupils' SEND.

However, leaders do not clearly identify pupils' starting points when they join the ASPIRE Centre. Pupils' support programmes do not state the aims of the placement in sufficient detail. In turn, some pupils' SEND support documents do not identify what they find difficult and the support that they require.

Consequently, teachers do not use the most effective strategies to support these pupils to access the curriculum.

Pupils respond well to leaders' high expectations for behaviour and conduct. Most pupils work hard.

Parents and carers told inspectors that they appreciate the support offered by staff. They recognise improvements in their children's behaviour both in school and at home.

Some pupils do not attend school often enough.

That said, leaders ensure that most pupils improve their attendance over time.

Leaders provide pupils with a range of personal development opportunities. These include useful impartial careers information advice and guidance.

Pupils attend appropriate work experience placements. They learn about healthy relationships, different types of families and life in modern Britain.

New trust leaders have acted swiftly to improve the quality of education in the school.

This includes strengthening their oversight of the school through the establishment of a dedicated local academy council (LAC). However, governors and leaders do not have a detailed knowledge of alternative provision. This limits their ability to hold leaders to account.

Staff told inspectors that leaders consider their workload carefully. Senior leaders are approachable and supportive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff receive useful and regular safeguarding training. This ensures that they are acutely aware of any signs of abuse or neglect. Staff know how to report concerns.

Leaders respond to concerns quickly and appropriately.

Leaders work closely with families and external agencies when required, for example to ensure that pupils are safe when they are not in school.

Leaders are alert to local safeguarding issues.

They use this knowledge well to shape the curriculum. For example, pupils learn about the dangers of criminal exploitation and knife crime. They learn how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not ensured that some pupils' needs, such as those recorded in commissioning agreements and SEND support documents, are suitably specific. As a result, pupils do not receive the support that they need to access the curriculum as well as they should. Leaders must ensure that pupils' needs are clearly identified and that pupils receive the bespoke support that they need to access the curriculum as well as they should.

• Leaders have not embedded a systematic approach to the teaching of early reading. This means that some pupils do not learn to read as quickly as they should. Leaders should ensure that staff receive suitable training and support to confidently deliver a suitable early reading curriculum effectively.

• Some leaders, including governors of the recently formed LAC, do not have a sufficient understanding of effective policy and practice in relation to alternative provision. This limits their ability to hold leaders and staff to account. Trust leaders should ensure that leaders and governors receive appropriate training that allows them to hold leaders to account for their actions.