North View Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

North View Academy continues to be a good school.

The headteacher of this school is Gary Mellefont. The school is part of WISE Academies, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school.

The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Zoe Carr, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Margaret Elise Wright-Stephenson.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive at North View Academy. Relationships between pupils and staff are caring and strong.

Staff know pupils very well. Pupils rise to the high expectations that adults have for them.

All pupils at the school have special educational needs and/or dis...abilities and have an education, health and care plan.

Staff skilfully support pupils with their individual needs. This includes pupils who find communication difficult. Pupils trust the adults who work with them to support them if they have a concern.

Pupils behave well. They move around the school calmly and with respect for each other. Some pupils struggle to manage their own behaviour.

Staff respond to these pupils with skill and patience. They provide pupils with the support and guidance they need to regulate themselves better. Bullying is very rare.

Records show that when it does happen, staff act quickly to stop it. This helps pupils to feel safe in school.

The school ensures that staff plan for pupils' personal development throughout the school day.

Pupils have the opportunity to take part in activities such as supporting local charities, developing their understanding of the local community and learning skills that will help them to develop their independence.

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

The school has carefully constructed a broad and ambitious curriculum, which is based on the national curriculum. Leaders have designed the curriculum to help all pupils prepare for their next stage in education.

The school supports pupils to achieve to their full potential. Leaders ensure that advice from therapists and other professionals is understood and implemented effectively by staff.

The school's curriculum specifies what individual pupils must know.

Leaders have planned this learning carefully so that, in most subjects, pupils build their subject knowledge and skills over time. However, in a minority of subjects, the curriculum does not help pupils to build on what they already know. Each morning, staff teach English and mathematics in classes that match pupils' level of understanding.

This helps teachers to deliver learning that best meets the needs of the pupils. Afternoon lessons are arranged within tutor groups to support learning across other curriculum subjects.

Leaders have developed a carefully considered approach to the teaching of reading.

This begins at the earliest stages, where pupils enjoy sharing stories with an adult. Staff match the books for those at the earliest stages of reading to pupils' interests and the sounds that they know. This helps pupils to develop reading fluency over time.

Leaders and staff promote pupils' personal development effectively. Pupils benefit from the many enrichment activities offered by the school, including talking time for a 'Hug in a Mug', acts of kindness, celebrations and attending the sports ability festival. Pupils experience many trips and visits, including trips to the zoo, park and local sports grounds.

These memorable experiences enhance pupils' learning well.

Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the support leaders provide for their workload and well-being. Governors and trustees support the school well and provide effective challenge to leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the school's curriculum is not developed as well as it could be. Opportunities for pupils to build on their prior learning are limited.

This means that some pupils do not make as much progress through the curriculum as they could. The school needs to further develop the curriculum in these subject areas to ensure that pupils are able to know and remember more over time.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2018.