Ormiston Sudbury Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at school as staff care about their well-being. If pupils experience an issue, staff provide support to help find a solution.

Pupils value the rich range of clubs, activities and performance opportunities that allow them to follow their interests and develop their talents. Calm areas, such as the 'well-being suite', provide quiet spaces and opportunities for pupils to meet new friends and socialise.

There are now higher expectations for pupils' achievement.

Pupils study a broad and balanced curriculum where they have access to a more challenging range of subjects at GCSE. This helps better prepare them for their next steps. However, pupils do... not consistently learn as well as they should.

Pupils understand the school's clear behaviour expectations and most pupils follow these. The school is a typically calm and orderly place to be. However, there are small pockets where pupils' learning is sometimes disturbed by others' behaviour.

Pupils miss out on some opportunities for parents and carers to support their learning. The school does not always communicate well enough about what students are learning or how problems are resolved.

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

The school and trust have worked to redesign the curriculum effectively.

The curriculum is now ambitious, broad and balanced. For example, pupils now study for qualifications in computing and languages at the end of Year 11. The school ensures that the subjects pupils learn in Years 7 to 9 give them a firm foundation should they choose to study them for GCSE.

Effective curriculum plans have been introduced in core subject areas by the trust. Appropriate plans for a high-quality education are now in place, but the realisation of these in practice is a work in progress. Some teachers do not provide activities or plan sequences of lessons that help pupils remember important knowledge.

Pupils do not have a secure understanding across the entire curriculum.

The school provides well-tailored support for those pupils at the early stages of reading to help them catch up. This includes support with phonics, fluency or comprehension, depending on individual pupils' needs.

The school ensures that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the same curriculum as others. Pupils' needs are identified effectively and usually supported well. However, for some pupils with SEND, this support is not always precise enough, so their learning is patchy.

Most staff implement the behaviour policy effectively, but a small number do not. This means that, while many pupils' learning is not disrupted by others' behaviour, this is not the case for all. While most pupils behave well around the school, a small minority of pupils are not supported well enough to take responsibility for their own conduct.

Staff deal with any instances of bullying effectively, so pupils feel safe.

The school provides a wealth of personal development opportunities that cater for pupils' wider interests. Creative arts provision is a strength, and many pupils have opportunities with the Royal Shakespeare Company to develop their performance skills.

The school has ensured that pupils learn effectively about relationships, tolerance and being accepting of difference through personal, social and health education (PSHE) and assemblies. The school has a highly developed careers provision across all year groups. Pupils are prepared well for future employment, education or training.

The school supports staff workload and well-being mindfully. The trust provides appropriate support for local governors, so that they fulfil their duties effectively. The trust provides effective hands-on school improvement support.

However, this trust support has only recently had the desired impact in securing improvement. Consequently, leaders have not addressed areas for improvement as quickly as they could have. Some parents have concerns about the school's communication.

This has led to some dissatisfaction with how the school has dealt with concerns. Some parents would like more information about what pupils will learn, so that they can better support learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers do not ensure that they help pupils to remember important subject knowledge by planning activities that focus on this knowledge, to enable pupils to build on previous learning effectively. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The school needs to ensure that staff have the expertise and guidance to enable them to plan and provide activities that enable pupils to learn intended knowledge securely, so that they achieve well.

• The school has not ensured that all staff apply the behaviour policy consistently, or that all pupils are supported to take full responsibility for their own conduct. Consequently, there are a small number of instances where pupils do not behave as well as they should. The school should ensure that the behaviour policy is applied consistently and that all pupils receive guidance and effective strategies to help them manage their own behaviour.

• The school does not always communicate well enough with parents about what pupils are learning or how issues are resolved. This means that parents can be left unclear about how to support their child's learning, or on how concerns involving their child have been addressed. The school should ensure that parents are more fully informed regarding their child's learning and that means of effective communication are in place.

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