Sandymoor Ormiston Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Pupils are supported to think deeply about what they are learning. Most pupils gain secure knowledge in the subjects that they study.

They achieve well.

Pupils enjoy attending this friendly and warm school. Pupils usually respect and care for those around them.

On the rare occasions when this is not the case, staff take prompt and decisive action. Pupils feel well looked after and safe.

Pupils appreciate the well-established routines that ensure the school day runs smoothly.

Staff support pupils with a friendly presence around the school site. They carefully observe pupils' interac...tions and proactively guide pupils to think about their behaviour when they need it.

Pupils enjoy well-managed breaktimes and lunchtimes.

They use their time well to socialise or to take part in the activities that are available. Pupils usually get along well with each other.

Many pupils develop their interests and talents through the rich offer of extra-curricular clubs and activities that take place during and after the school day.

For example, the house system supports pupils to develop a healthy competitive sporting spirit and team pride. Beyond sport, pupils also value the opportunities that they get to participate with other schools as regional or national representatives for the trust's student voice.

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

Since the school opened in 2020, it has progressively raised its ambition for what pupils can learn and should achieve.

During this period, the school has skilfully utilised the support from the trust to develop the knowledge and skills of all who work within its community. Consequently, the school has successfully strengthened the quality of education that pupils receive.

The school has fostered pupils' desire to attend regularly and to learn with enthusiasm.

Most pupils are keen to succeed. Usually, they show highly positive attitudes in lessons. For example, they engage well with lesson activities and they demonstrate the resilience that they need to stay focused when faced with challenges.

Staff confidently step in and guide pupils to refocus on the rare occasions when this is not the case.

Pupils benefit from a suitably ambitious academic and vocational curriculum. In recent years, more pupils are choosing to study a broader and more balanced range of subjects than happened in the past.

Subject curriculums are appropriately aspirational and carefully ordered. It is clear what knowledge pupils should learn.

Teachers are well supported to develop their knowledge of the subjects that they teach.

Usually, this helps teachers to explain subject content well. Typically, teachers provide meaningful opportunities for pupils to recall, use and apply their knowledge. However, from time to time, some pupils do not complete work that is well matched to the ambition of the curriculum.

This affects the progress that some pupils make through subject curriculums.

In lessons, most teachers check that pupils have understood what has been taught. They use information from these checks to address pupils' misconceptions.

Some teachers also make effective use of strategies to identify what knowledge pupils know and remember following the completion of a unit of work. However, this practice is mixed. Some teachers do not make sure that pupils' knowledge is secure over a unit of work.

This means that the support that some pupils receive to address the gaps in their knowledge is not effective enough.

The published data does not reflect the strengths of the educational offer at this school. In 2023, the progress that some pupils made by the end of Year 11 was below the national average in some subjects.

Weaknesses in the previous design and delivery of the curriculum explain why these pupils did not achieve as well as they should. The school has addressed this shortcoming successfully. As a result of the improved curriculum, most current pupils make secure gains in what they know and remember.

They are ready for their next steps in education, employment and training.

The school promotes reading well. Staff often model the use of high-quality language in subject lessons.

Pupils benefit from a well-connected range of activities which enable them to hear others read, read together and share their reading experiences. These opportunities help pupils to acquire, and confidently use, subject-specific vocabulary in their learning and in their wider reading. Staff carefully identify where pupils, including those at the earliest stage of learning to read, have gaps in their reading knowledge.

They ensure that these pupils get the support that they need to read fluently and accurately.

The school works closely with pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to ensure that the needs of these pupils are identified accurately and swiftly. Staff benefit from specialist training so that they feel confident to support these pupils in lessons.

This helps most pupils with SEND to learn all that they should.

Pupils benefit from carefully crafted opportunities that enhance their personal development. They understand how to make safe decisions, form positive relationships and embrace difference.

As they move through each year group, pupils are introduced to the information and guidance that they need to support their decisions about their future education or career pathway.

The school manages change well. Staff have the time and resources to develop their knowledge and practice.

The school engages well with staff. It is quick to identify and address factors that have a negative impact on staff's workload.The trust works in harmony with members of the local governing body to jointly ensure that they meet their statutory responsibilities.

In doing so, they gain a detailed insight into what the school does well and how it could improve further. Together, they provide well-matched support and challenge for the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• From time to time, teachers do not ensure that lesson activities match the ambition of the curriculum. When this happens, pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, are hampered from acquiring and applying their knowledge as well as they should. The school should ensure that teachers provide pupils with work that enables pupils to learn the content of the curriculum.

• Some teachers do not check well enough how well pupils have learned what has been taught across a unit of work. This means that gaps in knowledge are not identified or addressed. The school should ensure that teachers spot where pupils have not understood or remembered key knowledge so that the support that pupils receive enables them to catch up.