Severndale Specialist Academy

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About Severndale Specialist Academy


Name Severndale Specialist Academy
Website http://www.severndaleacademy.co.uk
Inspections
Ofsted Inspections
Principal Principal Lucy Lee
Address Woodcote Way, Monkmoor, Shrewsbury, SY2 5SH
Phone Number 01743563333
Phase Academy (special)
Type Academy special converter
Age Range 2-19
Religious Character Does not apply
Gender Mixed
Number of Pupils 414
Local Authority Shropshire
Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's vision of 'enabling communication, independence and enjoyment for life' is at the heart of everything it does for pupils. This helps to prepare pupils well to become valued members of society. The 'Severndale Way' ensures that there is a strong and consistent focus on supporting pupils to communicate their thoughts and learning.

This means that children, pupils and students from the early years through to the post-16 provision have a voice in their learning and the pathways they follow. It also ensures that pupils can express their feelings. This helps staff to quickly identify and respond to any concerns about pupils' safety and welfare.

The school has h...igh expectations of what pupils can achieve. It has developed a curriculum that enables pupils to successfully work towards and achieve these expectations. Staff know and understand each pupil's pastoral needs very well, which enables them to help pupils engage positively with their learning.

Pupils love coming to school and eagerly enter to be greeted by warm and welcoming staff. The positive relationships between staff and pupils are clear to see. This helps to create a calm environment where pupils display positive behaviours.

A range of wider activities successfully develop pupils' independence, sense of belonging and responsibility.

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

The school has redesigned the curriculum with a focus on ensuring that pupils are helped to succeed to the best of their ability. Communication is a key focus across the curriculum, and this helps pupils to access learning successfully across the wide range of subjects that they study.

Basic skills are introduced in the early years and pupils build on these in carefully planned steps. For example, pupils in key stage 3 play competitive ball games skilfully because of the basic ball skills they develop in the early years. Teachers' checks on pupils' learning identify any gaps, which are then addressed before pupils access new learning.

The curriculum also includes a range of practical learning experiences that help prepare post-16 students for adulthood. These include workplace learning and basic home skills. This is a strength of the school.

Across the different 'learning pathways', pupils achieve ambitious qualifications, including GCSEs. The school takes care to ensure that pupils have a range of quality careers information and guidance that enables them to move on to successful and meaningful placements and experiences after school.

Typically, pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

However, there are some minor inconsistencies in the way that the curriculum is delivered from class to class. The school has not picked up on and addressed these issues as well as it could have. Consequently, at times, pupils do not achieve as well as they might.

Pupils develop their reading skills well. Staff's determination that all pupils will learn to read pays off. As pupils progress through primary, secondary and on to sixth form, the focus on learning to read remains a key part of their learning.

This starts in the early years, where children grasp the basics through rhyme and sounds. Pupils then secure key phonics skills that lay the foundations for successful reading. Staff are quick to spot any gaps in pupils' knowledge and provide extra help to close these gaps.

The school also promotes a love of reading, and this helps to widen pupils' understanding of a range of different texts.

The school has adopted a positive approach to helping pupils learn how to manage their behaviour. This starts in the early years, where children quickly learn to follow routines.

As pupils progress through the school, staff build on this and help pupils to develop skills to manage their emotions. This prepares pupils well for their move into sixth form and adulthood. Positive relationships between staff and pupils enhance this, along with specialist advice from wider agencies.

Pupils learn and socialise together in a calm environment. The school supports and challenges families effectively to ensure that their children attend school regularly.

The school enhances the curriculum with wider learning opportunities.

These include activities in the community and trips to places of cultural significance, such as London. All pupils at the Mary Webb satellite benefit from participating in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe, including how to travel independently.

The range of activities help pupils to develop a sense of belonging and responsibility in the community.

The school has taken effective action to review every pupil's education, health and care (EHC) plan. However, the school does not consistently use these EHC plans well enough to formulate targets that help pupils progress through the curriculum.

Targets, developed from pupils' EHC plans, are sometimes too general and do not reflect pupils' specific needs. This means that some staff do not have a precise enough understanding of the steps they need to take to best support pupils with their individual academic and pastoral needs.

The trust has supported the school effectively to make significant improvements over the last two years.

It has established a stable and effective leadership team and staffing structure. The trust has considered carefully staff's workload and well-being when making changes to the curriculum and school organisation. Staff appreciate this, along with the training they have received to enable them to enact changes.

The whole school community understands the school's vision and works harmoniously together to realise it. This has resulted in considerable improvements to pupils' achievements across the school. Parents and carers also recognise these improvements.

They appreciate the care and support their children receive. Many parents reported how happy, settled and valued this makes their children feel.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• At times, the school has not ensured that objectives on pupils' EHC plans are reflected as well in practice as they could be because targets on individual pupils' plans are not specific enough. As a result, teachers do not provide the precise support that pupils need to enable them to achieve as well as they might. The school should ensure that targets developed from pupils' EHC plans support them to meet specific needs and enable pupils to achieve highly across all areas of the curriculum.

• The school's checks on the curriculum are not focused well enough on how effectively it is being implemented by teachers. Consequently, the school is not identifying where some areas of curriculum implementation need further development. The school should ensure that the checks made on the curriculum are carefully focused to identify areas of inconsistency so that appropriate support can be put in place.

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