The Highcrest Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Evidence gathered during this ungraded (section 8) inspection suggests that aspects of the school's work may not be as strong as at the time of the previous inspection.

The school's next inspection will be a graded inspection.

The principal of this school is Glen Burke. This school is the only school in The Highcrest Academy single academy trust.

The trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Susan Jollands.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a kind, happy and welcoming school. Parents are supportive of the school and staff are proud to work here.

Pupils regularly meet the school's high expectations for behaviour. They conduct themse...lves well and are respectful to others, both in lessons and outside. The school provides high-quality, inclusive pastoral care.

Pupils value the support and empathy shown by staff. They trust staff to provide help when needed.

The school has a sharp focus on pupils' personal development.

Staff provide a wide range of opportunities to broaden pupils' life experiences and nurture their talents and interests. These include trips, clubs, pupil leadership roles and one-off events based on pupil voice, such as a languages picnic. Staff ensure that there are no barriers to participation.

Pupils appreciate these opportunities and participate readily.

The school has high academic ambitions. The curriculum is broad and balanced.

Pupils in key stage 4, and sixth-form students, study carefully chosen subjects which provide meaningful choices for the future. The school recognises that examination outcomes have not been strong enough recently. It has made changes to address this.

However, the school's work to embed the most effective curriculum practice across the whole school requires more time to have their full impact.

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

The school has organised the curriculum of each subject so that knowledge builds progressively over time. However, there are times when the school is not clear on the expectations that pupils must meet from Year 7 onwards in order to secure strong examination results.

Consequently, teachers' checking of pupils' understanding is not consistently effective. These checks do not systematically address misconceptions promptly or allow staff to adjust their teaching or feedback with precision. The school has begun benchmarking its expectations against those of other schools, but this work is still in its early stages.

Sometimes, teaching approaches help pupils to remember and apply their learning very effectively. However, this is not yet consistent. While most pupils can recall recently learned knowledge, many are not as confident and precise in drawing on the full range of learning and explaining their choice of methods or their thinking.

This includes in the sixth form. The school is working with staff to refine their understanding of the most effective teaching approaches. There has not yet been enough time to embed best practices across the school to ensure pupils' learning deepens over time.

The school has rigorous systems to identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school uses a range of bespoke curriculum programmes to support targeted pupils, either in school or through external partners. These are carefully designed to meet individual pupils' needs and are very effective.

Staff use the information provided to support most pupils with SEND to access the same curriculum as their peers.

The school's wider literacy strategy is starting to have an impact in terms of pupils' reading for pleasure. However, its programme to support pupils who cannot read fluently is not yet embedded.

As a result, some pupils do not catch up with their peers as quickly as needed. In response, the school has identified the need for further training to help teachers support reading effectively in lessons.

The school has established a caring environment that pupils appreciate.

Attendance has improved over time. Teachers implement the school's guidance on classroom routines consistently and pupils generally respect these expectations. There are also a set of adapted guidelines which support disadvantaged pupils to learn.

Classrooms are quiet and purposeful. For pupils who occasionally struggle with the school's expectations, inclusion staff provide effective support based on their knowledge of pupils. As a result, these pupils often make marked improvements, both in behaviour and attendance.

Pupils learn important knowledge and understanding to support their personal development through the 'Life Lessons' programme. This has been carefully organised so that all year groups explore themes in age-appropriate ways. For example, relationships, online safety and diversity.

The school also addresses community issues such as county lines. Pupils understand the importance of these themes. Careers education is strong and is supported by a wide variety of employers, training providers and educational institutions.

This guidance helps pupils to make well-informed choices about their futures, whether they leave after Year 11 or Year 13.

Trustees know the school very well. They provide effective support and challenge while maintaining robust oversight of safeguarding.

The school has recently taken innovative steps to help staff with their workload. This is enabling the school to fill important curriculum and inclusion roles. Staff very much appreciate the school's care for their well-being.

However, quality assurance processes are not yet applied consistently by all stakeholders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's reading strategy is not yet fully embedded, particularly in its approach to supporting the weakest readers.

As a result, some pupils do not catch up with their peers quickly enough and are not consistently supported to access the texts used in lessons. The school needs to continue its work to implement an effective programme to identify and address gaps for pupils who are not yet fluent readers. ? Checks on pupils' learning are not yet consistent across the curriculum.

As a result, some pupils do not achieve the standards required to secure strong examination outcomes. The school should continue its work to ensure that the curriculum design and delivery enable pupils to develop increasingly strong knowledge and skills over time, leading to improved public examination results. ? The school is still embedding high-quality subject knowledge and effective curriculum implementation.

As a result, teaching approaches are not yet systematically matched to the needs of pupils, which prevents some pupils from achieving the mastery and fluency they need at each stage. The school should continue its work to embed the best classroom practices across the whole curriculum. It should also ensure that quality assurance processes are applied consistently by all stakeholders.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in February 2020.