The Stockwood Park Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Students in the sixth form at Stockwood Park Academy learn and achieve well because leaders have planned well for their provision.

Pupils do not consistently have the same good-quality experience in other year groups. Pupils do not always get the help that they need because in some subjects, some teachers, move on too quickly before pupils have understood.

Some pupils in alternative provision are not accessing a curriculum of sufficient breadth.

Pupils usually experience a calm and focused environment in lessons. Some pupils and parents, particularly girls, worry about the behaviour of a minority of other pupils outside lessons.

Some pupils are not w...ell enough supported to improve their behaviour.

Most pupils feel that staff take bullying issues seriously and deal with them. Pupils value staff's high visibility around the school, and they appreciate the work of their year teams.

However, some students and parents feel that bullying issues are not followed up well enough.

Pupils and parents value the wide range of before and after school clubs. Pupils also benefit from the chance to engage in charity work.

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

Leaders are working to bring about improvements in the curriculum. Despite this work, pupils in Years 7 to 11 experience inconsistent curriculum quality across subjects.

In some subjects, such as religious education, planning is detailed, teachers are well trained, and pupils produce high-quality work.

Teachers identify any gaps in pupils' understanding and adapt lessons to address any gaps. In some other subjects, teachers do not identify where pupils struggle to keep up with learning. Pupils are presented with lots of new knowledge.

They are asked to complete complex tasks or move on to new learning before they are ready. This means that pupils have gaps in their knowledge and understanding.

Some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are not well supported in lessons because teachers do not use planned strategies to support them effectively.

A small minority of pupils, including some pupils with SEND, access alternative provision. They do not access a broad curriculum, and they are not as well prepared as they should be to move on to their next steps in education at the end of Year 11. Leaders' records and some of their checks on how well these pupils are faring lack rigour.

Leaders promote reading, including by modelling reading in lessons and rewarding pupils for the books they have read. A catch-up programme is supporting pupils at the early stages of reading to close the gap with their peers.

Behaviour is calm and orderly for the majority of the time pupils spend in lessons.

This is due to a clear behaviour system that is understood by pupils and staff. However, there are problems with the way in which some pupils treat others, usually when outside lessons. Homophobic language is occasionally used, bullying is not always dealt with well enough and a minority of boys sometimes use inappropriate language towards girls.

Students in the sixth form treat each other with tolerance and respect. Programmes of study are structured and taught well. Students are prepared for their next steps in education and training.

As a result, students in the sixth form achieve well.

Leaders and members of the Cluster Board are working with pupils on community and charity work. This has resulted in pupils doing work to support food banks and several charity projects that support pupils' well-being and mental health.

The school meets the requirements of the Baker Clause, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. And careers education generally supports pupils with making informed choices about next steps.

Pupils benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and provision.

Partnerships with local professional football and cricket organisations have been established. This gives pupils access to sporting excellence pathways. It enables them to develop their talents alongside study.

Trust leaders have created an education committee to bring greater strength to governance arrangements. Members of the Curriculum and Standards Committee are knowledgeable and offer support and challenge to leaders on the quality of provision. The trust has invested in providing more leadership capacity in the school, to support existing leaders.

However, this has not secured provision which is good enough yet.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have received up-to-date training and understand how to report concerns.

Pupils are confident that they are able to raise concerns. There are suitable systems in place for logging, recording and following these up. Leaders make appropriate use of external agencies when needed, and this work is well recorded.

Leaders' records sometimes lack detail about safeguarding checks on alterative providers. This does not lead to pupils being unsafe, because of the close coordination between the local authority and the school. However, leaders own checks should be more thorough.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers do not check that pupils have secured key knowledge before moving on. Some pupils have gaps in what they know. These pupils then struggle with new learning that relies on what they have done previously.

Leaders need to ensure teachers identify and address gaps in pupils' learning before pupils need to move on in their learning. ? Pupils do not always treat each other with sufficient respect. As a result, some pupils, and girls in particular, worry about the attitudes of a minority of boys.

There is some bullying and it is not always dealt with as well as it should be. Leaders need to ensure pupils value and respect each other, and that any incidents of bullying are dealt with effectively. ? Systems and processes are not as robust as they need to be for pupils attending alternative provision.

There is an overreliance on checks carried out by the local authority rather than the school's own checks. Some pupils accessing alternative provision have a narrower curriculum offer and more limited engagement with the school. Leaders need to ensure there is a systematic and rigorous approach towards checking the quality of alternative provisions for pupils who attend them.

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