Venture Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between staff and pupils are a strength of the school.

Pupils are well cared for. Staff do all they can to make sure that pupils are happy and feel safe. Pupils say that there is always an adult to talk to if they have any worries or need help to manage their feelings.

One pupil summed up the views of others by saying that staff have a 'unique way' of helping them.

Staff expect pupils to behave well. Some pupils sometimes struggle to manage their emotions and behaviour.

Staff manage incidents of challenging behaviour quickly and calmly. Pupils say that when bullying happens, adults deal with it well.

Leaders are ambitious for p...upils and want them to be well prepared for their next steps.

Pupils enjoy a broad curriculum and can work towards a range of qualifications. However, leaders have not ensured that the curriculum is planned well enough across key stages and subjects. This means that pupils do not build the knowledge they need to make as much progress as they could.

Pupils enjoy the opportunities they have to learn outdoors, to go on educational visits and to take on responsibilities, including as a member of the school council.

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

Leaders know pupils' needs well. Most pupils come to this school because they have social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

Leaders prioritise building pupils' trust, confidence and willingness to get involved with learning effectively. Leaders make regular checks on how well pupils' needs are being met. Leaders provide effective training for staff to ensure that strategies to manage behaviour are used consistently throughout the school.

Pupils trust staff and most respond well to the decisions staff make.

Pupils experience a broad curriculum. Leaders fulfil pupils' wishes to study subjects even when they are not part of the core offer.

Currently, curriculum planning is at an early stage of development. The specific knowledge that pupils must learn has not been determined in sufficient detail for teachers to know what should be taught and when. Plans are not sequenced well enough to ensure that pupils can build on what has been learned before.

This means teachers cannot check how well pupils are progressing in each subject.

Staff have had little training around the curriculum and how it should be delivered until recently. This means that some staff do not have the knowledge they need to deliver the curriculum as well as possible.

Leaders are addressing this and some subject-specific training, including in English and mathematics, has already taken place.

Pupils at the early stages of learning to read do not have the knowledge they need to read fluently and accurately. New approaches to improve how well pupils learn to read and to build pupils' love for reading have recently been introduced.

Pupils now have daily opportunities to read and to listen to adults reading.

Most pupils respond well to the school's reward system and work hard. Some pupils do not engage well in lessons.

They are not sufficiently well supported to complete what they have been asked to do, so do not work as hard as they could. This limits the amount of progress these pupils make.

The school's work to support pupils' personal development is a strength.

Most pupils are very respectful of differences and have a good understanding of discrimination and the harm it causes. Pupils learn about the importance of healthy eating and keeping physically and mentally well. Pupils receive independent careers advice and find out about a wide range of opportunities for their next steps in further education or work.

The local advisory board and the multi-academy trust board are ambitious for the school. They know the school's strengths and what needs to improve. Governors provide an appropriate balance of challenge and support.

They are mindful of staff workload and well-being. Staff enjoy working at the school and feel valued.

Parents are happy with the school and how it supports their children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The school has a strong safeguarding culture. Leaders ensure that staff receive high-quality training.

Staff know how to report concerns and are encouraged to report any concerns they have about a pupil's welfare or well-being, no matter how small. Leaders are tenacious in their drive to make sure that pupils and their families get the help they need.

Staff are very aware of the additional vulnerabilities and behaviours that might put pupils at an increased risk.

Leaders ensure pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe. This includes learning about safe relationships, using the internet safely and the risks associated with gangs and knife crime.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculum is not sequenced well enough in most subjects.

This means that teachers do not know what should be taught and when. Also, teachers are not able to assess how well pupils are progressing through the curriculum. Leaders should continue with their work to develop a curriculum that clearly identifies the important knowledge that pupils should learn and how this will be assessed in each subject across all key stages.

• Some staff, including teachers who are responsible for leading a subject, are not sufficiently up to date in their subjects. This means that some teachers and teaching assistants do not have the knowledge they need to implement the curriculum as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that all staff receive the professional development they need to deliver the curriculum, across all subjects and key stages, as effectively as possible.

• Leaders have not yet established positive attitudes to learning for all pupils. As a result, some pupils do not engage well with their learning and produce work that does not reflect the standard of which they are capable. Leaders should build on their success of developing pupils' positive attitudes to coming into school, to ensure that they also have positive attitudes to their learning so that they can achieve as well as possible.