Wishmore Cross Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are mostly positive about their school.

Those who have attended for longer acknowledge the improvements made since the last inspection. Pupils have a favourable view of their school. They particularly appreciate the patience of staff.

This is an all-boys school for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They are sometimes off-task or disengaged from learning, but staff deal with this well. Pupils readily acknowledge behaviour is not always perfect.

However, those who talked to inspectors said they feel safe here, not least because staff understand them and give them space when needed. One older pupil was blunt when he told an... inspector, 'It's a small school for boys with SEND, so obviously there are complications with relationships at times'. Others agreed but were also keen to point out that the school has helped them to become more aware and understanding of the impact of their actions on others.

Staff have appropriately high expectations of what pupils can achieve. They know pupils well, despite the challenges presented by relatively high levels of pupil mobility and the different pathways some follow. Nevertheless, due to the bespoke nature of the curriculum, pupils are now achieving increasingly well by the time they leave the school.

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

Much has been achieved since the school's last inspection. Leaders at all levels are effective in their work to improve the quality of provision. The support and strategic oversight of the multi-academy trust has been central in moving the school forward.

Staff appreciate the professional development opportunities available to them. They are overwhelmingly positive, indicating a growing pride in the school and confidence in the direction it is travelling.

The school's curriculum offer has appropriate breadth and is meeting the needs of pupils who all have SEND increasingly well.

Vulnerable pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit from targeted support that meets their needs. A significant minority of pupils also access the school's online curriculum offer that is supporting them to re-engage with education. Others are following tailored curriculums that support pupils with additional complex needs well, including those who struggle to attend school.

Central pillars of the curriculum such, as English, mathematics and science, are well established. Pupils who join the school who struggle to read benefit from early identification and targeted support. Pupils generally engage well in learning.

However, some staff are not as skilled as others in planning activities that either support or challenge pupils well enough. Occasionally, this is due to the complex needs of pupils. Sometimes it is because of a simple training need, such as delivering the school's reading programme with complete fidelity.

The school is aware of this. Crucially, current priorities for improvement focus on the right things.

Pupils' personal development is a high priority here.

Improving their self-esteem and sense of self-worth is very much a central part of the school's curriculum offer. Staff understand that pupils need to be ready to learn before they make meaningful progress in the classroom. Integral to their work is supporting pupils' social and emotional needs, a task that all staff treat seriously and with growing success.

A positive consequence is the impact on reducing pupil absence. However, sometimes the delicate balance between supporting vulnerable pupils and directly addressing the varying challenges they present, is not consistent. For example, staff lack consistency in addressing some pupils' use of offensive language.

The school's personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme has been revised. There are a growing range of enrichment opportunities that make pupils' learning more interesting and meaningful. These include learning about different cultures and religions as well as aspects such as celebrating neurodiversity and difference.

As a result, pupils recall their learning in PSHE well. A new careers programme is also impacting positively on the school's work to ensure that pupils are better prepared for their next steps on leaving school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There is some variability in the way that the curriculum is adapted to meet the needs of individual pupils, including with the teaching of reading. Sometimes this prevents pupils from learning as much as they could because tasks do not build securely enough on what they already know and can do. The school should ensure that all teachers understand how to design and adapt tasks for the pupils they teach, so that this is happening consistently well.

• Sometimes poor language is used by pupils, and staff are not consistent in how they address this. As a result, derogatory language is sometimes allowed to continue. The school should ensure the recent training for staff is routinely put into practice across all phases of the school.