Adelaide Heath Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 June 2024

Pupils and sixth-form students who attend this school have often faced considerable barriers to learning in the past. Some have missed long periods of their education. This school provides an opportunity for pupils, all of whom have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to re-engage with learning. Staff provide a safe and caring environment where pupils develop their self-esteem and learn to manage their own emotions. Pupils benefit from the warm, nurturing relationships that staff foster. This builds a strong sense of community and helps the school to be a calm, orderly place. Most pupils are happy here. If they should become distressed, staff are quick to provide expert support. Pupils were keen to tell inspectors how the school has helped them to improve their behaviour. The school has high expectations for what pupils can achieve. Staff are determined to prepare pupils well for their future lives. Typically, pupils achieve well. Most pupils gain the qualifications and skills that they need to successfully move on. The school supports pupils to develop socially and culturally. For instance, pupils enjoy outdoor learning in the woodland area, where they build their independence and self-confidence. They also look forward to contributing to their community, such as by collecting for a local food bank.

What the school should improve

• In a minority of subjects, the curriculum lacks ambition. It does not equip some pupils with the knowledge that they need for their future learning. These pupils do not develop as deep a body of knowledge as they could. The school should refine its curriculum thinking in these subjects so that pupils learn all that they should.
• Some pupils have had irregular attendance in the past, and others still do not attend school as often as they should. This creates gaps in some pupils' knowledge over time. As a result, the depth of their learning across the curriculum is uneven. The school should ensure that staff use effective strategies to address any missed or forgotten learning so that these pupils can build knowledge cumulatively through the curriculum. The school should also bolster its efforts to help these pupils to attend school more often.
• Programmes of study in the sixth form do not reflect the school's ambition for these students. Lowered expectations mean that at times, improvements in the attendance and attitudes to learning of some pupils in key stage 4 regress when they begin Year 12. The school should ensure that its expectations of students in the sixth form remain high for as long as they are enrolled so that they can reach their full potential.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)