Arbour Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 June 2025

Arbour Academy is a welcoming and friendly school. Despite the considerable barriers that pupils have faced before joining the school, they quickly settle when they get there. Pupils develop warm and supportive relationships with staff. This helps pupils to feel comfortable, happy and safe. The school has considerably increased the level of ambition that it has for pupils' achievement. It has overhauled the curriculum. This has led to many positive changes to the quality of education that pupils receive. While it is too soon to see the full effects of these changes on how well pupils achieve, there is also some variability in the teaching of the planned curriculum. This means that sometimes pupils are not achieving as well as they could. Pupils enjoy attending school. The school atmosphere is calm and harmonious. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They demonstrate empathy and kindness towards each other. Lessons are purposeful, and pupils typically focus on their learning. The school supports pupils' personal development well. Pupils enjoy many opportunities to extend their learning outside of the classroom. Opportunities to strengthen pupils' resilience and social skills are wide-ranging. Pupils develop their own interests and talents through a range of activities that include gardening, drumming and darts.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the school has not outlined the key knowledge that pupils need to learn and remember over time. This means that pupils struggle to build on what they know and to link ideas together. The school should take steps to ensure that the key knowledge in each subject is clearly defined.
• At times, the delivery of the curriculum is not fully adapted to reflect pupils' starting points. As a result, some pupils do not have secure foundations on which to build future learning. This hampers how well they achieve. The school should ensure that teachers have the necessary expertise to identify existing gaps in pupils' knowledge and use this information to ensure that learning is well designed to reflect pupils' starting points.
• At times, teachers' checks on learning, especially when pupils have been absent, are not timely enough to spot gaps in pupils' knowledge. As a result, some pupils are insecure in their learning. The school should ensure that teachers swiftly identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge so that they can learn well.
• The school's oversight for its outreach provision is not well developed. As a result, pupils who attend this provision do not consistently access careers education and support for reading. The school should implement its plans to ensure these pupils are fully included in all aspects of the school's work.

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