Daylesford Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 10 June 2025

Many pupils who attend Daylesford have complex social and emotional needs. Some have missed years of their education. Pupils often feel an injustice about challenges they have faced in mainstream education. At this school, however, they learn to re-engage with education. They develop self-confidence, and many begin to feel happy in school for the first time. Pupils feel a sense of belonging here. They are perceptive and understand that they have a responsibility for making others welcome at their school. Staff understand the needs of pupils exceptionally well. They find moments to learn what motivates and worries them. Pupils respond by showing respectful behaviour towards staff. The school is ambitious for all pupils to do well. It measures success in different ways. Many pupils leave with the knowledge that they need to successfully pursue post-16 courses. Others experience success in attending school again and learning how to communicate their emotions. Most pupils begin to cope with their reintegration back into formal education. Pupils take part in a wide range of exciting enrichment activities. They look forward to trips to places that they have not visited before. Pupils successfully learn about different career options and vocations. Many hold ambitions to be entrepreneurs or to work in the care sector, helping others and contributing positively to society.

What the school should improve

• Too many pupils are persistently absent from school. This affects their learning and means they miss out on important social events with their peers. The school and trust should ensure that they support pupils and parents to understand the importance of regular attendance to reduce persistent absence.
• Some staff do not adapt or model learning effectively to enable pupils to understand activities and learn independently. This means that some pupils struggle to start their learning or are asked to consider too many instructions without fully understanding what is expected of them. The school should ensure that all staff understand how to adapt and model learning effectively.
• A few pupils at the early stages of learning to read do not receive effective support. Some pupils do not have a sufficiently good comprehension of the words that they read. This affects their understanding and enjoyment of learning. The school should ensure that all staff know how to support those at the early stages of reading and develop pupils' understanding of the vocabulary they encounter.

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