Healing Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 June 2024

Pupils at Healing Academy are benefitting from leaders' recent work to improve the culture at the school. Leaders have worked to align the culture with the schools' values of being child-centred, inclusive, ambitious, having integrity, being collaborative and valuing the staff. In a short space of time, pupils have noticed this change. Leaders have high expectations of pupils. As a result, most pupils achieve well. Pupils behave well in lessons and at social times. The atmosphere in classrooms and around school is calm and orderly. There is rarely any low-level disruption. Some pupils feel as though some of the sanctions within the behaviour policy can be unfair. School leaders agree and have responded to this by reviewing the behaviour policy. Pupils feel safe at school. They have trusted adults to speak to if they have any concerns. Pupils have access to a wide range of extra-curricular activities through the school's 'upskill' programme. Pupils speak enthusiastically about their 'debates and discussion' lessons. They have access to various leadership opportunities, including the 'pupil parliament'. Pupils with roles such as 'prime minister' and 'deputy prime minister' take part in staff interviews. These opportunities develop pupils' confidence and help prepare them for their next steps in education.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects the implementation of the curriculum does not match the quality of the curriculum intent. This is usually because the activities chosen to support learning are not the most appropriate. As a result, in these lessons pupils are not making as much progress as they could. The school should ensure that staff are supported to use appropriate activities and teaching strategies in lessons, to ensure that pupils know and remember more of what they have been taught.
• The school accurately identifies pupils who are still struggling to read. However, they do not put in place appropriate support for these pupils to catch up. As a result, these pupils do not quickly catch up with their peers. The school should put in place an effective programme of reading support to help those who struggle with reading to catch up.
• Some parents and carers do not feel well informed about the school, including some of the changes that have been made over time to the school's expectations. This has led to some parents and carers feeling disconnected with the school and/or not knowing how to best support their child to meet the school's expectations. The school should review its arrangements for communicating and engaging with parents and carers, particularly when changes are being introduced.

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