Highfield Littleport Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 7 July 2026

Pupils are not achieving well enough. Sometimes, they disengage from learning because tasks are either too easy or too hard. Most pupils stay calm when this happens. Others, particularly pupils who are nonverbal or pre-verbal, respond in unsettled ways. Staff are not quick to adapt their teaching in the moment or across lessons to address this. The way staff use pupils’ education, health and care plans to inform support also varies across the school. The issue is less about pupils receiving their entitlement and more about how well that entitlement is delivered. The systems that should oversee this and help pupils overcome barriers to learning are not working well enough. For pupils, the situation has worsened over the course of the year. They are all capable of achieving much more. Leaders' recent changes mean that staff now run the start of the day as a calm, well-choreographed routine. They greet pupils from their transport, or from their parent or carer, with familiar faces and predictable cues. If a guided hand helps a pupil feel ready, staff offer it. If a 'secret' handshake is part of a pupil’s welcome, staff do it with gusto. Pupils walk into school happily, feeling wanted and knowing they belong. This sense of belonging helps explain why pupils feel safe and why their attendance is, for the most part, positive. Also, because staff model kindness and respect, pupils tend to treat each other similarly. Pupils relish taking on responsibility. The pupils who run 'Jax’s Café' enjoy shopping for ingredients, preparing food and drinks, serving customers and manning the till. They work well as a team and behave professionally under the guidance of encouraging staff. Pupils love the experience. It gives them a real taste of what the world of work can offer in adulthood.

What the school should improve

• Leaders must define clear curriculum pathways and align these with assessment so that staff plan coherent learning for pupils.
• Leaders must guide staff to review which approaches reduce learning barriers for pupils, adjusting any that do not show clear, measurable impact on what pupils achieve.
• Leaders must ensure that teaching responds to pupils’ needs so that pupils can access learning, engage purposefully and build knowledge securely.
• Leaders must help staff select and teach suitable communication approaches for pupils who need them, ensuring regular chances to practise communicating with increasing independence.
• Leaders must ensure that staff identify and address gaps in pupils’ foundational knowledge so that all pupils achieve well, including those capable of gaining qualifications that broaden future opportunities.
• Leaders should establish suitable strategies to reduce persistent absenteeism among disadvantaged pupils, communicating expectations clearly and monitoring progress closely to secure sustained improvement in attendance.
• Leaders should ensure that staff use suitable strategies for calm, effective responses to unsettled behaviour, enabling pupils to remain settled and focused on learning.
• Leaders should extend the personal development programme, so that pupils encounter broader opportunities that support their growth, interests and emerging talents.
• Leaders should use their insights to shape timely, targeted professional learning that tackles emerging weaknesses early.
• Trustees should ensure that the information they receive about pupils’ achievement is sufficiently clear and specific to enable them to hold leaders to account for the school’s educational performance.

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