Horizon Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 2 November 2022

Pupils come to this small school so they can get the support they need with their social, emotional and mental health needs. In the past, many have found it hard to learn in a mainstream school. At Eko Pathways, class sizes are small and pupils receive personalised, high-quality support from their teacher and other staff. This helps pupils to grow in confidence and be ready to learn. Leaders and staff share a vision of providing the best education for all pupils. Pupils study a broad range of subjects, alongside receiving support for their individual needs. Staff focus on preparing pupils for the next stage of their education or for work. For example, in Years 10 and 11, all pupils spend one day a week on work experience placements. Support is carefully tailored to pupils' specific needs and goals. For some pupils, this may be a return to a mainstream school, for others it may be preparing them for college or an apprenticeship. Pupils are happy in school and they enjoy their learning. They are safe and receive the help and guidance they need to manage their feelings. As a result, pupils behave well. Pupils are taught about bullying and respect in personal, social, health and economic education and assemblies. Bullying is not common in this school. If it does occur, pupils know who to tell and staff deal with it swiftly.

What the school should improve

• Leaders have introduced a new curriculum across both the primary and secondary phases of the school. Staff have received training and are delivering the new curriculum. While pupils learn well overall, there remain inconsistencies in how well the curriculum in a small number of the foundation subjects is delivered. This means that, at times, pupils are not progressing through the curriculum for these subjects as leaders intend. Leaders should continue their plans to train staff. They should make sure that, in all subjects, the revised curriculum is taught in a way that enables pupils to learn and remember the intended knowledge and skills.

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