Iceni Secondary Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 December 2024

Iceni Secondary Academy is a safe and calm place for learning. Pupils like being here. They benefit from strong relationships with caring and committed staff. Pupils get wide- ranging support for their well-being. They praise how the school has recently improved. Pupils have experienced staffing disruption over time. Older pupils have suffered from low expectations of what they can achieve. They have learned a curriculum that has not been designed or delivered successfully. These issues are now better, but they have left pupils with gaps in their knowledge. This includes pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Behaviour is orderly and purposeful. Pupils are keen to learn. They conduct themselves well, such as in corridors or at breaktimes. Bullying is not typical. If pupils are worried about issues, they trust the school to resolve them. Pupils engage well with the school's aspirations and values. They learn to 'aim high, work hard and be kind'. The coherent personal development programme helps pupils to build positive character traits. For example, pupils show respect in the way they interact with peers and adults. Pupils enjoy a range of opportunities, for instance in sport and drama. They also initiate new ones, such as the school magazine.

What the school should improve

• Pupils with SEND do not get the precise support for learning that they need. This means they do not make the progress through the curriculum they should. The school should ensure it puts in place precise support to meet the individual learning needs of pupils with SEND, so that they achieve as well as they should.
• The school does not use assessment as effectively as it should to address gaps in pupils' learning from previous weak curriculums. This means in some areas pupils struggle to remember previous learning and do not build up the connected depth of knowledge they need to be successful. The school should ensure it identifies gaps in learning that pupils have from previous years and adapts the curriculum delivery successfully to rectify these.
• The school does not engage as well with parents as it could. As a result, some do not see the improvements that the school has made to provision. The school should review the way it communicates and engages with parents, so that it works in closer partnership with them to continue the journey of improvement.

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