King's Academy Lord Wilson

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 27 June 2023

Pupils benefit from the specialist support and care they receive at this school. Many pupils have had difficult and varied educational experiences. They have complex needs which are well understood by the expertly trained staff at the school. The mutually warm and kind relationships between pupils and staff foster a strong sense of trust. As a result, pupils feel safe and secure enough to take part in lessons and learn. Pupils know the high ambitions leaders have for what they will achieve. Pupils respond well to this and, by Year 10, many of them have clear and ambitious plans for the next stage in their lives. Pupils value their learning, especially in English and mathematics. They know that working well with their teachers in these subjects will help them to achieve their goals. The school environment is mostly calm, both inside and outside of lessons. While disruptive behaviour is rare, sometimes pupils find it hard to regulate their emotions. When this happens, staff provide effective support to help pupils feel calm and safe. Bullying and unkind behaviour do not happen often. When they do, staff skilfully help pupils to understand the impact their words or actions may have on others.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not embedded all of their changes to the curriculum. This means that pupils are not consistently learning as well as they could across the entire curriculum. Leaders should ensure that staff have the knowledge they need in all curriculum areas to ensure that pupils build coherent knowledge effectively over time.
• Leaders are still refining their approach to personal development and wider opportunities. As such, pupils do not develop life and employability skills as well as they could. Leaders should ensure they have a cohesive and sequenced approach to this, so pupils are able to build these vital skills over time and be as ready as possible for life beyond school.
• Persistent absence of pupils remains high. This means some pupils are not fully benefiting from all that school has to offer. Leaders should now carefully consider what additional strategies and support, both within and external to the school, pupils and their families need to improve attendance.

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