Landau Forte Academy, QEMS

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 September 2022

Leaders at Landau Forte Academy, QEMS have high aspirations for all pupils and set high academic standards for them. Pupils say that they welcome these high standards and understand what leaders expect from them. This helps pupils to achieve well. Pupils feel happy and safe at school and show a high level of respect for one another. There is a calm and orderly atmosphere around school, and pupils report that few lessons are disrupted by inappropriate behaviour. Teachers act quickly when inappropriate behaviour occurs. During social times, pupils generally behave well. Pupils report few instances of bullying. Where bullying does occur, leaders deal with it effectively. Leaders have made recent changes to their ambitious curriculum, especially in key stage 3. In many subjects, teachers ensure that pupils learn and remember the key knowledge to help them make progress in their learning. Leaders are rightly proud of the broad range of enrichment activities offered to pupils. High numbers of pupils take part in performing arts, including a production of 'The Addams Family'. There are also many sports clubs, including swimming, football, badminton and fitness. Year 7 pupils recently took part in a residential trip to the Brecon Beacons as part of their induction. This has helped them settle into school and make new friends quickly.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, leaders have not identified the smaller blocks of knowledge that pupils need in order to build their learning over time. In addition, some aspects of knowledge have not been sequenced effectively to enable pupils to make connections in what they learn. Leaders should ensure that all subjects accurately identify and sequence the knowledge pupils need so that they can build on what they know and make progress through the curriculum.
• In some subjects, teachers do not check if pupils are secure in their prior knowledge before moving them on to new learning. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge and struggle to understand the new learning. Leaders should ensure that teachers check pupils' understanding systematically, to identify and address misconceptions and errors quickly.

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