Quarrydale Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 7 May 2025

The school provides a caring environment for pupils. Staff are hardworking and committed to providing pupils with the support they need. Pupils feel safe. The school's pastoral offer is strong. Parents and carers appreciate the 'lovely teachers' and the 'supportive' approach that the school takes. However, parents rightly recognise that some pupils do not behave or achieve as well as they should. The school does have high aspirations for pupils. However, the quality of education provided varies in quality. The school does not consistently ensure that pupils engage purposefully in their learning or take pride in their work. Some pupils hear derogatory language in school on a regular basis. The school does encourage pupils to respect difference. The work to realise this goal does not have the desired impact for some pupils. The school provides pupils with some opportunities to broaden their horizons, including trips to Paris and the chance for sixth-form students to mentor their younger peers. Although sixth-form students do not receive consistently high-quality support in relation to their personal development and academic work, they do appreciate the respectful environment in which they learn. They form positive relationships with staff. Some students leave school well prepared for their next steps.

What the school should improve

• The school's expectations of what pupils should achieve in their lessons are not consistently high. As a result, pupils do not routinely benefit from work which enables them to learn the ambitious aims of the curriculum. The school should ensure that teachers have consistently high expectations of what pupils can achieve and provide work which enables pupils to be able to learn the ambitious curriculum well.
• The school has not ensured that teachers consistently identify and address gaps and misconceptions in pupils' knowledge. As a result, teachers move learning on before pupils have the knowledge they need. This can limit how well pupils develop a secure understanding over time. The school should ensure that teachers check pupils' understanding to inform the decisions they make about when to move learning on and when to provide pupils with further support.
• The school has not ensured that staff consistently apply the school's behaviour policy. As a result, some pupils do not display positive and respectful attitudes to the school and to their education. The school should ensure that staff apply the school's behaviour policy consistently and confidently.
• The personal development offer does not provide pupils with the knowledge they need in relation to fundamental British values, spiritual and cultural education and protected characteristics. As a result, pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they should be. The school should ensure that pupils are provided with meaningful opportunities to learn about difference and what it means to respect difference, so that they are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• The school's evaluation of the impact of its strategies to bring about improvement is not sufficiently precise across all areas of the provision. This has resulted in the impact of these strategies being limited in some areas. The school should ensure that the evaluation of its work to bring about improvement has the desired positive impact across the whole provision so that pupils achieve well.

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