Royal Wootton Bassett Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 November 2024

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy and sixth form has a strong sense of community. The school's values of respect, well-being, balance and aspiration are shared by staff and pupils. The school supports pupils to achieve well. They leave the school with the skills and qualifications they need to be successful in their next steps. The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour. Lessons take place without disruption and the school is calm. On occasions there are incidents of bullying. Pupils know that this is unacceptable and are keen to report it to adults. The school does not tolerate bullying and will act to address concerns. However, it also recognises that some pupils need further support to make sure incidents are resolved fully. Pupils are proud to belong to one of the houses in the school. They enjoy the inter-house competitions that take place. The school provides a range of clubs to develop pupils' wider interests and talents. For example, clubs such as comic book club, competitive sport and Duke of Edinburgh. Students in the sixth form are role models to younger pupils. They volunteer as peer readers and sports coaches as part of their commitment to make the school one that they are proud to attend.

What the school should improve

• On occasion, the curriculum is not adapted precisely enough to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Consequently, these pupils do not learn those elements of the curriculum as well as their peers. The school should ensure that teachers have the information and support that they need to adapt the curriculum to meet the learning needs of pupils with SEND effectively.
• Assessment within the classroom sometimes does not help adults accurately identify pupils' starting points or gaps in their knowledge and understanding. This means that some pupils do not receive the support or challenge they need to learn as well as they might. The school should make sure that assessment routines check for understanding and that the curriculum is adapted accordingly in response.
• The systems and processes that the school uses to assure the quality of some aspects of the school's work are not effective enough. As a result, the school is unaware of where things are working as intended or not. The school needs to improve the effectiveness of assurance approaches and self-evaluation to inform future leadership and governance decisions.

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