St Aidan's Church of England Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 10 June 2025

St Aidan's CofE Academy is a warm and welcoming school. Pupils are happy here. They enjoy positive relationships with staff. Pupils are encouraged to fulfil the school's vision to 'live life to the full'. Since the school recently joined the trust, staff have increased expectations for pupils' achievement, so that this vision can be realised. Pupils' outcomes in public examinations in 2024 were low. Despite most pupils moving on to further education and training, they were not as well prepared as they should have been. Decisive action from the trust means that the school is now improving. The school is calm. At social times, pupils are civilised and mix well. They follow the school's well-embedded routines closely. For example, pupils move from social time to 'line-up' quickly. This supports an orderly start to lessons, where most pupils concentrate and work hard. There are a range of opportunities on offer to support pupils' wider development. For example, pupils enjoy being 'reading leaders' and 'sports leaders'. These help pupils to develop their sense of responsibility and communication skills. Pupils are positive about the extra-curricular opportunities at the school, for example in cookery, art, dance and a range of sports.

What the school should improve

• There are inconsistencies in the delivery of the curriculum, which affects how well pupils secure the deep knowledge and skills they need to succeed. This means that pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, do not learn in sufficient depth and do not achieve as well as they should. Leaders should work with staff, drawing on the stronger practice, where it exists, to ensure that pupils acquire deeper knowledge, achieve well and are better prepared for their next steps.
• Levels of absence and persistent absence are high. This means that a significant number of pupils are missing too much of their education. It also means that by the end of key stage 4, these pupils do not have the knowledge and understanding they need to achieve well in their examinations. The school should ensure that it further develops its approach to improving pupils' attendance.
• The school's behaviour policy is not used consistently. This leads to some pupils having negative attitudes to school and feeling that their efforts are not rewarded appropriately. The school should further develop a positive behaviour culture in school where sanctions and rewards are consistently applied.
• Reading for pleasure is not promoted as widely as it could be. This makes it difficult for pupils to appreciate a wide range of literature and develop a love for reading. The school should work to develop a positive culture for reading for pleasure.

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