The Aspire Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 27 June 2023

Leaders know that for many of their pupils, education has been difficult in the past, so they work hard to give them a fresh start. Staff create a safe, positive and nurturing environment. They take the time to get to know the pupils well. Adults seize every opportunity, such as chatting over lunch, to build trusting and positive relationships. Pupils appreciate this and say that coming to this school has made them feel that they 'matter'. Leaders are ambitious for pupils. They place a strong emphasis on celebrating pupils' personal development and academic achievements. At the end of every day, pupils and staff come together to acknowledge pupils' successes in the 'special mentions' assembly. During their time at the school, many pupils achieve a range of qualifications and build their resilience and self-esteem. Most pupils are well prepared for their next steps. Pupils can sometimes display challenging behaviours. At times, there is the potential for these behaviours to disrupt learning, but adults act quickly and intelligently to calm any issues before they escalate. This all helps to create a calm and orderly environment. If bullying happens, most pupils are confident that staff will 'sort it' and not allow it to spread.

What the school should improve

• Leaders do not ensure that pupils who are at the earliest stages of reading get the help they need. This means that gaps in pupils' phonic knowledge persist and they are not catching up quickly enough. Leaders should ensure that these pupils receive the help they need to become more confident and fluent readers.
• Leaders do not systematically check and review the impact of the interventions they implement to support pupils' social, emotional and mental health needs. This limits leaders' ability to identify quickly what is working well and whether changes are needed to support pupils further. Leaders should ensure that they routinely monitor, review and evaluate the interventions they have in place and take action to adapt these interventions where needed, according to what they find.

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