The Featherstone Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 23 March 2022

Staff understand the community that they serve. Leaders use this knowledge to plan a curriculum that develops pupils as individuals as well as enabling their academic success. Staff share leaders' vision. Everyone is pulling in the same direction for pupils at The Featherstone Academy. Pupils are supported to become resilient learners. They enthuse about their 'Applied Resilience' programme. Younger pupils get the freedom to learn new skills and try new things. For example, some pupils choose to learn Latin, some develop their sports leadership skills, and others deepen their understanding of engineering. Pupils value this dedicated time to develop their personal interests. As one pupil put it, 'it gives us diversity of learning'. This work builds their confidence and supports their learning across the curriculum. Pupils feel safe. They know that the door is open if they want to talk to pastoral staff about any issues. Year 7 pupils feel well supported to settle into the school. Leaders swiftly clamp down on any bullying that occurs. Leaders set a high bar for what they expect of pupils. Lessons are generally calm and orderly. Pupils say that behaviour has improved over time. However, some pupils told inspectors that occasionally behaviour can disrupt learning in some subjects. A small minority of pupils find it difficult to consistently reach the school's high behaviour expectations.

What the school should improve

• The school's curriculum does not currently give all pupils access to a broad range of subjects. However, it is clear from leaders' actions that they are in the process of bringing this about. For example, computing and music have recently been introduced to the curriculum. Leaders need to complete the process of ensuring pupils have access to a broad range of subjects at key stage 3 and 4, within their identified timescales. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.
• Over time, suspensions and internal sanctions have been high. A small minority of pupils are repeatedly issued with internal sanctions or are suspended from school due to behaviour incidents. This means that pupils miss lessons. Leaders should work to reduce the incidents of poor behaviour that are leading to suspensions and internal sanctions.

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