The Quest Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 March 2024

The school strives to support pupils through its 'LEARN' values. These include being aspirational, resilient and nice to others. Pupils know these values and are taught about how they are important to their lives, both in school and more widely. The school has built an ambitious curriculum. It expects all pupils to build up and remember knowledge, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In the classroom, this ambitious curriculum is not realised well enough for pupils in Years 7 to 11. This means that, in these year groups, pupils do not achieve highly across subjects. In the sixth form, students experience a well-taught curriculum. They work hard and are well supported to achieve the school's ambitious goals for their achievements. Overall, pupils understand and follow the rules and expectations for behaviour. Pupils very rarely disrupt the learning of others in lessons. However, in a few instances, teaching does not encourage pupils to expect the most of themselves in their learning, leading to some pupils opting out of tasks set in class. This holds pupils back from achieving highly. Leaders think carefully about the enrichment opportunities that the school provides. They have ensured that pupils experience a rotation of activities that include some things that they would not otherwise take part in. These include, for example, cycling, gardening and theatre club. Leaders also make educational trips available each half term. These are planned to promote pupils' cultural development and understanding of wider society.

What the school should improve

• Some teaching, mostly in Years 7 to 11, does not have sufficiently high aspirations for all pupils' achievement. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school should address this through training for staff to help them to implement the ambitious curriculum.
• In some teaching, not enough emphasis is placed on checking pupils' understanding and how well they can remember knowledge over time. This means that some of pupils' misconceptions are not tackled, which in turn hinders them progressing through the curriculum. The school should address this by providing staff with training and guidance on how to assess pupils' learning and use these assessments to support all pupils to build up their knowledge step by step.
• On occasion, the school's approach to promoting high standards of behaviour is not being applied with rigour. This means that, while pupils' behaviour is positive overall, there are instances where their conduct does not match what the school expects of them. This can include their use of language when talking to their peers. The school should make sure that its high expectations for behaviour are fully embedded, including tackling any use of inappropriate language between pupils.

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