The Skipton Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 January 2023

The Skipton Academy has improved significantly over the last few years. It is now a good school. Leaders have raised ambitions for what pupils can achieve. Pupils talk about their personal ambitions for further study and work. They know the qualifications they need to achieve them. Pupils, including those with additional needs, are now making strong progress in most subjects. Behaviour in lessons, and around the school, is calm. Pupils are keen to do well. When pupils' behaviour falls short of expectations, adults remind them to do better and behaviour quickly improves. Bullying is rare. If it does occur, pupils report it and it is dealt with quickly and effectively. Adults routinely check in with pupils involved in bullying to confirm that the issues have been resolved. The reputation of the school within the local community has improved significantly. Pupil numbers are increasing rapidly. Many pupils have joined the school mid-year during the last few years. These pupils receive very high-quality support to help them quickly feel that they belong and are fully part of the school community. The significant increase in pupils attending the school has allowed the range of qualifications and extra-curricular opportunities offered to pupils to grow. Pupils are proud to say they attend The Skipton Academy. Parents and carers would overwhelmingly recommend the school to other parents.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, pupils are studying curriculums that have been developed relatively recently. In these subjects, older pupils have previously studied the 'old', less rigorous, curriculums. As a result, they have some gaps in their knowledge which is making new learning particularly challenging. Leaders should ensure that these gaps in knowledge are accurately identified and addressed.
• Leaders identified some areas of the previous personal development curriculum that were not as effective as they wished. A new curriculum has been introduced. However, leaders have not clearly identified how they are evaluating the effectiveness of the new curriculum. Leaders should clearly identify how they will reliably assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the new personal development curriculum. This will allow them to make informed decisions about whether the new personal development curriculum is achieving the desired improvements in supporting pupils' personal development, and whether further revisions are necessary.

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