University Academy Holbeach

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 November 2024

This is a welcoming school. Everybody gets along. Pupils are happy here and say they feel safe. They enjoy positive relationships with caring staff. Pupils respect diversity. Discrimination is never tolerated. Any incidents of bullying are taken very seriously. Pupils know who they can talk to if they are worried. They trust staff to provide support if it is needed. The curriculum provides a very broad range of academic and vocational subjects. There are high expectations for what all pupils can achieve, including pupils who are disadvantaged or pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, because the curriculum is not always delivered as effectively as it could be, pupils do not always achieve as well as they should. This is reflected in the recent published outcomes for external examinations. The school provides well for pupils' wider personal development. Pupils learn how to live active, healthy lifestyles. They enjoy a variety of extra-curricular opportunities in sports, the performing arts and other pastimes that interest them, such as knitting or 'Dungeons and Dragons'. Pupils are proud to be prefects or members of the school council. They are involved in decisions that affect the school and lead charity fundraising activities.

What the school should improve

• Teachers do not reliably check how well pupils can recall what they have learned previously or how well they have understood new knowledge. They do not always identify accurately when pupils have knowledge gaps or misconceptions. As a result, pupils sometimes struggle to make connections in their learning and do not gain knowledge as securely as they should. The school needs to ensure that teachers check pupils' understanding accurately and act swiftly to resolve knowledge gaps and misconceptions.
• Teachers do not routinely adapt learning activities to meet pupils' needs. As a result, some pupils, including pupils with SEND, sometimes do not receive the support they need to make sense of new information. At other times, activities are not challenging enough. Consequently, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The school needs to ensure that teachers systematically adapt learning activities to meet the needs of all pupils.
• Senior and trust leaders, and those responsible for governance, do not have a close- enough oversight of work to improve the school's curriculum. It is not always clear what the school is trying to improve, how this will be achieved or whether it is working. The school and trust must ensure that actions to improve the curriculum are thought through sufficiently well. Trust leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that the school's actions to improve the curriculum are effective.

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