Venture Academy
Stratford Road, Henley-in-Arden, B95 6ADOpen in maps (opens in a new tab)
Venture Academy is a special school in Henley-in-Arden for ages 9 to 16. It is one of the 284 schools in Warwickshire. Its latest Ofsted inspection, in March 2025, graded each key judgement and gave no overall Ofsted rating.
Ofsted inspection
Inspected 11 March 2025, report published 5 May 2025
This inspection graded each key judgement and gave no overall effectiveness grade.
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Met
What Ofsted said
From the inspection on 11 March 2025
Venture Academy is a place where staff have an unconditional positive regard for pupils. Pupils appreciate how understanding staff are, which make them feel happy, safe and settled. They know that staff have their best interests at heart and that they go above and beyond to help. One pupil summed this up beautifully, describing teachers that 'know “about” us, not just “of” us'. This is a school that is built on positive relationships along with compassion, ambition and partnership. Many pupils have experienced significant disruption at other settings, prior to joining. This school provides effective guidance and support to help pupils improve their behaviour and attendance and to develop positive attitudes to their education. Bullying is rare, but if it happens, pupils have absolute trust that staff will sort it out quickly. The school is ambitious and has high expectations of what pupils can achieve. This shows, for instance, in the significant increase in recent GCSE examination entries. Pupils work hard, take pride in what they do and experience success. During their time here, pupils grow in confidence and resilience, which prepares them for their next stage in education, employment or training.
What the school should improve
- Sometimes teachers do not check effectively enough that pupils fully understand content during lessons. This means that teaching can move on too quickly or focus on content which pupils have already grasped. The school should support teachers to check accurately how well pupils understand their lessons and make adaptations to maximise learning.
- When pupils become anxious, especially when there is a sensory trigger, they do not always have access to a suitable space in which they can regain control of their emotions and actions. This means that the time it takes to become calm takes longer than it could. Though space is limited, the school should work to improve current breakout spaces so that sensory factors are considered and so provide pupils with suitable spaces in which to ready themselves for learning.
Exam results
GCSE results (key stage 4), 2024/25
10 pupils in the year group
Pupil numbers and mix
49 pupils on roll, with places for 50
Schools near Venture Academy
| School | Distance | Ofsted | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your Ideas School | 5 miles | Ofsted: Good | Not published |
| Kingfisher School | 5 miles | Report card: Strong standard | Attainment 8: 3.1 |
| Fortitude School | 6 miles | Ofsted: Requires improvement | Not published |
| Welcombe Hills School | 6 miles | Ofsted: Requires improvement | 0% met the expected standard |
| Springfield House Community Special School | 7 miles | Ofsted: Good | 0% met the expected standard |
School details
- School type
- Academy special sponsor led
- Sector
- Academy
- Trust
- MACINTYRE ACADEMIES
- Age range
- 9 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr James Bowater
- Phone
- 01564792514
- Address
- Stratford Road, Henley-in-Arden, B95 6AD
- Local authority
- Warwickshire
- URN
- 144633
School details from Get Information about Schools, 17 September 2026. Ofsted outcomes published to 31 August 2026. Exam results for 2024/25 from the Department for Education. Pupil mix from the school census, 2025/26.