Windmill Hill Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 December 2022

At Windmill Hill, staff make everyone welcome. Pupils arrive each day eager to learn. They experience a well-planned, broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils behave well. In classrooms, they listen to each other considerately. Pupils show high levels of engagement in their lessons. At social times, they play together well. Staff promote respect and tolerance. Pupils say that bullying is rare. However, if it happens staff resolve it quickly. Leaders have meticulously crafted a curriculum beyond the academic. This means pupils enjoy a range of experiences that they may not otherwise have. For example, older pupils visit London to gain an experience of modern Britain that is different to their locality. They develop their understanding of democracy with a visit to the Houses of Parliament. Pupils develop their interests through a range of clubs, such as bowls, guitar, computing and football. They talk with pride about how they represent the school in sports competitions. Leaders promote the arts. For example, older pupils speak enthusiastically about their participation in the Christmas production held at the town hall. Parents have highly positive views of the school. They say their children enjoy school and staff are warm and friendly.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, assessment is not well developed. Staff sometimes do not check precisely enough what pupils have learned. This means they miss opportunities to deepen pupils' knowledge even further. Leaders need to ensure that staff check more precisely what pupils have learned across the curriculum to build on pupils' knowledge further.

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