June 29, 2022, Somerset County Gazette: Ofsted: Specialist academy in Taunton needs ‘special measures’ https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/20246460.ofsted-specialist-academy-taunton-needs-special-measures/
SW England
A TAUNTON academy where “pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education” has been told it “requires special measures” following an Ofsted inspection. The Sky Academy, a specialist educational provision for young people with complex social, emotional, and mental health difficulties, was inspected on May 4 and 5, 2022….
The Sky Academy in Taunton has been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted.
The academy’s overall effectiveness was rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted inspectors in a report published on Tuesday, June 28.
It was found to be ‘inadequate’ in its quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management.
It was given the higher ‘requires improvement’ rating in the personal development category. In 2015, when the school was still known as The Sky College, it received a ‘good’ rating. The inspectors, led by Stephen McShane, wrote in their report: “Those responsible for governance were slow to stop the decline of the school.”…
They added: “Too many pupils do not engage in lessons. Some behave very poorly. Leaders and staff say behaviour is now better than it was. However, expectations remain low.
“Staff do not consistently challenge low-level disruption and pupils’ lack of engagement in lessons. This impacts negatively on pupils’ learning.
“On occasions, it means that pupils’ behaviour gets worse. They become aggressive and disrupt the learning of others. Pupils’ attendance has been consistently low over a period of time.” ….
“However, expectations and approaches across the school are unclear. This means that staff do not deal with poor behaviour and lack of engagement consistently.”
Regarding the standard of teaching received by the academy's 78 all-male pupils, the report said: “Some teachers do not have the subject or teaching knowledge they need.
“They do not ensure that classrooms, equipment and resources support pupils to learn the intended curriculum.
“Teachers do not use assessment effectively so that they build on what pupils know already. They frequently fail to take into account pupils’ education, health and care plans (EHC plans).”…
Positive aspects of the report included the academy’s clear careers programme, its use of “The school is now under new senior leadership, and it was pleasing to see Ofsted recognise the positive impact of this change and the hard work put in by staff to nurture and build relationships with our young people and keep them safe.
“The new leadership team will continue to implement their robust action plan to meet all the necessary requirements laid out in this report, that will enable our young people to achieve their best possible outcomes….
Comentarios