Stanchester Academy

Inspection of Stanchester Academy East Stoke, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset TA14 6UG

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 November 2024

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good

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The headteacher of this school is Gregg Mockridge. This school is part of Bridgwater and Taunton College Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Peter Elliott, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Andrew Berry. 19 and 20 November 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school day is well organised and purposeful. Most pupils focus on their learning and behave well. Typically, lessons proceed without disruption. Pupils enjoy supportive relationships with staff. They are rewarded for reflecting the school’s values of ambition, respect and community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Year 7 pupils relish the new challenges of the secondary school curriculum. Over time, however, pupils do not learn some aspects of the curriculum in enough depth. In recent years, they have not achieved well in their GCSE examinations, although there are signs that standards are improving in English and mathematics.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Increasingly, pupils take confidence from the effective way that the school addresses poor behaviour, including bullying. Nonetheless, there are places around the school site where lapses in pupils’ conduct are more frequent. Some pupils do not show respect for the school’s high expectations of behaviour and receive repeated sanctions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils read a wide range of interesting literature that helps them to understand the world and the experiences of others. Pupils find common ground by joining in with clubs, such as ‘games with brains’, and sports activities, such as netball. There are opportunities to travel abroad. For example, pupils studying history are looking forward to an upcoming trip to Berlin.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading is at the centre of school life. Pupils follow a rich curriculum in English that develops their knowledge and vocabulary. They routinely share books with staff and classmates. There is effective support for those who need to work on weaker aspects of their reading. These developments need more time to embed before the impact is fully reflected in examination results.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils follow an increasingly ambitious curriculum. They study a wider range of subjects in key stage 4 than they have in the past. However, in some subjects, the curriculum content is too simple. The work given to pupils does not provide enough opportunity for them to deepen their knowledge. Consequently, pupils struggle to learn more complex ideas.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has recently improved the approach to checking that pupils understand and remember what they have learned. In some subjects, checks focus on the most important curriculum content, or the knowledge that pupils have found tricky before. However, this is not consistent. Sometimes teaching does not identify and respond to the gaps in pupils’ knowledge successfully.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Teaching is often adapted in the light of pupils’ special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school provides training to help staff to do this. Nevertheless, there are still occasions when pupils’ needs are not understood or addressed effectively. 19 and 20 November 2024

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The school experienced a period of unsettled leadership after the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a decline in the standard of pupils’ behaviour and their academic outcomes. The trust took appropriate action to provide stable leadership. The school is now an orderly place where most pupils focus well on their studies. However, there remain groups of pupils who do not yet reflect the school’s high expectations.

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The school provides support off site for some pupils who struggle to manage their behaviour or learn successfully alongside their peers. These pupils follow a broad curriculum and access support such as counselling. There is a lack of clarity between trust and school leaders as to how well pupils in different circumstances access the provision. This makes it difficult for leaders to check that their approach is helping each pupil to fulfil their potential.

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Attendance is improving thanks to the school’s work to strengthen the way it communicates with parents. Nevertheless, a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are often absent. The support provided by the school does not reliably lead to sustained improvements in the attendance of individual pupils.

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Pupils receive valuable guidance from staff and external speakers. This helps them to keep safe and well. The school carefully considers how best to prepare pupils for their experiences of adulthood, including personal relationships and the world of work. The provision for careers education is strong. Pupils receive useful and wide-ranging careers advice, as well as support with their next steps.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The work given to pupils does not help to ensure that they learn the subject curriculums in enough depth. This makes it difficult for pupils to achieve the ambitious aims of each subject over time and limits their success in examinations. The trust should ensure that pupils build up detailed knowledge in each subject so that they can fulfil their potential at the end of key stage 4.  Recent improvements to assessment across the school have not been implemented consistently well. In some subjects, misconceptions are not addressed effectively. As a result, pupils have gaps in their knowledge which persist. The trust should ensure that teaching is responsive to any insecure knowledge identified through checks on learning.  The school’s high expectations are not yet reflected in pupils’ consistently positive attitudes towards their education. Despite improvements for many, there remain groups of pupils whose behaviour and attendance require significant support. The trust

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should ensure that the school helps pupils to build on and sustain any improvements to their behaviour and attendance over time.  The intended support for pupils with additional needs, including SEND, is sometimes unclear. Consequently, staff do not know the most effective ways to support some pupils, and the school struggles to identify what is working well. The trust should ensure that the purpose of any additional support is clear and check that this is having the intended impact.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 19 and 20 November 2024

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School details

Website http://stanchester-academy.co.uk/

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 15 and 16 October 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school joined the Bridgwater and Taunton College Trust in December 2019. The trust comprises three primary schools and four secondary schools.  The headteacher and the chair of the local governing body joined the school in September 2022.  The school uses two unregistered alternative providers. This includes provision run by the trust.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and 19 and 20 November 2024

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management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, members of the senior leadership team, the CEO, the chair of the board of trustees, other leaders from the multi-academy trust, the chair of the local governing body and one other governor.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, science, and business and digital skills, which includes business studies and computing. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.

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 Inspectors also discussed the curriculum and visited lessons in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Lydia Pride, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Steve Smith Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 November 2024

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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