Kinetic Academy

Inspection of Kinetic Academy Meir Youth Cafe, Sandon Road, Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST3 7DJ

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Kinetic Academy is a friendly school where pupils are happy and feel safe. This school gives pupils who have previously struggled in other schools a fresh start to their education. Staff prioritise forming strong professional relationships with pupils. This leads to high levels of trust between staff, families and pupils. Staff, including the proprietor, take time to get to know pupils and do all they can to help make the transition into school positive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school aims to ensure that pupils achieve well and enjoy coming to school. However, the school has not tackled weaknesses in the curriculum quickly enough. Because of this, not all pupils receive a curriculum that enables them to achieve well and be ready for their next stage in education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school supports pupils to improve their behaviour well. It helps pupils to reflect on their own behaviour, develop tolerance and understand the needs of others. As a result, the school is mostly a calm place to learn. Pupils are often kind and supportive of each other and show genuine respect for staff and visitors.

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better?

The proprietor and other school leaders have a clear and ambitious vision for the school. However, it has been a turbulent time at the school, and as a result, the vision is not consistently realised. The school prioritises the safety of its pupils. Staff follow an extensive training package that includes many different aspects of safeguarding. The school shows care and consideration for staff, who are positive about working there. The proprietor body ensures that the school complies with Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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better?

The proprietor does check some aspects of the school regularly, for example safeguarding, attendance, health and safety and finance. In these areas, the proprietor ensures that the independent school standards are met. However, they have not consistently made regular checks on the quality of education so as to help them to know what is going well and what needs to improve further. The school does not consistently identify weaknesses or take effective action to improve these weaknesses. For example, weaknesses in the curriculum have not been addressed. As a result, the school does not meet some of the independent school standards relating to the quality of education and leadership.

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better?

The school has not constructed a broad and ambitious curriculum for all pupils that considers their starting points and needs. The school has not considered how to adapt the curriculum for these pupils, all of whom have education, care and health (EHC) plans. Furthermore, although some staff have strong subject knowledge, too often, pupils do not get the help they need to understand a concept or skill before moving on to the next activity. Consequently, too many pupils do not achieve well, and they experience a curriculum that is not tailored well enough to their needs. 21 to 23 January 2025 The school does not provide strong enough support for pupils who need to improve their reading or develop a love of reading. Staff do not have the knowledge or resources to assess and teach reading effectively. The school does not have an accurate view of what pupils can read and what support they need. As a result,

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better?

pupils do not gain the necessary skills and knowledge to become confident and fluent readers.

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better?

Although the school has designed a procedure for assessing pupils’ needs and how well they progress through the curriculum, it is not implemented consistently well enough. Additionally, the school does not identify pupils’ special educational needs and/or disabilities sufficiently well. Consequently, pupils do not achieve well or receive the support they need.

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better?

The school has high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Staff receive high-quality behaviour management training. This training is having a positive impact. Staff understand how to help pupils who need extra support with their behaviour effectively.

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better?

The personal, social, health and economic curriculum helps pupils to explore and develop important knowledge that they may need in the future. For example, they learn about different types of relationships and practise decision-making skills. Pupils have access to a broad range of experiences that are linked to the curriculum or improve pupils’ social skills. Pupils enjoy visiting different places of worship and local amenities. Sometimes, these experiences include the whole family. Older pupils take part in community projects. Recently, pupils have begun work to transform a community garden. Staff use the seven pillars that underpin the school’s values to teach and celebrate differences and similarities. Secondary-aged pupils receive careers advice, guidance and work-related experiences. This guidance helps them to think about careers they may wish to pursue.

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better?

The school works closely with parents and carers to help them manage any challenging behaviour in the home. Attendance, while not high, has improved considerably for some pupils. Systems are in place to oversee individual attendance and work with parents to get pupils into school. This sometimes involves adapting the timetable and building up the time a pupil spends in school.

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better?

Pupils develop a positive attitude to their work and understand the school’s expectations. They respond positively to the school’s rewards system and proudly talk about how their behaviour has improved since coming to this school. These improvements in behaviour are visible in the kind and sensible interactions around the school. Pupils show increasing control when frustrated and mostly speak to adults in school in a respectful way.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 to 23 January 2025

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 The school has not ensured that all pupils receive a curriculum which is suitably adapted to meet the needs of pupils. As a result, not all pupils build appropriately on what they already know and can do. The school should ensure that pupils receive and access a curriculum that meets their needs fully.  The school’s systems and processes for assessing pupils’ needs are implemented inconsistently. As a result, too many pupils do not have their needs identified and met appropriately. This means pupils do not develop the skills and knowledge that they need. The school should ensure that they identify pupils’ needs accurately and meet these needs sufficiently well.  The school has not ensured that reading has been a high enough priority or that staff develop the knowledge and expertise that they need to teach reading well. Additionally, pupils’ reading knowledge is not assessed well enough. As a result,

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

pupils do not read with fluency and accuracy and have limited strategies for attempting unknown words. The school should ensure that staff have the required expertise to teach and assess reading well.  The proprietor and those responsible for the school do not have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, they are not able to check accurately on how effective their improvement strategies are. The school should introduce systems and processes that support them to check what needs improving and how well their improvement strategies are working.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 21 to 23 January 2025

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School details

Unique reference number 140330 DfE registration number 861/6011

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School category

Email address director@kineticmail.co.uk

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School category

Dates of previous inspection 15 to 17 March 2022 21 to 23 January 2025

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Information about this school

 The last standard inspection took place on 15 to 17 March 2022. Since then there has been a material change inspection on 29 November 2023.  The school currently operates from 2 sites. These are Meir Youth Cafe, Sandon Road, Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST3 7DJ and Core Building, Chelson Street, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST3 1PT.  The school provides education for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. All pupils have an EHC plan.  A new headteacher joined the school in September 2024.  The school currently offers full-time education for key stage 2, key stage 3 and key stage 4 pupils.  The school has two sites. One is for key stage 4 pupils and the other key stage 2 and three pupils.  Pupils are admitted to the school through local authorities, including Stoke City and Staffordshire.  The school does not have a religious denomination.  The school does not currently use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school has failed to meet the independent school standards. These are the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the proprietor body, the headteacher and other senior leaders.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science, personal, social, health and economic education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, 21 to 23 January 2025 spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at

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Information about this inspection

samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including school policies and attendance information.  The inspectors considered responses to Ofsted Parent View and the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Amanda Green, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Helen Forrest His Majesty’s Inspector 21 to 23 January 2025

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

 2(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if- – 2(1)(a) the proprietor ensures that a written policy on the curriculum, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work, which provides for the matters specified in sub-paragraph (2) is drawn up and implemented effectively; and – 2(1)(b) the written policy, plans and schemes of work- – 2(1)(b)(i) take into account the ages, aptitudes and needs of all pupils, including those pupils with an EHC plan; – 2(2) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(1)(a), the matters are- – 2(2)(h) that all pupils have the opportunity to learn and make progress; and  3 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school- – 3(a) enables pupils to acquire new knowledge and make good progress according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught; – 3(b) fosters in pupils self-motivation, the application of intellectual, physical and

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

creative effort, interest in their work and the ability to think and learn for themselves; – 3(c) involves well planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time; – 3(d) shows a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the pupils, and ensures that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons; – 3(e) demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter being taught; – 3(f) utilises effectively classroom resources of a good quality, quantity and range; – 3(g) demonstrates that a framework is in place to assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly and use information from that assessment to plan teaching so that pupils can progress.

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school- – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; 21 to 23 January 2025 – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently. 21 to 23 January 2025 and inspects to 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 looked-

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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