a school not in a category of concern of Oasis Academy Arena

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Jeanette Bell Principal Oasis Academy Arena Albert Road South Norwood London SE25 4QL

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Academy Arena

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 8 July 2025, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook . I was accompanied by Rebecca Iles-Smith, His Majesty’s Inspector.

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Academy Arena

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Academy Arena

During the inspection, we discussed with you and other senior leaders, the chief executive officer (CEO) and deputy CEO of the trust, the regional director and other staff the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We met with the leaders responsible for safeguarding, the curriculum and attendance, visited a sample of lessons, met with groups of pupils and staff, and considered documentation relating to school improvement. We have considered all this in coming to our judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

The school should take further action to:  ensure that the recent work to improve pupils’ reading provides more opportunities for pupils to develop their fluency and comprehension skills  embed the improvements seen in the implementation of the curriculum to ensure that pupils have more opportunities to think deeply and develop a greater depth in their learning.

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Main findings

Since the last graded inspection of the school in November 2023, there have been significant changes to the roles and responsibilities of senior leaders. The school has appointed several key staff to lead specific areas of the school with more accountability and transparency, including in safeguarding.

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Main findings

At the time of the last inspection, there was variability in the implementation of the curriculum. Since then, you have acted swiftly to ensure that teaching focuses more clearly on the checking of pupils’ learning and addressing misconceptions quickly to address gaps in understanding. Pupils respond positively to effective teacher questioning and clear explanations of new curriculum content. Pupils are better supported to build their knowledge in a more coherent way across a variety of subjects. You have provided staff with a well-focused programme of professional development. This has included supporting teachers to develop more strategies to promote the importance of reading across different subjects. The school has prioritised the teaching of reading and is identifying pupils who are unconfident in this area, with more precision. The school delivers a range of interventions to support these pupils develop their vocabulary.

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Main findings

However, more work needs to be done to improve their fluency and comprehension.

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Main findings

You are aware that greater consistency in the application of these strategies across all areas of the school is essential to improve the quality of education further. You have also increased the leadership capacity within different subjects. This has resulted in staff receiving clearer guidance about what effective teaching looks like. It has raised their expectations about the quality of work which should be produced by pupils.

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Main findings

You, and your leaders, have ensured that the actions taken are rightly focused on the school’s key priorities for improvement. Working with the wider trust and local schools, you use the information you gather systematically to inform your decision-making and to quality assure the impact of your work. While these issues are not ‘quick fixes’, your work is resulting in a positive change in the professional culture across the school. You have also carefully considered staff well-being and workload and are consultative in your approach. This ensures that staff are fully on board and are playing an active role in school improvement. The trust is providing appropriate and robust support to the school to ensure further improvement and consistency in the quality of provision.

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Main findings

The previous inspection highlighted variation in the attendance of pupils and some of the leadership systems to monitor absence, including of children who are missing from education. You have addressed this by raising expectations and providing staff and pupils with clarity regarding those expectations. Pupil attendance is now improving, and the school has put in a range of effective strategies to promote the value of education. The school’s work with engaging parents and carers in their child’s attendance and participation in school life is impressive.

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Main findings

You have been working constructively with the trust and make additional use of other external support when appropriate. This includes the commissioning of a whole-school review on the quality of education and developing teacher expertise.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of Oasis Community Learning, the CEO, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Croydon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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