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

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Victoria Dillon-Thiselton Headteacher Havant Academy Wakefords Way Havant Hampshire PO9 5JD

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Havant Academy

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 16 and 17 September 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 was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require special measures following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in February 2025.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Havant Academy

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school's key and (where applicable) provision 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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Special measures monitoring inspection of Havant Academy

During the inspection, Stephen Cattell, His Majesty's Inspector (HMI), Catherine Old, HMI, and I discussed with you, other senior leaders, trust leaders and 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 also visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, held meetings with pupils and other staff, visited breaktime and scrutinised records of trust meetings. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to no longer be judged as requiring special measures.

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The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be

considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the previous inspection in February 2025, seven new members of staff, across a range of roles, have joined the school. You have strengthened the capacity in the senior leadership team with support and guidance from the trust. The DfE has assigned a regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) advisor to work with the school.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

You have ensured that leaders continue to raise expectations for pupils’ learning and achievement. The curriculum is designed to support pupils to develop stronger foundational knowledge and raise achievement. Since the last inspection the school has trained staff to consistently deliver lessons that revisit prior learning. You and your team have also ensured that staff focus on checking pupils’ understanding during lessons. However, although staff check pupils’ understanding, gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not then addressed swiftly enough. This prevents pupils from catching up on missed learning and building knowledge securely.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The school’s provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is developing. Leaders have ensured that support for pupils includes pupil voice and appropriate strategies to support individuals in lessons. However, staff do not know pupils’ needs sufficiently well. Although staff ensure that pupils are supported with appropriate resources, they do not routinely use adaptive learning strategies to support pupils with SEND to learn well.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Improving pupils’ reading continues to be a strong focus for the school. Staff are trained to deliver frequent reading sessions. These aim to develop a love of reading and interest in different texts. The sessions are delivered with varying expertise. The school plans to improve the consistency of teaching with further training and sharing of best practice. Pupils who are weaker readers receive support to help them to catch up. This support is having some positive impact and is now being used to support key stage 3 pupils so that they catch up sooner. Currently, the weaker reading strategy is not used more widely across the school to support pupils to read accurately in other subjects.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the last inspection, the school has reset behaviour expectations of pupils. You and your team have introduced and begun embedding the new school values: ‘ready, respectful, safe’. The school has introduced a behaviour curriculum for pupils that explicitly teaches the values and what these mean. Lessons are generally calmer than they were at the time of the last inspection. However, some pupils are not consistently engaged in their learning. The implementation of the school’s renewed expectations is not embedded. There is appropriate training and monitoring in place to enable this to continue improving. The number of suspensions is declining gradually, including for pupils with SEND. However, this remains a key issue that needs continued focus. The school has revised how staff support pupils to reintegrate back into the classroom when behaviour has been poor. The approach is focused on resetting expectations and building positive relationships

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

between staff and pupils. For some pupils, this is starting to work and pupils are beginning to trust that staff want the best for them.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Pupils’ attendance is gradually improving overall. The school continues to focus on engaging families and pupils and building a sense of belonging at the school. You and your team have introduced some new approaches to address low attendance, which are showing signs of impact. The proportion of pupils who are persistently or severely absent is falling. There is still more to do, however, to ensure that pupils attend well. Pupils’ punctuality is also an issue that is being addressed and a continued focus for the school. Currently, too many pupils miss important learning at the start of the day.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Trustees and other trust leaders know the school well. They have a realistic and accurate understanding of the school’s effectiveness. The trust provides support to ensure that the school’s actions address what needs to improve swiftly and sustainably. There are appropriate processes to hold leaders to account for the necessary improvements. Training for teachers is focused on the right priorities. You and other leaders recognise that this training now needs to have more impact on the quality of pupils’ experiences and learning. Most staff are proud to work at the school. They feel that the school is heading in the right direction. They are invested in improving the school and supported to develop in their roles.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The arrangements for safeguarding continue to be effective. The school has addressed the minor weaknesses identified at the previous inspection. Records are maintained accurately so that a clear chronology of actions and reports is held in one place. Leaders have also created a new physical ‘safeguarding hub’ for staff and pupils, which strengthens further how staff work together to keep pupils safe.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, and the CEO or equivalent of the The Kemnal Academies Trust, the Department for Education's regional director and the director of children's services for Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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