Restormel Academy

Restormel Academy

Address: Great Eastern & Great Western, The Sidings, Brunel Business Park, St Austell, St Austell, Cornwall, PL25 4TJ Unique reference number (URN): 139761

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Inclusion Strong standard

The school identifies pupils' needs swiftly and accurately. Leaders and staff skilfully design a bespoke curriculum offer that reduces and overcomes pupils’ barriers to learning. Leaders provide staff with targeted professional training. This ensures that they have the expertise to meet pupils' diverse needs effectively.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have high expectations for all pupils and, in many cases, help pupils to realise those expectations. The school’s success lies in how it adapts provision to meet pupils’ changing and emerging needs. The school continues this adaptive approach as pupils grow and develop as a result of the school's positive impact. Leaders are alert to the often multiple vulnerabilities that many pupils face. The pupil premium strategy is implemented with success. It complements the precise support for pupils’ special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders use rigorous checks on the impact of their strategies to ensure that pupils get the help that they need.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders work closely with external agencies to overcome barriers to education that pupils face. Parents and carers' views are included in shaping the inclusive offer the school provides for their child. Leaders make appropriate use of alternative provision (AP). Structures for tracking pupils who use external AP ensure that pupils make the progress that the AP was commissioned to deliver and remain safe.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders, including trust leaders, use their detailed and insightful analysis of the school's performance to evaluate the effectiveness of their provision. They accurately identify and act on priorities for improvement. Leaders ensure that decisions are routinely made in the best interests of pupils. The success of leaders' actions can be seen clearly in the raised expectations and rapid improvement across all areas of the school's work. It is most notably evident in the precision and success with which the pupils, who are some of the most vulnerable in the local area, are looked after and supported to thrive.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The board of trustees and the 'monitoring hub' carry out their duties effectively. The approach to governance, supported by a highly effective education improvement team, secures a clear understanding of the school's performance. Those responsible for governance provide appropriate support and challenge to leaders.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

The trust has established a high-quality professional learning programme that builds staff expertise effectively. The programme is evidence-informed and coherent. Opportunities for career development and sharing of good practice, to strengthen and enrich the education offer, are readily available. Leaders provide staff with the time needed to carry out their professional learning. They provide meaningful opportunities for staff to share their perspectives and to contribute to decision-making. Staff feel valued and well supported with their workload and wellbeing. Leaders have created a culture of striving for the best possible experience for pupils.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The school prioritises pupils’ personal development. Pupils access a well-sequenced programme that addresses key themes such as mental health, wellbeing and online and offline safety. Pupils develop a deep understanding and age-appropriate knowledge from the personal, social and health education curriculum, including of relationships and sex education.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders ensure that they have a precise understanding of pupils’ needs, interests and abilities. They use this understanding to provide pupils with bespoke experiences and opportunities. For example, they target project work with the emergency services to foster more positive views of authority and public services.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The carefully considered offer supports pupils to address issues that may have led to negative experiences previously, such as poor social skills, language development and anti- social behaviour. Leaders measure the impact of this work and adapt programmes when necessary. They ensure that any barriers to disadvantaged pupils' participation are removed. The impact of the offer on pupils' confidence, oracy skills and engagement is impressive. Pupils can eloquently articulate their appreciation for how staff have supported them.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders encourage pupils to be aspirational. The careers programme is targeted well to give pupils the information they need to be successful beyond school. High-quality work experience opportunities and advice help pupils to secure further education, employment or training.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The school provides opportunities to expose pupils to aspects of modern Britain not readily available in the local community. Pupils know the importance of respecting people who may hold different beliefs and values and that this is an expectation in modern Britain. Along with leaders, pupils recognise the challenges of external factors that influence them negatively, such as social media. The school’s work enables pupils to recognise this and be informed well enough to act with increasing integrity and uphold a clear set of values and morals.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils achieve well from their starting points. They secure achievements in their academic, social and emotional development. The impact of the school’s work, in the time that pupils are on roll, typically leads to rapid improvements in these aspects.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils who complete Year 11 at the school secure aspirational outcomes. These outcomes are in a broad suite of qualifications, which include most gaining at least 5 GCSEs. Pupils learn well at key stage 3. They typically secure the foundations needed to prepare them effectively for their next stage in education, whether this is reintegration back to a mainstream setting or preparing them for the increasingly broad and ambitious key stage 4 offer at this school. Pupils are prepared well for their next steps. Year 11 pupils progress to appropriate destinations to continue their education, employment or training.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

The school’s emphasis on inclusion is reflected in the improvement of pupils’ attendance and behaviour. Many pupils start at the school with low attendance. The school uses a range of strategies to address this, including building positive relationships and providing personalised pastoral support. Leaders remove barriers to attendance, whether related to pupils' needs or other challenges. They work with families, as well as pupils, to build trust and confidence. This helps encourage pupils to view school more positively and to want to attend more regularly. The school’s systems for tracking attendance and responding to absence work well.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour. These expectations are communicated clearly to pupils, parents and carers when pupils begin their induction to the school. Staff are positive role models for pupils. Staff show high levels of care, yet maintain professionalism in their support and interactions with pupils. As a result, pupils generally benefit from the adaptations they need to overcome any challenges they have in managing their behaviour. Behaviour incidents and suspensions have decreased. Typically, pupils demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning and treat one another with respect. On the occasions that pupils do not demonstrate the self-discipline and motivation that the school expects of them, staff provide the necessary challenge and reminders for pupils.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The curriculum is appropriately broad and designed to help pupils achieve ambitious goals. This helps pupils to develop the knowledge they need to move on to post-16 provision, or for integration to their next appropriate settings. Leaders have well-embedded systems in place to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge on entry. They check the ongoing quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning and bring about improvement when necessary. The curriculum offer has grown as current leaders drive rapid improvements across the school. Staff have secure knowledge of the subjects that they teach.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders, in collaboration with the trust, have rightly focused on addressing gaps in reading, writing and number skills, as many pupils start here with significant gaps in this important knowledge. Leaders ensure that the teaching of reading has the necessary, positive impact on pupils' ability to read. There is a clear focus on language and vocabulary development as part of ensuring that pupils have the knowledge they need to move on to more complex learning. The trust has prioritised professional learning for staff in relation to teaching ambitious vocabulary and language. This provides staff with the skills they need to adapt teaching successfully so that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or facing other barriers, are not hindered in their progress through the curriculum.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

The school is a haven of support and trust for its pupils. Pupils say that they feel understood and supported to develop self-belief in what they can do and achieve. Pupils rightly have confidence in staff to provide what they need so that they can learn successfully and face challenges positively. Pupils value staff’s investment of time and care in them. This grows a strong sense of belonging and goes some way to repair the negative views of education that many pupils start at the school with.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils benefit from staff’s high ambition for what they can achieve in the often short time that they attend the school. Pupils rise quickly to the high expectations that staff have of them, in their conduct and their attitudes to learning. This results in a typically calm and constructive learning environment. Staff help pupils who struggle with the school’s high expectations to react more positively and improve their behaviour over time. Pupils are not worried about bullying and typically develop positive relationships with their peers.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils achieve well. These achievements span a broad range of outcomes, in addition to academic success. Rapid improvements in pupils' attendance and incidents of behaviour demonstrate the difference that the school makes for its pupils. Pupils enjoy an educational offer that meets their needs, whether that is special educational needs and/or disabilities, or a need that arises due to other experiences.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils’ academic offer is complemented well by pastoral support and a highly effective programme to develop pupils personally, including their social skills and emotional understanding. The curriculum is enriched through trips, work experience opportunities and community links. This ensures that pupils gain a valuable insight into the world around them. It prepares pupils to be confident and resilient in their next stage of education, employment or training.

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Next steps

• Leaders should ensure that highly effective teaching is embedded across the school so that pupils recall and build on their prior learning consistently well. • Leaders should continue their work to ensure pupils have the strategies they need to overcome challenges and display appropriate conduct and self-discipline consistently well.

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About this inspection

This school is part of Wave Multi-Academy 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), Rob Gasson, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Justin Day.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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School and pupil context

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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School and pupil context

Inspectors spoke with the head of school, vice principal, the trust's deputy CEO and the trust's director of education during the inspection. Inspectors met with staff and pupils across the 2 days. The lead inspector spoke with trustees, including the chair of the board of trustees, and members of the monitoring hub, including the chair. The lead inspector spoke with the local authority education inclusion advocate. The team inspector spoke with the alternative provision that the school uses.

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School and pupil context

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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School and pupil context

The school makes use of one unregistered alternative provision.

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School and pupil context

The school has undergone a significant change since the last inspection. The head of school and vice principal started in post in January 2025. A significant proportion of the school staff are new since the last inspection.

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School and pupil context

Pupils come on roll with the school at any point in the school year. Typically, pupils on roll have been or were at risk of being permanently excluded from their school. The school is commissioned to support pupils to re-engage with education. This can result in reintegration to mainstream education, moving on to a specialist setting or moving into education, employment or training at the end of Year 11. The majority of pupils are registered solely with this school. However, a small number of pupils are dual-registered and remain on the roll of the referring school setting.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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