Sladewood Academy

Sladewood Academy

Address: Bisley Old Road, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 1NL Unique reference number (URN): 149763

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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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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils achieve well from their different starting points, including disadvantaged pupils and those known to social care. Pupils are well prepared for their next stage of education, including through the school's ‘our futures’ and ‘our world’ curriculums. Teaching builds pupils' emotional awareness, self-esteem and understanding effectively. As a result, pupils grow in confidence and learn to manage friendships with increasing maturity. A deliberate focus on pupils learning to communicate opens up their world and makes a notable positive difference to pupils' lives.

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Achievement Expected standard

Many pupils arrive with gaps in their knowledge and skills. Targeted support closes these gaps steadily, including in pupils' speech, language and communication and physical development. Increasingly, pupils at the early stages of reading apply their phonics knowledge accurately. They strengthen their handwriting and improve the quality of their writing and basic mathematics. This equips them to apply their knowledge across a range of subjects.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

The school's attendance strategy is highly successful. Staff work extensively with pupils, families and external agencies to ensure that pupils attend well. Rates of absence are consistently lower than those seen nationally for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders analyse patterns of attendance meticulously. Very few pupils are persistently absent as a result.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils and staff form positive relationships with each other. Staff use well ‑ planned strategies to support smooth transitions between lessons, for example, through what the school calls ‘tidy-up time’. Staff are trained in the school's behaviour policy and use de-escalation strategies effectively. This supports pupils to manage their emotions and show positive attitudes to learning at social times. Lunchtime is a hive of activity. Staff teach pupils how to interact with each other successfully. Pupils play together and learn how to make friends as a result. Pupils who struggle to manage their emotions receive timely and purposeful support. Staff accurately record any incidents of poor behaviour and address any incidents that fall short of the school’s expectations appropriately. Discrimination and harassment are not accepted. When needed, suspensions are used appropriately.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders understand the strengths of the curriculum and teaching. They make changes to the curriculum when needed. The 3 learning pathways are generally well sequenced. The mathematics curriculum sets out what pupils should know across each of the 3 learning pathways. There is a deliberate focus on developing pupils’ communication and language skills. Overall, this develops pupils' early language skills well. Early reading is prioritised and this builds pupils’ confidence in their phonics knowledge, when they are ready. Teaching generally develops pupils' basic mathematical knowledge and skills well. Pupils on the subject-specific pathway learn to write in sentences with increasing accuracy. The 'our world' curriculum enables pupils to learn appropriate subject content in a range of subjects.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders set clear expectations for assessment. Staff check what pupils know and understand over time well. As a result, pupils learn the curriculum effectively from their various starting points. However, there are occasions when staff do not make highly effective choices about what to teach and when. When this happens, teaching does not enable pupils to practise the most essential knowledge they need to learn next or staff do not engage pupils in high-quality interactions. This means that a minority of pupils do not benefit as fully from teaching as leaders intend.

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Inclusion Expected standard

A detailed induction ensures that pupils' transition into school life is successful. Leaders and staff use all the information they have about pupils to identify and assess pupils' individual needs quickly and accurately. Pupils receive bespoke support as a result, including disadvantaged pupils.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The school's approach to communication ensures that staff model consistent teaching methods in lessons and around school. For example, through visual timetables, lesson organisation and regular routines. Pupils' voices are promoted throughout the day by using a wide range of communication aids. This enables pupils to communicate, understand and share their views and preferences.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The school invests in high-quality therapy for its pupils. Staff seek and use therapists' advice to make timely adjustments to pupils' experiences and meet their needs. This results in pupils' improved participation in lessons. The school uses additional funding effectively to broaden pupils' wider experiences. Increasingly, it is removing any barriers to learning that disadvantaged pupils may have.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The 'our futures' curriculum promotes pupils' independence and provides them with a breadth of knowledge. It teaches pupils about life beyond school in their community and keeping healthy. Experiences such as 'mini city' and visitors into school help them understand the jobs that people do. This early careers work sets high expectations for pupils' futures. The relationships and sex education and health education curriculum include all the statutory requirements. These curriculums are tailored to pupils' age and stage of development. Pupils learn how to manage their self-care, identify safe people in their lives, how to make informed choices and learn about how their bodies change in puberty, for example.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school day is set up to prioritise and champion pupils' personal development. Each day starts with bespoke well-thought-out routines, which enable each individual to be ready to learn. This increases their participation and belonging. A schoolwide focus on pupils' personal, social, health and economic education sit at the heart of each day. This encourages pupils to make good choices, learn important life skills and develop their voice through the many communication tools on offer. The programme teaches pupils important skills, such as using money and how to visit the library.

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Needs attention

Pupils learn about being tolerant, for example, when taking turns on the swings or playing bat and ball. There are many opportunities on offer for pupils to develop their talents and creativity. Their achievements when performing at dance festivals form highly memorable experiences.

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Needs attention

Leaders and therapy staff have high expectations of pupils. They are systematic in identifying which pupils or groups may need additional pastoral support. However, at times adult support is not highly effective. For example, staff's interactions do not always support pupils' confidence, resilience and independence as well as they might. Leaders know this and are already making strides to address it.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Over time, trustees have not steered the strategic direction of the school or the use of resources effectively. There is ongoing substantial organisational change at trust level. These changes are very recent. The trust does not have enough oversight of the school's work. The trust has clear plans in place to remedy this. However, these plans are not implemented yet. It is too soon to see the impact.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

School leaders and the local academy board (LAB) work with integrity. Pupils are at the centre of their decision-making. For example, increasing the number of curriculum pathways is meeting pupils' needs better than before. The LAB understands many of its duties. It has oversight of safeguarding practices and ensures that the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is spent appropriately.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders build positive relationships with parents and carers. Parents recognise the positive difference the school makes in improving their children's experiences. Staff value the focus on their wellbeing and workload.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders' oversight of the school's work is notable in some aspects. For example, its astute analysis of high rates of attendance and its work to safeguard its pupils. Leaders ensure that staff receive regular staff training, support and coaching. This develops their subject knowledge and teaching over time. Staff make very positive contributions to supporting pupils' individual needs. Even so, leaders know that this work is ongoing because a minority of staff do not secure high-quality interactions with pupils so that they thrive personally and academically.

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

Pupils quickly learn to enjoy school. They rarely miss a day. Pupils are accepted and celebrated as individuals. Staff's nurturing approach makes pupils feel welcome right from the start. Pupils receive a range of therapies to support their development. This increases their participation in learning. Clear early morning routines ensure pupils belong and know what to expect each day. Pupils learn how to make friends and feel safe. They typically behave well. Social times are fun. Pupils learn to play together and take turns. Pupils have confidence in staff to sort out any bullying should it arise.

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

Pupils are well prepared for their next stage of education. Pupils benefit from bespoke curriculums that support their academic and social and emotional needs effectively. Pupils who need them, become increasingly confident in using symbols and toolkits to communicate their feelings and needs. Early language skills are championed. Pupils typically build secure foundations in reading, writing and mathematics. The school's 'our futures' curriculum ensures that pupils learn to understand themselves and the world beyond school effectively. Over time, pupils learn to trust others and take on responsibilities, such as being part of the school council. Pupils and parents and carers recognise the positive difference that the school makes. Parents value that the school promotes family events. For example, when they are invited into classrooms to celebrate pupils' successes over time.

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

The school teaches pupils the importance of being good citizens. For example, by playing board games and serving meals to the elderly in care homes. They learn about the rule of law through working with the police. Pupils particularly relish community projects, designing a bus stop for the local town and delivering food to the local foodbank are particular favourites.

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

The trust does not have sufficient oversight of the school's work. Even so, school leaders work with determination to ensure that the school is continually improving pupils' experiences, and it is.

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Next steps

The trust should ensure that suitable accountability structures are built and used effectively so that there is stringent oversight of all aspects of the school's work. Leaders should continue their work to enhance the implementation of the curriculum, for example, to ensure that teaching consistently builds on what pupils know already and demands enough of them so that pupils achieve highly across the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that the quality of interactions between staff and pupils are consistently effective so that pupils gain enough practice to consolidate and secure their learning.

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About this inspection

This school is part of SAND Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the interim chief executive officer (CEO), David Moran, and overseen by a board of trustees chaired by Richard Sloan.

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About this inspection

An interim executive board is in place. Trustees took up their roles on 17 June 2026. The interim CEO has been in post since April 2026.

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Lead inspector:

Julie Carrington, His Majesty's Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 30 June 2026

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

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What does this mean?

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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What does this mean?

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, assistant headteachers, other leaders and staff. An inspector met with the interim CEO and one other trustee. An inspector spoke with a representative of Gloucestershire SEND commissioning team. Inspectors spoke with some parents at the start of the school day and reviewed the transport arrangements into school.

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What does this mean?

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school: Sladewood Academy is a special school which caters for pupils from the ages of 4 to 11 years. It provides for pupils with moderate to complex learning needs. All pupils who attend the school have an education, health and care plan. There are 3 curriculum pathways. The school does not currently use any unregistered alternative provisions.

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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 at any point in the last 6 years.

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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 needs support 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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What does this mean?

The type of Special Educational Needs provision provided at the school (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.

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Urgent improvement

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

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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