Ormiston Maritime Academy

Ormiston Maritime Academy

Address: Westward Ho, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, DN34 5AH Unique reference number (URN): 137196

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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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This school requires special measures

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education, and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders have developed a coherent programme of personal, social and health education programme, which is an entitlement for all pupils. This is delivered through a combination of daily tutor time sessions and weekly ‘Learning for Life’ lessons. This covers relationships and sex education and health education at an age-appropriate level. Leaders support staff to deliver these lessons through appropriate training.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pupils learn about the fundamental British values, including respect and cultural diversity. They also learn about the protected characteristics and why discrimination is wrong. However, many pupils’ knowledge of these areas is very limited or superficial. This is reflected in the disrespectful and intolerant behaviour of a significant number of pupils towards others.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including when they are online. Local and national safeguarding risk factors are built into the programme responsively. For example, pupils have recently learned about the dangers of swimming in open water.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders have implemented a well-mapped careers programme across the school. There is a spotlight on the ‘career of the month’ with wider opportunities for pupils to meet local employers. These include an annual careers fair which is attended by several local companies. Pupils across all year groups have a range of opportunities to engage with universities, colleges and training providers.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

The proportion of pupils going on to sustained destinations after school has been significantly below the national average in the past. However, this has improved more recently. Pupils at risk of not securing destinations, including those who are disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive personalised support, which helps them to do so.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders ensure that staff provide pastoral support for pupils. Staff receive relevant training and a full-time counsellor has been appointed. Pupils are confident in accessing this support when they need to.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders have established a range of enrichment opportunities for pupils. These include clubs which link to pupils’ interests, such as karaoke, combined cadet force and the Duke of Edinburgh award. Many pupils take up these opportunities.

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Achievement Urgent improvement

Pupils do not achieve well. Pupils’ attainment in national tests and examinations is significantly below national averages across all published measures. This has been the case over time and attainment declined further in 2025. Too many pupils do not gain the skills and knowledge that they need to achieve well across the curriculum subjects. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils.

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Achievement Urgent improvement

Many pupils have gaps in their basic knowledge across the curriculum. Leaders do not identify or address gaps in pupils' knowledge and learning quickly enough. When pupils are absent from school, they miss out on too much important learning. Leaders have not put in place an effective system to ensure that pupils are able to catch up with missed learning when they return to school. Too many pupils are not well prepared to progress to the next stage of education, employment or training.

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Attendance and behaviour Urgent improvement

Pupils do not attend school regularly enough. Leaders have not implemented an effective strategic approach to identify the barriers to good attendance and to address these. Leaders have recently introduced a revised system to promote good attendance but it is too early to see the impact of this work. Too many pupils are frequently absent, particularly older pupils. Overall attendance is significantly below the national average, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. This has been the case over time and it shows little sign of improvement. This negatively affects pupils’ achievement as they miss valuable learning time.

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Attendance and behaviour Urgent improvement

Leaders have recently introduced a new behaviour policy across the school. Although this is in its infancy, there are some early signs of positive impact. Most pupils are compliant and the number of suspensions has reduced. However, this system is not implemented consistently by staff. There are still too many pupils who are suspended from school because of their behaviour. Classrooms are generally orderly but learning is disrupted too often by low-level disruption. Bullying and the use of derogatory language occur frequently. Where these happen, most pupils are confident to report it and that it will be addressed. However, some pupils are reluctant to share their concerns.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Leaders have established a curriculum, which is sequenced in a broadly appropriate way. However, the way in which it is taught does not support pupils to learn what has been planned effectively. Too often, teachers do not check pupils’ learning and understanding. This means that teachers do not know pupils’ different starting points in their knowledge. Frequently, teachers do not identify and address misunderstandings and misconceptions. This leads to gaps in pupils’ basic knowledge, which mean that they are unable to access new learning. New leaders have recently introduced improved systems to develop the quality of teaching across the school. This has been supported by adaptations to the professional learning programme and a more comprehensive quality assurance programme. However, this is in the very early stages and it is too soon to see the impact.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not receive a high- quality education. Strategies on ‘pupil passports’ for these pupils are not aligned closely enough with their needs. This means that barriers to learning are not addressed effectively and that many pupils with SEND fall behind.

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Curriculum and teaching Urgent improvement

Leaders have introduced a number of intervention programmes to bridge gaps in pupils’ basic knowledge of reading, writing and mathematics. While there are some initial signs of positive impact of this work, the programme is not consistently effective.

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Inclusion Urgent improvement

Leaders do not identify and assess pupils’ needs accurately and specifically. The professional learning programme for staff does not develop their understanding of how to support pupils who face barriers to their learning effectively. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils. Too often, staff do not make the necessary adaptations to meet the needs of these pupils. Consequently, pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are frequently unable to access the curriculum, and their learning, successfully.

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Inclusion Urgent improvement

Leaders’ strategy for the spending of additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is ineffective. Leaders do not demonstrate a sufficiently deep understanding of how to address the barriers that these pupils face to their learning. Leaders do not monitor the impact of their strategies to support disadvantaged pupils as closely as they need to. As a result, too many of these pupils are unable to thrive in school or succeed academically.

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Inclusion Urgent improvement

A small number of pupils attend alternative provision. This generally supports these pupils to be successful. Leaders work collaboratively with the virtual school to make sure that personal education plans meet the needs of looked-after children.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

The vast majority of achievement, attendance and behaviour indicators across the school have declined over time and are significantly below average. This includes for pupils who are disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders and those responsible for governance recognise that the school’s provision needs to be significantly improved. However, they have not acted swiftly or effectively enough to address these areas.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Over time, trustees and governors have not provided sufficiently robust challenge and support to school leaders. They do not meet their statutory duty to ensure that additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is spent effectively.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Leaders have made a number of recent changes to systems across the school. These are in the initial stages and have begun to show very early signs of positive impact. Leaders have recently revised the professional learning programme and systems of quality assurance to ensure that they are linked directly to the school's improvement priorities. This has developed a greater level of support and accountability for staff across the school.

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Leadership and governance Urgent improvement

Most staff feel supported in their workload and wellbeing. Leaders have introduced strategies to improve engagement with the wider community. While parents and carers value how well staff know their children, many express concerns related to bullying and provision for pupils with SEND.

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

Many pupils at Ormiston Maritime Academy do not have a positive experience of school. Pupils are safe and many have positive relationships with staff and their peers. However, bullying and the use of discriminatory language happen too often. While these incidents are not tolerated by staff, pupils are often not confident in reporting these incidents or their concerns to adults. Most pupils behave calmly and politely but a significant number do not, particularly during social times.

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

Too many pupils do not achieve well and are not well prepared for their next stage of education, employment or training. Some pupils enjoy learning in lessons and make progress across the curriculum from their starting points. However, this is not typical across the school. A significant number of pupils are regularly absent from school. When they return, they struggle to catch up with their learning. There are not sufficiently well-developed systems in place to support pupils who face barriers to their learning, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils who are disadvantaged, to access the curriculum successfully.

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

Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment experiences. These include business breakfasts with local employers, leadership opportunities through the school council and several lunchtime and after-school clubs. Many pupils take up these opportunities. There are also a number of educational visits, including a residential visit to France, trips to the theatre and a visit to the county show, where members of the school's 'Go Green Gardening Club' won an award for presenting what they had grown in the school’s garden.

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Next steps

Leaders, trustees and governors must ensure that they act swiftly to identify, prioritise and implement effective strategies to improve the school’s provision and meet all of their statutory duties. Leaders must ensure that there are effective systems to support pupils to attend school well and to support pupils who are absent to catch up with missed learning, when they return to school. Leaders must ensure that teachers identify and address gaps in pupils’ basic knowledge and skills to support them to achieve well and be ready for the next stage of education, employment or training. Leaders must ensure that the needs of pupils who face barriers to their learning, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils who are disadvantaged, are identified specifically and that these pupils are well supported to overcome these barriers so that that they attend and achieve well.

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Next steps

Leaders must ensure that teachers check pupils’ understanding systematically and that misunderstandings and misconceptions are addressed before moving on to new learning. Leaders must develop and embed recent changes to the behaviour system to secure further improvements in pupils’ conduct and behaviour and that incidents of bullying and discriminatory language are reduced. Leaders must ensure that pupils reflect their learning about diversity, respect and tolerance in their behaviour towards one another and other adults.

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About this inspection

The school is part of the Ormiston Academy Trust, which means that other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Tom Rees, and overseen by a board of trustees.

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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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About this inspection

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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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the CEO of the trust, the principal and other leaders from the school and from the trust. The lead inspector spoke with the chair of trustees. Inspectors also met with teaching and support staff.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with several groups of pupils, as well as having discussions with pupils in lessons and at break and lunchtimes.

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About this inspection

Inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school is currently going through a consultation process about moving from Ormiston Academies Trust to Delta Academies Trust.

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About this inspection

The interim principal took up post at Easter 2026.

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About this inspection

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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About this inspection

The school makes use of 2 alternative provisions, including one that is unregistered.

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Team inspectors:

Sarah Chamings, Ofsted Inspector Vicky Callaghan, Ofsted Inspector Lyndsey Reed, His Majesty's Inspector Katrina Gueli, Ofsted 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 23 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.

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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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English and maths GCSE

Percentage of pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Attainment 8

A measure of pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Progress 8

How much progress pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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national average

2022/23 (final) 16.7% 25.2% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Destinations after 16

Percentage of pupils staying in education or employment for at least 2 terms after the end of secondary school (key stage 4).

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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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