Academy 360

Academy 360

Address: Portsmouth Road, Sunderland, SR4 9BA Unique reference number (URN): 145477

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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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Early years Strong standard

Children get off to a flying start in the early years. Experienced and skilled leaders ensure that they establish meaningful partnerships with parents and carers. They have designed an ambitious curriculum that is personalised and adapted to meet the children's individual needs.

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Early years Strong standard

Teaching in the early years is consistently effective. Staff implement strategies to support children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), with expertise and consistency. The 'Skylight' provision provides effective, tailored sensory support for pupils with SEND. Staff carefully design activities. As a result, children engage positively with them from the moment they arrive.

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Early years Strong standard

Staff's interactions with children are nurturing, purposeful and focused on developing children's language and vocabulary. Adults model high-quality language and use their conversations to deepen children's understanding. Children follow established routines confidently, settle quickly and sustain their concentration in play. Staff prioritise reading and teach early reading skills consistently well. In the Reception Year, children quickly secure early phonics knowledge. They benefit from many opportunities to apply this with independence, along with their early writing and number skills, across the provision. Children make secure and consistent progress through the curriculum from their starting points. This helps them to build secure foundations so that they are ready for Year 1.

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Achievement Needs attention

Although leaders have taken recent action to close the gaps in pupils' basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics in the secondary phase, they are not closing quickly enough. This is impeding the progress pupils make and how well they achieve.

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Achievement Needs attention

Some pupils, including those who face barriers to learning, are not as well prepared for their next steps in education, employment or training as they should be. For example, by the end of key stage 4, the proportion of pupils who attain at least a grade 4 in GCSE English and mathematics has been significantly below the national average over time. At key stage 2, while outcomes from national tests in reading, writing and mathematics were much improved in 2025, over time they have been below the national average.

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Achievement Needs attention

Where teaching is more effective and consistent, pupils know and remember more. Outcomes in the phonics screening test in Year 1 and the multiplication tables check in Year 4 are consistently in line with, or above, the national average.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders' actions to improve attendance are at an early stage. They are not yet having sufficient impact. Some pupils do not attend school as well as they should. This is having a negative impact on how well they learn and achieve. Improving attendance is leaders' priority. For example, they have taken recent steps to increase the number of staff who work on attendance. Leaders and staff from different areas of the school, such as inclusion and pastoral, work more closely together to identify the barriers and strategies to support pupils. This work is in its infancy. There are some early signs of positive impact on individuals and groups of pupils.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Across the school, behaviour is mixed. In the primary phase, pupils generally behave well. In the secondary phase, some staff do not apply the behaviour policy consistently. As a result, pupils' behaviour is inconsistent. While lessons are usually orderly and calm, some pupils occasionally disrupt learning. Some others quietly disengage in lessons, which goes unchecked by staff. Bullying sometimes happens here. Some pupils experience unkindness from their peers. Staff typically deal with incidents appropriately.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have taken recent action to develop the support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For example, they have introduced provisions such as 'Lighthouse', 'Horizon' and 'Harbour' to provide targeted support. There are some signs that these are beginning to help pupils with SEND to improve their behaviour.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders know that there are inconsistencies in teaching. They have clarified their expectations by introducing core elements of teaching that pupils should experience in lessons, such as modelling and high-quality explanations. Pupils generally respond positively to the recently introduced tasks that leaders intend will help them to remember their learning. Other aspects of leaders' actions, such as checking for pupils' understanding, are inconsistent. Teachers do not routinely identify or quickly fill gaps in pupils' knowledge. Consequently, learning sometimes moves on before pupils are ready.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Pupils follow a curriculum that is broad and increasingly ambitious. Leaders prioritise securing pupils' basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics appropriately. Staff teach phonics well. Pupils who need it receive appropriate support to catch up in these areas. Some of the targeted support to secure pupils' basic skills in the secondary phase is new so it is too soon to see the full impact of leaders' work.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders ensure that teachers know the strategies to use to help pupils who face barriers to their learning. However, staff do not use these consistently. This limits how successfully some pupils access the curriculum. As a result, they do not achieve as well as they could.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders accurately identify the barriers pupils face, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, some staff do not use agreed strategies to support pupils consistently. This prevents pupils from learning and achieving as well as they could. In the secondary phase, leaders have recently established new provisions, such as 'Harbour' and 'Horizon', to support some pupils with SEND. It is too soon to see the impact of these on pupils' behaviour and attendance.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders have raised expectations for those who access the additional resourced provision for pupils with SEND. These pupils generally integrate well in the school but experience the same inconsistencies in teaching as their peers. This impedes their achievement.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders have a clear strategy to support disadvantaged pupils. For example, they use additional funding appropriately to support disadvantaged pupils with their reading and attendance. Leaders recognise the need to intensify their work to ensure disadvantaged pupils attain better outcomes in national tests and attend more regularly.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Effective partnerships between leaders and other professionals benefit pupils. Leaders work closely with the local authority to ensure those pupils known to children's services get the help they need. Some staff receive high-quality training. However, not all staff have developed the expertise they need to meet pupils' needs consistently.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders use alternative provision appropriately and when it is in pupils' best interests.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Much of what leaders have recently introduced to improve the secondary phase of the school is in its early stages of implementation. As a result, the impact is not realised beyond initial green shoots. Inconsistencies remain, including in teaching, the support for pupils who face barriers to learning and/or their wellbeing and how effectively some pupils' behaviour is managed. Rates of attendance and some pupils' achievement remain too low.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Following a turbulent period, trustees have taken appropriate action to improve aspects of governance. Those responsible for governance provide thorough challenge and support to leaders. They fulfil their responsibilities well. The school is benefiting from increased leadership capacity and expertise, as well as secondments from within the trust. Support from across the trust is also helping to develop middle leaders, such as those with responsibility for a subject. Pupils in the primary phase and children in the early years benefit from experienced and well-embedded leadership.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders are focusing on the right priorities and are taking appropriate, carefully considered steps to make sustainable improvements. High-quality training for staff, particularly in relation to inclusion and meeting pupils' needs, is beginning to have a positive impact. However, leaders know that not all staff have accessed the training they need. Staff, parents and carers are generally positive about recent changes to the school. Most staff value the ways they are supported with their workload and wellbeing.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pupils' knowledge of what they learn through the personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum and in cultural studies is not consistently secure. While pupils' knowledge of some aspects is generally sound, such as how to stay safe online and the potential risks of artificial intelligence, other aspects are less so. For example, some pupils' knowledge of fundamental British values, such as democracy, is not as accurate as it should be. Some pupils do not have a secure understanding of different cultures, world faiths or traditions. This means they are not as prepared as they need to be for life in modern Britain.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

The PSHE curriculum includes age-appropriate relationships, sex and health education, such as healthy relationships and challenging misogyny. Leaders adapt the curriculum to respond to emerging issues, and they ensure that pupils learn about different characteristics that are protected by law. For example, pupils in the primary phase learn to challenge homophobic and racist language. Leaders use an appropriate programme to develop pupils' problem solving, resilience and communication skills. Pupils benefit from effective pastoral support.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders have taken recent steps to ensure that all pupils benefit from a wide and inclusive enrichment offer. For example, enrichment is now built into the school timetable in the secondary phase. Pupils enjoy opportunities to develop their interests, for example in sport and dance. They appreciate being able to try something new, such as mindfulness, origami or crafts. In the primary phase, well-developed outdoor play supports pupils' physical and social development as they learn to assess risks and play cooperatively. Pupils are developing their sense of belonging through the responsibilities they hold and the contributions they make through, for example, their roles on the school council.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

An appropriate careers programme ensures that pupils are well informed about the options available to them post-16.

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

While pupils feel safe at Academy 360, their experiences of school are mixed. Children in the early years get off to a flying start to their education. They quickly adjust to school routines. Staff support them to make friends and to take turns when they play and learn. Pupils in the primary phase are positive about school. They work hard in lessons, listen carefully to teachers and play a full and active part in school life through the responsibilities they hold. These include mini police, eco leaders and running the school's bistro.

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

In the secondary phase, teachers' approaches to managing pupils' behaviour are not consistently effective. While many pupils are diligent and work hard, some disrupt lessons. Some pupils quietly disengage from learning. Some pupils experience bullying. Records show that adults typically take swift action to deal with this. As a result, pupils trust adults to deal with incidents effectively when they arise.

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

Staff care deeply about pupils and want the best for them. They know that many pupils experience barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They have an increasing understanding of pupils' individual needs. However, some staff do not use the agreed strategies that are designed to support pupils. This limits the progress these pupils make through the curriculum.

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

Teaching is getting better, but inconsistencies remain. This is particularly true in the secondary phase. Staff do not close gaps in pupils' knowledge quickly enough. In some instances, these gaps are compounded for some by pupils' low attendance. Over time, in national tests in key stage 2 and key stage 4, pupils have not attained as well as they should. This means pupils are not as well prepared as they should be for their next steps.

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

Leaders are working to stabilise the school following a period of turbulence. While this work is in its early stages, there are promising signs of improvement.

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Next steps

Leaders, including those responsible for governance, should intensify their work to develop and embed strategies to improve pupils' attendance and behaviour. Leaders, including those responsible for governance, should ensure that all staff receive high-quality training and develop the expertise they need to meet pupils' needs effectively. Leaders should ensure that teachers consistently use the agreed strategies to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, so that they access the curriculum securely and make the progress they are capable of. Leaders should ensure that pupils experience consistently high-quality adaptive teaching, and that teachers check pupils' understanding systematically and fill gaps in knowledge quickly so that pupils achieve well. Leaders should develop effective ways to ensure pupils remember what they learn about fundamental British values and different world faiths and cultures so they are better

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About this inspection

This school is part of Laidlaw Schools 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), Sally Newton, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Susanna Kempe.

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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

This inspection took place on 9 and 10 September 2026.

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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 executive principal and other school and trust leaders during the inspection. They spoke with members of the board of trustees, the interim executive board and the CEO. Inspectors visited lessons, spoke with pupils and sampled pupils' work. They observed and interacted with pupils at social times.

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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 inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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Team inspectors:

Ian Rawstorne, His Majesty's Inspector Jacqui Johnson, Ofsted Inspector Stuart Mcghee, Ofsted Inspector Nicola Murray, 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 9 September 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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School capacity

The school includes provision for 35 pupils with moderate and severe learning difficulties in a special educational needs unit.

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School capacity

The school currently makes use of 3 registered alternative provisions.

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School capacity

The school has undergone a significant change since the last inspection. The executive principal has been in post since March 2026.

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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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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2024/25 (final) 61% 62% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 81% 75% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (final) 72% 72% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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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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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (final) 56% 47% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 35% 46% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 43% 44% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2022/23 (final) 50% 60% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (final) 69% 59% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 53% 58% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) 66% 58% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (final) 63% 61% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 50% 59% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 47% 59% Close to average

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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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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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national average

2022/23 (final) 30.1 35.0 Close to average

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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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national average

2021/22 (final) -0.76 -0.55 Close to average

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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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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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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. 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

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

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