Blackpool secondary school told it requires improvement by Ofsted again

Highfield Leadership Academy was inspected by Ofsted between March 12 and 13 this year, and in a new report published on May 8, it was given a rating of ‘Requires Improvement’.

Located on Highfield Road and home to 635 pupils, the school was classed as ‘requires improvement’ in three categories (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; leadership and management) but ‘good’ for its personal development.

Highfield Leadership Academy was also classed as requires improvement in its last full inspection in September 2021, following an inadequate rating in its February 2019 inspection.

If a school requires improvement it means it is not yet good but overall provides an acceptable standard of education, and it will receive a graded inspection again within a period of 2.5 years.

If a school has been judged as requires improvement at two successive inspections, as Highfield has, it will also be subject to monitoring from inspectors to check its progress.

What does the school do well?

In the report’s first paragraph, inspectors wrote: “Some pupils readily embrace the wealth of opportunities that the school provides, particularly opportunities to develop their leadership skills. Pupils spoke convincingly about how well they are supported by staff. Pupils appreciate that their views are represented by the school council and taken into consideration when decisions about school life are made. The school offers a range of clubs.”

Inspectors also noted that “the school has created an environment where pupils feel safe and happy” and in turn “pupils generally behave well in lessons.”

In terms of the curriculum, it is described as “ambitious”, whilst the additional needs of pupils with SEND are identified “accurately” and “met successfully”.

Staff at Highfield are also said to be ”proud to work at this school and they feel valued”, having a well considered workload as well.

What does the school need to do to improve?

Inspectors highlight how “many pupils do not attend school regularly” and “the number of pupils who are absent and persistently absent has risen over time.”

In terms of the curriculum, it “is not implemented consistently well across different subjects and year groups” and “some teachers do not design suitable learning activities to help pupils to learn the content of the curriculum.”

Pupils in key stage 4, who find reading difficult, also “do not receive the support that they need to overcome gaps in their reading knowledge” whilst “some teachers do not use assessment strategies effectively to check what pupils know”, meaning gaps in learning are not addressed.

Ultimately, inspectors summarised: “Despite the strengthened curriculum, the trust’s and the school’sevaluation of the quality of education is overgenerous. It does not pinpointsufficiently well the deficiencies in the delivery of the curriculum. Therefore, weaknesses in the quality of education persist.”

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What does the school say about it’s latest report?

A spokesperson for Highfield said: “The inspection report acknowledges the school’s many strengths, including the ‘wealth of opportunities that the school provides’, a school environment where ‘pupils feel safe and happy’ and our ‘ambitious curriculum’. We recognise that we must continue to strengthen our pupils’ learning and embed the highest standards throughout all aspects of the school. We are already focussing on areas to enhance our pupils’ learning, and we will continue our efforts to improve attendance so that all pupils benefit from our ambitious curriculum.”