Holy Spirit Catholic Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils relish their time at this dynamic school. They spoke proudly of the 'Holy Spirit way' and of how important it is to show respect and to always try their best. Pupils develop strong relationships with staff.

They know that the adults in school care about their emotional health and physical safety.

Pupils respond well to the school's high expectations for their behaviour. Reception-aged children act as positive role models to children in the Nursery Year.

Children in the early years learn cooperatively alongside one another. Older pupils build on this positive start. Their conduct helps to make the school a happy place in which to learn and play.
.../>The school is ambitious for what pupils can achieve. It carefully considers the academic and personal needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils are eager to learn and are attentive in lessons.

Ongoing improvements to the curriculum mean that current pupils achieve well across a broad range of subjects.

Pupils benefit from a wealth of experiences to develop their character and resilience. For example, older pupils recalled their recent residential trip with enthusiasm.

They spoke of overcoming their fears through taking part in an array of outdoor and adventurous activities.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has been on a rapid journey of improvement since opening as an academy. The trust's ambition for pupils to succeed is unmistakable.

It works in close partnership with the local governing body to provide insightful support and challenge. Together, trustees and local governors make a tangible contribution to the leadership of the school.

The school has significantly improved the way that the curriculum is designed and delivered.

Its well-crafted curriculum meets the different needs of pupils successfully. Staff benefit from high-quality support and resources to help them to deliver new subject curriculums successfully. Despite brisk change, staff's morale is high.

Typically, teachers use their strong subject knowledge to explain new learning clearly to pupils. They check that pupils have understood what has been taught before they introduce something new. Pupils make meaningful connections between what they know already and new learning.

They achieve well in most subjects.

In a small number of subjects, curriculum thinking is not as developed. Some staff continue to develop their expertise in making sure that pupils remember and practise what they have already learned in these subjects.

Pupils' knowledge is uneven as a result.

The quality of education that pupils enjoy is not reflected in the school's most recently published provisional data. In 2024, the proportion of pupils who left Year 6 meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was significantly below the national average.

Despite the school's best efforts, these pupils had deep-seated gaps in their knowledge. There was not enough time for them to benefit from the school's significant curriculum improvements. Current pupils are learning the intended curriculum well.

They are better equipped for the next stage of their education.

The school identifies any pupils who may have SEND effectively. It communicates well with a range of professionals to secure expert help for these pupils, should they need it.

Staff make careful adaptations to their teaching to enable pupils with SEND to learn the curriculum alongside their classmates.

The school's focus on spoken language means that pupils communicate their ideas with increasing clarity. Staff immerse children in the early years in a world of songs, rhymes and stories.

In this way, children are introduced to ambitious words that they may not encounter in everyday speech. They are well prepared to access the school's phonics programme.

Suitably trained staff follow the school's approaches to teaching early reading closely.

Most children start to build their phonics knowledge effectively from the Reception Year. Pupils practise their reading using books that closely match the sounds that they know. Even so, some of the support that the school provides for struggling readers is not as effective as it could be.

This means that some pupils do not learn to read with fluency and accuracy as quickly as they could.

The school has strengthened its approach to improving pupils' attendance. It works with increasing success with parents and carers to reduce pupils' absence levels and to improve punctuality.

For example, many pupils start the school day at the 'magic' breakfast club. This means that they arrive on time and that they are ready to learn.

Pupils receive impressive support for their wider development.

They learn to recognise and regulate their emotions, for example by spending focused time with Star, the school's therapy dog. Pupils learn how to keep safe and healthy. They celebrate the differences that exist between themselves and others in society.

They are prepared well for life beyond their local area.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not support a small number of pupils who struggle with their reading as effectively as it could.

This hampers how quickly these pupils learn to read fluently and accurately. The school should support staff in using early reading strategies consistently well so that pupils gain secure phonics knowledge. Some teachers do not implement the curriculum consistently well in a small number of foundation subjects.

Subsequently, pupils do not learn and remember subject knowledge as well as they should in these subjects. The school should refine its curriculum design in these remaining subjects. This is so that teachers know exactly what knowledge must be taught, emphasised and recalled so that pupils gain a deep body of knowledge over time.