King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe at King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), benefit from a curriculum that is well planned and taught. Pupils demonstrate a positive attitude to their learning.

This helps them to achieve well.

Pupils are respectful of each other. They learn about, and are considerate of, different faiths and cultures.

Pupils say that behaviour has improved this year. This is because clear expectations have been established. Classrooms are purposeful places... where pupils can learn.

When low-level disruption interrupts learning, it is dealt with quickly by teachers. Behaviour around the school at breaktimes is calm and orderly. While not common in the school, bullying is dealt with quickly by staff when and if it happens.

There are a wide range of opportunities to engage pupils beyond the curriculum, for example a popular residential trip to Paris. Pupils say that teachers listen to their views about clubs and activities that they would like to take part in. As a result of the most recent consultation, new clubs such as LBGT and zen clubs were introduced.

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

Leaders have high expectations for both the curriculum and pupils' behaviour. In most subjects, the plans are ambitious and clearly set out. They consider what pupils will learn and when they will learn it.

In a small number of subjects curriculum plans are at an earlier stage of development. In these areas, the curriculum implementation is not as strong.

Teachers, including early career teachers, are supported to develop the knowledge they need to teach the curriculum content well.

Teachers take time to review learning to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge before moving on. This means that they can adapt lessons to address the gaps that they identify. When teaching new content, teachers break down learning into small steps.

This helps all pupils, and particularly those pupils with SEND, to remember what they are learning.

Leaders accurately identify the individual needs of pupils with SEND. These pupils usually receive effective support.

However, some individual support plans for pupils with SEND lack ambition. Leaders are aware of this and have taken action to address this. Individual support for pupils in lessons is in place.

This helps them to access the same curriculum as others and achieve well most of the time.

At Key Stage 4, leaders are aware that more pupils need to gain specific qualifications to achieve the English Baccalaureate. Leaders have been working to address this through strengthening the provision and increasing the number of pupils who study modern foreign languages.

Leaders have supported those who find reading tricky. However, the interventions used have not been as successful as leaders would have hoped. Leaders have reviewed their support in this area and know what will make the most positive difference to pupils.

Texts selected for study within the curriculum promote diversity and the wider development of pupils.

Staff and pupils say that behaviour has improved in the school. They say that expectations are clearly laid out and consistently followed.

Pupils' attendance is not where leaders want it to be. This is the case particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders have put strategies in place that are beginning to improve attendance.

However, these are in their early stages of making a difference to how well pupils attend school.

Leaders support pupils' personal development through the three core themes. These are health and well-being, relationships, and the wider world.

The knowledge that pupils need is taught in an age-appropriate way through lessons and assemblies. Pupils benefit from expert visitors to school and off-timetable days that focus on personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).

High-quality careers advice and guidance are provided through, for example, a recent visit from a local construction company.

Pupils feel well supported in this important area of their development.

Staff say that workload is high, but that staff work together well. Staff focus on the actions that have the greatest impact on pupils.

Senior leaders, including governors, in the school are supportive and consider well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders provide effective safeguarding training for all staff and governors.

There are regular updates about issues that might pose a threat to pupils. This means staff are clear about the signs that might indicate a potential safeguarding risk and the actions to take.Leaders keep detailed and accurate records.

This supports them to seek appropriate external professional support where this is needed.

Pupils know that if they can talk to a member of staff if they have any concerns. Pupils value the information they learn, for example how to recognise healthy and unhealthy relationships.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There is some minor variability in the quality of education across curriculum areas. This is recognised by leaders. Despite a consistency in approach, there are a few subjects where the curriculum is more established than in others.

Leaders in those less well implemented subject areas need to review the curriculum plans that are in place, assess where improvements need to be made and adapt the content to ensure that all pupils, including those with SEND, learn the knowledge and skills they need to achieve well. ? Leaders recognise that the attendance of pupils at the school is not where it needs to be, even taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Persistent absence of pupils, including those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, is higher than it should be.

Leaders have started to put systems in place to raise expectations around attendance. However, there is still significant work to do to improve this and ensure that disruption to pupils' learning is minimised.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2016.