The South Wolds Academy & Sixth Form

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

This is a good school. The headteacher and the senior leadership team ensure that there is a strong focus on high expectations and on raising achievement.

This is particularly evident at Key Stage 4, where students make good progress in their learning and attain standards at GCSE that are high in comparison to national averages. High and steadily increasing attainment at Key Stage 4 has been a feature of the school for the last three years but leaders are not complacent and recognise that attainment at the highest grades for the most-able students remains an area for improvement. In addition, improvements in the sixth form have yet to have a marked impact on the students' achievements.

Conseq...uently, overall achievement is good rather than outstanding. Students' attitudes to learning and their behaviour both in lessons and around the school are good and this contributes to the good progress they make in their learning. The school's outstanding curriculum and systems of care, guidance and support contribute to the promotion of very positive non-academic as well as academic outcomes for students.

This is particularly evident in the extent to which students feel safe and adopt healthy lifestyles, both of which are judged outstanding. The school's specialist language status enhances the curriculum and ensures a good focus on internationalism, while outstanding partnership links help to promote good learning and well-being. Teaching and assessment are good overall and there are many examples of outstanding practice in the school.

However, leaders recognise that there is still a minority of lessons where teaching is only satisfactory, where students' are not sufficiently challenged, where tasks are not matched closely to individual ability and where independent learning is not sufficiently promoted. In the sixth form, non-academic outcomes for students are good but achievement in too many subjects is only satisfactory. The curriculum in the sixth form is undergoing change in order to match students' needs more closely but has not yet had sufficient impact on achievement.

The headteacher has had a very positive impact on the school's performance by introducing a style of leadership that aims to empower leaders at all levels to be accountable for their specialist areas, and take responsibility for bringing about improvements in these areas. This has been very successful in English and mathematics, where subject leaders are having a significant impact on raising students' achievement. However, not all subject leadership is as strong.

Systems for tracking and monitoring students' performance and provision of appropriate and timely interventions to prevent underachievement are very strong in the main school. This level of rigour is not yet apparent in the sixth form and, as a result, achievement in the sixth form is satisfactory. The school's self-evaluation is strong.

Leaders at all levels in the main school and in the sixth form have an accurate picture of the school's strengths and weaknesses and have identified clear priorities to bring about further improvement. The improvements to the curriculum and to systems for the care, guidance and support of students, both of which are now outstanding, illustrate the impact of this and demonstrate why the school has good capacity for further improvement.

Information about the school

South Wolds Community School is of average size.

It attracts students from a wide catchment area including local villages to the south of Nottingham and from areas of the city. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is well below the national average. The proportion of students from minority ethnic backgrounds is below the national average and most students speak English as their first language.

The proportion of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average, and the proportion with a statement of special educational needs is well below the national average. The school has specialist language college status. It has achieved several awards including Artsmark, Careers Mark, the International School Award and Healthy Schools Gold Award.

The school is a Foundation School with a Learning Partnership Trust; its partners being Nottingham University, Skill Force and the British Geological Society. It is also a member of the South Wolds Family of Schools, which includes seven primary schools. The school received an interim assessment in 2010 indicating that its performance since the previous inspection in 2006 had been sustained.