Aspin Park Academy

Overview

Aspin Park Academy is described as a school with a “real sense of community” where pupils behave “exceptionally well” and show “deep respect” for one another. The report highlights that pupils achieve high standards in English and mathematics, supported by a curriculum that ensures they “keep up not catch up.” Overall, the inspection judged the quality of education, personal development, and leadership as ‘Good’, with behaviour rated ‘Outstanding’.

Strengths

• Pupils attain “exceedingly well in English,” benefiting from an “exceptional” early reading offer where staff model sounds to help children read basic words.
• Behaviour is praised as “exceptional,” with pupils who “hang on every word” during lessons and strive to do well because they “know that is the right thing to do.”
• The school is “very adept at identifying any SEND,” using a ‘SEND hub’ model to provide teachers with early information to assess needs effectively.
• Attendance is “high” across all groups, supported by “precise recording and monitoring systems” that alert leaders to concerns promptly.
• Staff training is “comprehensive and high-quality,” ensuring leaders have the knowledge to support staff while taking account of workload.

Areas to improve

• In some foundation subjects, the work given to pupils “does not match the ambition of the curriculum,” meaning some do not get sufficient practice of “small steps of knowledge or skills.”
• The school should continue to train teachers in subject knowledge so they can make “informed choices about the work given to pupils across all subjects.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”