Attleborough Academy

Overview

Attleborough Academy is a school where leaders have established a culture of high expectations, resulting in strong standards across attendance, behaviour, curriculum, and inclusion. The report highlights that pupils, many of whom start with below-average attainment, achieve well and are well-prepared for their next steps in education or employment.

Strengths

• Attendance is high, with leaders acting "quickly and effectively" to support disadvantaged pupils when attendance falls.
• Behaviour is described as "calm and respectful," underpinned by a "well-considered reward culture" and strong pupil leadership.
• The curriculum is "ambitious" and carefully builds depth of understanding, with teachers placing strong emphasis on reading and oracy skills.
• Inclusion is a "notable strength," with individual needs quickly identified and met through timely, well-considered support and targeted training for staff.
• Personal development is comprehensive, helping pupils grow as "confident, thoughtful and responsible individuals" with a strong understanding of equality and British values.

Areas to improve

• Trustees should strengthen their oversight of safeguarding by ensuring records "consistently provide a clear chronology of concerns, actions, and decisions taken."
• Leaders should continue to embed and sustain improvements to the curriculum and teaching so that pupils achieve highly across all key stages.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed, although trustees’ oversight of recording processes requires strengthening to better identify patterns of risk.