Lift Newlands

Overview

Newlands Academy is described as a ‘warm and caring community’ where pupils are ‘happy and safe’. The report highlights that staff build relationships ‘grounded in trust’ and maintain ‘high expectations and ambitions for pupils’. While the overall effectiveness is rated Good, behaviour and attitudes are judged Outstanding, reflecting the school’s success in supporting pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

Strengths

• Staff ‘know the pupils well’ and provide ‘high-quality pastoral and therapeutic support’ that enables learners to focus on their education.
• Leaders have designed an ‘ambitious’ curriculum that promotes ‘fluent reading’ and helps pupils catch up on phonics gaps.
• Pupils are taught to be ‘respectful of everybody regardless of differences’, with bullying incidents being ‘rare’ and dealt with ‘swiftly’.
• The school offers a ‘wide range of opportunities’ to develop confidence and resilience, including musical performances and sports tournaments.
• Parents are ‘positive about the school’, praising staff for support that goes ‘above and beyond their job description’.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure staff teaching outside their subject specialism receive adequate support to identify and teach ‘component knowledge and skills’ clearly, preventing gaps in pupils’ understanding.
• Leaders need to ensure pupils receive ‘impartial careers advice and guidance’ regarding their next steps in education, training or employment.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are ‘effective’, with staff who are ‘vigilant to signs of abuse and neglect’ and receive regular, contextualised training.