Peak Academy

Overview

The report states that the quality of education ‘Requires improvement’, while behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management are all judged ‘Good’. Inspectors note that ‘some pupils do not remember the knowledge they have been taught’, which slows progress, and that ‘too many pupils do not attend school well enough’. However, the school provides ‘strong pastoral support’, helping pupils feel safe and develop a ‘sense of belonging’.

Strengths

• Pupils ‘enjoy warm relationships with adults’ and trust that the school will ‘listen and act promptly’ regarding concerns.
• Staff are described as ‘confident and effective teachers’ with ‘secure subject knowledge and strong pedagogy’, supported by high-quality training.
• The school offers ‘rich developmental experiences’, such as theatre trips and community allotments, which build ‘perseverance, resilience, leadership and teamwork skills’.
• Personal, social, health and economic education is ‘designed carefully’, enabling pupils to speak with ‘confidence’ about online safety and managing emotions.
• Leaders manage staff workload and well-being effectively, fostering significant ‘camaraderie’ among staff.

Areas to improve

• The trust must modify its attendance strategy to ensure pupils ‘attend regularly’ so they can build knowledge over time without gaps.
• The curriculum in some subjects is ‘not designed well enough’ for pupils to ‘remember the most important knowledge over time’.
• The writing curriculum is ‘less well developed’, meaning some pupils have not secured the ‘fundamentals of writing’ needed for future work.

Safeguarding

The report confirms that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.