Scissett Middle School

Overview

Scissett Middle School has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.” The report describes a “friendly and welcoming community” where pupils are “happy” and feel “safe and listened to.” Leaders have created a “supportive environment” with “high expectations” that allow the majority of pupils to achieve well.

Strengths

• Pupils exhibit “excellent” conduct, resulting in a “calm and orderly” school that supports concentration.
• The curriculum is “broad and ambitious,” with carefully sequenced knowledge that allows pupils to “build on their prior knowledge.”
• Staff identify and understand the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well, ensuring “full access to the curriculum.”
• There is a strong focus on reading, with pupils having “meaningful opportunities to practise” fluency and engaging with “high-quality texts.”
• An “exceptional number of pupils” participate in leadership programmes, actively contributing to shaping the school community.

Areas to improve

• Information from learning checks is not always used effectively to address gaps, causing some pupils to struggle with new concepts.
• Staff lack a “precise enough understanding” of how to support disadvantaged pupils, leading to lower achievement and higher absence rates for this group.

Safeguarding

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