Wandle Valley Academy

Overview

Wandle Valley Academy continues to be a good school, providing a supportive environment for pupils who have missed significant education. Leaders and staff work collaboratively to help pupils overcome challenges, with a strong focus on therapeutic support and catching up on lost learning. The school maintains effective safeguarding arrangements and ensures pupils settle well through early assessment of their needs.

Strengths

• Staff help pupils make up for lost time, fostering "trusting working relationships" and acting "quickly and calmly" during behaviour incidents.
• The curriculum is "broad and ambitious," with "logically sequenced" subjects like mathematics where knowledge builds confidently over time.
• Reading is a high priority, with effective phonics teaching and well-matched books enabling pupils to "develop confidence in reading whole texts."
• Pupils benefit from a "broad enrichment offer," including popular Wednesday afternoon activities and rewards for good work and behaviour.
• Leaders closely analyse attendance patterns and work supportively with families to address the causes of absence.

Areas to improve

• In a small number of subjects, the school does not precisely identify the "small steps of learning" or key knowledge, causing teaching to focus on activities rather than content.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."