It is too soon to see the impact of improvements made to the curriculum at Hope Academy, said Ofsted after their recent inspection of the school.
The latest judgement of the Newton-le-Willows secondary school, which is part of The Liverpool Joint Catholic and Church of England Academies Trust, says that whilst “pupils are benefiting from the recent improvements that the school has made to the quality of education that it provides”, Ofsted still believe it to require improvement in this area.
However the school was rated “Good” in all the other areas inspectors looked at during their visit in November 2024, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development of pupils and leadership and management of the school.
Ofsted no longer delivers a one-word overall judgement for schools, but Hope Academy’s last full inspection in 2021 saw it rated ‘requires improvement’ overall, after similar findings.
However, Ofsted did note that: “The school, with the support of the trust, has overseen a number of improvements to the curriculum in recent years. This has resulted in positive changes to the overall curriculum offer. The key stage 3 curriculum is broad and ambitious for all pupils. The school has made adjustments to the key stage 4 curriculum to enable pupils to study each subject in greater depth.”
It also said: “The school has also reviewed its subject curriculums with the intention of giving them more breadth and depth. In all subjects, these changes have resulted in curriculums which are well designed and allow pupils to build their subject knowledge in a logical way.
“As a result of these changes, current pupils know more and remember more of their learning than has been the case previously. However, it is too soon to see the impact of these positive changes on the school’s published outcomes.
And the inspection praised the school’s ‘Inspire’ programme and their extra-curricular offer which supports pupils’ wider development and “provides them with the knowledge and skills that they need to become active and informed citizens”.
Principal of Hope Academy, Mrs Marie Adams said: “At Hope Academy, we are fully committed to providing a high-quality education for all our students and have access to a wealth of opportunities to further support their academic growth and personal development. While we had hoped for a different overall judgment, we are proud to be recognised as ‘Good’ in all other areas including behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.
“During the inspection in November, Ofsted recognised our ongoing journey of improvement and that ‘pupils are benefiting from the recent improvements that the school has made to the quality of education that it provides’. The report highlighted many strengths, including our broad and balanced curriculum across all subject areas, well-designed curriculums that enable students to build their knowledge logically, and a strong emphasis on reading across all subjects.”
Mrs Adams added: “It was unfortunate, that due to a delay by the DfE, our results for 2024 were not taken into account at the time of the inspection. However, the last four years examination results demonstrate very positive sustained improvement in the learning outcomes for all students, including children with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities).
“With the continued support of our parents and families, we remain focused on building upon our successes and ensuring every student at Hope Academy thrives.”
You can read the full report on Ofsted’s website here.
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