Ofsted

Edgar Wood Academy were inspected by Ofsted in November 2023. They were rated as 'Requires Improvement'. This came following a period of transition for the academy’s leadership following the retirement of the previous Headteacher. 

In January 2024, Mr P Jones joined the Academy as the new Headteacher and upon his appointment, Mr Jones commented on the recent Ofsted report saying, "While disappointed in the school’s inspection grade, I am confident that we know what we need to do to improve. We are now obviously working hard to address the issues raised in the report. Indeed, at the time of the inspection, the school was already putting in place a new approach to behaviour, which students are responding extremely well to... While I fully acknowledge that the report does not reflect where we want to be, I firmly believe our current actions and the strengths outlined in the report provide us with a firm foundation to allow all of our pupils to reach their true potential."

Please click the link below to read the full report.

Following on from November 2023, the school were visited again in May 2025 by Ofsted. This visit is referred to as a Monitoring Visit. The purpose of a Monitoring Inspection is not to grade the school, but to identify and report on the school's progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that have been made since the school's previous graded inspection, specifically looking at the Areas for Improvement as highlighted in the 2023 Ofsted Inspection when the school was judged to be Requires Improvement. 

It is important to note that a monitoring inspection such as this cannot change the school’s overall inspection grade. Instead, it tests if the school is making progress ahead of the next full inspection. There are only two possible outcomes from a Monitoring Inspection and Edgar Wood Academy has been awarded the most positive of these: “Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the school need further improvement”. 

Please click the link below to read our Monitoring Visit report.

Some of Ofsted's findings are summarised below:

On behaviour, Ofsted states:

·       ‘The school has prioritised developing a positive climate for learning. Expectations of pupils’ behaviour have been raised.’

·       ‘The school has successfully established and rapidly embedded many new routines. These are helping pupils to feel happier, safer and better prepared to learn than in the past.’

On curriculum, teaching and learning, Ofsted states:

·       ‘Improvements reflect a shared ambition between the school and the trust to improve the quality of education for all pupils.’

·       ‘Work to embed a consistent set of teaching strategies is supporting staff to teach the curriculum more effectively than in the past. Pupils typically experience a better quality of education in many subjects, particularly those where staffing has been stabilised. They are beginning to remember more of what they have learned, giving them a more secure foundation of knowledge on which to build.’

The Monitoring Visit is helpful in also identifying where aspects of the school’s improvement is still ongoing. Trust and School leaders recognise the need to continue to improve and I am confident that by significantly strengthening staffing in these areas over the last 6 months our trajectory of improvement will continue.