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 Academy was already putting in place a new approach to behaviour, which students responded 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 students to reach their true potential."
Please click the link in the 'Documents' section on the right-hand-side to read the full November 2023 report.
Following on from November 2023, the Academy was visited again in May 2025 by Ofsted. This visit is referred to as a Monitoring Inspection. The purpose of a Monitoring Inspection is not to grade the Academy, but to identify and report on the Academy's progress. It is to highlight to the Academy and parents/carers any improvements that have been made since the Academy'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 Academy's overall inspection grade. Instead, it tests if the Academy 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 in the 'Documents' section on the right-hand-side to read our May 2025 Monitoring Inspection 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 Inspection is helpful in also identifying where aspects of the Academy’s improvement is still ongoing. Trust and Academy leaders recognise the need to continue to improve and we are confident that by significantly strengthening staffing in these areas over the last few months our trajectory of improvement will continue.