Journey Education Group, Doncaster

What it's like to be a pupil at Journey Education Group

Pupils enjoy attending this welcoming and friendly school. Most have previously experienced disruptions to their education. At Journey Education Group, pupils quickly find a place where they feel safe, happy and a sense of belonging. The longer pupils attend the school, the more confident they become. They develop highly positive, trusting relationships with staff who know them well and consistently act in their best interests. Over time, pupils' ambitions and aspirations rise in line with the school's high expectations of what they can achieve. As a result of the school's work, pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education and for life beyond this school. Leaders prioritise pupils' personal development and growth alongside their academic achievement. Staff support pupils to reflect maturely on their decisions and the impact of these on themselves and others. This helps pupils to quickly make improvements in both their attendance and conduct. Consequently, disagreements and inappropriate behaviours, such as bullying, are rare and reduce over time. Where these do happen, staff provide effective support that helps pupils to resolve these increasingly effectively. The school provides a high-quality learning environment that supports pupils to make progress from their starting points and to achieve well. Pupils actively participate in their lessons, enjoying learning about new topics. Pupils typically have gaps in their knowledge, often linked to time out of education. The school helps them to overcome these and is having increasing levels of success. For example, while many pupils do not read at the expected level for their age, they enjoy reading, are expanding their vocabulary and engage well with support that helps them to improve. Beyond their studies, pupils enjoy the wider opportunities that the school provides. They regularly go on educational visits or contribute to the local community, including through charitable work. Some pupils also benefit from a small number of opportunities to develop their individual talents and interests.

What Ofsted says the school should do next

• Leaders should strengthen the school's approach to developing pupils writing so that those pupils who require support rapidly improve the formation of their writing and their knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Leaders should ensure that staff use learning activities to reinforce the most important knowledge that pupils are intended to learn consistently, supporting pupils to rapidly close gaps in their knowledge and make swift progress through the curriculum.

Journey Education Group excels at creating a safe, welcoming environment where pupils who have had difficult educational experiences quickly feel they belong. Staff are highly skilled at building pupils' confidence, helping them manage their emotions and improve their attendance significantly. The school combines ambitious academic learning with strong personal development, preparing pupils well for their next stage of education and life beyond school.

Safeguarding standards are met with an open culture where safety is everyone's responsibility and pupils feel safe.

School council, charitable work, theatre visits, educational visits linked to curriculum

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