Safeguarding Officer

“Pupils are aspirational and rightly optimistic about their futures. Leaders set high expectations for pupils’ learning, behaviour and widely development, which are routinely put into practice” – Ofsted 2022

Welcome to King’s Academy Prospect. We are a large, diverse and inclusive school, rightly proud of our students, whom we welcome from a wide range of backgrounds. We enable all our students, whatever their ability, background or heritage, to make excellent progress and achieve more than they believe to be possible. Our core values of ‘Aspire, Believe, Achieve’ are at the heart of everything we do, preparing our young people to be successful, fulfilled and great assets to their community in whatever they choose to do in the future. 

We value educational excellence very highly and strive to ensure that we recruit the very best teachers to enable our students to progress onto the next stage of their educational journeys. We want our students to become young adults who understand the importance of respect and responsibility and who want to make a positive contribution to their school and the wider community. Equally important is our students' social and emotional wellbeing. We provide a supportive and nurturing environment, with a wide range of extracurricular activities, school trips and experiences to broaden their horizons. We work closely with our local community and enjoy mutually supportive relationships with students and their parents, as well as with our neighbours and wider networks. 

We are extremely proud of our fantastic site - one of the largest sites in Berkshire - with its excellent facilities and well resourced, specialist classrooms. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum, allowing students to follow individual pathways that best meet their needs, whether academic, vocational or a mix of both. However, don’t just take our word for it! We’re on a really exciting journey at the moment and we want you to be a part of it. Come and meet us, our students and our teachers to see the great opportunities that await you, we are always happy to offer tours in advance of applications.

Curriculum

“The curriculum is ambitious and designed to include all pupils” – Ofsted 2022

We offer a broad and balanced curriculum that really meets the needs of our students. We believe that a 3-year Key Stage Three is right for our students, allowing them the opportunity to study a broad range of subjects in Years 7, 8 and 9 before making a guided choice about the right pathway to follow in Key Stage Four. 

We offer a wide range of subjects at all key stages. At Key Stage Four, students are able to make the choice from an offer of both academic and vocational qualifications, preparing them for further study or training post-16. Our curriculum has been carefully designed to ensure that they have a rich experience throughout their time at King’s Academy Prospect. 

We are well resourced and have excellent facilities. All subjects teach in dedicated and specialist accommodation, with the vast majority of teachers teaching in their own rooms. A strong foundation in literacy and numeracy underpins the curriculum, with dedicated support available for students with additional needs. More Able students are provided with stretch and challenge through a range of initiatives enabling them to make excellent progress.

Professional Development

“Leaders provide teachers with the right training, which has a very positive impact in classrooms” - Ofsted 2022

We offer a wide-ranging and highly regarded programme of professional development for all our teachers and support staff. For those joining us as NQT’s, we offer a comprehensive programme of support and development, including professional studies sessions and a dedicated in-school mentor. Time for training is found using INSET days and Monday meeting times. Through our performance management and appraisal system, we identify and match individual needs and requests to the many training and development opportunities that we offer. These include both internal and external CPD programmes, which run continuously throughout the year. Our in-house sessions and workshops take place during dedicated training time and are planned and delivered by a highly effective teaching and learning team in the school. We encourage teachers at all stages of their careers to participate in external programmes, and many of our teachers have completed the NPQM/SL qualifications. We are proud of the number of our support staff who have also completed further training to develop their roles, including teacher training and other professional qualifications.

Facilities

We are fortunate to have a wonderful school site – extensive school fields and well-maintained purpose-built accommodation. All our subjects are taught in specialist classrooms, including recently refurbished science labs, a sports hall and gym, and a fantastic space for vocational courses including a construction yard, a hair and beauty salon and an engineering workshop.

Sixth Form

“Sixth-form students play an important part in school life, acting as mentors and role models for younger pupils.” – Ofsted 2022

Our vibrant and successful sixth form is an excellent place for students to continue their learning with us. We offer a broad range of qualifications at Level 2 and 3, allowing students to follow both academic and vocational pathways. We are rightly proud of our successes in getting our students into the best universities and apprenticeships. Our Sixth formers are also leaders in the school, leading a broad range of enrichment activities across the school and providing leadership and role models to younger students.

Support for Students

“Staff make sure that pupils’ best interests are at the heart of all that they do. Staff look after pupils well and make sure they are safe.” – Ofsted 2022

We want our students to be resilient and independent young people, able to take responsibility for their own learning and well-being. We recognise that all students need a supportive and caring environment in order to fully succeed and rise to the academic challenges we set them. Students are led by their Head of Progress, and supported by a team of people in our dedicated Student Services area who are accountable for the academic and personal growth of all their students. The school works with a wide range of additional and external providers, employing a full-time counselling team as well as working with alternative provision and specialist services. The vast majority of teachers are also form tutors, which is a key role in our school, providing a link between home and school.

Behaviour and Attitudes

“Pupils learn to be respectful and responsible. Most pupils enjoy school and are kind to each other. Bullying is not a major issue. Pupils recognise the diversity of their community, valuing the differences between people’s backgrounds.” – Ofsted 2022

We have a distinctive school culture which all staff and students understand and buy in to. We have committed and highly visible school leaders who are ambitious for the future success of the school. All stakeholders share a clear understanding of the school culture – ‘this is how we do things here and these are the values we hold’. This ambitious and supportive school culture expects attention to detail and thoroughness in all that we do – from students, staff and all stakeholders, and a core belief that all students matter equally.

Staff Well-being

“Staff morale is high and they are supported well.” – Ofsted 2022

We take the well-being of our staff very seriously. We recognise the importance of all staff having a sound work-life balance, and we aim to achieve this through the removal of unnecessary meetings, data collection and other tasks that do not contribute to the effective teaching and learning of our students. In addition, we have a vibrant staffroom culture with free tea and coffee daily, free gym membership, and a range of staff led clubs and activities.

King’s Group Academies

King’s Academy Prospect is part of the King’s Group Academies MAT led by a team of former and current Ofsted ‘outstanding’ head teachers and Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI). Please note link to King’s Group Academies Vision and Mission - https://kingsacademies.uk/aboutus/visionand-mission/