Astrea Academy: 'Ambitious' Sheffield school rated 'Good' but hands out too many detentions

Astrea Academy Sheffield, on Andover Street, Burngreave, has been praised as “ambitious” and a place that creates a “strong culture of tolerance and respect for others” in its first ever inspection since it was launched in 2018. A report published on January 27 said children at the all-through school behaved well, received a “good quality of education” and were supported by “kind teachers”.

However, the report also chided Astrea Academy for doling out too many detentions to secondary school students, noting that the academy’s ‘negative points’ system for keeping children behind after home time was being used for even “minor infractions”.

It comes after several parents compared the Burngreave school to “prison” when they spoke to The Star in November 2022. They shared how their children frequently cried when they came home, and ‘negatives’ were meted out for offences like not raising their arm high enough, talking in a corridor and asking to go to the toilet.

These concerns were noted by inspectors, who said the policy was harming relationships with parents. The report reads: “…too many pupils, including those who are vulnerable, receive detentions and suspensions due to an accumulation of negative points for minor infractions of the school’s behaviour policy. The numbers of sanctions are increasing over time. Pupils miss out on important learning. The parents of these pupils are unhappy about this. They do not feel that leaders have listened to their concerns.”

The Star asked Astrea Academy if they will be changing any policies in light of these comments.

A spokesperson said: “As part of our drive to continually improve our offer to our scholars and families, we remain focused on the areas where inspectors feel we can do better. We will ensure our partnership with our parents and carers is central to those improvements.

“We have high expectations for all scholars. We maximise learning time and ensure a calm, safe and purposeful environment, where all our scholars can learn and all our teachers can teach, free from disruption.”

It was the blemish on an otherwise glowing Ofsted report.

The education watchdog felt the school’s curriculum was “ambitious” top to bottom, and that “careful thought” was put into what children learned in their early years. Bullying was rare and pupils were “confident” they could go to teachers if they needed to. The school also boasted an “expert” team who identify and support children with SEND needs, the report reads.

The report continues: “There is an ambitious curriculum in place across the school which highlights the important knowledge that leaders want pupils to learn.

“There is a strong culture of tolerance and respect for others at this school. Primary age pupils told inspectors, ‘everyone is treated the same, we are all happy’.”

Co-principals Rachel Flemming and Emma Glover said they were “delighted” with the report, with Ms Glover saying: “Our staff are incredible and work so hard, and I am so grateful for all they do to make our school so special.

“We will focus on the areas where Inspectors feel we can do better and ensure our partnership with our parents and carers is central to those improvements.”