Priority areas 2026 - 2027

3.b To further improve and embed assessment systems and processes which are forensic, providing accurate information and meaningful, ambitious next steps.

1.b To ensure all students attending the academy are represented in all areas of academy life which is tracked, monitored and shows impact. and provides a sense of belonging.

Curriculum - To continue to improve the consistency of teaching and learning across all phases and cohorts.

Identified issue: to continue to develop teaching and learning approaches which are bespoke to specific cohorts.

Model lesson structures will be developed for each cohort. This will enable all staff to have a clear understanding of the vital communication, engagement and lesson structures required, to continue to deliver improved outcomes.

Whole school CPD will target the role of the teacher as a leader and this will be complemented by work with learning support assistants and their understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Belonging -  To ensure all students attending the academy are represented in all areas of academy life which is tracked, monitored and shows impact. and provides a sense of belonging.

Identified issue: to build upon the work with the experiences plans to further enhance the representation of students within every aspect of academy life.

Portfolios will be constructed linked to the Southfield Skills to enable all students to have opportunities to access the wider school experience. For example performing in assemblies, participating in interview processes.

Tracking systems will be developed in order to measure non-academic achievements.

Achievement - To further improve and embed assessment systems and processes which identify the need for intervention and also to provide challenging next steps for all students.

Identified issue: the monitoring and moderation cycles of assessment will ensure that all students are achieving their optimal outcomes. All staff understand next steps in learning.

CPD for all staff will revisit the best practice for assessment at each stage of the process.

The Quality Assurance process will be refined to add additional layers of moderation using a forensic approach.

Review of 2025 - 2026 plan

Curriculum - Ensure all students with SEND can access the curriculum appropriately

Outcome/impact:

Over the 2025–2026 academic year, our curriculum has evolved to directly reflect the unique needs of our student cohort at Co-op Academy Southfield. We have strengthened alignment with our feeder school by embedding Key Stage termly themes, providing a clear hook and purpose for learning. Our planning intentionally weaves these themes across subjects, creating regular opportunities for retrieval practice, consolidating prior knowledge, and building new understanding within a structured sequence.

In post 16 the Destinations curriculum was introduced in Summer 2026. The curriculum consists of 4 Destinations: Creativity, Food & service, Outdoors and Community. Sitting under each of these are the squads. The squad will change each term- next term Autumn 2026 the squads will be Theatre, Sport & Fitness, Social Action and Catering & Hospitality. Students select two Squads per term, gaining direct insight into these industries through the perspective of either a service user or a worker. The Post-16 Destinations curriculum aligns directly with the Gatsby Benchmarks. Through our Destinations curriculum, we focus heavily on building our students' character skills. We track 'The Southfield Skills' across all activities to make sure every pupil is continuously growing in confidence, communication, and life skills.

The Progression steps have been further developed for English and Maths, directly linking the knowledge and skills from the planners to outcomes for assessment. The outcomes have been broken down further to show small steps of progress and also to support staff to know what the next steps are for each student. These progression steps booklets are working documents intended to be used daily to inform the teacher's planning. Next term PSD & RSE progression step booklets will be introduced for staff to track the learning and the wider subjects will also be developed and shared.

Our RSE and PSD long-term plans have been updated to reflect the 2026 Statutory Guidance. Working in close partnership, our Curriculum and Safeguarding leads have placed safeguarding at the core of both subjects. Parent information sessions are scheduled for the Autumn term to share these updates, while staff confidence in delivering RSE has been strengthened through 'The Sex Factor' programme CPD, which incorporated anatomically correct dolls to support effective delivery.

Staff feedback from Summer 2026 shows a strong rise in positivity, with 21% of staff rating our curriculum as excellent and 66% as good. Our refined curriculum is delivering its intended impact: staff are using the curriculum consistently across key stages. Having four explicit knowledge and skill steps, per cohort in each key stage for every subject, gives staff a clear structure to focus on the learning. Activities have been added to the planners to bring the learning to life.

We have continued to build internal expertise using the Talk for Writing framework. Middle leaders from Co-op Academy Southfield collaborated with the programme lead and our feeder school to co-create bespoke Talk for Writing texts, trialling them across student cohorts. Following this pilot, 2026–2027 will see us rollout Talk for Writing across school.

Senior leaders have attended Teach Like a Champion professional development. Key elements will be tailored to be purposeful for SEND students and will be introduced to colleagues and the classroom 2026-2027.

increase since 2025

Experiences Plan- Improve the offer of enrichment activities which are explicitly linked to the curriculum

To launch and celebrate each theme, we use "Stunning Starts" and "Fabulous Finishes" to spark curiosity and engagement. For example, during the Key Stage 3 Spring theme, Survival, students worked with AimHigh to learn resilience—understanding that challenges are positive opportunities to persevere and ask for support. Similarly, the Autumn theme, Explorers, concluded with a Winter Wonderland tailored for our PMLD learners—an immersive, sensory-rich environment designed to invite communication and foster exploration within a new learning space. This embedded enrichment creates memorable experiences that inspire students to connect with the world around them while building essential confidence and communication skills.

Offsite educational visits saw a marked increase across the 2025–2026 academic year, driven by expanded curriculum opportunities and a larger team of qualified minibus drivers. 95 offsite visits took place, 16 visits were adventurous or residential- participants on residentials: 173 (Male =136 Female = 37). Experiences in school saw 3788 participants (Male = 2632 Female= 1156).

To maintain equitable access, an enrichment tracker is used to ensure every student accesses a diverse range of experiences throughout the year.

All staff have awareness of their role in facilitating high quality learning

Outcome/impact:

We started the year by embedding our core Southfield values, placing open communication, active collaboration, and a shared awareness among all staff of their vital role in facilitating high-quality learning with high quality relationships being central to this- with students, colleagues and parents.

Lesson observations were explicitly aligned to the Teachers’ Standards. Staff received clear guidance on expectations, focusing on: maintaining an effective classroom environment, ensuring accessible communication for every student, having purposeful, irresistible resources, using the curriculum knowledge and skills planners.

Following timely feedback and ongoing learning walks throughout the year, leaders gained a comprehensive overview of classroom practice. While strengths were identified, these quality assurance activities highlighted a clear priority to further refine and strengthen curriculum implementation. To address this, targeted CPD was delivered to deepen staff understanding of cohort-specific pedagogy, empowering every team member to develop their daily classroom practice. Curriculum implementation will be the main focus for professional development next year.