Ofsted and Performance

Ofsted Inspections

Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, which inspect and regulate services which care for children and young people, and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages.

Lodestar Academy was inspected by Ofsted in 2023. You can read the full report by accessing the link below.

click here to read the report

Highlights from the report:

  • "The welfare of pupils and their families is at the heart of The Lodestar Academy."
  • "Pupils enjoy warm relationships with adults and soon develop a strong sense of belonging. They refer to the school as being like ‘a little family.’​​​​​​​"
  • "The school offers excellent pastoral support to pupils and their families.​​​​​​​"
  • "Parents and carers are positive about the school. They can see the difference the school has made to their children. One parent told inspectors, ‘The pupils are lucky to have [the staff] in their lives.’"
  • "Pupils get the care and support they need to overcome challenges. They receive individual guidance to help them to learn. As a result, many pupils swiftly gain new confidence and self-esteem which helps them to achieve well."

Parent and carer feedback

Parents and carers are encouraged to give feedback about the Academy to Ofsted directly, using the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire.

DfE Performance Tables

As an Alternative Provision Academy we are not included in Progress 8 or Attainment 8 Measures. We are also not included in school league tables.

Exam Results

School Financial Benchmarking 

Click here

SEND local area Ofsted inspection

The SEND local area partnership has been informed that Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are this week (w/c 04/03/2025) beginning their three-week inspection of Torbay SEND services.

The partnership is made up of the council, the integrated care board (including all NHS providers), all schools and educational settings, adult social care services and our parent and carer forum including the wider voluntary and community sector who provide services for Torbay children and young people.

Up to ten inspectors will be examining the services that the Torbay local area provides to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The aim of the inspection will be to understand people’s experiences of SEND services in Torbay, and assess if the partnership:

· has improved upon the eight areas of weakness identified in the last inspection

· meets one of the three judgements regarding the quality of its services.

A big part of the inspection are service user surveys. This is your chance to have your say on how we deliver SEND services for our children and young people. There will be three surveys:

· One for children and young people

· One for parents and carers

· One for practitioners

If you are one of the above groups, please fill in a survey(s) as soon as possible. You will need to do this by 9am on Tuesday 11 March. Take part in the survey: ofsted.smartsurvey.co.uk/p/AreaSend/10327165

The inspection team will be placing a lot of weight on the experiences of service users so it’s important that you complete an appropriate survey.

There are also guidance documents on what to expect during an area inspection. Read the guidance documents: gov.uk/government/publications/local-area-send-inspections-information-for-families

SENDIASS Torbay has offered to help parents and carers who need assistance filling out the surveys, or who can’t access them online. Call 01803 207884 or email sendiass@torbay.gov.uk.

They will have a laptop and member of staff available and can either go through the survey with you over the phone or in person. This would be completely confidential.

Inspectors will also be looking at key cases and will speak to staff, service users, carers, and partners.