The Coppice Spring Academy offers pupils an unacceptably poor education. The core curriculum is particularly unsuitable. Lessons do not provide pupils with the knowledge that they urgently require. Prolonged part-time school attendance reinforces pupils’ lack of personal motivation and diminishes their hope for the future. Pupils in Year 6 benefit from being situated in the well-maintained ‘Broadoaks’ building. However, the main school environment is uninviting. Walls are marked and grubby, carpets are rucked and torn, and classrooms fail to convey a sense of ambition or belonging. Tellingly, aspects of the curriculum that pupils enjoy and participate in more successfully are typically those that are off site, such as bushcraft and activities at the local country park. Disruptive behaviour and low expectations from staff are a constant backdrop to school life. Pupils exit lessons and roam around the school and grounds often. Absconding from school altogether is a frequent occurrence. Pupils acknowledge that individual staff may try to help them, but unanimously express no faith in adults’ ability to intervene and successfully resolve disruptive, aggressive or bullying behaviours. ‘This would not be a good place to be gay,’ reported one pupil. Pupils, parents and carers, and staff agree that the school is not a safe place for pupils to be.