Sir Harry Smith Community College

Sir Harry Smith Community College is a secondary comprehensive and sixth form within the Aspire Learning Trust, inspected for the first time under section 5. It provides a broad and often ambitious curriculum, lessons usually follow a consistent structure, and safeguarding is effective. Pupils generally feel safe, behaviour expectations have been strengthened, and pastoral support and the specially resourced SEND provision are notable strengths. Pupils also benefit from a wide range of clubs, trips, employer encounters and sixth-form guidance. However, provision requires improvement across the graded areas. Teaching is inconsistent, staff do not check pupils’ learning well enough, and gaps in knowledge remain. Adaptations for pupils with SEND are not consistently effective. Behaviour is usually calm, but a minority disrupt learning and some pupils make unkind comments; not all issues are dealt with well enough. Attendance is below national averages, and personal development delivery is inconsistent. Leaders lack detailed, timely information about achievement, attendance, behaviour and curriculum delivery, and policy changes have not always been well communicated or implemented. Trustees have begun taking action, but further work is needed.

Strengths

• Broad and often ambitious curriculum
• Consistent lesson structure with recap at the start
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Strengthened behaviour and uniform expectations
• Pupils typically feel safe
• Positive pastoral support for behaviour and well-being
• Welcoming specially resourced SEND provision and 'yellow corridor'
• Reading support helps pupils access the curriculum
• Wide range of clubs, trips and enrichment opportunities
• Strong employer, apprenticeship and education provider engagement
• Sixth-form students well supported with higher education and other applications
• Sixth-form students learn about personal finance and healthy relationships

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent quality of education and teaching over time
• Staff do not check pupils’ learning well enough to identify and close gaps
• Staff lack expertise and information to adapt the curriculum precisely for pupils with SEND
• Some pupils struggle to access the curriculum and engage with learning
• Behaviour of a minority disrupts learning when teaching is less effective
• Some pupils make unkind comments and the school does not always deal with these issues well enough
• School does not collect detailed information about behaviour, progress and attendance
• Attendance is below national averages, including for some disadvantaged pupils
• Personal development delivery is inconsistent and pupils struggle to recall important knowledge
• Leaders lack detailed information to make decisions and gauge the impact of actions
• Policy changes have not always been well thought out, implemented or communicated
• Sixth-form students experience similar inconsistencies in education to the rest of the school
• Support for older pupils learning to read is less timely and effective than for younger pupils

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Sir Harry Smith Community College attended 88.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 29.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 13.9% of pupils at Sir Harry Smith Community College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Sir Harry Smith Community College had 21.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.4% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 16.0% of pupils at Sir Harry Smith Community College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Sir Harry Smith Community College received £8,233 and spent £8,348 for each of its 1,104 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £731,000 (£662 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Aspire Learning Trust (Whittlesey), income was £7,499 and spending £7,655 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Peterborough · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

Sir Harry Smith Community College is part of Aspire Learning Trust (Whittlesey), which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• New Road Primary & Nursery School Peterborough
• Park Lane Primary & Nursery School Peterborough

What is Sir Harry Smith Community College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sir Harry Smith Community College is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2025.

When was Sir Harry Smith Community College last inspected by Ofsted?

Sir Harry Smith Community College was last inspected in November 2025.

How many pupils does Sir Harry Smith Community College have?

Sir Harry Smith Community College has 1,084 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sir Harry Smith Community College cover?

Sir Harry Smith Community College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Sir Harry Smith Community College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.6, and 32% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sir Harry Smith Community College?

Sir Harry Smith Community College is at Eastrea Road, Whittlesey, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE7 1XB.