From school improvement to Ofsted success: Leigh Academy Halley’s coaching journey

Leigh Academy Halley is a mixed 11-18 comprehensive school in Kidbrooke, south-east London, proudly serving a richly diverse community as part of Leigh Academies Trust.

Our most recent Ofsted inspection marked a significant moment for our students, staff and families - not because of a badge or accolade, but because it reflected seven years of sustained, deliberate work to build a school that genuinely changes lives.

The inspection took place in the second week of November 2025, and we were among the first schools nationally to be visited under Ofsted’s new inspection framework. We knew the new framework was more rigorous and demanding, so we were immensely proud that inspectors judged the academy to be “Exceptional” in five areas, with the remaining areas evaluated as “Strong Standard”.

What mattered most was that inspectors saw the lived reality of our school: a calm, purposeful environment underpinned by strong teaching, high expectations and deep care. That consistency did not happen by accident. It was built over time.

Professional development (PD), particularly instructional coaching through Steplab, has been key to that journey.

When Halley joined Leigh Academies Trust in 2018, the school faced significant challenges. Routines were inconsistent, behaviour disrupted learning and, while staff were committed, pupils did not experience the coherence they needed.

Our priority was to rebuild the foundations of a great school: a calm, orderly and highly inclusive environment, strong home-school relationships and a coherent curriculum.

We created a disruption-free learning culture through a clear and consistently applied Respect Code, with visible leadership, strong routines and rigorous follow-up to ensure every classroom was focused and purposeful.

Alongside this, we introduced a small-school model to ensure every student was known, supported and given a strong sense of belonging. At the same time, we raised curriculum ambition by becoming an IB World School, securing a broad, balanced and knowledge-rich pathway from Key Stage 3 through to sixth form.

Together, these changes created the conditions in which both students and staff could thrive.

In 2023, we were delighted to achieve an overall “Good” inspection judgement from Ofsted, while also being recognised as the third most improved school in the country for the progress of disadvantaged students at GCSE.

We recognised that the next phase of the academy’s development required us to improve not just what teachers knew, but what they did consistently in every classroom.

We knew this would help us strengthen both the academic and pastoral outcomes of our students. Embedding a shared language and shared practice of great, evidence-based teaching across the academy would be key.

It was through Steplab and our instructional coaching programme that we did precisely that.

We began by identifying a small number of evidence-informed teaching techniques that would have the greatest impact on learning, particularly around formative assessment and participation.

Drawing on research and practical guidance, we focused on high-quality whole-class questioning and clear, codified transitions between activities.

To ensure coherence, we brought these together under our academy motto: “Inspire, Learn and Achieve”. This gave our approach both clarity and meaning. These weren't isolated techniques - they were the everyday habits that would help students engage, think deeply and succeed.

Identifying the right techniques was only the starting point. The real challenge was embedding them so they became habitual, not performative. This is where Steplab has been transformative.

Through our instructional coaching programme, supported by Steplab, we've been able to:

• 1.
  break down complex teaching into precise, actionable steps
• 2.
  provide regular, focused coaching for all staff
• 3.
  build deliberate practice into weekly professional development
• 4.
  track progress and ensure consistency across departments
• 5.
  keep the focus on sustained improvement over time

Rather than relying on generic CPD, every teacher engages in a cycle of practice, feedback, refinement and habit formation.

Over time, these approaches have become embedded across the academy. We now have a collective, shared way of working across all classrooms.

When inspectors visited in November, we didn't need to prepare a showcase. We simply ran a normal school day.

Because our PD is embedded and sustained, what visitors see every day at Halley is authentic:

• 1.
  consistent use of formative assessment strategies across subjects
• 2.
  pupils actively participate and think deeply
• 3.
  high-quality work in students’ books, showing that they understand what they have learned and can build on it over time
• 4.
  strong pedagogy in both academic and practical lessons

Inspectors noted that our “curriculum and teaching are highly effective in enabling pupils to make consistent progress”, and that “pupils’ knowledge builds securely as they progress through the curriculum”.

For us, this reflected the daily work of teachers, leaders and support staff, and the consistency we had built through PD, our instructional coaching programme and shared expectations.

Reflecting on the inspection, I am reminded that professional development isn't an add-on to school improvement. It is central to everything we do.

Our staff benefit from weekly protected CPD time, instructional coaching for all and subject-specific development supported by our Trust curriculum advisors. Steplab has enabled us to deliver this with precision and consistency at scale.

Every teacher is improving. Every classroom reflects our shared expectations. Every student benefits from high-quality teaching, every day.

The impact of this work goes beyond teaching techniques. Combined with our wider work on behaviour, curriculum and inclusion, it has helped create the environment inspectors described as having a “phenomenal impact” on pupils’ lives.

Seven years on, our work is not finished. We remain a genuine learning community, committed to continuous improvement.

Our experience is clear: sustainable school improvement comes from clarity, consistency and investment in people - students and staff alike.

By combining a shared vision of great teaching with a robust instructional coaching model, enabled by Steplab, we have been able to embed high-quality practice across every classroom.

It is that consistency that ultimately changes the lives of young people.

If you’d like to see how Steplab can support your school or trust to embed instructional coaching and drive sustained improvement, book a demo with our team today.