Charles Read Academy Review 2026: A small rural secondary with a clear routines-led culture

A smaller-than-average 11–16 secondary serving villages around Corby Glen, this is a school where scale is a defining feature. With a published capacity of 275, pupils are known quickly, and systems are easier to apply consistently when year groups are relatively small. The academy is part of the David Ross Education Trust, and the model is recognisable: strong routines, a house framework that shapes day-to-day behaviour, and a deliberate emphasis on character and wider experiences alongside GCSE preparation.

This is a state-funded school with no tuition fees. Entry is competitive. In the most recent admissions dataset provided here, 125 applications were recorded for 52 offers, which is around 2.4 applicants for each place, and the school is marked as oversubscribed.

What defines the atmosphere here is not size alone, it is predictability. Lessons follow consistent patterns, pupils know what to expect, and classrooms are described in official reporting as calm and purposeful. That matters for families weighing up whether a smaller setting will still feel academically serious. A routines-led approach can be particularly helpful for pupils who benefit from clarity and steady structure, especially in the jump from primary to secondary.

The house system is central rather than decorative. New Year 7 pupils are placed into one of three houses, Aqua, Caeili, and Terra, with small tutor groups of 18 students. For parents, that practical detail signals something important: pastoral monitoring is designed to sit close to the child, not only at year-team level.

Leadership has also been in motion recently. The school website lists Mrs Kerry Milligan as Principal, with an in-post date of 01 September 2025, and Mrs Sue Jones as Executive Principal. A change like this can bring fresh energy and sharper priorities, but it also means families should pay attention to how the leadership team communicates its expectations and how those expectations show up in everyday practice.

The February 2022 Ofsted inspection confirmed the academy continues to be Good.

The same report confirmed safeguarding arrangements are effective.

The performance picture is mixed, and it needs unpacking carefully. On GCSE outcomes, the school is ranked 2,883rd in England (FindMySchool ranking based on official data) and 3rd locally in the Grantham area. In plain English, that places outcomes below England average overall, broadly within the bottom 40% of schools on this measure.

Underneath the rank headline, there are two datapoints that parents often find easier to interpret: Attainment 8 and Progress 8. Attainment 8 is 42.5, which is a measure of average GCSE achievement across a basket of subjects. Progress 8 is 0.58, which indicates pupils, on average, make well above-average progress from their starting points across secondary school.

That combination is worth noting because it suggests the school may be adding meaningful value for many pupils, even if raw attainment remains a development area on the particular measure used for the England ranking. If your child’s starting points are modest, Progress 8 can be especially relevant. If your child is highly academic and aiming for the very top GCSE grade distributions, you will want to dig further into subject-level patterns, option uptake, and stretch provision, ideally through open events and a conversation with the school about pathway planning.

Parents comparing local options should use the FindMySchool Local Hub page to view GCSE performance side-by-side, using the Comparison Tool to keep like-for-like measures consistent across schools.

The teaching model here is built around clarity. The school’s published approach emphasises structured lessons with predictable routines, and the February 2022 inspection narrative reinforces that pupils settle quickly and that teachers check understanding regularly and use that information to guide learning.

Reading is given specific priority. Pupils read daily and encounter classic texts, a concrete curriculum choice that tends to signal a knowledge-rich English programme rather than a purely skills-based one. For families, the implication is straightforward: pupils who enjoy reading, or who need systematic encouragement to read more often, are likely to find reading consistently reinforced across the week rather than left to chance.

Curriculum breadth is also part of the school’s stated intent, with key stage 3 structured so that pupils study the full range of national curriculum subjects before choices narrow at key stage 4. That matters in a small school, where it can be tempting to reduce breadth too early for timetabling reasons. The message here is that the school aims to avoid that, while still using option guidance to help pupils choose sensibly for GCSE.

There is no sixth form, so every student faces a post-16 transition at the end of Year 11. In practice, that often sharpens the importance of careers guidance and the quality of advice around sixth form, college, apprenticeships, and technical routes. The school’s published careers strategy is unusually detailed for a school of this size. It sets out expectations for multiple meaningful encounters with employers and higher education providers across a pupil’s time at the academy, and it includes a structured programme of visits and workshops from Year 9 onwards.

Examples are specific rather than generic. Year 9 is linked to a visit to an Anglia Ruskin University campus in Peterborough; Year 10 includes workplace skills workshops; Year 11 includes mock interviews supported by Grantham Rotary. The emphasis on mock interviews and employability skills is pragmatic, and it suits pupils who need to understand what “next steps” look like in a concrete, not abstract, way.

The school also signposts local post-16 routes and information for students and families, including references to Grantham College as part of the wider guidance ecosystem.

Entry is coordinated through the local authority, and the school’s admissions page gives clear dates for the September 2026 Year 7 intake. Applications must be submitted by 31 October 2025, with offers released on 01 March 2026.

Demand is material. In the admissions dataset provided here, there were 125 applications for 52 offers, and the school is described as oversubscribed, which equates to about 2.4 applicants per place. That ratio does not mean every family is competing on identical criteria, but it does underline that admission cannot be treated as automatic.

For families trying to plan realistically, it is also relevant that the local authority’s school listing notes that when distance is not sufficient to separate applicants for the final place, a lottery can be used. That is important because it reduces the usefulness of “just inside the boundary” assumptions in very tight allocation situations.

Transition is treated as a process rather than a single day. The school lists open evenings held twice a year, STEAM days for Year 5, a friendship morning, a dedicated SEN transition morning, and a Year 7 residential team-building trip early in the year. In a small school, a well-built transition programme can be the difference between pupils feeling known quickly or feeling lost.

Parents considering admission should use the FindMySchoolMap Search to check their precise home-to-gate distance and to sanity-check how realistic a place might be if allocation becomes tight in a given year.

Pastoral care here is closely tied to structure. Tutor groups, houses, and a points-based rewards framework are intended to keep behaviour consistent and to give pupils multiple “points of contact” with adults who know them. The enrichment model also includes leadership roles, such as house captains and student voice leads, which indicates that pupil responsibility is treated as something to practise, not merely to talk about.

There is also a visible emphasis on safety education. “Staying safe” days are referenced within the broader enrichment programme, and the school’s safeguarding information identifies a team of designated safeguarding leads, reflecting an approach designed around clear reporting lines and routine reminders.

Post-pandemic mental health support is explicitly referenced in official reporting as an area leaders prioritised, alongside re-establishing routines and ensuring pupils received high-quality classroom teaching. For parents, that indicates the school takes reintegration and stability seriously, rather than assuming pupils will automatically “bounce back” without intentional support.

Extracurricular life is not presented as a bolt-on here, it is scheduled into the weekly rhythm. The school runs extended days on Monday and Tuesday to create space for enrichment for Years 7 to 10. That time is used for activities including bush craft, gardening, Duke of Edinburgh activities, musical theatre, sport, and art.

That list matters because it includes options that are not always available in smaller rural schools. Bush craft and gardening, for example, are practical, confidence-building activities that often engage pupils who are less motivated by purely classroom-based “extra help” sessions. Musical theatre is then used with a clear output goal, a production. Recent productions listed include Matilda, Oliver, and Grease, which signals a programme with enough staffing and momentum to stage substantial shows rather than informal showcases only.

Sport is framed through both participation and competition. The school is part of a trust-wide sports framework, with pupils competing in seasonal cups against other David Ross Education Trust schools, alongside local fixtures. Facilities include indoor and outdoor provision and a 3G pitch, with community access highlighted by the school as well.

Music provision is also described in practical terms. Instrumental and vocal lessons are offered across woodwind, brass, keyboard, guitar, percussion, and voice, with subsidised lessons referenced on the school site. That matters in a state school context, where the barrier is often cost rather than interest, and subsidy can be the difference between “available” and “accessible”.

The enrichment programme also uses trips as a deliberate widening-experience lever. Examples include visits to the University of Nottingham, a Year 9 trip to the Houses of Parliament with debate activity, and outward bound opportunities for Year 8. The practical implication is that the school is trying to build cultural and civic confidence, not only to raise aspiration in the abstract.

Term dates are published clearly. For the 2025–26 academic year, Term 1 runs from Monday 08 September 2025 to Friday 24 October 2025, with Year 7 only listed as attending on Friday 05 September 2025, following INSET days earlier in that week. Term 6 runs from Monday 01 June 2026 to Thursday 16 July 2026.

The school publishes a weekly total of 32.5 hours of learning time, but start and finish times are not displayed in accessible text on the timings page, so families should confirm the daily schedule directly if wraparound planning and transport are tight.

On attendance routines, the school asks families to report absence before 8:30am on the first day, which is a useful operational indicator for morning expectations.

As a rural school serving multiple villages, transport planning is part of the decision. Families should check bus routes and eligibility criteria early, especially if the school is not the nearest option and if winter travel conditions affect morning reliability.

• Post-16 transition at 16. There is no sixth form, so every student moves on after Year 11. This suits families who want a clear fresh start at college or sixth form, but it can feel disruptive for pupils who prefer continuity.

• Competitive entry. The school is oversubscribed in the admissions data provided here, at around 2.4 applicants per place. Where places are tight, distance matters and a lottery can be used when applicants cannot be separated by distance for the final place. This makes outcomes harder to predict in some years.

• Ambition and relevance are an explicit development priority. Official reporting flags that some pupils do not always connect learning to future plans, and the school is expected to keep refining curriculum and communication so pupils make more ambitious next-step choices. Families with highly goal-driven children may want to understand how option guidance and careers work for different ability profiles.

This is a small, structured 11–16 academy designed to feel predictable and personal, with routines, houses, and a purposeful enrichment offer doing much of the heavy lifting. The strongest fit is for families who value clear expectations, calm learning conditions, and a school that deliberately broadens experience through trips, performance, and practical enrichment. Securing entry is the main constraint, and the lack of a sixth form means you should be comfortable planning a second transition at 16.