John Smeaton Academy Review 2026: Crossgates secondary with a clearer culture and strong enrichment choices

In east Leeds, John Smeaton Academy has been rebuilding its relationship with local families while keeping the day-to-day experience highly structured. The timetable is simple, five one-hour lessons per day with a daily registration period that includes personal development, then enrichment options after 3pm. The academy day begins early, with gates open from 8:10am and breakfast available for students who want it.

Leadership stability matters here. Andrew Moncur is the Principal, and the current headteacher took up post in June 2023. The school is part of The GORSE Academies Trust, and the trust’s signature approaches, including Positive Discipline and a strong emphasis on structured routines, are visible across the website and the wider school offer.

The April to May 2024 Ofsted inspection judged the school Good across all areas.

This is a school that wants clarity and consistency to be felt everywhere, in lessons, corridors, and routines. The language used is practical and direct: Positive Discipline, clear expectations, and an emphasis on keeping students learning rather than letting small issues snowball. The message from the school is that standards are non-negotiable, but support is part of the deal, especially for students who need a more tailored approach.

The recent inspection narrative stresses how far things have moved, particularly around behaviour, relationships with staff, and the sense that students are now being set higher expectations. It also links culture to opportunity, with enrichment and rewards positioned as part of a wider push to raise aspirations.

There is also an inclusion story running in parallel. Horizons, the on-site resourced provision for complex communication needs, is a visible part of the academy’s identity, and the school describes it as a supportive environment with a tailored curriculum. At the time of the inspection, 22 students were enrolled in that provision.

At GCSE level, the school’s current headline performance indicators remain challenging. The academy’s Attainment 8 score is 32.5, and the Progress 8 figure is -0.9, which signals that, on average, students make less progress than pupils with similar starting points nationally.

On the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measures, the pattern is similar. The average EBacc APS is 2.85 compared with an England average of 4.08. The percentage achieving grade 5 or above across the EBacc is 7.5%.

In the FindMySchool ranking (based on official data), the school is ranked 3,602nd in England and 36th in Leeds for GCSE outcomes. That places performance below England average, within the lower 40% of schools in England (60th to 100th percentile).

What matters for parents is how to interpret a mixed picture: the accountability measures are still weak, but the formal inspection view is that curriculum and teaching are moving in a stronger direction than historic outcomes suggest. For families considering the school, it is sensible to ask how rapidly current cohorts are improving, what intervention is in place for those behind, and how the school is tracking progress in Years 7 to 11.

Parents comparing options locally can use the FindMySchool Local Hub and Comparison Tool to place these GCSE indicators alongside nearby schools, then pressure test what is changing now versus what the historic data shows.

The curriculum model is deliberately structured. The school describes five 60-minute periods each day, plus a 30-minute form time. It also references an approach called Iterative Assessment, which focuses on revisiting knowledge over time rather than only assessing the most recent unit.

Personal development is treated as a timetable component rather than an add-on. The school describes dedicated “Be Smart” days used to cover areas of Relationships, Sex and Health Education and related content that does not sit neatly inside subject lessons, with outside agencies and guest speakers involved.

On classroom practice, the school highlights staff training and a shared approach to reducing barriers to learning, including Strategic Seating and Interaction Plans. Homework expectations are also spelled out in time-based guidance by key stage.

A key practical feature is reading support. The most recent inspection report describes staff identifying students at an early stage of learning to read and providing personalised support from trained staff, aimed at building reading confidence quickly.

Where Students Go Next

The school does not publish a single, easy set of destination statistics in the material surfaced in this research, so families should expect to ask directly about the balance of routes after Year 11 and Year 13. What is clear is that careers education and post-16 guidance are treated as core. The inspection notes that the school meets provider access legislation requirements for Years 7 to 13, which relates to ensuring students hear about technical qualifications and apprenticeships as well as academic routes.

For practical family decision-making, the questions to bring to an open evening or meeting are straightforward: how many students remain for sixth form study at the academy, what routes are most common after Year 11, and how the school supports students whose best route is a local college, apprenticeship, or training provider.

Year 7 entry is coordinated through local authority admissions in the normal way. For the September 2026 intake, the school lists the application deadline as 31 October 2025, with offers released on 2 March 2026 and an acceptance deadline of 16 March 2026.

The academy advertises an open evening in early October, and for the current cycle it lists Thursday 2 October, 6pm to 8pm. Since it is now late January 2026, families looking ahead should treat early October as the typical pattern and check the website for the next set of dates and booking arrangements.

For September 2026 to July 2027, the Published Admission Number is 180. The Leeds admissions summary lists priority order broadly as: looked-after and previously looked-after children, siblings, children living in the academy catchment area, then other children. It also directs families to a catchment map and to the council’s catchment checker.

In terms of demand, Leeds records 400 total preferences for offer day 2025 (across first to fifth preferences), with 138 listing the school as first preference. The same council page also indicates that, on offer days 2023 to 2025, “all applicants admitted” under the published priority headings. The right interpretation is that demand exists, but families should still check the current pattern, because intake pressure can shift quickly year to year.

If you are moving mid-year or seeking a transfer, the school states it participates in the Leeds coordinated in-year scheme and applies its oversubscription criteria to allocate any available places.

Parents who want to sense-check eligibility should use FindMySchool’s Map Search to see how their address sits relative to catchment boundaries and the school location, then confirm details against the current council criteria.

Safeguarding information is detailed and names the safeguarding leads, including the Designated Safeguarding Lead, plus a wider safeguarding and inclusion team. The inspection confirmed safeguarding arrangements are effective.

The school frames behaviour and wellbeing together. Positive Discipline is described as the behavioural framework and is positioned as a way to create a safe, orderly environment where learning is protected. That matters for families deciding whether structure is a help or a pressure. Some students thrive when boundaries are consistent and predictable; others need reassurance that sanctions are paired with genuine support and repair.

For students with special educational needs and disabilities, the SEND page sets out staffing roles and a menu of support, including teaching assistant support, literacy and numeracy interventions, and access arrangements. It also describes transition work with feeder primaries and additional transition days for some students with SEND.

One area the school itself will expect parents to take seriously is attendance. The inspection highlights that some students do not attend often enough, limiting learning and progress, and it references strategies such as an attendance club while stating more improvement is needed.

Enrichment is unusually explicit and operationalised. The Enrichment++ timetable lists named clubs by day, including Running Club, Law Society, School Production, Amnesty International, Programming Club, Comic Club, Maths Circles Club, Italian Club, JSA Choir, Science and Engineering Club, Performance Band Club, Digital Art Club, Minecraft Club, and Karate.

The trust-wide “BIG 3” programme is presented as Rowing, Volleyball, and Karate, with a clear intent to give students access to sports that can open doors beyond the usual school fixtures. For some students, that sort of offer is a genuine differentiator, particularly where motivation is boosted by belonging to a distinctive team or training group rather than joining a generic after-school club.

There is also an environmental and global learning strand via the Trinidad Legacy, which the school describes as building understanding of climate change, culture, and biodiversity, and inspiring expeditions and projects.

Music is supported through peripatetic instrumental lessons, described as subsidised and taught by professional musicians.

The academy gates open 08:10 to 08:30, registration runs 08:30 to 09:00, and the compulsory school day ends at 3pm, with Enrichment++ and other study sessions from 3pm onwards. Breakfast is available free to students in the morning window.

Leeds City Council’s school page flags travel-safety details including a 20 mph zone outside the school, and it records cycle storage as available. The school also directs families to the council’s school transport policy and application routes where transport support is relevant.

• GCSE outcomes and progress measures: Current Attainment 8 (32.5) and Progress 8 (-0.9) indicate that outcomes remain a weak spot despite improvement work. Families should ask how current year groups are tracking versus historic results, and what catch-up support looks like in practice.

• Attendance expectations and reality: Attendance is identified as an area where more improvement is needed, and this can affect learning continuity. If your child has medical or anxiety-related barriers, ask how the school supports reintegration and stabilising routines.

• A strongly structured culture: Positive Discipline and tight routines suit many students, particularly those who benefit from predictability. Others may need careful reassurance about how behaviour systems are applied, including how support and consequences are balanced.

• Admissions timing and catchment: Leeds uses catchment priority areas and a fixed national timetable. Missing key deadlines is costly, so families should plan a full year ahead and keep an eye on any updated open event dates.

John Smeaton Academy has a clearer operational model than many local secondaries: firm routines, a well-defined enrichment timetable, and an explicit focus on culture, attendance, and inclusion. It suits students who respond well to structure, want access to distinctive clubs such as Law Society or the BIG 3 sports, and benefit from a school that is trying to rebuild expectations systematically. The main trade-off is that published GCSE performance remains below where most families want it to be, so prospective parents should focus on current progress indicators, intervention quality, and attendance support as part of their decision.