Oasis Academy Don Valley Review 2026: All-through continuity with standout early years and a strong digital learning offer

Built for a modern all-through model, Oasis Academy Don Valley takes children from nursery to Year 11 on one site, reducing the number of big transitions families have to manage. The academy opened in 2015, on the former Don Valley Stadium site in the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park area, and was designed to combine education with community-facing services through its Hub model.

Leadership is structured by phase, with Nichola Smith as Executive Principal, Claire Michels leading the primary phase, and Rachel Cruise leading the secondary phase. The academy does not routinely publish an appointment date for senior leaders, but these roles are confirmed on its official pages and recent formal correspondence.

Ofsted’s graded inspection in November 2023 judged the academy Good overall, with Outstanding early years provision.

An all-through setting can feel either seamless or segmented. Here, the structure is deliberate: there is shared ethos and governance, alongside distinct primary and secondary leadership and routines. The result is a school that aims to offer a consistent values framework while still respecting that a three-year-old and a Year 11 student need very different daily rhythms.

A defining feature is the Oasis Community Learning ethos, which foregrounds inclusion, equality, healthy relationships, hope, and perseverance. Alongside that sits the Oasis 9 Habits, a character framework described as an invitation to live in ways that are compassionate, patient, humble, joyful, honest, hopeful, considerate, forgiving, and self-controlled. Parents who like schools to be explicit about character language often find this clarity helpful, especially when behaviour expectations and restorative conversations are framed around shared vocabulary rather than vague “be good” messages.

The other strand of culture is the idea of the academy as part of an Oasis Hub, with community-facing work running alongside education. The academy’s Hub pages highlight practical family support activity, including oral health work and parent workshops around routines and sleep. This matters because it signals an approach that treats barriers to attendance, focus, and readiness to learn as real issues to be addressed with families, not just individual problems to be sanctioned.

It is also worth understanding that the academy experienced a period of leadership and staffing change after the 2023 inspection, and that the trust has described a phase of transition with systems being reset and embedded. That context helps explain why parts of the school’s recent story are about stabilising routines, sharpening consistency, and rebuilding confidence that behaviour and safeguarding are handled predictably.

Because this is an all-through academy, parents should look at two different accountability points: Key Stage 2 outcomes at the end of Year 6, and GCSE performance at the end of Year 11. The data below reflects the most recently available figures in the provided dataset.

Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

In 2024, 70% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined, compared with an England average of 62%. In science, 83% reached the expected standard, broadly in line with the England average of 82%.

The higher standard picture is more distinctive. In 2024, 18.67% of pupils achieved the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics, compared with an England average of 8%. For families with children already working above age-related expectations, this suggests the primary phase can stretch some pupils beyond “secure” into genuine depth, although this will vary by cohort and individual starting points.

Rankings are best read as context, not destiny, but they do help with local comparisons. Ranked 13,712th in England and 130th in Sheffield for primary outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), the primary results sit below England average overall ’s comparative framework. That makes the higher standard outcome particularly important, because it suggests pockets of strong attainment even when the overall profile is mixed.

GCSE (Year 11)

At GCSE level, the academy’s Attainment 8 score is 36.1 and its Progress 8 score is -0.59. Progress 8 is designed so that 0 represents the England average, so a negative figure indicates students, on average, made less progress than peers nationally from similar starting points.

EBacc measures provide another lens. The average EBacc APS is 3.42 versus an England figure of 4.08. The percentage achieving grades 5 or above across EBacc subjects is 13.4. This points to a current area for academic improvement, particularly for families prioritising a strong traditional academic pathway in languages and humanities.

On rankings, the academy is ranked 3,082nd in England and 32nd in Sheffield for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data). This places it below England average ’s comparative framework, and reinforces that academic outcomes are not yet where the school would want them to be.

A practical implication follows. For many families, the right question is not “Is it perfect?”, but “Is the trajectory and support right for my child?”. The academy’s published curriculum structure and literacy approach suggests a school trying to tighten pedagogy and raise consistency, and its recent formal monitoring emphasises stabilisation of standards in behaviour and safeguarding as systems bed in.

Literacy is presented as a core priority, with a clear set of named approaches rather than generic statements. Reading is tracked using Accelerated Reader, comprehension is taught through the VIPERS framework, and phonics in early years and Key Stage 1 uses Bookwings. Writing is supported via The Write Stuff approach, and vocabulary development is described as a “Golden Thread” running across subjects with explicit Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary teaching.

This matters because it indicates an attempt to build consistency across classrooms. For pupils who benefit from predictable routines and repeated structures, a shared approach to comprehension questions, vocabulary teaching, and writing scaffolds can reduce cognitive load and help them focus on the content rather than guessing the “rules” of each lesson.

Digital learning is another defining feature. The academy participates in Oasis Horizons, providing iPads to students and staff to support shared learning in lessons and online access outside school. Used well, this can improve retrieval practice, homework access, and the ability to revisit materials, particularly for families who find paper-based communication unreliable. Used poorly, it can become a distraction. The key question for parents is how tightly devices are managed in lessons, and what the expectations are for home use.

Careers education begins early in the secondary phase. The academy states that its careers programme is linked to the Gatsby Benchmarks, includes Advisory Time and a Cultural and Character programme for employability skills, and aims to provide encounters with employers, workplace experiences, and personal guidance including individual careers interviews. For a school without its own sixth form, this is more than a compliance exercise. Year 11 students need strong guidance on post-16 routes and application timelines, and families should ask how the academy supports applications to sixth forms, colleges, apprenticeships, and technical pathways.

Because the academy’s age range ends at 16, every student leaves for post-16 education or training. The academy describes post-16 preparation as part of its careers guidance, including personal guidance, support with CVs and personal statements, and engagement with local providers so students can choose between sixth forms, further education colleges, apprenticeships, and other routes.

The school does not publish a consistent set of destination statistics on its website, and there is no destination dataset available in the provided figures, so parents should approach this as a due diligence topic. In practice, a good visit question is: what proportion of Year 11 students progress to their first-choice post-16 destination, and how does the academy track and support those at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training?

For families with children in the primary phase, the all-through model changes the usual transition narrative. Children in Year 6 have an automatic right to transfer into Year 7, without completing a separate application process. That continuity can be an advantage for pupils who find change difficult, and it can allow earlier identification of support needs because staff can share information across phases more easily.

Admissions depend on the entry point, because the academy has nursery, Reception, and Year 7 intake routes, plus in-year admissions.

Nursery

Nursery admissions are handled via the academy, rather than the local authority coordinated school application. Parents may submit an application at any time, applications are considered each term, and places are offered subject to vacancies and oversubscription criteria. Priority is given by age, with older children (from the term after their third birthday) prioritised, and sibling priority used when children share the same date of birth. The nursery policy also makes an important point: a nursery place is not a guarantee of a Reception place.

The nursery policy describes application deadlines in terms of the “last Friday before half term” in the preceding term, depending on when a child becomes eligible. Parents should therefore check timing against the school calendar and plan early if they are targeting a particular start term.

Reception

Reception applications are coordinated through Sheffield City Council. For September 2026 entry, Sheffield states you can apply from Autumn 2025 and the closing date is 15 January 2026, with the national allocation date on 16 April each year (or the next working day if it falls on a weekend or bank holiday).

The academy’s own admissions data indicates demand above capacity at primary entry in the recent dataset, with 103 applications for 52 offers, and an oversubscribed status. That equates to approximately 1.98 applications per offer. The practical implication is that families should treat this as a competitive intake and ensure they understand oversubscription criteria, particularly if they are outside catchment or do not have a sibling link.

Year 7

Sheffield’s coordinated secondary admissions timetable for September 2026 transfer sets an online deadline of midday Tuesday 14 October 2025, with paper forms accepted until 31 October. The national allocation date is 1 March each year, or the next working day if it falls on a weekend or bank holiday.

However, for families already in the academy’s primary phase, there is a major simplification: children transferring from Year 6 to Year 7 do so automatically and are not required to submit a Year 7 application form. The academy’s admissions policy also sets out that Year 7 capacity includes places intended for internal transfer, with remaining places offered under oversubscription criteria if demand exceeds places.

The dataset shows Year 7 demand above places for external applicants, with 289 applications for 150 offers and an oversubscribed status, roughly 1.93 applications per offer. This means external applicants should not assume a place is likely without a strong priority category.

How to short-list realistically

Because distance data is not available in the provided admissions figures for this academy, parents should focus on the published oversubscription criteria and their likely priority category. Using FindMySchool’s Map Search can still be helpful for checking practical travel time and comparing alternatives, even when distance cut-offs are not published in the same way. Separately, the Local Hub comparison tools are useful if you are weighing several Sheffield all-through or secondary options side by side, particularly around Progress 8 and Attainment 8.

The academy’s pastoral model includes targeted strands for specific groups, including a Young Carers lead role held by the Pastoral Manager. That is a meaningful signpost for families where caring responsibilities affect attendance, punctuality, or emotional load, because it suggests the school expects to identify and support young carers rather than treating patterns as purely behavioural.

Attendance support is described as a joint effort between attendance and pastoral teams, with breakfast club and structured start-of-day routines for both phases. The academy publishes breakfast club availability and primary after-school activity timings, which helps parents plan wraparound arrangements.

A September 2025 unannounced urgent inspection letter confirmed safeguarding standards had been maintained, and that leaders had taken effective action to sustain behaviour and safeguarding standards from the previous inspection.

The same letter also signals where the work remains: ensuring new behaviour policies are consistently applied by all staff, refining new internal support provisions for pupils with complex needs, and strengthening the recording of safeguarding intervention outcomes. Parents should read that as a school improving systems, rather than a school claiming there is nothing left to fix.

The published extracurricular page is clear about timings but does not provide a fixed list of clubs, instead directing parents to request an up-to-date activities list from reception. Even so, there are several specific programmes and activities that help you understand enrichment in practice.

First, the Oasis Horizons iPad programme shapes day-to-day enrichment because it expands what teachers can do in lessons and what pupils can access at home. In many schools, enrichment is treated as a narrow after-school add-on. Here, enrichment also means access to digital learning resources, shared lesson materials, and structured online extension, especially when pupils need to revisit explanations or practise skills outside the classroom.

Second, literacy enrichment is built into the mainstream curriculum, not reserved for a book club. The use of Accelerated Reader, VIPERS comprehension, and linked thematic texts is designed to help pupils read widely while also building background knowledge for writing. For pupils who struggle to access the wider curriculum due to weaker reading fluency, this approach can be the difference between coping and thriving across subjects.

Third, community-linked activities are part of the academy’s Hub work. The school has promoted parent-facing oral health sessions, and describes plans to promote a tooth brushing club for nursery children. It also documents “sleep better” workshops for parents and children, focused on routines and strategies that affect wellbeing and concentration. These do not look like traditional extracurricular clubs, but for many families they are high-impact supports that improve readiness to learn.

Finally, for older pupils, the careers programme describes employer engagement, careers fairs, workshops, and visits linked to post-16 choices and future pathways. In a 2 to 16 academy, this is a key enrichment pillar because it bridges the gap between GCSE study and what happens immediately after Year 11.

The academy publishes different day structures by phase. Nursery sessions include morning and afternoon options, and the primary phase day ends at 3pm, with activities running 3pm to 3.45pm. The secondary phase runs from an 8.20am gate opening to a 3pm finish, with after-school clubs, interventions, or detentions scheduled 3pm to 4pm.

Breakfast club runs 8.00am to 8.30am. Wraparound care beyond published breakfast club and activity slots is not set out as a full childcare offer, so families needing later after-school cover should confirm what is currently available and whether places are limited.

• Academic outcomes at GCSE. Progress 8 is -0.59 and EBacc indicators are currently below the England figures. Families with highly academic children may want to ask how top sets are stretched, how GCSE option pathways are structured, and what targeted academic support looks like from Year 9 onward.

• Behaviour consistency is a current focus. Recent formal monitoring highlights that new behaviour systems have improved the learning climate, but also that consistency in staff application remains an area to tighten. Ask to see the behaviour policy in action during a normal day, and ask how parents are kept informed when concerns arise.

• Nursery is not a guaranteed route to Reception. The nursery admissions policy is explicit that a nursery place does not guarantee a Reception place. If your plan depends on staying through to primary, treat the Reception application as a separate process with its own deadlines and criteria.

• External Year 7 entry can be competitive. The school is oversubscribed at Year 7 with about 1.93 applications per offer, and internal primary pupils transfer automatically. External applicants should assume priority categories matter, and plan alternatives.

Oasis Academy Don Valley offers a clear proposition: one school from nursery to Year 11, a strong early years profile, explicit character education through the Oasis ethos and habits, and a digital learning offer through Oasis Horizons. The academic data presents a mixed picture, with stronger signals at Key Stage 2 higher standard than at GCSE, and with GCSE progress currently an area for improvement.

Who it suits: families who value continuity across phases, want an all-through structure in Sheffield with an explicit inclusion-led ethos, and prefer a school that combines education with practical community support. For families where a highly academic GCSE pathway is the top priority, the key decision will rest on confidence in the school’s improvement trajectory and the strength of subject-level support through Key Stage 4.