Secondary Schools
The Oaks Academy
Meeting the needs of a changing school community
Thistley Hough Academy, part of Creative Education Trust, is a mixed secondary school serving 1,090 learners in Stoke-on-Trent. Now the highest achieving non-selective school in the city, its growing reputation has led to an increase in student numbers and a shift in learner needs.
In one academic year, the number of students with English as an Additional Language (EAL) has doubled. Today, 47% of the school population has an EAL need, with over 50 languages spoken.
For EAL lead Maria Malaescu and the wider team at Thistley Hough, this created a clear challenge. The school needed to scale its provision quickly while maintaining quality, managing staff workload and ensuring that all learners could access the curriculum.
“When we started as a team, we used to have about 30 or 40 learners in interventions. However, this year we have 120 students in active interventions.”
Maria Malaescu, EAL Lead
Many students are new arrivals to the UK, some with little or no experience of formal education or technology.
“Sometimes we are faced with the challenge that the students have never seen a laptop or an iPad. We start these students with the FlashAcademy® introduction booklet. They match the images with the words, learn the alphabet and start to build their confidence.”
A strategic, data-led approach to EAL
At leadership level, the priority was to continuing to implement a scalable approach to EAL. This required clear visibility of learner progress, reliable assessment and purposeful intervention.
FlashAcademy® has supported leaders with the visibility of trusted data they need to make informed strategic decisions.
“One of the key things is being able to really holistically get that overview of data. It has helped us as a starting point. Which students do we need to focus on first, and how can we use that to apply groupings for interventions?”
Sam Whitaker, Assistant Principal
With accurate baseline assessments and ongoing tracking, staff can identify need quickly and respond in a timely way. This is particularly important when students arrive mid-year with limited English.
“That timely manner of collecting the data is hugely important,” Sam tells us. “We need to be prompt in putting the right support in place.”
The school has also been able to ensure that time spent in interventions is purposeful.
“If we are removing students from the curriculum, we need to ensure that what we are doing is purposeful. The ultimate goal is for them to access and participate in the curriculum.”
This approach supports Ofsted priorities around inclusion, curriculum access and demonstrating impact. Leaders praised the support, resources and testing systems in place via FlashAcademy® that enable the school to do this.
Supporting staff while reducing workload
Alongside improving outcomes for students, FlashAcademy® has helped reduce workload and support staff wellbeing.
“The impact it has had on workload has been huge”, Michelle shared. “There is access to testing and diagnostic data without us having to mark and give individualised feedback in written forms.”
With built-in assessment and tracking, teachers can spend less time on administration and more time supporting learners. The staff team at Thistley Hough told us how much they value the access to CPD for staff and leaders through FlashAcademy®.
FlashAcademy®’s use extends beyond the EAL department at Thistley Hough. Teachers across the school can benefit from the unlimited number of teacher logins while supporting multilingual learners transitioning into lessons. This approach ensures that provision for multilingual learners is a whole-school responsibility and supports an inclusive culture at the school.
Making an impact in the classroom
At classroom level, FlashAcademy® is an important part of daily practice for Maria and EAL teaching assistant Krystina Safi. Maria explained how it supports them to support a large number of learners effectively.
“For a new arrival, it is very difficult to understand and keep up. We reduce that anxiety. We provide a laptop and headphones so they can learn independently,”
She also shared how the structured and visual nature of the platform helps students build vocabulary and understand sentence structure.
“They see the image, they click, they listen and they finish with full sentences. It helps them make connections. We can also assess them across listening, speaking, reading and writing. It is also helping me, especially when you have a high volume of EAL learners like us.”
For Krystina, the time saving and impact on learner wellbeing makes the platform a valuable addition to their EAL strategy: “FlashAcademy® helps us save time and gives children the chance to develop new skills. It supports reading, writing, grammar and punctuation – and they express themselves more.”
Driving learner outcomes with rapid progress
The impact on learners has been significant, both academically and socially.
Students are making strong progress in English proficiency with 54% of students improving by at least three proficiency levels!
17 students progressed from Band C to Band E and were reintegrated into the mainstream timetable in the first term.
“We reassessed them after interventions and they achieved fluency,” Maria told us with evident joy in her learners’ success. “We were proud to reintegrate them.”
Individual journeys show the significance for future outcomes.
For Hawa, who arrived from Ghana and was assessed at Band B, her progression of two grades within five months shows the importance of the personalised learning journey offered by the platform.
Maria and Kristyna spoke about the differences they had seen in Hawa. “Now she is more confident, she is happy to be here and her writing has improved significantly.” Hawa has aspirations to become a teacher hersled, inspired by the progress she has made with her learning.
Maria and Kristyna told us of a former Thistley Hough student who used FlashAcademy® to progress from Band A to Band E in just six months, achieving high GCSE grades to set them up for the future.
“They proved that it is possible”, Maria reflected. “They had a goal and they achieved it.”
Beyond the classroom
The benefits extend beyond academic progress. Students are developing confidence and a sense of belonging within the school community.
“We have seen a huge change”, Michelle told us. “Students who arrived knowing nobody and not knowing the language are now forming connections with staff and students.”
“FlashAcademy® has really helped me with my spellings and grammar,” said Kamren, who is now the Student President at Thistley Hough.
His classmates also reflected the impact FlashAcademy® has had for them, as part of the wider school community with Ayana telling us:
“ FlashAcademy® helped me understand difficult words and improve my learning and helped me gain more friends.”
Building foundations for the future
At Thistley Hough Academy, a rapid increase in EAL learners required a response that was both immediate and sustainable. FlashAcademy® has been a key part of their strategy.
It has given leaders clear oversight of need and progress, supported staff with practical tools that reduce workload and enabled targeted, purposeful intervention at scale.
Most importantly, it has ensured that students arriving with little or no English are able to build confidence, access learning and feel part of the school community in a short space of time.
As Sam shared with us: “We are not just helping them access the curriculum. We are preparing them for life beyond school.”
With the right structures in place, the school has been able to respond confidently to a significant increase in its intake. FlashAcademy® has supported that transition, helping to turn a complex challenge into a clear and manageable approach that benefits both staff and students.
If you’re faced with a sudden increase in EAL learners or want to maximise your EAL strategy, start your journey here to find out how FlashAcademy® can help scale your EAL provision.
