Setting

Mr Mike Feehan Principal The Basildon Upper Academy Wickford Avenue Pitsea Basildon SS13 3HL

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Introduction

Following my visit to your academy on 29 and 30 March 2011 with Alan Alder HMI, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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Introduction

The inspection was a first monitoring inspection in connection with the academies initiative. The Basildon Lower Academy was inspected at the same time.

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the academy’s work, scrutinised documents and met with groups of students, the Chair of the Governing Body, the School Improvement Partner, the Executive Principal, the acting Principal and various other members of staff. They also met with two newly appointed leaders who will take up their posts in April 2011.

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Context

The Basildon Upper Academy and its close partner The Basildon Lower Academy opened in September 2009 on the sites of the former Chalvedon and Barstable schools, respectively. The Upper Academy caters for students in Years 10 to 13 and the Lower Academy for students in Years 7 to 9. The academies are part of The Basildon Academies Trust, sponsored by the Stanton Lane Trust and have a common governing body. The Executive Principal has overall responsibility for the Trust’s Serco Inspections Cedar House 21 William Street Edgbaston Birmingham B15 1LH Ofsted T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Serco Direct T 0121 683 3888 schools. The academies each have their own Principal, but many leadership roles span both academies.

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Context

There has been a considerable building programme on both sites which has necessitated a flexible approach to where students have been taught. Until February 2011, Year 10 students were taught at the Lower Academy site. This meant that certain subjects lacked appropriate specialist accommodation until recently. The building programme continues at the Upper Academy and necessitates frequent changes to the timetable as different parts of the building are taken into or released from the building programme.

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Context

There was an early change in the leadership team of the Upper Academy when the then Principal Designate and a vice principal left prior to the September 2009 opening. A temporary acting Principal was appointed and will remain in post until August 2011. Recently, a new Principal was appointed, who will take up his post after Easter 2011.

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Context

Since opening, the academies have had a considerable turnover of staff. It has proved particularly difficult to recruit mathematics teachers and the leadership of some subjects has been subject to temporary arrangements since opening. A new head of mathematics has now been appointed and will take up his post after Easter 2011. Across the two academies, there are 137 teachers, including 72 from the predecessor schools. Of these, two are overseas trained, five are part of the graduate trainee programme, ten are part of the Teach First programme, five are newly qualified teachers, twelve are agency staff and three are unqualified teachers. The support team includes 120 who previously worked at the predecessor schools.

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Context

The Basildon Upper Academy serves a local community where the level of deprivation is higher than that found nationally. It currently has 924 students on roll, including 153 in the sixth form. Of these, approximately 55% are boys, 22% are known to be entitled to free school meals, 11% are from minority ethnic groups and 18% have recognised special educational needs and/or disabilities, including 4% who have statements of special educational needs. There is relatively little movement in and out of the school, other than at the usual times of transfer.

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Pupils’ achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning

The prior attainment of the academy’s students covers the full range, but is well below average overall. The first set of examination results was better in some respects compared to its predecessors, but attainment remained low overall. The proportion of students gaining the equivalent of five or more GCSE passes at A* to C, including English and mathematics, rose from 22 per cent to 31 per cent. Attainment increased noticeably in English and to a lesser extent in mathematics. On the other hand, the proportion gaining five or more passes at A* to G fell from 88 per cent to 83 per cent and attendance declined. The results represented slower progress than had been achieved in the predecessor schools because too many students underachieved. The high level of disruption caused by the building programme and various staffing problems were contributing factors. The standards achieved in the sixth form were well below average, but represented satisfactory

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Pupils’ achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning

Over the last year, the academy has been working very hard on its intervention programmes which aim to help as many students as possible to gain at least five GCSE passes at A* to C, including English and mathematics. Support has been targeted particularly at students who are close to the C/D borderline in English and/or mathematics. Progress in these core subjects has improved for students of average and below average prior attainment, but has declined for the most able students. Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress because of the well organised support they receive. For Year 11 students, current attainment across all subjects is better than at the same point last year. However, a minority of students are underachieving considerably, particularly those with poor attendance.

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Pupils’ achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning

The quality of learning in lessons varies from good to inadequate. Several of the lessons observed followed a similar pattern in which students were expected to use their research skills to find the information needed to answer a series of questions. However, this rarely led to good learning. Too often, students looked at just one source or at sources found for them by the teacher. Furthermore, many simply copied the text directly from the source. This was particularly evident in one sixth form lesson.

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Other relevant pupil outcomes

Attendance is very low, with persistent absence affecting nearly a quarter of Year 10 students and nearly a third of Year 11 students. The number of temporary exclusions is very high with 214 exclusions in the first half of the year. The behaviour of Year 10 students was particularly poor when they were being taught at the Lower Academy site. Students generally behave safely around the academy, but inspectors saw several examples of unhelpful behaviour, including poor punctuality, boisterousness, and disruption of lessons by students who were not in class. Although the academy has launched a new behaviour policy, staff responses to inappropriate behaviour are still inconsistent.

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Other relevant pupil outcomes

Students’ behaviour in lessons is generally satisfactory but there is an undercurrent of low level disruption in the less effective lessons. Students respond well when the teaching engages their interest and gives them an active role in learning. Those in the intervention programmes generally have positive attitudes to learning but students in lower sets for mathematics and English do not. In the three examples seen, the majority of students were absent and, among those who did attend, several were demotivated by their low target grades. Students who spoke to inspectors were cautiously optimistic. They recognise that the building works will eventually bring benefits and appreciate the efforts of teachers who offer additional classes after school. However, they are concerned about the number of classes that have two or more different teachers across the week, by the levels of teacher absence and by the quality of some teaching. They do

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Other relevant pupil outcomes

not feel that their views are taken sufficiently into account. They report some friction between students from the two predecessor schools.

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The effectiveness of provision

The quality of teaching is inadequate. Approximately a third of lessons feature good teaching, but teaching is inadequate or barely satisfactory in just as many. During the inspection, good teaching was evident in history and some English lessons. An art lesson was effective because students were motivated by the good teaching, the well-chosen context and the prospect of involvement in a forthcoming art exhibition. However, too many lessons are dull and formulaic, focusing on the completion of tasks at the expense of developing understanding. Teachers do not use assessment well enough during lessons in order to reshape tasks and explanations to improve learning. A wide range of assessment data is collated but this includes some inaccuracies because it is not moderated internally or validated by comparing it with data from other schools. Only a few teachers use this information to plan learning which means that tasks are often either too easy or too difficult for students. In

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The effectiveness of provision

mathematics, teaching does not build well enough on prior learning, so students lack confidence in using and applying mathematics.

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The effectiveness of provision

The academy offers a wide range of vocational courses, partly at the expense of subjects such as modern foreign languages. English and mathematics are given a high priority, with extra lessons and multiple opportunities for students to gain a qualification. The sixth form curriculum provides appropriate progression routes, including A levels and vocational qualifications. The academy’s enterprise specialism is reflected in dedicated enterprise lessons and an enterprise week in which all subjects play a part. The mathematics specialism has had limited impact so far, because of difficulties in recruiting teachers.

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The effectiveness of provision

An important part of the academy’s approach is that students within each year group are organised into smaller groups, known as colleges, each having a dedicated learning zone. These are led by a non-teaching college manager. The idea is that every student will be known as an individual. In practice, this has led to some variability in the quality of care, guidance and support, and a lack of clarity about who should be held accountable for students’ poor attendance and behaviour. The academy has conspicuously failed to reduce absence and the small educational welfare team has not been able to cope with its caseload. On a more positive note, students get appropriate guidance at points of transition, child protection training is up to date and learning support is well organised and effective. The academy meets current requirements for vetting staff. While risk assessments in practical subjects have been conducted, inspectors drew senior leaders’ attention to

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The effectiveness of provision

some areas where safety could be further enhanced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

In its first five terms, the academy has faced many challenges including some that could not have been foreseen. In response, the Executive Principal has had a more prominent role in day-to-day management than was originally envisaged, with the result that the nominally separate Upper and Lower Academies have operated more like a single split-site school. Furthermore, some assistant principals have had to take on additional responsibilities beyond the curriculum leadership roles to which they were originally appointed as specialists As a consequence, lines of accountability have become confused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The highly ambitious targets for raising attainment have led to a strong focus on the intervention programme in Years 10 and 11. Students’ progress is assessed each half term and analysed to identify individuals and groups who would benefit from additional support. The intervention programme in English and mathematics has led to better progress for students in the target group. Senior leaders have observed many lessons, making accurate judgements and following up any where teaching and learning has been inadequate. As a result, there have been fewer inadequate lessons this term than there were last term. The leadership of special educational needs provision is particularly effective, with good regard for students’ views.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The academy’s development is guided by an extensive plan that sets out the intended actions and timescales, an indication of who is responsible and a series of success criteria. Some improvements have ensued, most notably in raising attainment and reducing the extent of inadequate teaching. While progress in implementing the plan is reviewed regularly, there is little evaluation of its impact or of the academy’s progress towards its vision. Senior leaders have taken a flexible and pragmatic approach to crisis management and this has led to changes in the original vision. For example, the ‘learning zone’ concept has been diluted to enable teachers of core subjects each to have a dedicated teaching room.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The governing body has grown in effectiveness since its formation and is under no illusions about the challenges facing the academies. Members have learned to ask critical questions and are now provided with weekly updates. However, most of their information is channelled through the three Principals because links are not well enough established with subject leaders and the wider senior leadership team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The academy’s leaders believe that recent changes, such as the new appointments and the transfer of Year 10 to the Upper Academy site put the two academies in a stronger position. Nevertheless, attendance remains low, there is too much poor behaviour and not enough good teaching. The capacity to improve is inadequate because leaders have not demonstrated a track record of sustained improvements in these key areas. The lack of self-evaluation, the lack of specialist subject leaders in mathematics and the humanities and the confusions over accountability are major weaknesses.

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External support

The academy has drawn support from external consultants. The School Improvement Partner has played an important role in assessing the progress towards the ambitious targets. The sponsor has been closely involved through membership of the governing body.

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Main Judgements

This monitoring inspection has raised serious concerns about the standard of education provided by the academy and I am recommending a further monitoring inspection.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Increase attendance and reduce persistent absence rates as a matter of urgency, so that they are much closer to national averages by: ― clarifying the roles and responsibilities of staff responsible for monitoring attendance and setting them challenging targets to improve and maintain it ― giving one senior leader fully responsible for monitoring the actions taken to raise attendance and evaluating the impact and effectiveness of staff responsible for improving it ― gaining the full support and commitment of parents and carers to ensure that their child attends on a regular basis ― ensuring that students’ views are heard and taken into account.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Raise achievement by: ― ensuring that students are taught to synthesise information from a variety of sources and to write their responses in their own words ― ensuring that students are taught to use and apply mathematics to real-life situations and to further their understanding ― providing all staff with an accurate baseline of students’ ability on entry in Year 7 and by monitoring the quality of their tracking to gauge how well students are progressing ― moderating teachers’ assessments within departments and with other local schools to improve the validity of performance data.  Improve the quality of teaching by: ― eradicating the high proportion of inadequate teaching so that it is at least satisfactory throughout the academy ― empowering the most effective teachers to lead developments and share best practice in order to increase the proportion of good teaching ― instilling in all staff the collective need to apply behaviour

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Priorities for further improvement

management procedures consistently, so that students fully understand the expectations of them and know the consequences they will face if they misbehave ― raising teachers’ expectations of students and providing them with interesting, enjoyable and challenging lessons.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by: ― clarifying the respective roles of the Principal and the Executive Principal ― thoroughly evaluating the academy’s current strengths and weaknesses, and using this information to inform a clear and succinct plan to secure rapid improvements within the timescales facing the academy ― embedding the new procedures to manage behaviour, regularly checking that they are being implemented consistently and challenging staff when inconsistencies occur ― developing a stronger role for subject leaders in improving teaching and learning, ensuring that each subject has a specific development programme ― improving line-management and performance-management arrangements so that all leaders, managers and staff are held fully accountable for the outcomes achieved by students.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State for Education the Chair of the Governing Body and the Academies Group at the Department for Education. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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