Burnside College

Burnside Business and Enterprise College Inspection report

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Age group 11–18 Inspection date(s) 18–19 January 2012 Inspection number 377791 Unique Reference Number 108640 Local authority North Tyneside Inspection number 377791 Inspection dates 18–19 January 2012 Lead inspector Lee Northern HMI

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Secondary School category Community Age range of pupils 11–18 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1,398 Of which number on roll in the sixth form 204 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair George Mitchell Headteacher Michelle Murphy Date of previous school inspection 1 March 2007 School address St Peter's Road Wallsend NE28 7LQ Telephone number 0191 2598500 Fax number 0191 2598501 Email address m.murphy@burnsidecollege.org.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child's school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Lee Northern Colin Scott Her Majesty's Inspector Additional inspector Graeme Clarke Additional inspector Alexandra Hook Additional inspector Peter Bannon Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. The lead inspector took account of the responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 45 lessons, taught by 44 different members of staff. Of these, four were observed jointly with managers from the school. In addition, two ‘student trails’, consisting of short visits to a series of lessons were conducted, focusing on the experience of students with special educational needs and of those known to be eligible for free school meals. In total, over 22 hours of teaching was observed. Inspectors held meetings with groups of students, members of the governing body and school staff. They observed the school’s work, scrutinised a range of documentation and examined evaluations undertaken by the school to ensure that it meets statutory requirements in relation to safeguarding. In addition, 356 questionnaires from parents and carers were

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Introduction

scrutinised and inspectors also examined questionnaires returned by staff and those from a representative sample of students.

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Information about the school

Burnside Business and Enterprise College is a larger than the average-sized secondary school. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is slightly higher than the national average and has risen since the time of the last inspection. Most students are of White British heritage and few students speak English as an additional language. The proportion of students with disabilities and those with special educational needs is lower than that seen nationally, although the proportion of students with a statement of special educational needs is in line with the national average. The school works as part of a federation with primary schools in the Wallsend area and also with a partner special school. In addition, it hosts an additional resource provision for a small number of students with moderate learning difficulties, who access the curriculum in mainstream lessons. The school also works

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Information about the school

in partnership with another secondary school to provide sixth form courses for a small number of students.

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Information about the school

The school meets the current government floor standard. It has gained a number of awards, including Investors in People, the International Schools Award and the Healthy School status. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key Findings

 Burnside Business and Enterprise College is a satisfactory school. Although levels of attainment at the end of Key Stage 4 have fallen during the previous two years, including in English and mathematics, leaders and managers have taken effective steps to halt this decline and achievement is now satisfactory overall. However, actions to improve students’ literacy and communication skills have not been rigorous enough to bring about more rapid improvement. The sixth form is satisfactory.

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Key Findings

 The majority of teaching in Years 7-11, and in the sixth form, is satisfactory. Additional provision to meet the needs of a small number of students who experience particular barriers to learning has been extended and improved. As a result, students with disabilities and those with special educational needs are making progress in line with that of their peers. However, in too many lessons, teaching takes little account of the differing needs of students in the class and there are few opportunities for students to contribute more actively through dialogue and discussion. As a result of weaknesses in the use of assessment in lessons, students’ errors and misconceptions are rarely used well to adapt learning or to inform future teaching.

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Key Findings

 Most students behave well and enjoy coming to school. Students and their parents and carers say that a few lessons are disturbed by the off-task behaviour of a very small number of students. Inspection evidence confirms that this is linked to inconsistencies in the application of the school’s systems for managing behaviour or where lessons do not involve students in their learning or capture their interest well.

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Key Findings

 Leaders and managers have an accurate picture of those aspects of the school’s work in need of further development. It is too soon to see the impact of improvements to targets and tracking information because these refinements are not yet fully embedded across the school. Information arising from monitoring activities is not being used rigorously enough to drive improvements to teaching more rapidly. In addition, there is considerable variation in the extent to which development planning at all levels is sharply focused on improvements in outcomes for students.

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Key Findings

Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement, including in English and mathematics, by: - pursuing with greater rigour the development of literacy and communication skills across all aspects of the curriculum - further embedding the use of targets and tracking information to identify and address underachievement more effectively - improving the consistency of the management of students’ behaviour and thereby preventing instances of low-level disruption to learning which slow progress and reduce students’ enjoyment and achievement in lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of teaching that is good or outstanding, in all key stages, by: - ensuring teachers use assessment information to better plan lessons to meet the needs of all groups of students in the class - increasing the opportunities for students to be more actively involved in lessons, including through better quality dialogue and discussion - ensuring all teachers assess learning more effectively in lessons, identify students’ errors and misconceptions and take prompt action to provide additional support or challenge.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of the school's self-evaluation by: - using more rigorously the information gathered through monitoring activities to drive improvements to teaching and learning - ensuring that development planning at all levels is linked more sharply to improvements in outcomes for students.

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Achievement of pupils

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 4 is broadly average. However, the proportion of students achieving five or more A*-C grades, including English and mathematics, has fallen over the last two years and unvalidated data for 2011 show this proportion to be significantly below the average seen nationally. Students’ attainment has fallen noticeably in English. This is because weaknesses in the development of students’ communication skills are holding back achievement. Some parents and carers noted their concerns about achievement in mathematics and English. Inspection evidence confirmed that achievement in both subjects is not as high as it should be. Students’ achievement is better in science, in languages and in design and technology subjects because more teaching challenges and engages them and they enjoy being more actively involved in their learning.

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Achievement of pupils

In the sixth form, attainment is below average overall, particularly in the proportion of students securing the highest grades at A-level. However, because students enter the sixth form with below average prior attainment, this represents satisfactory progress overall. They also make satisfactory progress in lessons. Progress is slowed because not enough teaching develops independence and resilience in learning and too little is expected from students in their active involvement in many lessons.

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Achievement of pupils

Students’ progress is satisfactory overall. Most students are keen to learn, work hard and they relate positively to their peers and their teachers. Learning is best when teaching captures students’ interest and uses a range of approaches to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding. Learning slows where students contribute little to the lesson, teachers talk for too long or where the focus of the lesson is on tasks to be completed rather than on learning to be developed. For example, although the use of intervention and modular approaches to assessment is helping to raise achievement in mathematics, not enough mathematics teaching focuses sufficiently on developing students’ understanding. Progress in lessons slows because too great an emphasis is placed on mechanical approaches to routine problems, at the expense of encouraging students to develop their mathematical thinking using a range of

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Achievement of pupils

examples that challenges their understanding and develops collaborative learning.

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Achievement of pupils

Although boys did less well than girls in 2011, inspection evidence confirms that this difference in achievement is closing. This is because recent improvements in the way in which the school targets groups of students for support and intervention are increasingly effective in addressing the underachievement of different groups of students. This includes, for example, those students known to be eligible for free school meals. In addition, the school has recently improved the levels of support provided for those students who join the school with weaknesses in their reading skills. The impact of this work is being seen in the rapid improvement in the reading ages of those students who have benefited from this support. As a result of these improvements, students with special educational needs progress at similar rates to those of their peers and the work of the Learning Support Unit makes a significant

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall, although there were examples of outstanding and inadequate teaching seen. A common planning template is in place to provide a consistent structure for lesson design. However, not all teachers use this template effectively to plan lessons that meet the needs of different groups of students. As a result, in less effective teaching, the whole class moves at a similar rate through the same work. In some lessons, students spend too long working on lower-level tasks in unimaginative ways. Consequently, many students who require additional support to access learning are too frequently confronted with worksheets and similar materials that they struggle to access and that do not inspire them.

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Quality of teaching

In the best lessons, teachers have high expectations of achievement and behaviour and adapt activities well to provide suitable levels of challenge for all groups of students. Students make faster progress and enjoy their lessons where there are a variety of tasks and teaching approaches that capture their interest and involvement and foster their enjoyment of learning. For example, in a design and technology lesson for Year 8 students, their achievement and attitudes to learning were outstanding. This was because the teacher had used assessment information to plan the activities carefully to the needs of the students. Peer support was used highly effectively to accelerate progress and a balance of different types of activities maintained students’ interest and enjoyment. A particularly effective feature of the lesson was the time provided to students to enable them to develop and contribute their own ideas. Similarly, in a games lesson for Year 11 students, the teacher

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Quality of teaching

ensured that the students had opportunities to reflect on their learning and identify for themselves how they could improve their work.

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Quality of teaching

The students’ work is marked regularly and most students take pride in the presentation of their work. The best marking helps students to improve their knowledge and understanding through the precise identification of strengths and aspects for improvement. Older students say that the written feedback they receive in German and design technology is particularly effective, although not all subjects provide guidance of this quality. There is variation too in the consistency with which teachers reinforce high expectations in the use of spoken English. Students’ targets are realistic but aspirational. They say they value the discussions they have with their teachers, for example in science, which helps them to understand the targets they have been given. Registration and tutorial time is used well to encourage students to reflect on wider moral, social and cultural issues, particularly through the focus on a

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Quality of teaching

‘thought for the day’. Parents and carers express positive views about the quality of teaching at the school.

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Behaviour and safety of students

The students say they feel safe in school and parents and carers express few concerns. Awareness of safe practices, including e-safety, is promoted well through the curriculum. Bullying is rare and where incidents do occur, including through the use of modern technologies, the school responds promptly and effectively. Detailed records are kept and the school evaluates well the effectiveness of its work to reduce the incidence of bullying of any kind. Nevertheless, a small number of parents and carers expressed concerns in their written comments to inspectors that some other forms of bullying, such as name-calling, do not appear to be tackled as effectively, or that the school does not always communicate clearly the outcome of actions it has taken.

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Behaviour and safety of students

Behaviour of students around the school site is calm and orderly and most lessons proceed with very little interruption to learning. However, in a small number of instances, some low-level disruption to learning was seen to occur, such as students’ inattentive behaviour in lessons or off-task chatter distracting the learning of others. Despite this, students confirmed that such disruption was uncommon in the vast majority of their lessons. Sixth form students are positive role models and many make a valued contribution to school life as mentors for younger students.

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Behaviour and safety of students

Levels of attendance and persistent absence are broadly in line with those seen nationally and are improving. Rates of exclusion are low and the Behaviour Support Unit makes a good contribution to ensuring that students at risk of exclusion are able to reintegrate into mainstream lessons without losing ground in their learning. The school is proactive in seeking support from a wide range of external agencies and other partners in support of those students most at risk.

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Leadership and management

Senior managers have succeeded in developing a strong spirit of collaboration and common purpose. A desire to seek further improvement prevails and the capacity to improve further is satisfactory overall. The school's self-evaluation has correctly identified a number of areas for improvement based on recent outcomes, along with a range of strategies to address those aspects in need of attention. However, the school’s evaluation of its current performance is over-generous and pays insufficient regard to the impact of provision on outcomes. Improvement planning at all levels focuses more strongly on processes and provision than on a sharp emphasis on outcomes for students. As a result, the impact of improvement planning is reduced because few success criteria are easily measurable and some timelines are too open- ended to be effective.

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Leadership and management

Processes to monitor the quality of teaching are well established and involve leaders at all levels. A programme of short visits to lessons is enabling all members of staff to experience the work of other colleagues at first hand. However, the outcomes of monitoring activities are not used rigorously or frequently enough to improve the overall quality of teaching more rapidly. For example, while many staff do benefit from a range of imaginative professional development opportunities, there is an inconsistent understanding of what constitutes good or better teaching. As a result, the evaluation of the quality of teaching varies greatly.

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Leadership and management

The governing body adds considerable value to the work of school leaders and managers. It is proactive in developing ways in which it can support and challenge the school and in seeking the views of parents and carers in relation to initiatives it has undertaken. It meets its statutory duties and supports the school well in ensuring that staff and students are safe.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is broad and balanced and generally meets the needs of different groups of students. It promotes students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well and the impact of the specialism through a focus on enterprise skills is a particularly strong feature of the school. Links with work-based providers and other partners through the specialism significantly enriches the offer for students and ensures that the school is able to meet the needs of local and regional labour markets well. The alternative curriculum makes a significant contribution to improving achievement and equality of opportunity for different groups of students, including those most at risk. As a result, differences in achievement seen in the outcomes for 2011 have closed or are reducing. However, some older students lack confidence in the leadership of the sixth form because the guidance they receive about courses and future choices is not always sufficiently robust.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils' work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils' punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils' attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils' freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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7LQ

You will remember that a team of inspectors visited your school recently. We took careful note of the views that you expressed in our meetings with you and in the questionnaires that you completed for us.

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7LQ

We judged that your school is providing you with a satisfactory standard of education, although we found that your levels of attainment should be higher, including in English and mathematics. We have, therefore, asked school leaders and managers, and the governing body, to ensure that your achievement rises more rapidly. You can also play your part in improving Burnside Business and Enterprise College by continuing to attend regularly, behaving well and working hard.

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7LQ

We also found that your school works effectively to ensure you have a safe learning environment where bullying is not tolerated. You told us that in a few of your lessons your learning is sometimes disturbed by other students. Some of your parents and carers commented on the same issue. While we confirmed that disruption to learning does take place, it is uncommon.

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7LQ

We have also asked that teachers make greater use of assessment during lessons to find out when you need extra support or challenge. You can help in this by responding enthusiastically and positively to opportunities to discuss your work with other students in lessons.

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7LQ

We also found that you do not get enough opportunities in your lessons to discuss your ideas and develop greater independence in learning. To improve the quality of teaching you receive, we have asked the school to ensure that all teaching regularly meets the needs of all students and that you have more opportunities to be actively involved in your learning.

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7LQ

I wish you every success for the future. Yours sincerely

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7LQ

Lee Northern Her Majesty's Inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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