Wood Green Academy

PROTECT – INSPECTION

Age group 11–19 Inspection date(s) 15–16 May 2012 Inspection number 395501 Wood Green Academy Inspection report

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PROTECT – INSPECTION

Unique reference number 136616 Local authority Inspection number 395501 Inspection dates 15–16 May 2012 Lead inspector Michael Merchant

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PROTECT – INSPECTION

Type of school Academy School category Non-maintained Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1475 Of which, number on roll in the sixth form 223 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Joan Walker Headteacher Pankaj Patel Date of previous school inspection 12 December 2006 School address Wood Green Road Wednesbury WS10 9QU Telephone number 0121 5564131 Fax number 0121 5064609 Email address admin@woodgreenacademy.co.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and

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PROTECT – INSPECTION

other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.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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PROTECT – INSPECTION

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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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Fifty lessons or parts of lessons were observed, amounting to twenty five hours in total. Ten of the lessons were jointly observed by a member of the school’s leadership team. Forty eight classroom teachers were observed teaching. Discussions were held with senior and middle leaders, staff, the members of the governing body and different groups of students. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work and looked at the school’s self-evaluation and planning documents, external evaluations of the school’s work, policy documents and students’ work. They analysed 1000 questionnaires sent in by parents and carers, 150 questionnaires completed by a sample of students from each year group and 65 completed by staff

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Information about the school

This school is much larger than most secondary schools. Most students live locally, but a considerable minority are drawn from a number of neighbouring authorities. The large majority of students are of White British heritage and most speak English as their first language. A third of all students are from a wide range of minority ethnic groups and an above-average proportion of students speak English as an additional language. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is similar to that found nationally. The proportion of students supported by school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is also similar to that typically found. The school has specialist status in sports, mathematics and computing. The school is a National Teaching School and works in partnership with a number of other secondary schools. The school exceeds the government’s current floor targets which are the minimum standards expected for attainment and

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Information about the school

progress . The school has achieved many awards including Healthy Schools Award, Sports Mark and Cultural Diversity Award 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

 This is an outstanding school. It provides excellent opportunities for students to thrive, develop and achieve exceptionally well, irrespective of their different circumstances. The school has maintained its excellent outcomes seen at the last inspection due to a relentless drive for improvement which continues unabated. Leaders recognise, for example, that more can be done to ensure all marking of students’ work is consistently informative and supportive.

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Key findings

 The sixth form is outstanding. It has improved considerably since its last inspection. Students achieve extremely well, have high expectations for the future and most progress to higher education.

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Key findings

 Students achieve outstandingly well, making rapid and sustained progress through Key Stages 3 and 4 and in the sixth form to secure excellent academic outcomes, regardless of ability, starting point or special educational need.

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Key findings

 Teaching is outstanding and makes a significant contribution to students’ exceptional rates of progress. Learning moves along briskly, questions are probing and tasks are creative, imaginative and challenging. Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is exceptional in all aspects and is a strong feature in many lessons and aspects of the curriculum.

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Key findings

 Excellent relationships at all levels have helped to establish a cohesive, purposeful and happy community where behaviour is excellent and all are able to learn and thrive in an atmosphere of respect and dignity.

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Key findings

 Leadership and management are outstanding, driven by a principled, enthusiastic and approachable headteacher. He is supported by a highly skilled and innovative group of school leaders and together they drive improvement resolutely and with the best interests of the students in mind. Leaders have focused on raising the quality of teaching with conspicuous success. Focused professional development, rigorous quality assurance, the impact of the school’s 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

specialism and the innovative work of staff are being used well to drive further improvements in teaching.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 To further support students in the progress they make, teachers should increase the consistency and raise the quality of written feedback in exercise books so that all students know how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve

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Achievement of pupils

Inspirational leadership, consistently high quality teaching and an excellent curriculum tailored to meet individual needs enable all groups of students to flourish. The quality of learning in lessons is outstanding. Students are keen to do their best, work purposefully and collaborate willingly during lessons, readily taking on roles within teams and supporting each other’s learning through sensitive feedback. They demonstrate strengths in literacy, use new technologies effectively and particularly appreciate lessons which offer them frequent opportunities to extend and explain their thinking. Inspectors saw many examples of students’ ability to discuss maturely and reflect thoughtfully upon ethical dilemmas. In an outstanding Year 9 religious education lesson, for example, students spoke with feeling about ‘should funerals always be sad?’ listening respectfully to each other and working eagerly in groups to

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Achievement of pupils

summarise their research on different funeral customs. The curriculum and specialisms make an outstanding contribution to students’ achievement and enjoyment of school life, engaging students in learning and helping them to gain what they need to take the next steps in their education, training or employment with skill and great confidence.

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Achievement of pupils

Students join the academy with significantly low prior attainment and many have very low reading ages. All groups of students make outstanding progress, as evidenced by above average attainment and consistent improvement in GCSE and A Level examination results. Over two thirds of all students, as shown by module tests already banked, are on track to attain five or more grades A*-C at GCSE including English and mathematics in 2012. Higher attaining students report that the school ‘stretches’ them to attain the best possible grades. Achievement in the sixth form is exceptionally strong and has continued to rise over time. The students surveyed and spoken to by inspectors, including those that join the school in the sixth form, attribute their progress to the quality of teaching and exceptional care that they receive as they move through the school.

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Achievement of pupils

The school consistently adds significant value to the performance of all groups of students across the range of subjects. Disabled students and those with special educational needs make similar progress to their peers. Teaching assistants and teachers communicate well to ensure that each student receives well-targeted 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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Achievement of pupils

support. There is very little difference in the progress made by students known to be eligible for free school meals, those from diverse backgrounds and the large number who are new to speaking English, because staff are very conscious of students’ individual needs and work successfully to close any gaps.

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Achievement of pupils

Students make particularly strong gains in reading due to the systematic programme of interventions for those who find learning difficult. These carefully planned programmes of one-to-one and small group support are highly effective in raising students’ attainment and self-esteem. The very large majority of parents and carers who returned the questionnaires agreed that their children are making good progress at the school and that their needs are very well met.

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Quality of teaching

Students and their parents rightly express great confidence in the quality of teaching. Lessons are well paced, relevant and enjoyable, providing many opportunities for achievements to be shared, celebrated and built upon. In a Year 13 English lesson, students studying ‘Hamlet’ were expertly supported by the teacher so that all students were able to analyse literary, linguistic and rhetorical devices. The combination of task and topic were brought alive by masterly questioning throughout. Consequently, the quality of responses and thought behind students’ reflections upon right and wrong, friendship and violence was superb and reflected fully the outstanding progress that all had made.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching is characterised by very high expectations, not just in terms of achievement, but in the amount, complexity and challenge of learning activities. Excellent subject knowledge and understanding is used very well to pace learning so that time for imaginative and engaging activities is used flexibly. Teaching ensures that there is an excellent integration of literacy and communication skills across the curriculum through the development of oracy and constant reference to key vocabulary to secure high quality extended writing. The marking of students’ work is accurate and frequent but the quality of written comments made by teachers to help students improve their learning is variable.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching for disabled students and those with special educational needs is outstanding. Learning support assistants are highly skilled and deployed well. They liaise closely with the teacher, give just the right amount of support and encourage students to be more independent. They ensure that all are fully included in lessons and help them to overcome many of their barriers to learning. Teachers encourage pupils to experiment with vocabulary and imagery so that they develop a ‘feel’ for words. Teachers make very effective use of opportunities to enhance students’ social, moral, cultural and spiritual development. In a history lesson on the Second World War, for example, students discussed the ethical issues of using atomic weapons. The frequent use of group work in lessons also encourages students to appreciate different viewpoints and to balance arguments.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

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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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The school has a very effective behaviour management system and teachers consistently demand high standards of conduct. As a result, behaviour in lessons is a strong factor in the students’ learning. They are attentive, engage very positively with the teaching and show ambition and great enjoyment of their learning. On occasions where students make poor behaviour choices, inspection evidence shows that students respond well to the school’s strategies.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance is above average and students are punctual to school and lessons. Relationships are harmonious and students feel exceptionally safe. They have a good awareness of the different forms of bullying and say that bullying is rare and not tolerated. However, when bullying does occur, students have an extremely high degree of confidence that it is dealt with swiftly. The views of parents and carers, staff and students and an analysis of the school’s comprehensive tracking data indicate that incidents of poor behaviour are increasingly infrequent. They also confirm the effectiveness of the school’s support for, and reintegration of, the small number of students who exhibit more challenging behaviour. Inspectors observed numerous examples of how the school has linked with other agencies and families to improve the lives of children whose circumstances make them vulnerable. One student told inspectors how the attention to her individual needs and the time given

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

to her by staff to resolve her problems had significantly improved her behaviour. She commented, ‘The school has changed my life’.

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Leadership and management

Inspirational leadership and a relentless pursuit of excellence are the main reasons why students’ achievement is outstanding . The headteacher is widely acclaimed by staff, parents, carers and governors as having been hugely instrumental in securing high standards and sustaining them where they are already outstanding. He leads the way in driving ambition and has established a shared sense of purpose to raise the aspirations of students and teachers alike. Consequently, teamwork is strong, staff morale is high and students’ progress continues to accelerate.

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Leadership and management

The senior team checks the school’s performance rigorously. The impact of the training specialism and the work of the ‘Innovations Unit’ have been instrumental in the development of teaching. The establishment of cross-subject ‘learning communities’ has tangibly raised the quality of professional development and created an environment where training and discussion about learning are highly valued. Consequently, the quality of teaching is constantly improving and has risen to a consistently high level.

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Leadership and management

Considerable emphasis is placed on ensuring that all students feel equally valued while maintaining a sense of their individuality and cultural identity. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. Equality of opportunity is at the heart of the school’s work. It manifests itself in outstanding achievement as well as the ability of the school to engage with each individual within an excellent curriculum that deepens and broadens their experience and makes a strong contribution to spiritual, moral, social 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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Leadership and management

Safeguarding is afforded high priority and every care is taken to ensure that the school is safe and that policies and procedures are rigorous and meticulously maintained. The governing body provides enthusiastic and committed support. Its excellent knowledge and understanding of the school’s performance is utilised well to challenge and immediately rectify any relative underperformance. Governors are well attuned to parents’ views

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September to 31 December 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 abou t maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). 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. 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

Attendance: the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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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

Floor standards: the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Wood Green Academy, Wednesbury, WS10 9QU

Thank you for the warm welcome you gave the inspection team when we visited your school recently. Particular thanks go to those of you who gave up your time to speak with us and those of you who completed the questionnaire. I am delighted to inform you that we judged your school to be outstanding. Here are some of the things that make The Wood Green Academy exceptional.

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Inspection of Wood Green Academy, Wednesbury, WS10 9QU

 You make excellent academic progress over your time at the school and in the sixth form and enjoy your education because of the consistently good and often outstanding teaching. Your lessons are interesting and you told us how much you enjoy them.  The school’s inclusive ethos of high aspirations and success for all provide you with a great platform for learning. We were particularly impressed by your behaviour and your very positive attitudes to learning. As a result, relationships between staff and students are superb.  You particularly appreciate the positive benefits that the new building, the curriculum and the school’s specialist status have brought.  Leadership and management are outstanding. Your amazing headteacher sets high standards in all aspects of the school’s work and he is very well supported by the other staff and governors.

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Inspection of Wood Green Academy, Wednesbury, WS10 9QU

Although the school is already outstanding, staff are committed to continuing its improvement and are all ambitious to make it even better in the future. We have asked the school to share the very best practice that exists in marking your work so that all of you are provided with accurate advice as to how to help you do even better. You are rightly proud to belong to this outstanding school. Thank you for playing your part in making it such an exciting and caring place. Best wishes for the future.

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Inspection of Wood Green Academy, Wednesbury, WS10 9QU

Michael Merchant Lead 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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