The Ormiston Ilkeston Academy

The Ormiston Ilkeston Academy King George Avenue, Ilkeston, DE7 5HS

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Inadequate 4

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.  Students do not make enough progress from their starting points, which are broadly average. Standards in English and mathematics dropped in 2012 and are well below average.  Boys make less progress than girls. There is also a gap in achievement between those students eligible for support through the Pupil Premium funding and other students.  The quality of teaching is too variable. As a result, progress is slow in some lessons. Teachers’ expectations of what students can achieve are often not high enough.  In spite of some recent improvements in attendance, too many students do not attend school regularly enough.  Although staff are aware of the need to promote students’ literacy skills, teachers do not always correct basic errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Some students’ work is poorly presented.  Leaders and managers have not taken effective steps to tackle the variable quality of teaching

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and low levels of achievement; capacity to improve, therefore, is inadequate.  Many staff are not sufficiently aware of the school’s areas for development. Action planning is not sharp enough to support rapid improvement.  The governing body does not hold the academy to account. Governors do not pay enough attention to issues related to students’ achievement.  The sixth form requires improvement. The achievement of students dropped in 2012.

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The school has the following strengths

 Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well across the school.  Most students behave well. There have been significant improvements in students’ behaviour recently.  The range of subjects and pathways offered to students meets their needs.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 34 parts of lessons taught by 34 staff. Four of these observations were carried out jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors also carried out a series of shorter visits to lessons across the academy and observed tutor time.  Meetings were held with staff, groups of students and the chair of the governing body. A discussion was held with a representative from the Ormiston Academies Trust, the academy’s sponsor.  Inspectors took account of the 19 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), as well as responses to the school’s own survey of parents’ views. They also considered the 46 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation including: national published data and the school’s own data, the school’s self-evaluation, improvement plans, minutes of meetings of the governing body, safeguarding policies, behaviour policies and records and documents relating to

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Information about this inspection

setting targets for teachers to improve their work.

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Inspection team

Julie Price Grimshaw, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Richard White Additional Inspector Robin Fugill Additional Inspector Pamela Hemphill Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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Information about this school

 Ormiston Ilkeston Academy is smaller than the average sized secondary school. It opened as an academy, on the site of the predecessor school, in September 2011. When its predecessor school, Ilkeston School, Specialist Arts College, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be satisfactory overall.  The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals and for whom the school is receiving additional funding (the Pupil Premium) is lower than average.  The great majority of students are of White British heritage and very few students speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of students with special educational needs supported at School Action is above average. The proportion supported at School Action Plus, or with a statement of special educational needs, is below average.  The sixth form is run in collaboration with Kirk Hallam Community Technology and Sports

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Information about this school

College also based in Ilkeston. Sixth form students are taught by teachers from both schools.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is always good or better by:  ensuring that all teachers have high expectations and use the information they have about students’ attainment to set work that is challenging enough for all abilities  taking a consistent approach to correcting students’ errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar, especially in their English work  encouraging all students to take care in the presentation of their work  ensuring that all individuals are actively involved in their learning, particularly when working in groups.  Take swift action to close gaps in the achievement of different groups of students by:  raising teachers’ awareness of the need to tackle the shortfall in boys’ achievement, so that they plan suitable learning activities to accelerate progress for boys  tracking the achievement of boys in all year groups and providing timely support for those at

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

risk of falling behind  reviewing the use of the Pupil Premium funding and checking regularly its impact, so that students eligible for this support make accelerated progress.  Improve leadership and management by:  making sure that staff, governors and all stakeholders are involved in evaluating the school’s work and are fully aware of priorities for improvement  ensuring that action plans are more sharply focused on the most urgent priorities, and that the school’s progress in tackling these is checked frequently and rigorously.  Ensure that the governing body holds leaders to account for students’ achievement and is fully involved in decisions related to use of the Pupil Premium funding.  Improve attendance so that it is at least in line with the national average by July 2013.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 The proportion of students achieving five or more GCSE passes at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics, was low in 2012. Standards in some subject areas, notably science, were better than in others, but overall attainment was low and the school failed to meet its targets.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 The proportion of students making the progress expected of them in English and mathematics was low. The achievement of boys in English was particularly poor, with almost two-thirds making less than the expected progress. Boys’ achievement in English and mathematics is much lower than that of girls.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 In 2012, the number of students making expected progress in mathematics was a little higher than the previous year but remained too low. The academy does not have an early entry policy for GCSE examinations.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 The academy has used the Pupil Premium funding to provide various types of support, including additional staffing. However, the achievement of those known to be eligible for this support fell in 2012. The achievement of students with special educational needs also dropped.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Similarly, students’ attainment and progress in the sixth form declined in 2012.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 The academy has recently begun some work to improve the reading skills of its younger students and this is already beginning to have a positive impact on their basic skills. However, there are weaknesses in students’ literacy skills, particularly in their spelling, punctuation and grammar. The quality of students’ presentation of their work varies greatly, with some taking little pride in their written work.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 There are some early signs of improvement in students’ achievement in particular subjects, but overall there is not enough evidence that the academy has successfully tackled underachievement.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 The quality of teaching varies too widely and over time the impact of teaching on students’ achievement is inadequate. This wide variability in quality leads to students making erratic and sometimes very limited progress during their time at the academy.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Some teachers have low expectations of what students can achieve. The work set for them is often too easy and does not build successfully on what they already know and can do. The academy has a great deal of data about students’ attainment available for teachers but this is not always used to plan work that stretches and challenges students of all abilities.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Most teachers set tasks for small groups of students in many of their lessons, encouraging students to work together as a team and find things out for themselves. However, in too many lessons this is unsuccessful. The groups are sometimes dominated by one student with other members of the group doing very little work. In some lessons, a large proportion of students make little progress due to their lack of active participation.  Teachers mark students’ work regularly, but the quality of the feedback varies. While the best marking includes clear and helpful feedback on what students need to do to improve, this is not always the case. Too often, teachers across a range of subjects do not correct poor spelling, punctuation and grammar. This includes some work in English; for example, a piece of English work completed by one Year 11 student included numerous errors which had been ‘ticked’ by the teacher rather than corrected. In spite of the academy’s drive to improve students’ basic

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

skills, literacy remains a weakness for many.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Not all teachers emphasise the importance of students presenting their work neatly and legibly. Consequently, there is considerable variation in the quality of presentation.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 The quality of provision for students with special educational needs, including the work of support staff, is inconsistent. As a result, the achievement of these students varies from good to inadequate.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Where teaching is good and outstanding, work is tailored precisely to students’ needs and ability levels. In the best lessons, learning proceeds at a rapid pace and teachers plan interesting and engaging activities that contribute to students making excellent progress. This good practice is not sufficiently widespread.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Teachers promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Many teachers give considerable thought to this when planning lessons and aim to include opportunities for students to develop their awareness and understanding of a range of issues.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 There is clear evidence that the academy has brought about improvements to students’ behaviour and exclusions have reduced. Many students and staff commented that behaviour was now better because the behaviour policy is consistently enforced.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Prior to these improvements higher numbers of students were excluded for a fixed number of days. Most of these were boys, with some known to be eligible for support through the Pupil Premium funding. This had a negative impact on the achievement of these students.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Most students behave well in lessons and around the academy. There are occasional minor incidents of unacceptable behaviour, but these are becoming increasingly rare. Students have a secure awareness of how to stay safe and the majority say that they feel safe at the academy.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Many students have good attitudes towards learning and apply themselves well in lessons. Although learning is very rarely disrupted by poor behaviour, too many students lose interest, particularly during group tasks, and fail to make enough progress because of this.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Students have a clear awareness of the different forms of bullying due to the academy’s effective work in this area. Students say that although bullying does occur from time to time, the academy deals with incidents well. There is some good work done in relation to anti-bullying initiatives.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Attendance has been well below the national average, particularly in Year 11. The academy has recently appointed a member of staff to deal with this and there are some early signs of improvement. Nevertheless, the academy has not yet been able to demonstrate better attendance over a sustained period of time and the proportion of persistent absentees is too high.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The executive principal, associate principal and other senior leaders did not act swiftly enough or effectively, to tackle the underachievement of students that was evident from the 2011 examination results in the predecessor school. Consequently, examination results at the end of Key Stage 4 dropped further in 2012 and fell below the government’s floor target.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Recently, senior leaders recognised that achievement in the academy is inadequate. However, their evaluation of other aspects of the school’s work, notably teaching and leadership was generous. Faculty leaders, other staff and governors are not routinely involved in contributing to the school’s self-evaluation and not all are aware of senior leaders’ views of the academy or the main priorities for development.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Improvement plans are very detailed, but not sharply focused on the academy’s key priorities. This makes it difficult for senior leaders to carry out thorough checks on progress against each of these priorities, and as a result, the pace of improvement is too slow.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The academy has introduced some new strategies recently to improve the quality of teaching, including coaching and mentoring programmes as well as training on whole school issues. These are beginning to have a positive impact on the work of some teachers, but improvements are not rapid enough to help tackle underachievement.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Systems for managing staff performance have become more rigorous over the past year. Teachers do not automatically receive a pay increase if the quality of their work is judged by senior leaders as not high enough. However, teachers’ personal targets for improvement vary in quality, with some being too vague and not easily measurable.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The academy’s curriculum, including that in the sixth form, meets the needs of students. Recent modifications to the curriculum, including the introduction of different pathways, have enhanced this aspect of the academy’s work further. Students are happy with the choices available to them.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The academy receives support from the Ormiston Academies Trust. Reports are often detailed and outline priorities for improvement; however this support has had little impact on the overall quality of the academy’s work.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Safeguarding procedures meet statutory requirements.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The governance of the school  Minutes of the governing body meetings show that a range of issues, such as financial matters, are discussed thoroughly. However, there is little evidence of governors holding the academy’s leaders to account, particularly in terms of students’ achievement. The governing body has not paid enough attention to ensuring that the Pupil Premium funding is used effectively to improve the achievement of those students eligible for support. There is too little awareness of the gaps in achievement between girls and boys and therefore the reasons for this, and possible solutions, are not discussed in detail. Performance management systems have not been scrutinised closely enough by governors. The governing body receives training through the Trust, but too often members fail to provide enough challenge to the academy’s leaders.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 137253 Local authority N/A Inspection number 406665

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Academy School category Non-maintained 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 808 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 120 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Angela Preston Headteacher Eddie De Middaelar and Tracey Dundas Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 0115 930 3724 Fax number 0115 944 1315 Email address reception@ormistonilkestonacademy.co.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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 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

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School details

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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School details

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

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