Ormiston Maritime Academy

Ormiston Maritime Academy Westward Ho, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, DN34 5AH

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that has serious weaknesses.  Students’ attainment is low. Many students are not achieving as well as they could in English, mathematics, and design and technology.  Teachers make assessments but do not use them precisely enough to inform their planning. Students’ progress slows because the work they are given is too hard or too easy.  Occasionally learning is interrupted by poor behaviour. This is not always tackled quickly and challenged consistently by all staff.  Students’ low attendance hampers their learning and progress. Some students are late to school and to lessons. This disrupts their learning and progress.  The leaders’ plans for improvement are not focused enough on the difference they are intended to make to students’ learning and progress.  Marking and feedback do not consistently explain how students can improve their learning.

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The school has the following strengths

 The Principal provides skilled leadership. New teams of senior and middle leaders share her commitment and determination to ensure the academy serves the needs of the students.  Leaders and governors have secured improvements to the curriculum. Increased opportunities for students to develop literacy and numeracy skills and to participate in sporting, musical and cultural activities are having a positive impact on their enjoyment of learning.  An increasing proportion of teaching is good and is starting to improve achievement for Year 11 students.  The Success Centre provides good support to students and is increasingly effective in helping students to continue learning.  Students feel safe at the academy. Where bullying occurs, it is tackled well and students are confident they are listened to and supported.

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Information about this inspection

 The academy was given a half-day’s notice of the inspection.  Inspectors observed 33 lessons, including five that were observed jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors also made two ‘learning walks’ and a series of short lesson visits focused on the quality of marking and feedback to students and to explore how well students are engaged and learning in drama, music, art and physical education.  Meetings were held with the academy leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body, a representative of Ormiston Academies Trust, teachers and groups of students.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation including students’ work, information about students’ attainment and progress, the academy’s plans and reviews of its work, and documents relating to behaviour, safety and attendance.  Inspectors took account of 23 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and met with four parents. Inspectors also read 61 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Gina White, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Wendy Bradford Additional Inspector Jonathan Woodyatt Additional Inspector Janet Pruchniewicz 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 significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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Information about this school

 The academy opened on 1 August 2011. It is smaller in size than the average secondary school.  The academy includes the Success Centre. This is provision for students in Key Stage 3 who have been at risk of exclusion. It is located approximately half a mile away from the main school site.  Most students are White British with a few students from a range of minority ethnic heritages.  The proportion of students whose learning needs are supported by school action or school action plus and those who have statements of special educational needs is higher than the national average.  Around half of the students in the school, a higher proportion than is seen nationally, are known to be eligible for pupil premium funding. This is government funding that the school receives for students who are known to be eligible for free school meals, those who are in local authority care and the children of military personnel on active service overseas.

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Information about this school

 A small number of students take training courses at DKM Building Construction, The Motor Project, A4E and Western Study Plus.  The academy is a member of the Ormiston Academies Trust and works in partnership with 20 schools across the country.  The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which sets out the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the consistency of teaching and the impact it has on students’ learning by:  making sure that teachers make better use of data and assessments to plan tasks and activities that are well matched to each student’s needs and progressively deepen their knowledge and understanding  ensuring teachers are consistently responsive to students’ progress during lessons, regularly check their work and understanding and adapt tasks in light of this to ensure they are consistently challenging  providing regular marking and feedback to students about how they can deepen their learning and make even more progress  ensuring all staff challenge and manage behaviour consistently to eliminate low-level disruption in lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement further by:  ensuring teaching in English, mathematics and design and technology is consistently good, sharply focused and effective in improving students’ attainment and progress  making better use of information and data to develop a wider range of initiatives to improve attendance and punctuality to lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further strengthen leadership and management by ensuring school plans are sharply focused on the impact they will have on students’ progress, with clear criteria to judge success and regular milestones to help leaders secure swift improvement.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 From their starting points all groups of students make much less progress in English and mathematics than their peers nationally. Attainment, while improving in both subjects, remains below average. Changes in staffing have disrupted learning.  Students’ attainment is improving. More students left school in 2012 with five or more GCSEs at the highest grades than they did in the previous school; this reflects students’ achievement in the practical and vocational subjects, which they enjoy.  The school does not enter students early for examinations. Students sit the winter examination for GCSE mathematics. School leaders make sure that those who achieve the higher grades have opportunities to continue their learning in further mathematics and the international GCSE.  The school has intervened to develop programmes and additional support to help students develop basic numeracy and literacy skills. These developments are recent and have yet to take

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

full effect on students’ progress.  School leaders have seen the need to set more challenging targets and check students’ progress more regularly. However, many students are not meeting the higher expectations the school has of them across a range of subjects. Many students, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, are underachieving in English, mathematics and design and technology.  In more than half the lessons observed during the inspection, across a range of subjects, students’ progress was not good enough. Their learning and progress slowed due to the inconsistency of teaching; tasks were too easy for some and too difficult for others. Irregular attendance further restricts progress for many students.  Students who are known to be eligible for pupil premium support do not achieve as well as their peers in the school; their average point scores are well below those of other students in the

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

school and similar groups nationally. Recent, well-focused actions are helping some of these students to overcome barriers to their learning. As a result, the weakest readers in Year 7 have made swift progress to read independently and their attainment is close to that expected for their age.  Small numbers of students who attend the Success Centre have made rapid progress to improve their self-confidence and behaviour. They are developing reading, writing and numeracy skills well and are engaging in learning.  Small numbers of students who attend courses with other training providers are making steady progress to develop technical and craft-related skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching is widely varied in the quality and impact it makes on students’ learning and progress. Students made rapid progress in lessons that challenged and involved them actively in exciting tasks. For example, collaborative work in science, and in a music lesson, provided opportunities for students to deepen their learning by building on each other’s responses. However, this is not the case in the majority of lessons.  Pockets of good and better teaching are developing across the school and older students say that teaching has improved considerably since the academy opened.  Students know they make faster progress when teachers discuss the learning points with them and check their understanding before moving on or reshaping activities in light of this. They also know this does not happen consistently across all lessons. They say, ‘Poor learning is when teachers do all the talking in a lesson.’

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Effective deployment of teaching assistants in several lessons helped individual students and those in small groups to persevere with tasks and contributed to their learning. This worked best when teachers used the results of assessments to plan a very clear programme to progressively develop specific skills.  In the most effective lessons students were fully involved and they knew what was expected of them. They listened intently to instructions or watched teachers’ and other students’ demonstrations before applying them to their own work. Not all lessons were as well planned or expertly managed. In a few instances learning was interrupted by disruptive behaviour.  Marking and feedback are inconsistent. Often this was limited to ‘well done’ or ticks in books. The best practice went much further: feedback was highly personalised, for example in art and PE, where specific points for improvement helped students to improve their performance.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Students are happy at the academy; those who have recently joined have settled well and are making friends. Typically, the school is calm and behaviour for the majority of students is improving. However, boisterous behaviour, particularly towards the end of the day, and punctuality to lessons require further attention.  Students understand the rewards and sanctions. However, a third of the staff and a higher proportion of parents say there is much inconsistency in the way that behaviour is dealt with.  Attendance is low and students frequently arrive late to school and to lessons. Despite small improvements this term, attendance remains fragile. The school knows that they need to look carefully at the information about the attendance of individuals and groups to inform the next steps in driving improvements.  Students know about the different forms of bullying. The school has been quick to prepare them

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

to use new technologies responsibly and to understand how to control the risks and stay safe. Students say they feel safe and, where bullying occurs, they are confident that staff will listen and support them and they will get a swift response.  The number of incidents of unacceptable behaviour and exclusions has fallen significantly. Initiatives and provision to support students with the most challenging behaviour is effective and well suited to their needs. Consequently, these students are now more confident in using methods they have been taught to control their anger and anxiety.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The Principal is unequivocal in her determination to improve the quality of education and widen opportunities for students. She knows what needs to be done to bring this about and has acted quickly and with great effect to establish the academy, driving improvements in teaching, behaviour and provision in a short time. The new leadership team, governors and staff share her high expectations.  Programmes of staff training and senior leaders’ close monitoring of teaching have helped to reduce the amount of poor teaching. Turbulence in staffing, particularly amongst middle leaders, and inconsistency in the way teachers challenge and support students hinder the school in improving teaching to a good standard.  Partnership work with the Ormiston Academies Trust has helped the school to recruit staff and this is beginning to bring more consistency to students’ learning. Middle leaders, including many

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The leadership and management requires improvement

who joined the school at the start of term, are quickly getting to grips with their roles and new responsibilities including greater involvement in checking the work of teachers regularly and more rigorously.  A more rigorous approach to managing teachers’ performance is emerging. Decisions about teachers’ movement up the salary scale are more closely linked to improvements in the quality of teaching. Training and support to help individuals and groups of teachers to meet the higher expectations of their performance have begun. Senior leaders have an accurate view of the best practice, the challenges that remain, and the next steps.  The academy’s improvement plans are focused on the right priorities and help to guide developments. However, tasks within the plans are not always detailed or timely enough to promote swifter progress in securing improvements in students’ achievement.  Changes to the curriculum are well considered and meet students’ needs. Leaders and governors

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The leadership and management requires improvement

are meeting their commitment to provide all students with equal opportunity to succeed. More time is allocated to English and mathematics. Courses based on practical and vocational skills, along with tailored support to improve students’ basic skills, are helping to motivate and engage them in learning.  Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well planned. Students enjoy the opportunities to work together in lessons and in sporting teams. They are developing the skills to participate and act responsibly, for example through events such as the recent music, arts, drama and dance (MADD) celebration.  The governance of the school:  Governors’ specialist skills are used well to support and challenge leaders and to guide the development of the academy. Regular reports from the Principal and senior leaders ensure governors are well informed about the quality of teaching and students’ achievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

Governors are developing an understanding of their new responsibilities. For example, governors know that pupil premium funding is supporting students’ development of basic skills but they have not always checked the impact that their decisions have on this group of students. Governors ensure that safeguarding arrangements are secure and students are safe.

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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 137196 Local authority Not applicable Inspection number 402751

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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 converter School category Non-maintained Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 921 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Angela Preston Principal Elaine Davies Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01472 310015 Fax number Not applicable Email address office@omacademy.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

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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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