Parkside School

Parkside School Parkside Terrace, Cullingworth, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD13 5AD

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Students’ achievement requires improvement because it varies too much between subjects and groups and is not yet good, particularly in mathematics.  There is not enough good and outstanding teaching to enable all students in all subjects to reach or exceed the levels expected. Even where students are grouped by ability the work teachers set is not finely-tuned enough to push all students to the higher levels.  The governing body is not sufficiently skilled in interpreting information about students’ progress.  Students are responding positively to the recent changes to the behaviour systems. However, too many students lack the self- discipline to show good behaviour when not under direct supervision by staff or sixth-form students.  The sixth form requires improvement because the progress which students make, given their starting points, is not yet consistently good.  Although senior leaders monitor teachers’

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

classroom performance and tracks students’ achievements the information has not been used well enough to eradicate inadequate teaching fully and ensure that enough is consistently good.

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The school has the following strengths

 Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through a rich extra-curricular programme of sport, music, drama and visits.  New behaviour management systems are ensuring that the majority of students remain in school and committed to their work.  The work of the designated support provision (DSP) is effective in ensuring good progress in students’ social, emotional and academic learning.  Students achieve well in the school’s specialism subjects in promoting the arts, adding greatly to their enjoyment and engagement with the school.  Sixth-form students contribute greatly to the life of the school in their work such as peer reading buddies, cyber-bullying mentors as well as their enthusiastic organisation of charity events.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 34 lessons taught by 34 different members of staff; three of these observations were conducted jointly with the school’s senior leaders. Inspectors also visited the school’s designated support provision (DSP).  Meetings were held with school leaders, teachers and the chair of the governing body together with the chair of the performance management committee.  Formal discussions were held with two groups of students and inspectors heard groups of students read. The views of students were also gathered at other times over the course of the two days.  Inspectors took account of 66 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. Inspectors also evaluated questionnaire responses from seven school staff.  Inspectors considered the school’s arrangements for making best use of pupil premium funding, which provides additional funding for children in the care of the local authority, those whose

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Information about this inspection

parents are in the armed forces and for students known to be eligible for free school meals.  The inspectors also observed the school’s work and looked at a number of policies and other documents, including records of lesson monitoring, checks on students’ work and the minutes of meetings, including those of the governing body. Also looked at were the school’s own data on current students’ progress, its self-evaluation, planning and monitoring information, records relating to behaviour and attendance and documents related to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

James Kilner, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Dr Osama Abdul Rahim Additional Inspector Jane Willis Additional Inspector Patrick Feerick Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Parkside is a larger than average-sized secondary school. Over 90% of students are from White British backgrounds with a small number of students representing a range of other minority ethnic groups.  The proportion of students whose first language is not English is very low.  The proportion of students supported through the pupil premium is slightly lower than the national average.  A below average proportion of students has additional needs that are supported through school action.  The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is high.  The school’s designated support provision (DSP) provides support for up to 12 students with a range of social, emotional and communication needs.  The school meets the current government floor standards, which are the minimum standards expected for attainment and progress.  The school works in collaboration with other education providers in the locality under the Three

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Information about this school

Valleys Partnership.  Two students in Key Stage 4 receive part-time alternative provision at Leeds College, Keighley Campus.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise levels of students’ achievement, particularly in mathematics, to ensure that a greater proportion exceeds expected levels of progress and that any remaining gaps between all groups close quickly.  Eliminate all teaching that is less than good and increase the proportion that is outstanding by:  ensuring that teachers consistently use information about students’ attainment to plan lessons which precisely meet the differing needs of the class, even where groups are set by ability  ensuring that all marking and feedback to students states clearly what they have achieved and guides them specifically how to improve further  providing more opportunities for students to work independently and supporting better behaviour so that they can use and apply their new learning for themselves  expanding the opportunities for students to use their improving literacy and numeracy skills across a wider range of subjects

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 developing teachers’ skills when questioning students about their learning so that students think more deeply and evaluate their learning more successfully.  Improve the leadership and management of the school by:  strengthening the rigour of lesson observations to focus more deeply on students’ learning, their progress towards achieving their challenging targets and how effectively they demonstrate their understanding  bringing the procedures for the performance management of all support staff into line with the rigour of their colleagues in the DSP to ensure that rates of progress for students they support are monitored more effectively.  The local authority should conduct an external review of governance in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement is not good because too few students make better than expected progress and achievement in mathematics is not improving at the same rate as in English.  From broadly average standards on entry to the school students’ attainment by the end Key Stage 4 is average. The 2012 GCSE results showed a significant underperformance for most groups of students. Most notably boys did not achieve as well as girls where there was a 16% gap in relation to the proportions gaining five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including English and mathematics. The school has been swift to tackle this significant shortfall with indications already that the gap is starting to close.  While the dip in performance in English in 2012 was clearly predicted by the school and has been remedied, students’ performance is just adequate in mathematics and has been a concern for the school over a period of three years.  The school uses early entry to GCSE examinations. Students are re-entered only if they fail to

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

achieve their target grade of three levels progress but this prevents them exceeding expected progress.  Students achieve well and attain high grades in some subjects, most notably art and design and PE as well as in Spanish. Teaching in these subjects is particularly effective.  The school demonstrates a clear commitment to improving students’ literacy skills, particularly for those who enter with low levels of literacy. The work of sixth-form students as peer reading mentors has done much to engage younger students in their reading for pleasure and information. Early indications are that attitudes and achievement for these students are improving.  Accurate assessment data scrutinised during the inspection indicate that a far greater proportion of students are on target throughout the school to achieve their challenging targets this year.  Students who attend off-site training, which is monitored carefully by senior leaders, make good

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

progress towards being integrated back in to school.  As a result of more accurate assessments and provision for students at school action and school action plus, many are now making progress at least in line with that of their peers. Students with a statement of special educational needs, including those who attend the DSP, make good progress because of the careful nurturing they receive and the focused strategies used.  Students eligible for the pupil premium had unperformed in the past, with none of the group gaining five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including English and mathematics in 2012 and achieving an average points score that was lower than that of other students. Targeted and well-resourced interventions such as one-to-one tuition have been put in place so that they are now making significant gains towards achieving outcomes similar to those of their classmates.  The achievement of students in the sixth form requires improvement because their progress is

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

too variable across and within subjects. Although students do well in their BTec examinations progress is weaker across the eighteen A-Level subjects offered. The school has correctly identified those underperforming subjects and is moving towards changing the subjects on offer to achieve better academic progression and removing subjects in which students are underperforming.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Currently there is too much variation in the quality of teaching, with a minority which is inadequate. There are undoubted examples of good and some outstanding teaching but it is not prevalent across the school, so students’ progress is limited in too many lessons.  The majority of lessons are typified by good relationships between adults and students and in the better lessons these are harnessed so that students can explore their learning independently and make good progress. However, in too many lessons teachers make over-long introductions to the lesson which do not allow sufficient time for students to take the seeds of knowledge and develop their understanding for themselves.  In question-and-answer sessions not all staff have the skills necessary to allow students to develop arguments, deepen their understanding and test out ideas because the question frequently requires a limited response from the student.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Too frequently lessons are planned at one level for the entire range of abilities in the group. This means that when students are set by ability more-able students are not challenged sufficiently and progress for all is limited.  In the better lessons teachers encourage students to assess the work of their classmates. This was used to good effect in an English lesson where students built on their learning from an earlier drama session then evaluated the subsequent creative writing of their classmates. This deepened the students’ understanding of how their work was to be assessed and led to good progress being made over the course of the lesson.  Where teachers create an interesting and stimulating climate for learning and challenge the students to succeed they are keen to do well. In an outstanding dance lesson students were encouraged to ‘take a chance to be different’ and ‘be daring’ so that all students, but boys

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

particularly, gave their all to produce some truly breath-taking performances.  Some marking of students’ work is too brief or occurs only periodically and does not build up a dialogue with students about their targets and how they are doing.  Although students’ literacy skills are well-developed within English and improvements are developing in their mathematical understanding, these skills are, as yet, underdeveloped across the whole range of subjects.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Students’ behaviour requires improvement because too many students are over-dependent on direct supervision and sanctions to allow them to be responsible for their own good conduct. Consequently there are still incidences of low-level misbehaviour in lessons and around school. Behaviour in the sixth form is good with students proud to organise their younger peers in fund- raising and charitable events.  Where teaching is good or better students show good attitudes to learning and are respectful of each other’s feelings.  Effective partnerships with outside agencies and parents ensure that attendance is improving. The number of families whose children are persistently absent is reducing.  Students are certain that behaviour has improved over the past two years since the introduction of the behaviour management strategies. There have been marked successes in this area with students speaking proudly of their transition from high numbers of ‘behaviour marks’ last year to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

virtually none and they were keen to announce their new enthusiasm for school and learning.  Students say that they feel safe and a majority of parents agree.  Students show a good understanding of the different types of bullying and are guided on Internet safety by sixth-form students who act as ‘cyber bully mentors’. Anti-bullying boxes, assemblies and tutorials raise students’ awareness of homophobic and racial bullying. However, a minority of parents and a small number of students disagree that bullying is dealt with effectively, an issue which the school already has in hand to tackle more thoroughly.  As a result of the school’s ‘zero tolerance’ for poor behaviour the number of fixed-term exclusions increased in the autumn term but figures for this term already show a declining trend as students respond to the new systems.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and managers have not had sufficient impact to ensure that the school provides a consistently good quality of education over time. However, previous weaknesses in the senior leadership team have been resolved by the effective action of the headteacher and the chair of the governing body. With effective and astute guidance from the local authority and the Bradford Partnership a more streamlined and efficient senior leadership team has worked efficiently and in a short space of time is proving effective in tackling the weaknesses in achievement and teaching. Already its concerted effort in improving behaviour is bearing fruit.  Self-evaluation is now largely accurate and extremely honest, recognising that the school is on a journey and is not yet good.  Where seriously weaker teaching has been identified, for example in the teaching of mathematics, the school has been swift to act to remedy the situation with many new staff

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The leadership and management requires improvement

appointed recently to the department. There are indications that a more positive profile of teaching in mathematics is already closing the gaps in students’ achievements on previous years.  The school has a comprehensive system for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning. A proportion of these observations are at mutually agreed times so that the accurate picture of what teaching and learning are like on a day-to-day basis is over-generous in some cases. There is too much focus on what the teacher is doing and not enough on what the students are learning.  Systems to hold teachers to account for student progress are becoming more rigorous. Inspectors saw strong evidence of staff not receiving their financial reward where weak teaching and poor progress were identified. Professional development offered by the school is readily accepted by staff, some working with other partners in the Three Valleys consortium of

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The leadership and management requires improvement

providers.  Support assistants are deployed to assist students with additional needs. They are held to good account for the rates of progress students in their care make in the DSP. However, the same level of accountability is not as rigorous in the rest of the school so that it is difficult to ascertain where strengths and weaknesses lie in the support given.  Strategic planning for the use of the pupil premium funding is having a marked impact on closing the gaps between their and their peers’ achievement. The impact of this is closely monitored by a recently appointed co-ordinator for special needs. Already she has conducted a thorough overhaul of the students identified with additional needs ensuring a more effective deployment of resources.  A stronger curriculum is now engaging more students in learning and has led to a marked drop in those not in education, employment or training after the age of 16. The school is at the early

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The leadership and management requires improvement

stages of developing literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.  The arts-based curriculum contributes significantly to the students’ overall spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through celebrations of the art, literature and dance of different nations and cultures.  The small number of staff who returned the questionnaire and parents who completed the on- line questionnaire largely support the work of the school.  Off-site provision at Leeds City College, Keighley Campus is suitable and promotes targeted support for students’ academic progress and well-being. Senior leaders conduct thorough quality assurance of the provision.  Leaders promote equality of opportunity but have not yet ensured that all groups of students achieve equally well.  Safeguarding policies and procedures are robust and meet statutory requirements.  The governance of the school:  Members of the governing body take their responsibilities seriously and are highly supportive

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The leadership and management requires improvement

of the school. The performance of the headteacher is subject to close scrutiny and he was not rewarded by governors following the disappointing results in 2012 and has been set challenging targets to improve in 2013. Governors recognise that they need further development in the correct interpretation of information about students’ progress so they provide a stronger level of challenge to the school to spot emerging gaps and weaknesses in the quality of teaching sooner than has been the case in the past.

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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 132217 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 406482

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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 Secondary School category Foundation 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 1,060 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 161 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Steven Leach Headteacher Dr Tony Rickwood Date of previous school inspection 1 February 2011 Telephone number 01535 272752 Fax number 01535 274693 Email address trickwood@parkside-school.net 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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