Hanson School

Hanson School Sutton Avenue, Swain House Road, Bradford,West Yorkshire , BD2 1JP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 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

 Achievement in mathematics is not as strong as in English. Not enough students make better than the expected rate of progress in both English and mathematics.  Below average attendance affects the performance of some students. The school has not yet been totally successful in involving these students’ parents in supporting better attendance and achievement.  Teaching is not yet consistently good and not enough is outstanding. A small amount of teaching is inadequate. Not all students are fully challenged in lessons, especially the more able. In some lessons, students spend too much time listening to teachers and are not actively involved in learning.  The governing body has not been fully effective in holding the school to account.  Checks on students’ progress do not focus closely enough on their very challenging ‘outstanding’ targets, particularly for the more able students.  Checks on students identified as

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

underperforming by subject leaders do not always lead to better learning in classrooms.  Leaders responsible for students’ pastoral welfare are not working systematically enough with leaders responsible for academic achievement to be sure that every source of support and guidance is used.  In a few lessons, students do not behave well and learning is disrupted. This is sometimes because lessons are not interesting enough, or staff do not use the school’s systems for managing behaviour effectively.  The sixth form requires improvement because students’ achievement is too variable between subjects at A level.

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The school has the following strengths

 Achievement is improving across all year groups. Achievement in vocational subjects in the sixth form is good.  Behaviour around the school is orderly and students feel safe in school. They know how to keep themselves safe.  The headteacher and senior leaders have raised expectations of staff and students. They are improving achievement and teaching and have the support of most staff. Systems that hold other leaders closely to account for improving teaching and achievement are supporting improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 53 part-lessons, one of which was observed jointly with a senior leader.  Meetings were held with staff, students from each year group, members of the governing body and representatives of the local authority.  Documents looked at included the school’s view of its performance, the raising attainment plan, information on the progress and attainment of students and records relating to safeguarding, behaviour and the effectiveness of teaching.  Parents’ views were taken into account through the 22 responses to the online survey (Parent View). Inspectors met one parent at their request.

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Inspection team

Gillian Salter-Smith, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Michael Cooper Additional Inspector Timothy Gartside Additional Inspector Geraldine Hutchinson Additional Inspector Kathleen Yates Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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Information about this school

 The school is in the process of becoming an academy, sponsored by the School Partnership Trust, and has been for over two years. It is awaiting confirmation of an opening date. Currently, the appropriate authority is the local authority.  Since the previous inspection, the school has had a number of temporary headteachers and senior leaders. A substantive headteacher was appointed from September 2012. She was able to work with the school from an earlier date in the summer term. Two associate headteachers have been appointed, one from September 2012 and the other from January 2013.  Since the previous inspection, there have been many changes in staff.  The school is much larger than an average sized secondary school.  The proportion of students eligible for pupil premium funding is above the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding provided by the government to support students known to

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Information about this school

be eligible for free school meals, those in local authority care and the children of service families.  The majority of students are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of students from minority ethnic backgrounds is above average, as is the proportion who speaks English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled students and those with special educational needs supported through school action is above average. An above average proportion of students are supported by school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs.  The school has local authority resourced provision for hearing impaired and visually impaired students.  Alternative courses away from the school site are provided for some students in Key Stage 4. Providers include Bradford College, the Yorkshire Tiling Association , Christopher Pauls’ Hairdressers, The Inclusions Trust, The Lighthouse Group and Salon Services which is part of

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Information about this school

Laisterdyke Enterprise College.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that more is good and outstanding and inadequate teaching is eradicated by: - making sure that staff make better use of what they know about students’ prior learning to ensure that every student is stretched and challenged, especially more-able students - making sure that students do not sit and listen to teachers for long periods so that they lose interest in what they are doing - helping staff to use the school’s policies for behaviour management more consistently and effectively so that learning is not disrupted - providing more opportunities for students to take an active part in their learning through planning tasks and discussing their ideas with each other more often - providing more activities that interest students and ensure learning moves on at a good pace - making sure that all marking gives students a clear understanding of what to do to improve and that students have the chance to make improvements to their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise students’ achievement further, especially in mathematics by: - increasing the proportion of students that make better progress than is usually expected - improving the attendance of students, especially those who are known to be eligible for free school meals, through getting more of their parents involved in supporting good attendance and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve achievement in the sixth form and eradicate differences between subjects at A Level by sharing the best practice evident in the teaching and organisation of the most successful subjects more widely and systematically.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improving the effectiveness of leadership and management by: - improving checks on students’ progress so that they take greater account of progress toward the most challenging targets - improving the way pastoral leaders and subject leaders work together to provide every source of support possible - ensuring that all heads of subjects check rigorously on how well class teachers have improved the progress of students identified as underachieving and found ways to improve learning for these students in the classroom - improving the skills of the governing body to enable it to hold the school more closely to account for its performance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress is improving across year groups but is not as strong in mathematics as English. Not enough students make better than expected progress.  The achievement of students known to be eligible for free school meals remains weaker than that of other students. The gap between this group and others is getting smaller. Poor attendance of some of these students affects their progress. The progress of the small number of children who are looked after is more variable, with some achieving well.  In the sixth form, achievement in AS and A Level is too variable between subjects. Achievement in vocational subjects is good.  Students overall are making better progress than at the time of the previous inspection. Improved teaching and better targeted support for underperforming students is helping to accelerate progress and help students across the school catch up on previous underperformance. Underperformance is targeted and supported far more rigorously in all year

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

groups and most subjects. The curriculum for students in Years 7 and 8 includes far more time for learning in literacy and numeracy and well-focused additional support is helping students eligible for Year 7 catch-up funding to accelerate their progress. Reading is encouraged across the school and support for weaker readers is helping them to catch up.  From below average starting points, most students across year groups make the progress expected of them. Current Year 11 students are on track to reach average attainment in English.  Students from different minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language make similar progress to other students.  Disabled students and those who have special educational needs are well supported and make progress in line with other students. Hearing impaired and visually impaired students make better progress than other disabled students and those with special educational needs because

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

they are particularly well supported in mainstream classes.  Students following courses held away from the school site enjoy the courses. They encourage better attendance and students’ interest in their own education and futures. The proportion of students who do not take up further education, training or employment at age 16 is low.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Not enough teaching is good or outstanding and some is inadequate. Teaching has improved since the previous inspection and over time it is helping to accelerate students’ progress. Teaching in the sixth form is often good, but its impact over time is variable and more successful in some subjects than in others.  Where teaching requires improvement, lessons are dull and the pace of learning is slow, because students listen to teachers for too long or tasks are not interesting or relevant enough. Tasks are not planned precisely enough with students’ prior learning in mind to ensure that all students are fully stretched, especially more-able students. Teachers’ questions do not always demand enough of students and they accept short answers too often. In some lessons, work is over- directed by the teacher and there are few opportunities for students to find things out for themselves, make decisions about their own learning or discuss their ideas with others.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In a few lessons, staff do not use the school’s systems for behaviour management effectively and students’ behaviour disrupts learning.  In most lessons, relationships between staff and students are positive and supportive. Teachers have secure knowledge of their subjects that enables them to give clear explanations. Disabled students and those with special educational needs are well known to the teachers and teaching assistants give well-targeted support. Support for hearing impaired and visually impaired students is particularly effective.  Where teaching is good and occasionally outstanding, students are busy and active, have time to think things through and discuss their work with others. They find things out for themselves and students say they enjoy more practical ways of learning. Year 9 students especially enjoyed taking on the role of stock brokers when learning about the Wall Street crash in history, saying it

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

helped them to understand how decisions were made. In the best lessons, teachers have high expectations of students. They plan lessons carefully to ensure that students are fully stretched and know what they have to do to reach their challenging targets. They maintain a good pace to learning through regular checks, well-focused questions and by involving students in reviewing their own successes. There are good examples of marking that give students very clear guidance and the opportunity to improve their work. This good practice is not yet well established in all subjects.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Behaviour in a few lessons disrupts learning.  Attendance is below average. It is improving because of the effective work with some families. The school has not yet been fully successful in working with parents of students who are known to be eligible for free school meals and this group continues to have lower attendance than other students.  In most lessons students are settled and eager to learn. When given the opportunity, they work well together and support each other. They are keen to succeed and have positive aspirations for their futures. Sixth form students develop good learning habits. They take on leadership responsibilities in the main school and attendance is good.  Students’ behaviour around the school is mostly orderly and well supervised. The new buildings and uniform are generally well respected. However, students do not take enough responsibility for tidying up litter after breaks and rely on adults to clear up after them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Students are aware of the different forms of bullying, including homophobic bullying. They say bullying does happen. They know what to do when it happens and most students have confidence that staff will help sort it out quickly.  Students feel safe in school and when attending courses away from the school site. They have a secure understanding of how to stay safe in many different circumstances including when using modern technology.  Exclusions have reduced significantly and are now in line with national averages.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher, associate headteacher and senior leaders are a strong team who have raised the expectations of staff and students. They are successfully accelerating students’ progress and improving teaching. They have improved the quality of staffing rigorously. They are aware that some systems and strategies for checking on progress and supporting students are relatively new and need further refinement to improve achievement even more rapidly.  More challenging academic targets and more thorough systems of checking on students’ progress in all subjects and year groups across the school are helping to check underperformance more swiftly. Checks made on progress in English and mathematics are especially rigorous. All students have a minimum target and an outstanding target for progress. Currently, checks on progress are against the minimum targets. Consequently, checks on those students who need to aim for their outstanding target in order to catch up on previous

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The leadership and management requires improvement

underperformance are not fully in place and these students may not always be identified for additional support.  Subject leaders are taking greater responsibility for improving achievement and the quality of teaching. They hold class teachers more closely to account for the progress of students. The rigour of these systems is not yet consistent across subjects. It is not always clear whether subject leaders check on the extent to which teachers have found ways to improve learning for these students in the classroom, in addition to offering extra support at other times.  Pastoral leaders and academic leaders are not yet working closely enough to ensure that every source of support possible is provided for underperforming students.  Sixth form leadership is improving the frequency of checks on progress. Teaching is improving but best practice is not shared widely enough to eliminate the variation between subjects at AS

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The leadership and management requires improvement

and A level.  Well-targeted training is improving the quality of teaching overall. There are many examples of how teaching has improved as a result of mentoring, coaching and specific support. Staff from within the school increasingly lead in-house training. Performance management and appraisal systems are currently meticulous and only reward good performance. This has not always been the case in the past.  The curriculum is well matched to students’ different needs with a good focus on improving students’ literacy skills, especially in Key Stage 3. Early entry policy in mathematics is not holding back the attainment of the more able. The curriculum ensures that students make appropriate progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements.  The local authority is currently providing effective support, particularly in mathematics and English. It has supported newly qualified teachers well.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Much of the focus of the work of the governing body has been on managing the transition to academy status. However, more recently, governors have planned more strategically to support school improvement. The appointment of an effective substantive headteacher and other senior leaders has been key to school improvement. The appointment of several new governors and some relevant training is strengthening governance. However, governors are not pro-active enough in checking on the school’s performance or holding the leaders to account for the performance of the school. They rely too much on leaders’ reports for information. They currently support leaders in rewarding teachers for good performance but in the past have not challenged these decisions sufficiently. Governors are not currently responsible for the budget. They are aware of how pupil premium funding is spent but have

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The leadership and management requires improvement

not fully checked on the impact of the spending.

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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 107440 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 399935

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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 1733 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 272 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ian Garforth Headteacher Elizabeth Churton Date of previous school inspection 10 November 2010 Telephone number 01274 776200 Fax number 01274 776686 Email address info@hansonacademy.org.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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