Oasis Academy New Oak

School report Oasis Academy New Oak Walsh Avenue, Hengrove, Bristol, BS14 9SN

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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

 Although learning is getting better, pupils’ progress and achievement across the school is not yet good.  Activities provided by teachers to help pupils to learn as well as they can are not always sufficiently challenging.  Pupils are not always given enough help so that they can set their own learning targets and judge for themselves the progress they make.  There are times in lessons when pupils’ learning is too slow. This occurs, for example, when pupils spend too much time being taught as a whole class.  There are not enough opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematics skills and understanding to solve problems and carry out investigations.  Action taken by leaders to improve teaching through monitoring and coaching has not had time to work fully as intended.

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The school has the following strengths

 Leaders have identified sharply what needs to be improved, and action taken since the school started has improved the quality of teaching. Pupils’ progress is strengthening.  Learning in lessons is purposeful and calm. Pupils are encouraged to contribute actively and they express their views with considerable confidence.  Teachers and pupils use information and communication technology well to support learning.  Pupils’ behaviour is good and they have positive attitudes to learning. They feel safe in school and free from bullying.  Pupils in the specialist resource bases achieve well because they are provided with challenging activities and staff have a deep understanding of their individual needs.  The progress of pupils is regularly checked and there is a broad range of additional support available to extend the learning of different groups of pupils.  The academy chain provides enhanced opportunities for collaboration and sharing

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The school has the following strengths

expertise. Systems and procedures to strengthen teaching and learning and improve pupils’ progress are strong.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 18 lessons, including four that were joint observations with senior staff. Inspectors also made shorter visits to some additional lessons and observed an assembly.  Meetings were held with staff, members of the governing body, and groups of pupils and with a representative from the Oasis Community Learning Group.  Inspectors took account of the 24 responses to the on-line Parent View survey. Parents’ views were also gathered from informal conversations at the start of the school day.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at documents, including the school improvement planning, school checks on teaching, records relating to attendance, and the school’s numerical data on pupils’ progress, and they analysed samples of pupils’ work.

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Inspection team

Peter Clifton, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Rob Isaac Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Oasis Academy New Oak converted to an academy school on 1 September 2012. When its predecessor school, New Oak Primary, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be satisfactory.  This is smaller than the average-sized primary school and serves an urban area south of Bristol.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The school incorporates two specialist resource bases, one for pupils with hearing impairment and one for pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (this affects how they relate to and communicate with others). Twenty one pupils attend these and all have a statement of special educational needs.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well above average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is additional

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Information about this school

government funding for looked after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those from service families, is well above average.  There have been changes of teaching staff since the school was opened.  The school runs a breakfast club.  The academy is a member of the Oasis Community Learning group. A Regional Academies Director provides support for the governance of the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching by:  ensuring that the activities provided for different groups of pupils are not too difficult or too easy so that they learn as well as they are able  giving pupils better information about targets to improve their work so that they can be more involved in identifying for themselves what they should improve, and judge how well they have done  making sure that the pace of learning in lessons is brisk at all times and that inputs by teachers are not too lengthy  providing more regular opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematics skills and understanding to investigate and solve problems.  Strengthen the impact of leadership and management by  rapidly driving through the improvements in teaching and learning  using the strengths from the academy, including coaching of staff, visits to other schools and closer checking on the learning of different groups in lessons.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Learning and progress observed in lessons in different subjects during the inspection, and as seen in the school’s monitoring records, require improvement as they are not rapid enough to enable all pupils to achieve well. Since the school was opened, pupils have made gains in reading, writing and mathematics but these are not yet consistently good.  Pupils have secure basic skills in mathematics and confidently use these to tackle a range of different sums. However, leaders have rightly identified that the application of these skills to solve problems and investigate are not strong enough.  Children start school with knowledge, skills and understanding that are typically below age- related expectations. Current children in Reception have settled well and are making steady progress in learning about letters and their sounds to spell simple words such as ‘pork’ and ‘bark’. They extended their vocabulary well, for example when they talked about ‘going on a

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

rocket ship to the moon’.  Progress in Year 1 is good. Less able readers in Year 1 are developing their reading skills well. Pupils, including those who are disabled and/or have special educational needs, use their knowledge of the sounds of letters confidently to help them read a range of simple words. More able pupils have already developed fluency and intonation. Attainment in Year 2 is currently a little below age-related expectations.  Pupils in Year 6 are confident in their use of vocabulary in literacy and have secure basic calculation skills. They are soundly on track to make similar progress to that found nationally in English and mathematics. While the attainment of pupils in Year 6 is average, pupils’ attainment in other year groups across Key Stage 2 is not as strong.  In the specialist resource bases, pupils achieve well. Pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder make good progress from low starting points. Practical activities, such as using cotton reels on

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

thread, help them to develop counting skills. Pupils with a hearing impairment enthusiastically double numbers and revise the three- and four-times tables.  Samples of work show that pupils of all groups eligible for the pupil premium funding make similar progress to that of their classmates in English and mathematics. The school’s records of progress, based on pupils’ average point scores (which show the total of assessment results), show a similar picture.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make progress that is similar to that of other pupils. Some make good progress, for example in Year 1, where pupils write simple sentences using punctuation and make sure they have ‘finger spaces’ between words.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching over the time that the academy has been open has not been strong enough to promote pupils’ good progress and, therefore, requires improvement.  The match of work to pupils’ different abilities is not always close enough and activities are not always adapted well enough in lessons to respond to pupils’ emerging needs. For example, in Year 4, more able pupils spent too much time on basic sums rather than being moved on to more challenging work.  There are times when learning is not sufficiently brisk and this slows the learning for different groups of pupils in lessons. Examples of this include lengthy inputs from teachers, which result in pupils becoming restless and not paying attention.  Pupils are given information which they can use to decide for themselves what they need to do to improve. In writing, for example, there are simple checklists which pupils refer to and use for self-assessment. However, this information does not enable them to identify for themselves what

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

they need to do to move their writing on to the next level.  Activities take place in a positive learning atmosphere in which the teachers value the contributions made by pupils. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Pupils have good opportunities to work together in classes and learn from each other. In Year 6, for example, pupils collaborated well to present their work about Brazilian culture to the class, using information and communication technology (ICT).  Teaching in the specialist resource bases is good. Tasks are adapted well to match the pupils’ individual needs. Pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder sustain their concentration well, responding to the gentle, patient yet firm encouragement from adults. Pupils with a hearing impairment are enthused by lively teaching and get additional support through the use of sign language and from using ICT programs.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well, enjoy coming to school and attend regularly. The breakfast club provides a calm start to the day. Around the school, pupils are polite, holding doors open and greeting each other with friendly smiles.  Adults know the needs of individual pupils well and ensure that pupils’ social needs are met through good levels of care and strong liaison with families. Pupils with a hearing impairment are integrated well in classes across the school.  Pupils work well with each other in lessons and behaviour is typically good. There are occasions when pupils lose concentration with their work but this is usually when they have to sit on the carpet for too long or work is not sufficiently challenging. Pupils comment that behaviour has improved rapidly over the past five months. This is reflected in the school’s incident log.  Discussions with pupils confirm that they feel safe and secure in school and that any incidents of

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

bullying are dealt with well. Pupils know about the different ways in which they could be bullied, including through the internet and mobile phones. Each class signs up to an e-safety agreement.  Most parents and carers spoken to confirm that they are happy with the school and that staff deal with some challenging behaviour particularly well. Parents of pupils in the specialist resource base for pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder are very complimentary about the quality of care and support their children receive.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Action taken by leaders to improve the quality of teaching is promoting improvement but has yet to secure consistently good teaching across the school. Staff have individual programmes of support, including coaching by senior staff, which are regularly monitored and evaluated.  Leaders have identified the right areas for improvement and can point to successes that have already been achieved. Since September 2012, there has been improvement in behaviour and attendance. Leaders acknowledge that pupils’ application and investigative skills in mathematics are not as well developed as they should be.  Staff in the two specialist resource bases use their expertise well to ensure that the pupils are provided with an individual curriculum that meets pupils’ needs well. The school is well resourced with specialist computer software to support hearing impaired pupils.  There are comprehensive systems and procedures to accurately check the progress of individual

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The leadership and management require improvement

and groups of pupils. Pupils in danger of falling behind are identified quickly and provided with extra help. This is strengthening pupils’ equality of opportunity.  The school helps pupils to deepen their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding well. There is an established code of behaviour that is well understood. Pupils learn about different cultures, for example, they write about preserving the rainforest. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.  Oasis Community Learning provides the school with strategic support that is highly regarded by the headteacher, dealing with issues such as personnel and recruitment. This support is promoting improvement well.  The governance of the school:  Members of the academy council (governors) know the school well and have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They bring a broad range of expertise to the school, which has been beneficial in planning for its future development. All

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The leadership and management require improvement

the necessary systems for the school to improve have been developed, including a comprehensive programme to support and monitor the quality of teaching. However, there has not been sufficient time for this to have its full effect. Governors have an excellent understanding of data and are able to ask searching questions of the headteacher and other leaders, including the impact of pupil premium funding. They have a clear procedure and good information to make well-informed decisions about teachers rising up the salary scale. The budget is monitored carefully and the school has an appropriate amount of money in reserve. Governors make sure they follow the required procedures about safeguarding children.

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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 138710 Local authority City of Bristol Inspection number 409423

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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 Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 198 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jill Rowe Headteacher George Franks Date of previous school inspection not previously inspected Telephone number 01275 894570 Fax number Not yet available Email address info@oasisnewoak.org 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 Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.

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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: Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.

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