Rossington All Saints Academy

Rossington All Saints Academy Bond Street, Rossington, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN11 0BZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Because of a very strong drive for excellence from senior and middle leaders, the academy has improved rapidly since it opened.  Students make good progress and, at the end of Key Stage 4, they attain standards in English, mathematics and science that are in line with the national average.  Underachieving students are quickly identified and helped to catch up with better teaching or a programme of support.  The sixth form is good. Sixth form students make good progress in subjects that mostly meet their academic or vocational ambitions.  Almost all students leaving the academy go into education, employment or training.  Teaching is mostly good or outstanding.  Most teachers have high expectations for what students can achieve.  Many lessons make a strong contribution to students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Students behave well and have good attitudes to work. Their attendance is above average.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Senior and middle leaders are very skilful in identifying the priorities for improving teaching and ensuring that they are tackled quickly and effectively.  The School Partnership Trust and the governing body provide very effective support while also rigorously holding academy leaders to account for raising students’ achievement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Academy leaders have provided training on how to plan lessons that meet the needs of all groups of students, however, the new approaches are not yet firmly established in every class.  Many students rely too much on teachers’ guidance and opportunities are missed for them to take more responsibility for organising their own learning.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors carried out 36 lesson observations, of which two were joint with members of the academy’s senior leadership team. Inspectors looked at work in students’ books, talked to students and heard some students reading.  Meetings were held with the Principal, vice-principal, senior and middle leaders, newly and recently qualified teachers, the Chief Executive of the School Partnership Trust and one of its academy improvement officers, the Chair and a member of the Governing Body. Inspectors also held meetings with three groups of students.  The inspection team examined a range of management documents including those relating to students’ achievement, self-evaluation, improvement planning, the monitoring of teaching, performance management and safeguarding.  Inspectors took account of 13 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and considered 15 questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

John Rutherford, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Sally Lane Additional Inspector Jane Alexander Additional Inspector Tony Price Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The academy opened in April 2011, sponsored by the School Partnership Trust (SPT).  It has a smaller than average number of students although this is rising.  Around two-fifths of the students are supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care, students known to be eligible for free school meals and students whose parents are serving in the armed forces. This is above the average for schools nationally.  The number of disabled students and those with special educational needs who are supported at school action plus or with a statement is above average. The number supported at school action is also above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.  The academy works in collaboration with four other SPT academies in the area to widen the curriculum for sixth form students and to enhance provision for a very small minority of students

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Information about this school

with additional needs.  The academy has specialisms in literacy with applied learning and sport.  The academy’s recent awards include Sportsmark Gold, Youth Sports Trust Gold Partner Status, Artsmark Silver, Investors in People, Healthy School and the Doncaster Inclusion Mark.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

To raise achievement from good to outstanding, the academy should:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure all lessons are as good as the best in the academy by:  providing activities carefully planned to meet the differing learning needs of all groups of students  planning a clear role for teaching assistants to support or challenge groups of students  giving students more opportunity to take responsibility for deciding how, what and when they learn.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The nationally published data for 2012 showed that students made good progress from a low starting point and achieved standards in English, mathematics and science that were in line with the average for all schools. This represented rapid improvement since the opening of the academy and is the result of exceptionally strong leadership teams improving teaching.  Inspection evidence shows that the pace of improvement is being maintained and more students are making progress at a better than expected rate. Performance in mathematics, which was previously weaker than in English, has now risen to a similar level.  Achievement is not outstanding because, despite recent improvements, there are still students who mark time in lessons where there is insufficient support or challenge for them.  Groups of students who were underachieving in 2012 are now making the same good progress as other groups because they have received better teaching and well planned additional support.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2012, early entry for mathematics GCSE examinations meant that more-able students did not achieve as well as they could. The early-entry policy has been overhauled with the result that school records and students’ work show that the more able are expected to achieve much more in 2013.  In 2012, the curriculum gave students less opportunity to do well in academic subjects than in vocational subjects. This imbalance has largely been redressed and standards in academic subjects are rising, although the full impact of this on GCSE results will not be seen for another year.  Students of all abilities achieve well in the sixth form because of strong teaching and the opportunity to choose courses that are well matched to their needs. This is because the range of academic and vocational courses available is widened through collaborative arrangements with four other SPT academies in the region.  Throughout the academy, disabled students and those with special educational needs achieve

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The achievement of pupils is good

well as a result of significantly improved support for them, both in specialist group work and in mainstream lessons.  In 2012, students supported by the pupil premium were behind other students in English and mathematics by a quarter of a grade. Since then, the proportion of supported students making expected or better progress in both subjects has risen significantly to around 60% which is higher than for other students in the academy and higher than students nationally in 2012. They are therefore closing the gap on the levels they should be achieving. This is particularly because the academy uses pupil premium funding well to provide additional support which is boosting their lower literacy and numeracy skills.  All students who start with below average literacy skills, including those eligible for Year 7 catch- up funding, are helped to make up lost ground with a well taught, accelerated reading course

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The achievement of pupils is good

and very effective one-to-one reading sessions with trained sixth form literacy leaders.  Students extend their literacy and numeracy skills in a range of subjects, for example, when planning fitness programmes in physical education, however, this is not consistent across the academy.  Achievement is very strong in physical education, therefore, as part of the academy’s specialism, teachers from this department support others in getting a similar level of outcomes from students.  Most of the parents who responded to Parent View are happy with their children’s progress, as are a similar proportion of the much larger number who recently completed an academy questionnaire. Their positive view is in line with the inspection evidence.

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The quality of teaching is good

 A rigorous and systematic approach to improving teaching is the key driver for the rapid rise in standards. Around three-quarters of teaching is now consistently good and a significant proportion is outstanding.  Where teaching is most effective, all students make good progress because the work is very interesting and teachers plan tasks at different levels of challenge to suit the range of abilities in the class.  While almost all teachers provide interesting lessons, based on their good subject knowledge, not all are equally skilled in varying the level of challenge in planned activities. For example, some teachers require higher level outcomes from more-able students but then start them on the same work as all the other groups so they coast for much of the lesson.  In the most effective lessons, the teacher and teaching assistant work well as a team, each with a clearly planned role for providing additional support or challenge to particular groups. This is

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The quality of teaching is good

not seen consistently in all lessons, therefore, some students make insufficient progress when a period of well planned intervention from one of the staff would have prevented this.  In the large majority of lessons, teachers use very effective strategies for keeping students involved in learning, particularly by giving them plenty of activity in the form of group discussions, challenging problems and practical activities.  Many teachers create a very good climate for learning, providing challenge but in a friendly and supportive way. Most students, therefore, enjoy learning and participate enthusiastically in independent group activities.  Teachers plan lessons that make a strong contribution to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, for example, in English, students reflect on the different types of love portrayed in a novel and, in physical education, they carry out team challenges designed to develop trust.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most of the parents who completed Parent View or the recent academy questionnaire agree that their children are well taught, which is in line with the inspection evidence.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The inspection evidence is that pupils behave well. This is confirmed to be generally the case by the large majority of staff, students and parents who completed inspection or academy questionnaires.  Good behaviour is the result of clear and consistent approaches for responding to indiscipline and the respectful way in which adults relate to students.  Students’ good relationships with each other and with staff contribute significantly to their improving progress in lessons.  Students have very positive attitudes to learning and they work hard during lessons. They work very well when required to get on without direct adult supervision.  Students who have received training show considerable responsibility as leaders, for example, when helping younger students with their reading and when organising sports activities. However, in lessons, most students do what is required of them and rarely take the initiative in

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

extending their own learning.  Students who spoke to inspectors have a very clear understanding of bullying targeted at groups of people and they strongly oppose it. Good evidence for this was observed in the harmonious relationship between all groups of students including the small numbers who are disabled or who are from a minority ethnic background.  Students know how to stay safe and this applies particularly to the safe use of mobile phones and the internet, which the academy has made a priority in its work with students and parents.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The Principal provides exceptionally strong leadership in ensuring that students of all abilities achieve as much as they can. He has enabled strong teachers to develop their leadership skills and join senior or middle leadership teams that are rapidly bringing about improvements in teaching and achievement.  Academy leaders have established strong teamwork amongst the staff in raising standards. The overwhelming majority of those who completed inspection or academy questionnaires fully support their leaders and they appreciate the many opportunities provided to improve their skills.  A large number of newly qualified teachers have received very effective training which has quickly enabled them to become confident, effective professionals.  Academy leaders continuously monitor the quality of teaching and students’ progress and they have a very detailed, accurate understanding of what still needs to be done to move the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

academy from good to outstanding. Their strong capacity to bring this about is evident in the significant improvement in students’ achievement over the last two years.  The curriculum has been re-organised over the past year, reflecting higher expectations for students’ academic attainment and this is already having a positive impact on standards. At the same time, the curriculum meets a wide range of vocational needs and makes a very strong contribution to students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. There are, for example, numerous opportunities through projects and visits for first-hand experience of a wide range of cultures and they confront such topical issues as genetic modification and sustainable energy sources.  The school meets safeguarding requirements.  The SPT has well structured arrangements for supporting the improvement of leadership and teaching within its academies. It correctly judges that there is no need to impose these on

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The leadership and management are outstanding

Rossington because its leaders are clearly showing the capacity to lead improvement independently. Academy leaders, however, make very effective use of SPT’s support for performance management and training in line with their own priorities.  The governance of the school:  The governing body closely monitors the academy’s performance, helped by SPT’s data and detailed reports from academy leaders. This enables them to check that the academy is making sufficient progress and that pupil premium funding is being used well. Performance management arrangements are used very effectively to ensure that teachers who are the most skilful in raising students' achievement gain opportunities to advance their careers and widen their influence on others, either in Rossington or in one of the partner academies. Teachers only receive pay rises where they can demonstrate that they are effective in improving students’ progress.

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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 136675 Local authority Doncaster Inspection number 399832

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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 Sponsor Led School category Maintained Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 681 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 139 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Barker Principal Alan Warboys Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01302 868414 Fax number - Email address info@theallsaints.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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