Setting

Miss Helen Cassady Principal Havant Academy Wakefords Way Havant Hampshire PO9 5JD

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Havant Academy

Following my visit to your academy on 9 October 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the academy’s recent section 5 inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Havant Academy

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the academy became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in July 2013.

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Evidence

During this inspection, meetings were held with the Principal and other leaders, members of the governing body and representatives of the academy’s sponsor, The Kemnal Academies Trust (TKAT). The sponsor’s statement of action, the academy’s action plan and a number of other documents were evaluated.

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Context

A small number of teachers have left or joined the academy since the last inspection.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

You and your senior colleagues fully acknowledge and accept the findings of the section 5 inspection. You recognise that many things need to improve, but you are approaching this task with considerable commitment and enthusiasm. The Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5359 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Email : christina.bannerman@tribalgroup.com academy’s action plan covers all necessary areas well and is a useful working document. Many developments are underway, but you clearly understand the need to prioritise your actions carefully to avoid overloading staff.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Improving teaching is quite rightly your main priority. There is a good balance here between regular visits to lessons to check their quality, and support and training for teachers to help them to improve. The general weekly training sessions have been carefully planned and are being followed up rigorously to ensure that they are having a positive impact in lessons. Teachers are also benefiting from a range of training opportunities, carefully matched to their current teaching skills and abilities. Those whose teaching is judged to be inadequate are rightly getting the most intensive support. Good systems are also in place to measure students’ academic progress during the year. However, you could make more use of this information to establish clearer expected levels of achievement at different points of the year for the students in each year group.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The management of students’ behaviour and attendance has improved significantly. Leadership roles have been restructured to ensure that staff leading on these aspects have sufficient time to devote to their roles. Good systems are now in place to help teachers to manage classroom misbehaviour more consistently. Students at risk of exclusion are being supported more effectively. More is also being done at an earlier stage to tackle the poor attendance of some students. As a result, levels of student absence have fallen dramatically.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The new Chair of the Governing Body fully acknowledges the weaknesses in governance. He appreciates that much needs to be done to ensure that the governing body can provide sufficient challenge to the academy. A three-day external review of governance has been arranged and is due to take place next week. Members of the governing body are fully committed to acting quickly and decisively on the results.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The academy is well supported. TKAT advisers visit regularly to support a range of developments. Staff also benefit from useful links with other TKAT academies. This support is not, however, reflected accurately in the sponsor’s statement of action. Planned actions are not documented clearly, and the nature and extent of what is proposed are too vague.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Following the monitoring inspection these judgements were made:

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The academy sponsor’s statement of action is not fit for purpose.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The academy’s action plan is fit for purpose. Having considered all the evidence I strongly recommend that the academy does not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Hampshire and the Academies Advisers Unit at the Department for Education. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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