Oasis Academy Shirley Park

Oasis Academy Shirley Park Shirley Road, Croydon, CR9 7AL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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This is an outstanding school

 Students’ achievements are outstanding. Regardless of their starting points, all groups make exceptional progress to exceed the national average greatly by the end of Year 11.  Children make outstanding progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage because by the end of their time in the Nursery attainment is far higher than might be expected given their very low starting points.  Teaching is outstanding because staff are highly committed to ensuring that their students fulfil their potential. They have very high expectations of the students and successfully challenge, nurture and support them at every stage in their studies.  Behaviour is outstanding. Students take immense pride in the academy and everything it offers. The extensive site is clean and tidy and students enjoy and respect their social areas. Movement around the sight is invariably calm and orderly and excellent classroom behaviour helps to foster

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This is an outstanding school

outstanding learning.  Students are offered many opportunities to excel. The expanding and improving range of subjects in the secondary sector meets their needs exceptionally well. A wide variety of clubs, societies, educational visits and charitable efforts, both at home and abroad, help to make the provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is exceptionally strong.  The effectiveness of the small, but growing sixth form, which has been operating for just over two years, is good. It is improving rapidly because of its outstanding leadership and management.  Outstanding leadership and governance, especially from the inspirational principal, ensure that the academy makes rapid progress and meets its challenging targets. At every level, leaders show a remarkable level of commitment to ensuring that students flourish and that the quality of teaching and learning continues to improve.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 52 lessons each taught by a different teacher. Most lessons were jointly observed with senior staff members.  Meetings were held with the Vice Chairman of Academy Councillors and with senior staff from the sponsors of the academy. Meetings were held with six different student groups and with many different staff including the principal, the heads of both schools and other leaders.  Inspectors took account of 44 responses to the on-line questionnaire Parent View in planning the inspection. The responses to 113 staff questionnaires were also considered.  Inspectors looked at samples of students’ past and present work and scrutinised various documents. These included the academy’s checks on how well it is doing and planning and extensive information on students’ academic progress and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Bill Stoneham, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Genevieve Usher Additional Inspector Rebecca Hawkes Additional Inspector Anthony Felsenstein Additional Inspector Jane Ladner Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The academy opened as an all-through academy in September 2009. It was created following the amalgamation of three schools, all of which were underperforming.  It is larger than the average-sized school and operates from three different sites.  The secondary phase houses a small, but growing, sixth form which opened in September 2011.  The academy has specialisms in English and creative and visual arts and is over-subscribed.  There are more boys on roll than girls.  The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding provided by the government to help nationally underperforming groups such students eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after) is twice the national average.  Nearly three quarters of students are from minority ethnic groups, which is well above average. The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is well above average.

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Information about this school

 The proportion of disabled students and those with special educational needs supported through school action is well above average. The proportion of students supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also well above average.  Limited use is made of off-site facilities which are under the academy’s control.  The academy meets the current government floor standards, which determine the minimum expectations for attainment and progress by the end of Key Stage 4.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Eliminate any teaching that requires improvement by making sure that:  work is accurately marked and assessed and written feedback from teachers clearly indicates what the student has done well, what needs to be improved and how  more able students are fully challenged by all the work that is set.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 GCSE results have improved rapidly from well below average in 2011 to a position in 2012 and 2013 where 5A*-C grades (including English and mathematics) were well above the national average.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 At all stages, students commence their studies with average levels of prior attainment that are well below average. By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, and each other key stage, outcomes are well above average.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 At the end of each year in the Nursery and Key Stage 2 a significant number of children leave to attend other schools. Though other pupils are recruited, the prior attainment of the new children is well below average. Thus, at the start of each phase of education, the academy has an attainment profile that is well below average.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The proportions of students meeting and exceeding the nationally expected progress in English and mathematics compare extremely favourably with national rates. In 2012, the last year for which comparative data are available, secondary progress measures placed mathematics in the top 5% of schools nationally and English just outside the top 10%.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 A judicious use is made of early GCSE entry in mathematics. About 15% of Year 11 students are entered early. The remainder sit their examination at the end of Year 11. Selective early entry has enhanced the achievement of students in mathematics, including the most able.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The academy’s unstinting commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity and tackling possible discrimination is witnessed in the excellent progress made by various groups. Support for disabled students and those with special educational needs is highly effective ensuring that their achievements are similar to those of their peers and are significantly better than those recorded nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Students supported via additional funding such as ‘Year 7 Catch-up’ and the pupil premium make outstanding progress. Often the performance of this group is stronger than for other groups in the academy and such students are doing far better than such students nationally. Higher attaining students are performing well and consistently achieve the high grades.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The academy receives additional funding through the primary school sport funding programme. Expenditure is planned well with an emphasis, for example, on promoting girls’ participation rates, but it is too early to evaluate outcomes.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills which are well below those typically found at their age. Excellent and highly consistent support ensures that progress and achievement are far higher than might be expected. Progress is checked carefully and rapid gains are made in phonics (the sounds that letters make) and in social development.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 2013 was the first year that the academy entered students for A Level examinations. Students came into the sixth form well below average. Hitherto, students gaining the very best results at GSCE have left to pursue their sixth form education elsewhere. A Level results in 2013 were below, but close to the national average, while AS Level results, though remaining below average showed a huge improvement on those gained in 2012.  Given the well-below average starting points, these outcomes represent good progress and achievement over time. Two subjects, chemistry and mathematics, gained especially impressive results and progress in these subjects was outstanding. However, this was not the case in all subjects in the sixth form.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching is outstanding because staff in all three sectors of the academy are ambitious for their students to do as well as they can. Expectations are consistently high and the vast majority of lessons are challenging and engaging.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching quality has improved rapidly over a short time. At a whole-school level, assessment techniques are especially good. Highly skilled teachers are able to gauge the extent of prior knowledge and understanding with accuracy so that the next stages in learning can be planned with care. This helps to ensure that set challenges are pitched at the right level, thereby grabbing the students’ interest and enthusiasm. The effectiveness of teaching is also enhanced by the quality of classroom assistants.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 On the rare occasions where teaching is less effective this is because staff’s marking and assessment of work lacks precision. The feedback offered to students is not accurate or sufficiently detailed to enable them to readily improve their work. In addition, on some occasions the challenge offered to more-able students is not sufficiently exacting.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage a lively, attractive and stimulating environment fosters a high quality of teaching and learning because pupils feel safe, secure and happy.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The vast majority of lessons are exciting, engaging and enjoyable. Staff use their excellent subject knowledge to secure high quality learning. This was seen in many lessons. For example, a Year 8 class made excellent progress in a practical lesson on preparing a Victoria sponge cake. Careful and precise teaching enabled the students to work in pairs and to complete all production stages for themselves; something they greatly enjoyed.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 In a most impressive Year 7 English lesson highly effective and very-well planned teaching resulted in outstanding learning because the students could work at their own levels and the activities set enabled them to fathom out answers for themselves. Students gained knowledge of different forms of writing and developed their own literacy skills.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 ‘Teachers have transformed my life’. This comment made by a Year 9 student was echoed by many other students. Older students referred to the massive improvements made in the quality of teaching since they joined the academy. Students in all years, including primary-aged pupils, praised the commitment and dedication of their staff. This view is echoed strongly by parents.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Students’ outstanding behaviour contributes enormously to the calmness and friendliness of the academy. At all levels, students are proud of their academy and strive to ensure that it remains clean and tidy and offers an attractive working environment. Students are polite and courteous. They are pleased to welcome visitors and to explain the many exciting aspects of its work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The various sites are all maintained to a high standard. This reflects well on the site teams, and on the students. It is indicative of the values and ethos that the academy so successfully establishes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Parents and carers, staff and students expressed few concerns about behaviour. Students, including the youngest, feel safe in and out of lessons, and all are keen to do well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Across all key stages, students are clear about what constitutes bullying, including cyber bullying and aggressive attitudes to individuals’ beliefs, ethnic and cultural background, lifestyle or sexuality. They rightly see the academy’s ethnically mixed community as a strength and report that prompt and effective action is taken to deal with incidents of prejudice or hurtful behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 In all years students are given responsibilities that help to unify the academy and ensure its smooth operation. Sixth form students, for example, run the daily breakfast club and many other examples of responsibility can be cited. During the inspection, for example, three year 10 students were making a presentation to a local Rotary Club on the folly of misjudging young people by the way they dress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Responsibility is further fostered through a variety of educational visits and support for charities. Some students, for example, recently visited Ground Zero in New York and some Year 11 rugby players were invited during the week of the inspection to visit a ‘closed’ training session for the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team. Such an array of activities is greatly valued by students and ensures that the academy makes a very strong contribution to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the students.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Attendance has improved significantly since the academy was established. Attendance during the last academic year was well above average and similar outcomes are being recorded for this academic year. Attendance in the sixth form mirrors that for the academy as a whole. The attendance and behaviour of the few students working off site or in alternative provision are carefully monitored and well supported.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Strongly supported by the sponsors and governors, the inspirational Principal has fostered positive attitudes to achievement, raised the self-esteem of staff and students and demonstrated through his own approach to all aspects of academy life that everyone deserves respect.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 He has successfully built teams of senior and middle leaders and managers to focus on clearly identified priorities. His senior leadership team is extremely effective and energetic. Senior leaders understand their responsibilities and accountability, and are currently developing the skills and capacity of teams they now lead, including subject, year and pastoral leaders. They, like the Principal, are justifiably proud of the rapid progress made and the ensuing successes.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Staff morale is extremely high. Staff love working at this academy and feel motivated and enabled by the leadership offered. As one teacher commented: ‘The Principal enables and empowers us to make decisions and holds us to account. He leads by example and this is done through passion and aspiration for all students.’

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Management of teaching and learning is brisk and effective. Senior leaders check the performance of all staff systematically and carefully targeted support programmes and whole- staff training keep teaching outstanding.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Curriculum development has been successful in boosting the progress made by pupils in the Nursery and in the primary school. Recent improvements in the curriculum in the secondary phase, especially in Key Stage 4, mean that individual needs are catered for well and students are offered clear steps to follow that enhance their future career prospects.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Post-16 leadership is strong and purposeful. This has ensured that the recently established sixth form is already making great strides in meeting students’ needs.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The academy effectively deploys resources to make sure all students have equality of access and equal opportunities. Students eligible for the pupil premium make outstanding progress and their achievements are far greater than those recorded nationally. The same applies to Year 7 where ‘catch up’ funding is making sure that gaps in literacy skills are closing rapidly.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong and is central to the academy’s aim of developing well-rounded young adults who care for others, display determination, show integrity and are tolerant of differences.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 All arrangements for safeguarding, including risk assessments for off-site education, meet statutory requirements.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school: – The sponsor’s regional director of education and the academy’s governors bring a wealth of experience and expertise to their role. They share the Principal’s long-term vision for the academy to become a renowned centre of excellence for teaching and learning. Governors know about the impact of teaching on students’ learning and monitor the relationship between teachers’ salaries and their effectiveness very closely, with precise targets being set. They know what the school would do to tackle any underperformance. They are able to analyse and evaluate information about students’ attainment and progress. Governors are rigorous in their monitoring of progress made by all groups of students including those eligible for additional government funding. They meet their statutory responsibilities and make sure that they undertake relevant training to keep abreast of changes nationally.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

They are well informed about key issues such as child protection, National Curriculum requirements and financial management.

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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 135968 Local authority Croydon Inspection number 425569

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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 School category Non-Maintained Age range of pupils 3–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1538 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 129 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Nigel Poole Headteacher Glen Denham Date of previous school inspection 22 February 2012 Telephone number 020 8656 0222 Fax number 020 8656 1474 Email address admin@oasisshirleypark.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 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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