Outwood Academy Foxhills

Invenio Academy Foxhills Road, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, DN15 8LJ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Inadequate 4

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.  Achievement is inadequate. The proportion of students who left Year 11 with five or more A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and mathematics, was well below average in 2011 and 2012 and fell further in 2013.  Students make insufficient progress during their time at the academy. Their weak skills in English and mathematics mean they are inadequately prepared for the next stage in their education, training or work.  Teaching is inadequate. Lesson planning and the work provided do not meet the needs of students of different abilities.  Students are not challenged sufficiently in lessons because teachers’ expectations of what they can achieve are too low, frequently students do not do enough work.  Behaviour requires improvement because a significant proportion of students do not work hard in lessons and take little care over the presentation of their work.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Students do not know what they have to do to improve their work and too few checks are made by teachers to see whether improvements have been made.  The courses provided at the academy, particularly for Years 10 and 11, do not enable students to make sufficient progress in the different subjects.  The actions of leaders and governors have had too little effect on improving the academy. Many senior and subject leaders have insufficient experience in their current roles to improve teaching and to accelerate students’ progress rapidly enough. Consequently, the academy’s overall effectiveness has declined since the last inspection.  The academy’s funding, including the pupil premium, has not been used effectively. This has created difficulties in making the premises fit for purpose and has resulted in the inefficient deployment of staff and resources.

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The school has the following strengths

 Students say that they feel safe in the academy.  Students make good progress in dance, music and design and technology.  The Principal has accurately evaluated the academy’s strengths and weaknesses. He has started to make improvements, recently with the extensive support of Outwood Grange Academy Trust.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 35 lessons taught by 35 teachers. Four observations were made jointly with members of the academy’s senior staff.  The inspectors took account of 11 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and of a survey of parents’ views on the academy’s website.  Inspectors examined information on students’ performance for the school year 2012/13 and detailed information provided by the academy on current learning and progress. They also looked at work in students’ books.  The inspectors held meetings with the Principal, senior and subject leaders and met with three groups of students. Meetings were held with representatives of the governing body and with the Executive Principal from Outwood Grange Academy Trust. A meeting was also held with a representative of the local authority within which the academy is located.  Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including the academy’s own evaluation of its work,

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Information about this inspection

information on the quality of teaching, reports of external evaluations of the academy’s work and documents relating to safeguarding, attendance and behaviour.

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Inspection team

Liz Godman, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Jane Willis Additional Inspector Sheila Kaye Additional Inspector Judith Gooding Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 44 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended), Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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Information about this school

 The academy is smaller than most secondary schools.  The large majority of students come from White British heritage backgrounds.  The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is almost double the national average.  The proportion supported at school action is broadly average.  The proportion of students eligible for support through the pupil premium (additional funding provided by the government to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children looked after by the local authority and the children of military personnel) is above average.  The academy does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.  A number of older students attend courses on a part-time basis at North Lindsey College.

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Information about this school

 The academy opened in September 2011 and operated an approach called ‘Discover learning’ where students spent the majority of their time in large open-plan areas and received small group tutorials at various times of the day.  The current Principal took up his post in February 2013. In September 2013 he changed the organisation of the academy day so that the timetable is now divided into five lessons, each lasting for an hour. Following these changes, many staff took on new roles and a number of new staff joined the academy.  Outwood Grange Academy Trust has been providing support for the academy since November 2013. This includes support from a number of National Leaders in Education and, in particular, from an Executive Principal. The academy will become part of the Outwood Grange Academy Trust from September 2014.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching to good or better by:  eradicating inadequate teaching  raising teachers’ expectations as to what students can achieve  planning lessons which ensure that students of all abilities make more rapid progress and achieve highly  improving marking and the advice given to all students, so that they know what they have done well, are shown how to improve their work and by making sure that teachers check that these improvements have been made.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment and ensure that all groups of students make good progress in all subjects by:  improving the standards of students’ reading, writing, communication and mathematical skills  improving students’ attitudes to learning and ensuring that they work hard and quickly in every lesson and take care over the presentation of their work  challenging students, particularly the most able in every lesson, so that they are encouraged to think for themselves and to produce work of a high quality  keeping careful checks on the progress of all individuals and groups who are not making the progress they should and by providing the help they need to catch up in their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that leadership and governance are effective by:  taking actions to ensure that all senior and subject leaders develop the skills necessary to improve the quality of teaching and accelerate students’ progress  establishing secure arrangements so that governors can hold senior and subject leaders to account for the impact of their work  taking the necessary actions so that the range of subjects and courses provided, particularly at Key Stage 4, successfully prepare students for future study, training and employment  ensuring efficient management of the academy’s finances so that its accommodation is fit for purpose and staff and resources are used to best effect in driving up standards  undertaking an external review of governance and of the academy’s use of the pupil premium in order to assess how these aspects of leadership and governance may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

Ofsted will make recommendations for action on governance to the authority responsible for the academy.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Achievement is inadequate. The proportion of students who left Year 11 with five GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and mathematics, was well below average in 2011 and 2012. Results fell further in 2013, due mainly to very poor results in English and mathematics. Science results were a little better but not all students took this subject at GCSE.  Students join the academy with standards that are lower than expected and only a minority make expected progress. As a result, all groups of students are denied equality of opportunity.  Current Year 10 and 11 students have made very little progress. This is most marked in English and mathematics. Students’ weak skills in these subjects mean that they are inadequately prepared for further education or work.  Recent steps to improve the outcomes for the Year 11 students are showing early signs of impact. Some Year 11 students have been entered early for GCSE English and have gained a

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

grade C or above. This has boosted their confidence. All made expected progress and many made better than expected progress to gain these grades. However, these students do not expect to re-sit the examination in order to try and gain a higher grade still.  Students who have difficulties with reading and writing are not making enough progress. Additional support provided through the Year 7 catch-up programme, for those students who did not reach the nationally expected standard in reading and mathematics at the end of Year 6, is not improving their skills sufficiently quickly. Similarly, disabled students and those who have special educational needs are not making enough progress.  Students speaking and listening skills are not being developed well enough and some teachers are not good role models in their own use of spoken English.  Many students have weak mathematical skills. For example, students of all ages lack the basic

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

multiplication and division skills necessary to solve problems.  Most students do not produce enough work in lessons. Some older students, in particular, do not work hard or quickly. This limits their progress in lessons and over time.  The lack of challenge for the most able students is seen in the very low proportion who gained the highest grades at GCSE in 2013. This is reflected in many lessons, where the most able students are not challenged to produce work of a sufficiently high quality.  New assessment systems have been introduced very recently. These now give a more accurate picture of students’ current attainment, but are not being used well enough by teachers to identify and provide for students who are falling behind in their work.  Students make good progress in dance, music and design and technology, but their progress in science, languages and the humanities is weak.  Students supported through the pupil premium, particularly those known to be eligible for free

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

school meals, make less progress overall than other students. In 2013, in both English and mathematics GCSE examinations, their average attainment was the equivalent of one grade lower than that of other students.  The students who attend part-time courses at North Lindsey College follow vocational subjects not available at the academy. This gives them valuable skills, but places constraints on the timetable of other students. For example, some have all their Spanish lessons on the same day of the week, which provides too little variation to hold their interest.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 The majority of teaching over time has been inadequate or requires improvement. As a result, students do not make the progress they should.  Teachers’ expectations of what students should achieve are not high enough. Consequently, lessons do not challenge students to work hard or to do their best. Many students, especially those who are older, do not come to lessons expecting to work hard and do not expect to do well. These students regularly complete very little work.  Some teachers are new to the academy and the organisation of some teaching groups has changed since the start of January 2014. Consequently, teachers do not know their students sufficiently well to plan and provide work that challenges the most able and which enables the least able to take a full part in the lessons. In addition, in some lessons, noise carries through to other classrooms, through the recently constructed partition walls, making it difficult for the

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

students to hear the teacher in these other rooms.  The marking of students’ work is poor. Some work appears not to be marked and much is marked with just a tick. As a result, students do not know what they have to do to improve. Where they are given such advice, too few checks are made to see whether they have followed this and improved their work. Consequently, the presentation and amount of work completed by most students is poor.  Reading, writing and mathematics are not taught systematically or well. This results in students’ weak progress in the development and use of these skills.  Disabled students and those who have special educational needs are not taught well. Teachers and leaders responsible for them do not check that the work they receive is suitable.  The teaching of all groups of students, including those supported by the pupil premium, is not good enough, and results in too many students not making the progress they should.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 There is some consistently good teaching in subjects such as dance, music and design and technology and this leads to students making good progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Students’ behaviour requires improvement. However, significant improvements have been made.  Students say that this improvement is most marked since the Outwood Grange Academy Trust started working with the academy.  New approaches to managing students’ behaviour in lessons are proving effective because they are used consistently by almost all teachers. As a result, the times when students misbehave or disrupt lessons with unacceptable behaviour are rare. Almost all students arrive at lessons on time.  However, behaviour requires further improvement because a significant proportion of students do not expect to work hard in lessons, take little care over presentation and do not complete enough work.  These weaker attitudes to learning are most noticeable among the older students, a few of whom are defiant when the teacher expects them to work. However, the attitudes of many students have changed, so that in a number of Year 11 lessons students are eager to get on

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

with their work and are increasingly confident that they will reach their target grades.  Students’ attendance was below average in 2012/13. The proportion of persistent absentees was especially high, particularly for girls, and was well above the average for secondary schools. The academy’s current attendance figures show improvement, more so in the attendance of girls.  Exclusions are below average. The new approach to managing students’ behaviour also ensures that students are rarely excluded from particular lessons and the vigilance of senior leaders ensures that any problems are dealt with swiftly and learning is resumed.  The academy’s work to keep students safe and secure requires improvement. Most students who gave a view say that they feel safe in the academy and the small number of parents who responded to the on-line questionnaire all agree that their children are safe.  However, students say that there is some bullying and use of derogatory language, although this

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

is much reduced in recent months. Students understand the different forms of bullying, for example racist and homophobic bullying, and are confident that any instances are dealt with quickly and effectively. Students also say that fights between different groups of students used to be common, but that in the last few months these have reduced and are now rare.  When students move to different lessons and around the academy they are generally calm and well-behaved. Their behaviour and interest in an assembly was exemplary and the atmosphere in the dining areas is good. Students take good care of their new Outwood Grange uniforms and wear them proudly.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Leadership is inadequate because, despite the work of the Principal since February 2013, change has been too slow and the quality of teaching and students’ achievement remain inadequate.  The Principal has accurately evaluated the academy’s strengths and weaknesses. He has started to make improvements, more recently with the significant support of Outwood Grange Academy Trust.  However, many senior and subject leaders lack experience in their current roles and have not been able to bring about all the changes that are needed. Furthermore, leaders have not been held to account for improving the quality of teaching and accelerating students’ progress. Consequently, the actions of leaders and governors have had too little effect on improving the academy’s performance.  In the past, staff have received promotions and pay increases, irrespective of the quality of their work. However, for the first time this year staff have been stopped from progressing on the pay

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The leadership and management are inadequate

scale if their work is not good enough.  The courses provided at the academy for students, particularly those at Key Stage 4, are inadequate because they do not enable them to make sufficient progress in the different subjects. Leadership and teaching in the basic skills of reading, writing, communication and mathematics are weak because students do not make the progress they should.  In addition, many older students have not studied the range of subjects required to enable them to gain five good GCSE examination passes and the curriculum does not provide well enough to meet the needs of the most and least able. As a result, students are not well-prepared for future education, training or work.  The academy’s promotion of students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development has improved but requires further improvement. Students’ improving moral and social development is the result of better behaviour and the academy’s work in the arts is aiding students’ cultural

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The leadership and management are inadequate

development.  The academy’s funds have not been used well. This has resulted in difficulties in ensuring the premises are fit for purpose and that staff and resources are deployed efficiently in order to raise the achievement of all groups of students and to improve teaching.  During summer 2013, building work took place to provide classrooms in what were large open- plan areas. This has enabled teachers to teach the hour-long lessons in a better and less disruptive environment. Despite this, sometimes noise carries from one classroom to the next, often making it difficult for students to hear the teacher.  Many of the staff are inexperienced in their present roles or are new to the academy. Further change is anticipated with the growing involvement of Outwood Grange Academy Trust.  The additional external support provided by the Outwood Grange Academy Trust has resulted in marked and rapid, but recent, improvement. The academy has been heavily reliant on the trust

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The leadership and management are inadequate

for this. For example, the secure improvements in students’ behaviour and safety have been led by a vice-principal from the trust. This illustrates the fragile ability of the academy’s own leadership to improve without significant external support.  Inspectors recommend that the academy may appoint newly qualified teachers. Their development and the support provided should be monitored by the Outwood Grange Teaching School Alliance.  The governance of the school:  The Chair of the Governing Body was instrumental in initiating the changes that led to the appointment of the current Principal and is well briefed and eager for the academy to succeed. Governors have made sure that all safeguarding procedures meet the government’s requirements. However, the governing body as a whole has acted too slowly to halt the decline in students’ attainment and to ensure secure management of the academy’s finances.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

Until recently, they failed to ensure that only good or better teachers received promotions and pay increases. Although the governing body has received detailed reports about how the pupil premium has been spent, there is little evidence of close tracking to ensure the funds are having the necessary effect. It is only since the involvement of the new Principal, and more recently, Outwood Grange Academy Trust, that the governing body has been fully aware of the inadequacy of the academy’s teaching.

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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 137004 Local authority North Lincolnshire Inspection number 430899

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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 Academy converter Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 612 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sue Hague Principal Richard Briggs Date of previous school inspection 30 April 2012 Telephone number 01724 292920 Fax number 01724 292921 Email address admin.invenioacademy@northlincs.gov.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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