The Manor Academy

The Manor School Park Hall Road, Mansfield Woodhouse, Mansfield, NG19 8QA

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Overall effectiveness

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

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

 Students’ progress in mathematics, although improving, is slower than in English.  The quality of teaching, although improving, does not yet support good progress in any age group.  The most able students do not reach the higher levels of attainment they are capable of. The work in lessons does not make them think hard enough.  Teachers’ marking is not sufficiently effective in helping students to improve their work.  The sixth form, despite recent improvements, is not yet good as teaching and achievement, particularly for the most able students, require further improvement.  Although the attitudes of many students to learning are commendable, some become restless and do not pay attention when lessons do not interest or stimulate them.  The behaviour policy is not applied sufficiently quickly when students are inattentive. Teachers’ expectations of behaviour and of how much students should be learning are

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

sometimes not high enough.  When leaders observe the quality of teaching, they do not focus sufficiently on how well different groups of students are learning.  Leaders’ knowledge of how well their areas are performing and the impact of their improvement strategies are not yet sufficiently sharp to help them to drive improvements quickly enough.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher are leading improvements strongly.  Changes to the way in which students are helped to learn are starting to quicken their progress in Key Stage 3.  Students’ conduct is good around the site. They feel safe in the academy.  The governing body is effective in challenging and supporting the academy to keep improving.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 38 lessons, 13 of which were observed jointly with the head teacher or with individual members of the senior leadership team.  During the two days, the inspectors talked with students in lessons and during break and lunch times. They met formally with four groups of students.  The inspectors held meetings with senior and subject leaders and members of the governing body. One inspector observed mentoring sessions held at the end of the academy day.  The inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including information about the progress of the different groups of students represented in the academy. They looked at the academy’s improvement planning, as well as information about the quality of teaching and its link to the staff’s performance management targets.  The inspectors checked samples of the students’ work in classes, records of their attendance and

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Information about this inspection

behaviour, and looked at policies to help ensure their safety and well-being. One inspector carried out a scrutiny of students’ work with the headteacher.  The inspectors took account of the views of the 23 parents who had responded to the online questionnaire (Parent View). Inspectors also considered the views of the 48 staff who returned questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Lynne Blakelock, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Jeffery Quaye Additional Inspector Nigel Boyd Additional Inspector David New Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The academy is larger than most secondary schools with a sixth form.  Most students are of White British heritage and almost all speak English as their first language.  The proportion of students supported through the pupil premium is average. (The pupil premium funding is additional government funding for students who are known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority).  The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also below average.  The academy meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.  The sixth form, the Manor College, is part of the Mansfield Learning Partnership, which comprises three other local sixth forms and provides a wider availability of courses. The

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Information about this school

partnership extends to careers information and guidance and to training opportunities for the staff.  The academy is also part of the Redhill Teaching Alliance which supports teaching and leadership across 12 schools.  No students are currently educated through alternative provision on any other sites.  Since September 2013, the academy has changed the organisation of the curriculum. Year 7 students spend the year studying ‘New Basics’. Year 8 to 11 students learn in ‘stages not ages’.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching in order to accelerate progress as quickly as possible, particularly in mathematics, by ensuring that:  the most able students have work that is accurately matched to their abilities so that they achieve the highest levels  marking gives students specific, regular advice on how to improve their work, and teachers ensure that they respond to the advice in order to make further progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve behaviour in class so it is always at least good, by making sure that:  teachers show consistently high expectations of students’ behaviour and attitudes to learning  the academy’s behaviour policy is consistently and promptly applied.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the impact of leaders and managers at all levels by:  focusing observations of teaching on how well students are learning, to ensure that judgements are accurate  ensuring that leaders at all levels check regularly all areas for which they have responsibility, so they have a sharp, up-to-date knowledge of their effectiveness and address any inconsistencies promptly.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Overall standards have risen in recent years from well below average to average, as has the proportion of students achieving five A* to C GCSE grades including English and mathematics. The proportion of students making nationally expected progress is broadly average throughout the academy, but not enough students exceed expected progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Students make better progress in English than in mathematics. The proportion making expected progress have been below average in the last three years, but this year it has risen and is closer to average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The academy’s data and inspection evidence show that the 2014 Year 11 results are set to be similar to 2013, even though the present Year 11 students started from lower levels.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The proportion of students exceeding expected progress throughout the school remains below average. This reflects the inconsistencies in teaching as well as the gaps in students’ learning as the result of a legacy of less effective teaching over time.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Not enough of the most-able students reach the levels of which they are capable because teaching does not challenge them enough or enable them to develop and refine the necessary skills to reach the higher levels.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupil premium funding provides eligible students with, in particular, extra support from teaching assistants in reading and writing and also in improving their attendance, which increased last year as a result. The gap in attainment between students eligible for free school meals and those who are not is narrowing steadily. Although it remains too large in some year groups, the gap has narrowed this year in Year 11 to half a GCSE grade in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress made by disabled students and those who have special educational needs requires improvement, in line with that of most other students.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Effective additional support from learning assistants, provided through ‘catch-up’ funding, enables most of the Year 7 students to reach the levels expected of them by the end of the year in English and mathematics. Even those who do not reach these levels make good progress towards them. An above-average proportion are currently on track to reach their targets, including in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Almost all students sit the GCSE mathematics examination for the first time in the summer of Year 11. A below-average proportion achieved the expected and higher levels last year, with a small increase expected this year.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement is improving at AS and A level, including in work-related subjects. Standards in most subjects are on track to be broadly average by the end of Year 13 and most students are making the progress they should. The academy’s data indicates a greater proportion of students are on track to achieve higher grades this year than last year, from their higher starting points into Year 12. However, the most able students are not always set challenging enough work to ensure they achieve their potential. The students are responding well to what they say have been dramatic improvements in teaching recently.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 An above-average proportion of students stayed on into Year 13 in 2012, but this dropped last year. The academy is now careful to ensure that students do not start AS courses in which their GCSE performance has not been strong. It does not have a full picture of the destinations of the students when they leave the academy after Year 11 or Year 13, although it knows that a below- average proportion go on to university.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although teaching it is improving, including in the sixth form, it is not yet consistently good enough to ensure students make good progress over their time at the academy.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Lesson activities are often too easy for the most able students, who do not develop the skills they need to reach the levels of which they are capable. Sometimes the tasks set for them are mundane and do not stimulate students’ interest sufficiently. This leads to some inattention.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The new marking system is being applied particularly well in some subjects. However, advice on the next steps students should take is provided irregularly and students do not as a matter of course respond to advice when it is given.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Students of all abilities learn well in the mixed-age classes when work is at the right level of difficulty and is interesting. This was seen in a media class, where students of different ages made quick progress in identifying and analysing why magazine covers are presented as they are. They used a good understanding of technical vocabulary and expressed themselves very clearly in justifying their responses.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ use of questioning is generally effective because questions are posed in a way that helps the students to think more carefully. This was a strength in some sixth form lessons, where the teachers’ questions encouraged them to think more deeply and critically.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Students have opportunities to practise their literacy skills in different subjects. This was seen in hair and beauty theory session, in which the basis of the work for Year 8 and 9 students was to use interesting words to join sentences together, and ways to start sentences that captured the attention of the reader. There are some, but fewer, chances for students to develop their mathematical knowledge in different subjects. This is increasing, and in science students were seen using their algebraic skills to good effect.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 A common strength in lessons is the positive relationship between the staff and students, which encourages students to volunteer responses to teachers’ questions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour of students requires improvement. This is because it is not consistently good during lessons. A few students lose concentration and chat amongst themselves when the lesson activities are not interesting, or too easy or too hard for them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Students say that the new behaviour policy has helped to improve behaviour. Sometimes, though, it is not used early enough when students become inattentive and restless.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Many students behave sensibly and maturely in lessons, have a desire to achieve well and make great efforts to get to grips with their learning. Behaviour is good at break and lunch times.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The students wear their uniform smartly, and keep themselves and their environment tidy. There is very little litter. The students keep learning areas tidy and move round the very big site sensibly and purposefully.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is good. They feel safe because the site is secure and they have a good awareness of different types of dangers and how to avoid them, including cyber-bullying.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The students say that the staff respond to their worries, although several commented that help and support, including over bullying issues, could be more prompt. They say that there is not a great deal of bullying. The school records all reported incidents.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The students have numerous chances to lead and take responsibility and to develop their inter- personal skills. The senate acts as a voice for the students in improving the school and making changes. The sixth form students support younger readers, and Key Stage 4 students support younger students in their learning. The students help to select new staff.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Attendance is average, with academy staff showing tenacity in increasing the attendance rates of those students whose attendance is irregular. The attendance of students eligible for pupil premium funding is improving.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have not ensured that teaching is consistently good in order to accelerate students’ progress. Their knowledge of how well their areas are performing is not sufficiently sharp in all areas to help them to drive improvements in achievement as quickly as possible.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Observations of teaching, the academy’s key to raising standards, are carried out regularly by senior and middle leaders. This helps to broaden their leadership skills. Records of what they see are detailed but show insufficient evaluation of how well different groups of students learn, to justify some of the higher grades awarded. However, the senior leaders’ judgements of teaching and learning during the inspection matched those of the inspection team.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher provide a strong and clear lead to the academy. They know what needs doing, particularly regarding the need to raise standards. They have ensured that several areas identified as areas for improvement at the last inspection have been addressed, including in teaching. New initiatives are starting to bring about students’ quicker progress in Year 7 and confirm that the academy can continue to improve.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Effective management of staff performance is helping to improve teaching. Teachers’ individual targets take good account of the academy’s needs, and senior leaders know that every target must be measureable and challenging in order to get teaching to consistently good and better as soon as possible. Coaching and the sharing of best practice have already strengthened some teaching. The large majority of staff believe that training and courses help them to improve their performance.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders use the plentiful data they gather about students’ achievement to quickly identify any underachievement and to plan suitable support programmes.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The new organisation of learning in Years 7 to 11 is evolving well. Leaders show great determination and commitment to their roles. However, the checks made by leaders at all levels on the impact of staff practices and their effectiveness are not yet sharp enough to ensure that everything has been implemented properly and is effective.  Learning opportunities are increasingly built around developing students’ literacy and numeracy skills. Courses and topics provide most students with the skills they need. The most-able students, though, do not have equal chances of success because the work they are given is not enabling them to make the gains in learning that they are capable of.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Students enjoy after-school clubs, including sports, music and science clubs. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is promoted appropriately throughout the academy.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The programme of careers information and guidance, shared within the Mansfield Learning Partnership from Years 9 to 13, provides students with opportunities to find out the range of career choices open to them. The skills required in writing to potential employers, for example, are taught within the academy.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The academy’s partnerships enable a broader range of courses for sixth form students, and mutual support for improving teaching and leadership within the alliance. Parents, overall, support its work. They have mixed but generally less positive views about the way homework is set.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors have a detailed knowledge of the academy’s performance, including teaching and achievement. They question, probe and challenge the academy’s work very regularly and in detail, making sure that initiatives are the right ones for the students. They know about the gap in attainment between students eligible for pupil premium funding and their classmates, and what the academy is doing to narrow the gap.  Governors’ capacity to support the school is enhanced by the information they find out for themselves, including about performance and teaching in mathematics.  The governors speak confidently of the purpose of performance management of staff and the necessity of staff meeting all of their targets before they are awarded a pay rise.  The governing body has regular training, including in how to interpret national data about how well the academy is doing.  Finances are handled appropriately and money is carefully allocated according to its priorities.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The Chair of the Governing Body oversees safeguarding and ensures that the academy’s procedures meet statutory requirements.

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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 137158 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 441957

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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 11–18 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1042 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 101 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Margaret Lovell Headteacher Jonathon Hickman Date of previous school inspection 4 December 2012 Telephone number 01623 425100 Fax number 01623 425101 Email address enquiries@themanor.notts.sch.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 and 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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