Ark Boulton Academy

Golden Hillock School - A Park View Academy Golden Hillock Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham, B11 2QG

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Inadequate 4 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.  The academy’s work to keep students safe is inadequate. Key safeguarding procedures are not followed. Too little is done to keep students safe from the risks associated with extremist views.  Some staff, including senior leaders, are concerned about a perceived unfairness and lack of transparency in the recruitment process and the breadth and balance of the curriculum.  Staff views are polarised about the leadership of the school. Some female members of staff complained to Her Majesty’s Inspectors that at times they are spoken to in a manner which they find intimidating.  Academy policies have been given scant consideration. The equalities policy is not fit for purpose.  Development plans do not set out clearly how to use the academy’s resources to address the most pressing areas for improvement.  Senior and middle leaders do not adequately monitor the progress of specific groups of

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

students in each year group to inform their planning and actions.  The curriculum has weaknesses. For example, sex and relationships education has not been delivered through a carefully planned curriculum. Governors have only very recently approved the policy.  Achievement is inadequate because students make too little progress in Years 7, 8 and 9 in English and mathematics.  Teaching is inadequate. Classes have frequent changes of teacher because the turnover of teaching staff has been high.  Teachers make little use of assessment information to plan lessons. Too often, students are set low-level work which does not develop what they already know and can do.

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The school has the following strengths

 Students behave well. They are courteous and respectful.  Most students are eager to learn and their attendance is above average.  Students’ progress accelerates towards the end of Key Stage 4. Students and teachers work hard to catch up on any lost ground through additional study sessions.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was initiated under Section 8 of the Education Act 2005 with an initial focus on safeguarding, leadership and management. It was subsequently deemed a Section 5 inspection due to the extent of concerns surrounding safeguarding, leadership and management.  Inspectors observed teaching in 22 lessons. A number of these observations were carried out jointly with members of the academy’s senior team. Inspectors also made brief visits to other lessons. Other aspects of the academy’s work were also scrutinised such as form time and an assembly.  Meetings were held with groups of students, governors and academy staff, including senior and middle leaders. Discussions were held with the executive principal of the Park View Academy Trust and the Chair of that trust. Inspectors spoke with the local authority designated safeguarding officer, and with the local security and partnership officer of the police who

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Information about this inspection

coordinates the local ‘Prevent’ programme (a government funded initiative intended to prevent radicalisation and violent extremism). Informal discussions also took place with staff and students.  Questionnaire returns from 76 members of staff were analysed.  There were insufficient responses to the online Parent View questionnaire to provide evidence for the inspection. Evidence from the academy’s own survey of parents, gathered at recent consultation evenings, was examined.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including the academy’s self-evaluation and development plans, its safeguarding policies, and minutes of meetings of the governing body.

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Inspection team

Ian Hodgkinson, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Dr Suha Ahmad Additional Inspector Linda McGill Her Majesty’s Inspector Jane Millward Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, 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

 Golden Hillock is slightly smaller than the average-sized secondary school.  Most students are from minority ethnic backgrounds. While many heritages are represented, the largest groups of students are from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities. Over 90% speak English as an additional language.  A very high proportion of the students eligible for support from the pupil premium (additional funding provided by the government for students known to be eligible for free school meals, children of service personnel and children looked after in public care).  The proportion of disabled students or those with special education needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is around twice the national average.  No students currently attend alternative provision off-site.  The predecessor school closed and reopened as an academy in October 2013. The academy

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Information about this school

sponsor is the Park View Academy Trust. The executive principal of the Park View Academy Trust is a National Leader of Education.  The current principal is seconded to Golden Hillock from another school in the multi-academy trust and was in post at the time of the academy’s opening.  As a new academy there are no results to compare with current government floor standards.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Urgently improve the academy’s work to keep students safe by:  ensuring that safeguarding concerns are thoroughly investigated and procedures followed rigorously  strengthening the provision for personal, social, health, economic and citizenship education  provide effective sex and relationships education  making sure students and staff develop their understanding of risks associated with extremist views.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that teachers:  have access to, and use, better information about what students already know to set work at the right level  mark students’ work more regularly themselves and give helpful comments on how to improve.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve students’ achievement, especially in Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 in English and mathematics by:  ensuring that teachers have sufficiently high expectations for students’ attainment and progress, and that they insist on a high standard of presentation of written work from students  ensuring that the progress of different groups of students is tracked and monitored rigorously by subject, year and class, so that teaching can be adapted to accelerate progress where necessary  ensuring that specific programmes of support and intervention for disabled students and those with special educational needs are thoroughly monitored and evaluated to check on their success and to inform the planning of further support activities  developing monitoring and evaluation systems to ensure that additional funding, including the pupil premium funding, is being spent effectively to improve students’ progress  tackling the weaknesses in reading, writing, speaking and listening which hinder many

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

students’ progress  enabling students to develop and apply their mathematical skills in a range of subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management, including governance, by:  urgently reviewing all policies thoroughly and making sure that they are carried out in practice  using accumulated resources to tackle the academy’s most pressing needs, especially in recruiting and retaining teachers and leaders  ensuring that leaders and managers at all levels, including governors, analyse data on the progress of different groups of students in all subjects, year groups and classes, and use this information to hold staff and leaders to account for their performance  ensuring that action plans at whole school and department level have clear and measurable success criteria  ensuring that senior leaders develop a broader, more accurate view of the quality of teaching ensuring that form time is used constructively to support students’ skills and personal development.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance and the academy’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

Inspectors strongly recommend that the academy should not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Students make insufficient progress across Years 7 to 9, including in English and mathematics. Shortages in teaching staff have been covered by supply teachers and non-specialists in Key Stage 3. This disruption has contributed to students’ weak progress. Many students told inspectors that their learning had been adversely affected by frequent changes of class teacher.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Not enough students make the progress expected compared to similar students nationally. In English, for example, the academy’s own assessments show that nearly a fifth of students in Years 7 and 8 have made no progress or regressed on their primary school Key Stage 2 assessments.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Too often students are unclear about what they are supposed to be learning. They lose concentration and their pace of learning is slow. In a minority of lessons, students learn well but only where the work set is matched to their abilities.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Some middle-ability and more-able students are set tasks which are too simple and they are not stretched academically. In some lessons, students who finish work early are not given further work and remain waiting for others to catch up.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 The progress of students in Key Stage 4, and especially Year 11, accelerates rapidly as teachers and students focus hard on making up lost ground through specialist teaching and additional support beyond the school day.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 The academy has not tackled the weaknesses in reading, writing, speaking and listening which hinder many students’ progress, including those for who speak English as an additional language. A whole-school literacy programme is being developed.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Pupils are not developing and applying their number skills across a range of subjects because there is no whole-school numeracy programme to support this work.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Students achieve well in some subjects. In art and design, for example, students’ work is detailed, vibrant and presented with pride.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 The quality of teaching experienced by students in some classes, particularly in Years 7 to 9, is poor. Frequent changes of teachers have disrupted students’ learning. As a result of this instability, students complained that teachers in mathematics ‘keep changing the topics’.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Not all teachers explain how work set is linked to students’ prior learning. This lack of clarity confuses some students and slows their learning.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Too few teachers draw on their assessments of what students already know and can do to plan their lessons. As a result, students are not able to make good progress from their starting points. This slow progress causes students to become frustrated and, in some classrooms, teachers have to shout to command attention. Students told inspectors that their behaviour varied widely between teachers.  Too many books go unmarked by teachers for long periods. Students mark their own work in many subjects. ‘Peer marking’ is in some cases rarely checked by the teacher. Many books are scruffy and contain incomplete work. A few teachers mark very well. They explain carefully how well students have done and what they should do to improve. In these classes, students’ books are neat, tidy and well-presented.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Strong subject knowledge underpins the best teaching. In art and design, science, sport and religious education, teaching often inspires and motivates students to work to high standards.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Homework does not help students achieve well because the amount and quality of homework students receive varies markedly from day-to-day and week-to-week. Students’ learning is supported by teaching beyond the academy day and through on-line materials.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 The academy’s work to keep students safe is inadequate.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 The academy does not have an effective programme of personal, social, health, economic and citizenship education. Students’ understanding of basic political institutions in the United Kingdom is weak.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 Leaders and governors are not doing enough to mitigate against cultural isolation. This may leave students vulnerable to the risk of marginalisation from wider British society and the associated risks which could include radicalisation. The academy has been slow to engage with local and national initiatives such as the ‘Prevent’ programme. Staff have only very recently been trained in recognising signs of radicalisation and extremism and how to tailor their teaching to counter this.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 A number of year groups in the academy have not had effective teaching about sex and relationships. Governors have only recently approved a policy for this aspect of the curriculum.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 The academy does not effectively use its own systems for keeping students safe. For example, inspectors discovered that a serious allegation about a pupils’ safety was not reported in a full and timely manner to local safeguarding authorities.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 The behaviour of students is good. Students and staff say that behaviour has improved substantially since the opening of the academy, and this is reflected in falling numbers of students being excluded for poor behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 Students’ attitudes to learning are generally positive and they want to succeed. Their attendance is above average, most are punctual to lessons, and they respond well where teaching provides good challenge and support. Where teaching lacks pace and purpose, though, students become restless and disengage.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 Students are polite, courteous and behave well around the academy site. They believe that relationships between students are good and that bullying is rare. The importance of countering bullying of all kinds is covered regularly in assemblies.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 There are fundamental weaknesses in leadership and management, including governance, which have an adverse impact on students’ well-being, their progress and on the quality of provision in the school.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Students’ understanding of other religions is scant as the religious education curriculum focuses primarily on the study of Islam.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 A minority of staff, including a number of leaders, expressed serious misgivings about a perceived unfairness and lack of transparency in the recruitment process and the breadth and balance of the curriculum.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Staff views are widely polarised. Some female members of staff complained to Her Majesty’s Inspectors of feeling intimidated by the way in which some male members of the school community speak to them.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 While the academy curriculum offers a mix of academic and vocational courses, the focus on examination success at Year 11 comes at the expense of wider provision for students’ personal and social development.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The curriculum does not offer sufficient opportunities for students to develop and apply their literacy and numeracy skills across all subjects.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Leaders analyse examination results in Year 11 to check the performance of different groups of students but do not do so systematically in all subjects in other years. As a consequence, subject leaders cannot confidently say how different groups perform through the academy.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Leaders are not rigorously evaluating the success of intervention programmes. Similarly, there is no systematic monitoring and evaluation of gaps between the achievement of students eligible for pupil premium, who are the large majority in this school, and others.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 There are new systems to track the progress of disabled students and those with special educational needs but the data is not analysed. This means that the impact of these new systems is not understood.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The academy’s self-evaluation is overly positive and focuses mainly on overall outcomes for Year 11 students. It pays little regard to the progress of different groups, including other year groups. The academy’s judgements on the quality of teaching are largely determined though pre- announced lesson observations rather than taking a broader view of teaching. This gives leaders an inaccurate view of what teaching is typically like.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The academy has introduced a new system to manage the performance of staff. It is too early to judge whether this will be effective in improving staff effectiveness or linking salary progression to performance. Staff performance targets within the new system are not always sharply linked to relevant Teachers’ Standards, including their personal and professional conduct.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The academy’s development plan does not offer measurable criteria against which the success of the plan can be evaluated although it sets out some important areas for action. It does not explain how the academy’s accumulated resources can be best deployed to address its most urgent needs.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The academy trust sponsor has not provided enough support for school improvement to Golden Hillock despite taking four per cent of its total budget for services. Leaders expressed the view that the trust had expanded ‘too far, too quickly’ and that its services had not kept up with need.  Safeguarding requirements are not fully met.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The governance of the school:  Governance is inadequate. The governing body has met infrequently since it was reconstituted at the time of the formation of the academy. It does not carry out the full range of its functions. It has played little part in shaping the overall academy development plan or in considering how the academy’s finances should be used to support academy developments.  While the minutes of the governing body show that they do question the principal on aspects of performance, governors are heavily focused on Year 11 results and do not drill down into all year groups.  The performance management system is new and governors have not yet been involved in making decisions on links between pay and performance.  Governors have very recently reviewed and approved all academy policies in a single meeting while giving only cursory consideration to each. The equalities policy it not fit for purpose. It

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The leadership and management are inadequate

makes no mention of equalities for students and how outcomes will be monitored and reported.  Governors have very recently undertaken training in some aspects of governance, including safeguarding and the interpretation of data.

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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 140014 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 444502

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Secondary School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 871 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Shafique Mohammed Principal Hardeep Saini Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 0121 7738156 Fax number 0121 7738159 Email address enquiry@goldenhillock.bham.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 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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