Green Oak Academy

Woodstock Girls' School 11 - 15 Woodstock Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 9BB

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Overall effectiveness 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 school requires improvement because

 Standards have declined since the last inspection especially in mathematics, although they are on course to improve in 2014. In 2012 and 2013 the proportion of students gaining at least five good GCSE grades, including in English and mathematics, was well below other schools nationally.  Teachers do not always plan their work using the information they have about what students already know. This means the work is too easy, particularly for the most able and students do not then make the progress they could.  Changes in staffing and in the leadership of the school have had a negative impact on school. The headteacher knows what needs to be done and has improved progress this year.  Systems for monitoring the quality of teaching have only been put into place recently. Although a good start has been made, there are few other leaders to support the headteacher in this work and this has reduced its impact.  Occasionally teaching is dull and students lose

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This school requires improvement because

focus and interest and their learning is slowed.

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The school has the following strengths

 The curriculum provides a range of subjects which supports students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. The new leadership team, including governors, is determined to rectify the school’s weaknesses and have already put a number of things in place to help students to make better progress.  Most students behave well around the school and are usually keen to do well. They work well together in activities which involve collaboration, creating a positive environment for learning.  Classroom teaching is supplemented by valuable after-school ‘booster’ classes which help pupils falling behind to catch up.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school requires improvement and must take action to meet schedule 1 of The Education (Independent Schools Standards)(England) Regulations 2010 as amended by The Education (Independent Schools Standards)(England)(Amendment) Regulations 2012(‘the independent school standard) and associated requirements. The details are listed in the full report.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out with one day’s notice. The inspectors observed 11 lessons, two of which were observed jointly with the headteacher.  The inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work and examined a range of documents related to pupil progress, the school’s own evaluation of its performance and its plans for improvement.  Inspectors also held discussions with the headteacher, staff, members of the governing body and groups of pupils both formally and informally.  There were too few responses to the online OFSTED survey (Parent View) to be reported on. Inspectors spoke to parents during the day.

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Inspection team

Shahnaz Maqsood, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Ahson Mohammed Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Woodstock Girls School is an independent Islamic secondary day school for girls aged from 11 to 16 years. It is located in two semi-detached houses situated in the Moseley area which is close to the centre of Birmingham.  Currently there are 81 students on roll, most of who are of Pakistani heritage.  No students are at the early stages of learning English. There are no students currently with special educational needs.  The school opened in 1996 and is owned by Hamza Mosque. It aims to ‘provide an education for Muslim girls, which will enable them to achieve their goals and at the same time to practise their religion and beliefs without interfering with the everyday school routine’.  The current headteacher and members of the governing body including the chair were re- appointed in September 2013 following a year’s break. During the previous year the school had a different governing body and headteacher.

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Information about this school

 The school was last inspected in March 2011.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 The school must meet the following independent school standards:  The proprietor must ensure that showers are provided for pupils who receive physical education (23A(1)(c)).

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and raise achievement so that both are consistently good or better in all subjects, but particularly in mathematics by ensuring:  that tasks planned take good account of what students already know and can do and are sufficiently challenging for all students, including the most able  that activities in lessons engage and enthuse students so that they stay focused and learn throughout  English skills, including speaking skills, are supported through other subjects so that students’ achievement is not held back by poor use of grammar in particular.  develop further the roles of other leaders within the school to support the headteacher in school improvement, so that teaching and achievement can be improved more quickly.

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Achievement of pupils Requires improvement

 Students arrive at the school at similar levels to others nationally. Achievement is not good because they have not been challenged sufficiently to make good progress in some subjects, particularly mathematics.

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Achievement of pupils Requires improvement

 Attainment has dipped considerably since the last inspection and was well below the national average. Standards in all the key subjects such as English, science and particularly mathematics fell. Very few pupils gained a good language GCSE.

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Achievement of pupils Requires improvement

 This decline has been reversed and work in books confirms students to be making at least the expected and sometimes better progress this year. A much higher proportion are on course to gain five good GCSE grades, including in English and mathematics. Students who are the most able do not make good progress yet. This is because, at times, the work is not hard enough.

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Achievement of pupils Requires improvement

 Progress across the school is variable. This is because students make better progress in Key Stage 4 than in Key Stage 3. At Key Stage 4, teachers are much clearer about what they expect students to do and achieve to gain a good GCSE grade and what support they need to give. At Key Stage 3 teachers are less secure about the levels they should be targeting for students and this leads them to pitch the work too low for some.

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Achievement of pupils Requires improvement

 In Urdu and Arabic students make expected progress because of strong subject knowledge of the teachers. However, progress in these subjects is not good because teachers do not take into account what the pupils already know when planning lessons and so some students repeat work they already have done.

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Achievement of pupils Requires improvement

 Opportunities are missed by teachers in other subjects to develop students’ English skills. For instance, when students write or say grammatically incorrect sentences, they do not always receive guidance as to how to improve this. This holds back the achievement of some.

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Achievement of pupils Requires improvement

 Books scrutinised by inspectors showed that pupils are making at least the expected progress in almost all other subjects and sometimes better. Students’ work is mostly well presented, neat and tidy.

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Achievement of pupils Requires improvement

 Attainment in mathematics is improving rapidly because leaders have taken decisive action to improve the quality of teaching in this subject. Students who have lost ground in the past in this subject have now caught up because they now attend well taught booster sessions. Students say that they have benefited greatly from these after-school classes because the teacher was able take time to explain things they had previously not understood.

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Quality of teaching Requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it is too variable in quality and none is outstanding. Leaders are working hard to improve this but this is the main reason why pupils are only making the expected progress over time.

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Quality of teaching Requires improvement

 Teachers mark books regularly. However, the advice given to students is too brief and it does not always help them to improve their work.  In some lessons, teachers do not challenge the most able students to work hard enough, which hampers their progress so that they do not achieve as much as they could. This also results in a small minority of pupils losing interest and in a deterioration of their behaviour, which has a negative impact on progress.

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Quality of teaching Requires improvement

 Teachers now regularly assess students’ work and have good awareness of what pupils can do. Woodstock has begun to work with other schools on the moderation of work which has improved the accuracy of assessment. Some, but not all, teachers now use this information well to plan lessons which provide tasks which are set at the right level of difficulty for every student including the most able.

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Quality of teaching Requires improvement

 Teachers’ subject knowledge is secure. For example, in an Urdu lesson the teacher ensured that pupils translated text accurately into English and the mathematics booster sessions are expertly led.

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Quality of teaching Requires improvement

 The curriculum is broad and contributes well to students’ personal development. Students experience all the required areas of learning, as well as benefit from the religious subjects. Appropriate homework is set regularly and is related directly to work done in class.

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Quality of teaching Requires improvement

 Collaborative work is used well to develop pupils’ social skills and confidence. For example, in a Year 10 Religious Studies lesson pupils working in pairs enacted an interview between a Muslim person and a non-Muslim in front of the rest of the class. Not only did these increase students’ skills in teamwork and their confidence it also made them think from the non- Muslim perspective.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement

 The behaviour of students requires improvement. Behaviour is good around the school and is usually good in lessons, particularly when the learning excites and interests students. It can deteriorate on occasions when students lose interest. Relationships between students are positive, they socialise well during break and lunchtime.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement

 Students are aware of different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying, racism and homophobic bullying. The students did not feel that bullying was a problem in the school, saying it was rare but if it did occur it was dealt with effectively. They discuss and debate difficult subjects. For example, exploring the differences between ‘forced’ and ‘arranged’ marriage.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement

 Students have a strong sense of justice and fairness, expressing strong opinions for example about forced marriage which they said decisively was ‘wrong’.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement

 Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is good. The personal, social and health education curriculum gives students the opportunity to learn about and openly discuss a range of social and cultural issues.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement

 Students are very confident in themselves and tolerant of others. Staff ensure they have balanced political views and respect the rights of others to have different beliefs and values. The curriculum ensures that students learn about different cultures and faiths as well as developing a strong Islamic identity.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement

 Students are well prepared for adult life by the school. They receive advice on careers and about higher education. Many pupils choose to continue with their education going on to do ‘A’ levels or other formal qualifications.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement

 Attendance has improved since the last inspection but is still below the national average. The school has worked hard to increase attendance which is now improving strongly. Too many families previously took holidays during term time but they now understand better the negative impact of this.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is good. Students told inspectors that they feel safe in school. All appropriate checks have been made on the staff’s suitability to work with children and recorded on the single central register. Policies and procedures are up to date and all staff are trained in child protection. Risk assessments are completed for visits and in school. All regulations related to health and safety, including fire safety are also adhered to.

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Leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leadership and management requires improvement because instability in leadership and the lack of suitably qualified staff have contributed to the past decline in teaching and achievement. However, the staffing situation has improved and the school has been able fill vacancies.

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Leadership and management Requires improvement

 The headteacher is responsible for almost all leadership duties in school. There are no middle leaders and limited support from others in the school. This means she has too much to do. However, she has improved provision in mathematics.

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Leadership and management Requires improvement

 Systems for checking the quality of teaching are still not robust enough. Monitoring of teaching is in place but at an early stage, because the headteacher has limited support and little time to do this. This is slowing the pace of improvement and, in particular, the rate of which student progress is able to improve to good.

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Leadership and management Requires improvement

 All but one of the independent schools standards are met. There is an appropriate range of policies and procedures, including for handling complaints. The proprietor has provided suitable premises, except in one respect. There are no changing facilities for physical education and there are no showers for students to use.

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Leadership and management Requires improvement

 Parents are well informed regarding their daughter’s progress. They are sent all the required information about the school. The parents who talked with inspectors during the inspection found the regular written reports about their child’s progress and meetings with staff helpful.

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Leadership and management Requires improvement

 The school works well with its local community and with other schools to strengthen its provision. For example, the way in which data is moderated with other schools and the improved ways in which Woodstock collects data about the students’ achievements, is already influencing teachers’ target setting for students and the accuracy with which they adjust tasks to students’ needs.

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Leadership and management Requires improvement

 The governors and the headteacher have an appropriate school development plan which focuses on raising pupil progress further. They have accurately identified improvements in teaching as being the key to better achievement and know what needs to be done. They recognise that in order to improve this quickly enough other staff need to share some of the leadership tasks with the headteacher so that the pace of change can quicken even more.

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Grade Judgement

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Requires improvement Grade 4 Inadequate

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Grade Judgement

Detailed grade characteristics can be viewed in the Non-association independent school inspection handbook which is published on the Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/140053 .

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School details

Unique reference number 131164 Inspection number 442961 DfE registration number 330/6094 This inspection was carried out under section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Type of school Secondary Muslim day school School status Independent Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Girls Number of pupils on the school roll 81 Number of part time pupils 0 Proprietor Hamza Mosque Chair Mohammed Hussein Headteacher Tuarah Mahmood Date of previous school inspection 8-9 March 2011 Annual fees (day pupils) £1,500 Telephone number 0121 449 6690 Fax number n/a Email address woodstockgirlsschool@hotmail.co.uk guidance 'Complaining about inspections', 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.

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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

inspects to 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,

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School details

please 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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