Reaside Academy

School report Reaside Academy Tresco Close, Frankley, Birmingham, B45 0HY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected 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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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement.  Few pupils reach higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics because, until recently, not enough was asked of the most- able pupils.  Pupils, particularly the most-able, do not always make good progress because the quality of teaching is not consistently good.  Some pupils, particularly those in classes affected by staffing changes, are catching up lost ground from past underachievement and lack the skills they need to reach higher levels.  When teachers mark pupils’ work they do not always let pupils know how to improve and this restricts progress.  There is too much variation in the quality of pupils’ written work and presentation, particularly in classes where pupils have had several changes of teacher.  Leadership and management require improvement because some subjects have not had leaders to check whether standards are high enough or whether pupils make enough

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

progress.  Until recently, during a period of high turnover of staff, senior leaders have been unable to maintain good teaching and achievement, overall.  Governance requires improvement because, until recently, governors did not know whether the academy was doing well enough and did not challenge senior leaders about the standards achieved.

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The school has the following strengths

 Attainment has risen in reading, writing and mathematics, particularly in Year 6, through well-targeted support.  This is a caring school where relationships between adults and pupils contribute well to pupils’ personal development. Most pupils behave well and feel safe.  Attendance has risen because absence is tightly checked and pupils enjoy their work.  Pupils receive a wide range of opportunities to develop their literacy and numeracy skills across subjects. Art and music are particularly strong subjects.  The academy leaders have made effective interim arrangements for leadership and management that have allowed the academy to move forward during difficult times.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 13 lessons, three of which were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with pupils, a member of the local advisory board, senior and subject leaders. An inspector also spoke to representatives of the academy’s sponsor, Education Central Multi Academy Trust (ECMAT].  There were not enough responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) for inspectors to take these views into account. Inspectors looked at the academy’s own parental questionnaires and spoke informally with parents and carers.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of documentation, including: the academy improvement plan, policies, data about pupils’ progress and attainment and how the academy sets targets for the teachers to improve their work. They also looked at child protection and safeguarding procedures.

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Inspection team

Kath Campbell, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Rachel Davis Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Reaside Academy is smaller than the average-sized junior school.  Nearly all pupils are White British and very few speak English as an additional language.  A high proportion of pupils are supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after.  Above-average proportions of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported at school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.  The school became a sponsored academy on 1 December 2012. The academy is sponsored by Education Central Multi Academy Trust (ECMAT), based in Wolverhampton University.  Since changing status, the academy has experienced a period of staffing disruption, most notably at senior leadership level. In January 2014, an interim headteacher was appointed. In May 2014, other changes were also made to the senior leadership team, when two assistant

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Information about this school

headteachers were appointed in place of a deputy headteacher.  There have been several long-term absences. Until recently, the school has been without a coordinator for special educational needs. There have also been recent changes in subject leadership and new coordinators have taken up their posts, including in mathematics.  The academy meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the proportion of good and outstanding teaching by making sure teachers:  share and learn from the good practice that exists within the academy  always challenge pupils to make good progress and achieve well, particularly the most-able pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the proportion of pupils making good or better progress in reading, writing and mathematics throughout the academy by making sure that:  pupils build up basic skills as they move through the academy so that they are not prevented from gaining the more advanced skills they need to reach higher levels  the quality and presentation of pupils’ written work are of a consistently high standard  teachers provide pupils with information about how to improve and how to reach their next improvement target when they mark pupils’ work so pupils make better progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management by developing:  the skills of governors so that they are better equipped to challenge the academy about the standards achieved  the role of subject leaders and the special educational needs coordinator so that these leaders know whether attainment is high enough and whether pupils are making the progress that they should.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because, until recently, pupils were not making good progress. In 2013, attainment in reading and writing was below average and lower in mathematics. During a period of staffing instability at the beginning of the current academic year, the overall rate of progress also slowed. The most-able pupils, in particular, did not reach the levels of which they were capable.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 At the time the academy opened in December 2012, its initial assessments showed that attainment was below age-related expectations. In the following two terms, some pupils made inadequate progress because expectations were too low for what they could achieve and underachievement was not identified quickly enough.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The academy introduced changes to the way with which it tracked pupils’ progress and identified potential underachievement to tackle the weaknesses identified. These changes were initially slow to have an impact, particularly in classes where pupils’ learning was most disrupted by staffing changes. To some extent, pupils are still catching up lost ground and many lack the skills they need to reach higher levels. There has, however, been marked improvement in the spring and summer terms of this academic year that has led to an upturn in standards. Despite the improvement, pupils’ achievement is not yet consistently good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Strategies to develop pupils’ writing skills more widely across subjects have proved effective and attainment in writing is rising. There are many examples of good-quality writing in, for example, pupils’ history work on the Second World War. However, there are also examples of pupils not producing a high enough standard of work. Some work is badly presented and contains careless mistakes. Pupils are also sometimes held back by a lack of basic written skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The academy’s focus on raising achievement in mathematics has been successful. Younger pupils develop mathematical vocabulary well and are confident to apply their skills to problem- solving activities. Although programmes to support older pupils who have underachieved in mathematics in the past have helped them to improve their skills, the progress of some pupils is slowed by their lack of basic calculation skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Although there is some way to go before the most-able pupils consistently achieve the levels of which they are capable, well-targeted support, particularly in Year 6, has proved very effective. There has been a good improvement in the proportion of pupils reaching higher levels, especially in reading and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Raising attainment in reading has been an on-going area for improvement. The academy has given reading a higher profile by, for example, introducing a programme of support to accelerate learning. Pupils have responded very positively because they enjoy being able to check for themselves how well they are doing. Older pupils enjoy reading and talk with maturity about a range of favourite books and authors. As a result, attainment is rising.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Adults make sure that barriers to learning are removed and are successfully accelerating the progress of the least-able pupils. The progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is currently similar to that of other pupils. This has not always been the case. These pupils’ progress has been too variable in the past because staffing instability has left the academy without an overview of how well these pupils were doing. The current picture is more positive. A newly appointed special educational needs coordinator makes sure that class teachers currently have greater responsibility for evaluating whether these pupils make enough progress.  The progress of pupils supported by additional funding (pupil premium) throughout the academy currently compares well with that of other pupils. Eligible pupils benefit from receiving extra support. In 2013, at the end of Year 6, there was no gap between the attainment of these pupils

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

and others in writing. In reading, these pupils were about half a term behind others, but in mathematics they were over a term ahead.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The academy uses its sports funding effectively to improve pupils’ skills. Specialist sports coaches have given pupils access to a wider range of sporting activities and provided greater opportunities for them to participate in competitive sports. Pupils enjoy these opportunities and they contribute to pupils’ healthy lifestyles, as well as to their improved competence in sport.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because there is too much variation in its quality and not enough good or outstanding teaching. Consequently, pupils have not made good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The work seen in lessons and in pupils’ books highlights the adverse effect on pupils’ progress of some teachers not having high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. In classes that have had many changes of teachers, the quality of work produced is of a noticeably lower standard than that of pupils in classes where staffing has been stable. Some teachers have been too willing to accept work that is poorly presented. Although the rate of learning has accelerated during the spring and summer terms, some pupils are still making up lost ground.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of writing and mathematics, although improving, is not good in all classes. Teachers assess pupils’ progress with greater accuracy than in the past but, sometimes, they do not push pupils to produce enough work. The progress of some pupils is slowed by their lack of basic skills in literacy and mathematics. These pupils are not confident to write longer pieces and are slow to work out simple mathematical calculations. In a few lessons, the most-able pupils do not make as much progress as they should because the work is too easy for them.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of marking, although improving, is not consistently helpful to pupils. Most work is marked regularly but marking does not always tell pupils how to improve. Some marking lets pupils know what they have done well and gives them clear information about how to reach their next target, but other marking gives too little guidance. The lack of clear direction to pupils in how to improve their work restricts how well it improves and the progress they make.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are opportunities for teachers to develop their skills through, for example, working alongside specialist sports coaches to develop their subject expertise in physical education. However, there are insufficient opportunities for teachers to share the good practice that exists within the academy, so that the less competent learn what they need to do to make their teaching consistently at least good.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Some teaching is good. Teachers often gauge carefully that work is constantly challenging for all. In a Year 5 mathematics lesson on division, for example, pupils and the teacher worked together to assess learners’ understanding as the lesson progressed. The teacher used this information to accelerate the learning of all abilities by stretching them to achieve as well as they could. As a result, all pupils enjoyed what they were doing and were totally engrossed in their work because they wanted to succeed.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Adults who provide additional support in the classroom make sure that disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive the help they need to learn successfully. There is ample evidence to show that some of these pupils make good progress because they benefit greatly from the helpful support they receive.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Nearly all pupils behave well in lessons. However, some pupils have challenging behaviour. The recent introduction of initiatives to help these pupils has resulted in a significant decrease in the numbers of pupils who have been excluded. Support provided is of good quality. It helps most of these pupils to improve their behaviour and to participate fully in academy life.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 In discussion, pupils say that most are courteous and respectful to each other. They feel that, very occasionally, behaviour is not as good as it should be in the playground and in classes most affected by staffing changes. Parents hold the same views.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils think the rewards and sanctions that are applied to improve behaviour are fair and help them to develop into more mature individuals. They respond well to their weekly ‘Celebration Assembly’ and value the way in which staff praise and encourage them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils know they are part of a caring community where they are each valued as individuals. Most pupils are proud of their academy and enthusiastic about their work. Positive relationships among pupils and staff are supportive of pupils’ personal development.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The academy’s work to keep pupils safe and secure requires improvement. However, safeguarding procedures meet current requirements, and leaders make sure the building is secure and staff are carefully checked prior to appointment. In discussion, pupils say that the academy provides them with helpful information about how to handle bullying. They say that incidents are rare and are generally dealt with swiftly and effectively. Nevertheless, a few parents say that there has been the occasional recurrence of poor behaviour in classes that have been without a permanent class teacher. They are quick to add that the current situation is much improved and this was found to be the case by inspectors.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are confident that they will be listened to if they have concerns and that what they say will be taken seriously. They know how to stay safe, including when using computers and the internet. Parents are not as confident that their concerns are listened to and the school is currently working to improve communication.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The rise in attendance is a major success. The relentless efforts of staff and, in particular, the learning mentor have made sure that pupils who are at risk of falling behind attend regularly.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because, during a period of considerable staffing instability, including at senior leadership level, learning and progress slowed. Although senior leaders are now driving through improvement and successfully raising attainment, the quality of teaching and learning is not yet consistently good.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although interim arrangements are in place, some subjects have been without permanent leaders during the staffing disruption. This has meant that no one has been sure whether standards are high enough in these subjects. In addition, the academy has been without a coordinator for special educational needs. A recently appointed coordinator is in the process of developing the skills necessary for the post. Her appointment is viewed positively by parents who value the increase in the amount of information they receive about how well their children are progressing.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The interim headteacher and restructured senior leadership team have had a positive impact in a short space of time. Senior leaders are currently resolving the main issues that led to the decline in standards in 2013. This team is very focused on raising attainment and eliminating underachievement. A good example of their effectiveness can been seen in the way in which they have increased the proportion of pupils reaching higher levels in the current Year 6.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Academy leaders have introduced many initiatives to make sure that the progress of pupils is checked more rigorously than in the past. The checks on the quality of teaching have also been strengthened and teachers are far more accountable than in the past for the standards pupils achieve.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The wide range of learning opportunities provided make a positive contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils, particularly those who have special educational needs, greatly enjoy activities such as working with the artist in residence. Pupils develop their creative and musical talents through, for example, performing in a concert that took place during the inspection. Pupils throughout the academy produce good work when, for example, learning about rainforests or Victorian England. This work gives many chances for pupils to extend their underdeveloped literacy and numeracy skills effectively.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The primary sports funding is used well, for example, to increase the choice of sporting activities available for talented pupils to train and compete. The focus is firmly on emphasising the importance of all pupils staying healthy and active.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The link person from ECMAT, the academy’s sponsor, knows the academy well and works closely with the interim headteacher. The support provided is of good quality. For example, academy leaders are aware that governance needs to improve and have introduced a package of support for training and developing governors’ skills. A review of governance has already begun and improvement is closely monitored.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governance has not been effective in ensuring the academy improves its performance. Members of the advisory board are becoming more confident to challenge senior leaders about whether standards are high enough. However, they accept that the skills needed to do this effectively are an area for further development. Recent changes, including the appointment of a new Chair of the Local Advisory Board, have brought greater involvement in the academy’s activities. Governors’ training provided by the sponsor has started to increase governors’ awareness of their roles and responsibilities. Monitoring visits have also started to take place to increase governors’ understanding of the academy’s work.  Governors currently keep up to date with training, and make sure that the academy meets all statutory and safeguarding requirements. They set targets for managing the performance of

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The leadership and management requires improvement

staff and apply measures to make sure teachers are not rewarded unless their targets for improvement relating to pupils’ progress are met. They keep a more careful check than in the past on how effectively additional funding (pupil premium) is used to close any gaps between the attainment of eligible pupils and that of others.

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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 139002 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 440123

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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 Junior School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 180 Appropriate authority The governing body (Local Advisory Board) Chair Colin Avern Headteacher Jacqui Grace (Interim Headteacher) Date of previous school inspection N/A Telephone number 0121 675 7235 Fax number 0121 675 1958 Email address enquiry@reasideacademy.com 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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