BBG Academy

BBG Academy Bradford Road, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, BD19 4BE

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected as an academy This inspection: Inadequate 4 Leadership and management Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Behaviour is inadequate. A small minority of students behave in an unacceptable manner outside lessons. They show a lack of respect for property, adults and one another. They fail to respond to instructions and requests from adults. Poor behaviour is not always tackled firmly enough by staff.  The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is inadequate. The boisterous behaviour of some students puts others at risk of harm. Personal, social and health education does not always take students’ increasing maturity into account. Students’ understanding of how to stay safe is not always good enough in order to make safe and healthy choices.  Senior leaders and governors have not taken urgent action to deal effectively with unacceptable behaviour around the school and to keep students safe.  Leaders are not clear enough about how well the various groups of students achieve. As a result, those who may be at risk of falling behind are not

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

quickly spotted and provided with support.  Middle leaders are not fully involved in nor equipped with the skills they need to check the quality of teaching and students’ achievement. This hampers the school’s ability to improve at a good rate.  From their starting points, students do not make good progress across a range of subjects, including in writing in English and in mathematics, because teaching, overall, requires improvement.  Teachers’ expectations of what students are capable of achieving are sometimes too low. Work is not always well matched to students’ varying abilities. Work sometimes lacks challenge and is not always interesting or varied enough to motivate students to learn. The low-level disruption caused by some students in lessons prevents them and others from achieving well.  Students do not always present their work to a good standard. Poor standards of handwriting, spelling and punctuation are accepted too readily.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Opportunities for students to use their writing and mathematics skills in some subjects are overlooked.

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The school has the following strengths

 Students’ achieve well in reading. They read regularly, fluently and with understanding.  Senior leaders and governors have taken effective steps to address the quality of teaching so that it is starting to improve.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 25 lessons taught by 24 teachers. They made shorter visits to lessons to look at students’ behaviour. Some observations were carried out jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors talked with students at break and lunchtimes, met formally with groups of students from Year 8 and Year 10 and heard a sample of students in Year 8 read.  The views of 57 parents who responded to the online questionnaire (Parent View) were taken into account.  Inspectors met with senior and middle leaders, teachers, members of the governing body and a school improvement professional engaged by the BBG Academy Trust to check the work of the school.  The school’s improvement plan and records of students’ achievement, as well as records of the quality of teaching, students’ behaviour and safeguarding were examined.  Forty-eight staff submitted their views via a questionnaire and inspectors took these into account.

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Inspection team

Christine Cottam, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Full report

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

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized secondary school.  BBG Academy converted to become an academy on 1 May 2012 and is governed by the BBG Academy Trust. When its predecessor school, Birkenshaw Middle School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall. Most members of the trust serve on the governing body.  The school changed its designation from a middle school to a high school in September 2013. There are currently students aged 11 to 15 in the school. It will become a complete 11 to 16 high school from September 2015 when it will have the first group of Year 11 students on roll. Students will sit their first public GCSE examinations in the summer of 2016.  Since September 2013 the school has rapidly expanded. Around half of the teaching staff were new to the school in September 2014 when an additional 170 students arrived in Year 7. In addition, around 24 extra

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Information about this school

students joined the school in Year 9 last year because there were spare places.  There have been several new middle leaders appointed to the school, for example, in science and English as faculty leaders.  The proportion of disadvantaged students supported by the pupil premium is similar to the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those students who are known to be eligible for free school meals, and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  The vast majority of students are of White British heritage and speak English as their first language.  The proportion of students supported through school action is higher than the national average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is similar to that found nationally.  Moor End Academy supported the school to improve English provision. This support ended in April 2014.

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Information about this school

 The school does not enter any students early for GCSE examinations.  One student attends alternative off-site provision.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Urgently improve students’ safety by:  insisting that all students move around the building, especially corridors, in an orderly and civilised manner and that students show respect for adults, other students and the school environment so that no-one is at risk of being hurt  making sure that the personal, social and health education programme takes students’ increasing maturity into account so that they better understand how to stay safe, especially, the potential risks in sexual relationships.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Rapidly improve the behaviour of students, particularly of the small minority whose behaviour outside lessons is unacceptable by:  making sure that all staff adopt the school’s policy for managing students’ behaviour so that staff are consistent in their approach  making sure that any incidents of poor behaviour are always challenged and followed through to an acceptable solution  making sure that expectations of students’ behaviour are high, and are clearly understood and put into action by all  improving the attendance and punctuality of Year 10 students.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Urgently improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, so that the school has the ability to improve more rapidly by:  ensuring that governors hold senior leaders rigorously to account for quickly improving students’ behaviour so that it is good both in and out of lessons, and, that the school’s work to ensure students are kept safe and secure is effective  improving leaders’ use of information about students’ attainment and progress so that they have a precise understanding of how well all various groups of students are achieving, and so that any students or groups who may be falling behind are quickly spotted and provided with effective support  developing the roles of middle leaders so that they are fully involved and equipped with the skills they need to check the quality of teaching and students’ achievement, so that teaching and students’ achievement improves at a faster rate.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve the quality of teaching so that it is at least good and ensures that all students, including the disadvantaged, make good progress across a wide range of subjects, particularly in writing in English and in mathematics by:  making sure that teachers’ expectations of what students are capable of achieving are consistently high  insisting that students always present their work to a good standard and that poor standards of handwriting, spelling and punctuation are not accepted  ensuring that all teachers plan and provide work that meets students’ varying needs and abilities, and stretches and challenges them to achieve their best, especially the most able  making sure that work is always interesting or varied enough to motivate students to learn and so that students always have good attitudes to learning, behave well and do not cause any disruption at the start of and during lessons

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 making sure that the quality of marking is consistently good and that teachers insist that students correct their work after it has been marked.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Senior leaders have failed to take urgent enough action to tackle the unacceptable behaviour of a small minority of students around the school and the low-level disruption in lessons that prevents students from achieving well. Despite a revised policy for managing students’ behaviour being established recently, leaders have not yet ensured that the policy has been adopted by all the staff so that expectations of how students are to behave is not consistent enough. As a result, behaviour remains inadequate.  Although the statutory requirements for safeguarding students are met, leaders' efforts to safeguard learners are undermined by poor behaviour, which puts students’ and adults’ safety at risk. Furthermore, students have not had opportunities to develop the knowledge they need in order to keep themselves safe within the context of safe sex.  The school has faced significant challenges posed by the rapidly increasing number of pupils. Leaders at

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The leadership and management are inadequate

all levels are ambitious and want the best for the students they serve, they have not yet secured appropriate standards of behaviour and safety and the quality of teaching and achievement are not yet good.  Leaders have not always ensured that the data and assessments collated and recorded about students’ knowledge and skills are accurate or reliable. As a result, they have found it difficult to accurately track students’ progress overtime, especially in English. Improvements in teaching mean that this information is now more reliable. However, it is still not used well by leaders so that they have a precise understanding of how well all the various groups of students are doing, such as boys in comparison to girls and to pinpoint any students or groups who may be falling behind. Although leaders take steps to check the achievement of disadvantaged students, a lack of nationally benchmarked examination results, along with

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The leadership and management are inadequate

and some inaccuracies in assessment information make comparisons of their achievement with non- disadvantaged students difficult. This also makes it difficult for the school to promote equality of opportunity effectively.  Senior leaders are taking effective steps to improve the quality of teaching. New teaching appointments, including those new to teaching, have been carefully selected and well supported. The performance of more established and experienced staff is checked regularly. Leaders ensure that extra support is provided where teaching is not good enough. Teachers receive effective feedback that helps them to improve their skills. The vast majority of staff agree that they enjoy working in the school and that leaders provide good opportunities for their professional development. As a result, teaching is improving, although it is not yet consistently good.  Inspectors strongly recommend that the academy should not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The roles of middle leaders are not yet fully developed. Some are new in post this year and have new staff in their departments. In the main, they are enthusiastic and ambitious but they are not yet involved well enough in checking the quality of teaching and students’ achievement. This leaves too much for senior leaders to achieve in order to move the school forward quickly enough. Leaders, including governors, have acknowledged this and have enlisted support from another school.  The trust has secured good support for leadership in English from Moor End Academy, which has had a significant impact in improving leadership in English and the quality of teaching in English.  The curriculum is broad and balanced at Key Stage 3 with some good opportunities that promote students’ enjoyment, particularly in English, science and physical education. This is the first year the school has delivered a Key Stage 4 curriculum. Students are now starting to receive impartial advice and guidance

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The leadership and management are inadequate

about further education and careers and they value this information.  Leaders ensure that there is no discrimination between students. Students develop an appropriate understanding of the values of life in modern Britain; issues such as racism are taken seriously. Leaders ensure that equality of opportunity is promoted by making sure that all students can get involved in everything that is on offer. Even so, leaders do not yet effectively foster good relations within school. Some students lack respect for adults.  The large majority of parents who responded to Parent View would recommend the school to another parent.  The governance of the school:  Governors have a wide range of skills and a good knowledge of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. This is because they frequently visit the school to check for themselves. They have also engaged the services of an external school improvement professional that provide them with detailed and pertinent

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The leadership and management are inadequate

written advice following his termly visits to the school. However, governors have not held senior leaders fully to account for ensuring students’ safety. Similarly, despite their involvement in agreeing a revised policy for managing students’ behaviour, the behaviour of a small minority of students is poor. They acknowledge that the school does not yet have the ability to improve without additional support and are taking steps to address this.  As there is not yet any published information from examinations, governors’ ability to check and monitor the achievement of students relies heavily on the information provided from school leaders and this information has not been fully reliable or accurate in this past. This has hampered their efforts to effectively hold the school to account for its performance.  Governors have a good knowledge of the quality of teaching. They have taken effective action to secure

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The leadership and management are inadequate

better teaching by tackling underperformance. They ensure that senior leaders carefully check the performance of teachers and that rigorous targets are set for teachers and leaders. In this way they are able to reward good performance.  Rapid increases in student numbers have presented financial difficulties for the school. However, governors manage funding diligently and accounts are audited and published.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is inadequate. The behaviour of a small minority of students around the school, including at breaks and lunchtimes is poor; they show a lack of respect for adults, other students and the school environment. For example, a few students are sometimes cheeky towards adults, refuse to go where they should be when they are told to do so, make rude gestures or shout out silly comments to adults. They charge around, disrespectful of staff that are looking after them. Adults do not always challenge poor behaviour and, even when they do, some students disregard it.  In lessons, the pace of learning is slowed because teachers have to deal with disruption caused by a few, especially boys, for example, shouting out when the teacher is talking. A few students fail to arrive at lessons on time or settle down to learning quickly enough at the start of lessons. Lessons do not always get off to a good start.

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Behaviour

 School leaders know that students’ behaviour is not good enough. The policy for managing students’ behaviour has, therefore, now been reviewed and revised. A clear system of rewards and sanctions are now in place. However, the policy is very new and has not yet been adopted by all the staff and, as a result, so far has had too little impact on improving behaviour. Some new and less experienced teaching staff are still developing their skills in managing the poor behaviour and disruption caused by a few students in lessons.  The majority of students behave well, are polite and well mannered. Their positive attitudes to learning reflect in their general eagerness to learn. The lack of diligence and pride of some students, however, reflects in the quality of work seen in their books, which are untidy and poorly presented.  Although many students say that they enjoy school, the poor behaviour of a small minority of students

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Behaviour

worries some of them, not least the impression it is giving to adults. For example, one student commented, ‘I know some students are silly, but I hope you don’t think we are all like that’. A number of students say they get `fed up’ with the disruption they experience in some of their lessons. They want to be part of ‘a good and safe school’.  Almost half the staff who completed an inspection survey indicated that behaviour was not good or well managed. About a third of parents also disagreed that behaviour is good.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is inadequate. Pushing, running and play-fighting by some boisterous students in congested corridors puts others at risk of being hurt. The school’s own records of accidents and first-aid records show that this does indeed happen.  Students say they know which adults they would go to for help and support if needed and that this helps them to feel safe. Students generally have a secure understanding of most forms of bullying. They say that bullying does not happen much and when it does it is mainly name-calling about students’ appearance. Students’ awareness of homophobic bullying is less well developed.  Students take part in a drugs awareness programme and understand the dangers associated with illegal substances. They have a secure understanding of how to stay safe on the internet. However, students do not always have a good enough knowledge of how to keep themselves safe within the context of sexual

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Safety

relationships.  Overall students’ attendance is average, although it is lower in Year 10 than in other year groups. Too many Year 10 students are late for school and lessons.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 teaching is improving but it still requires improvement because over time it has not enabled students to make good progress across a wide range of subjects, including in writing and mathematics.  Expectations of what students are capable of achieving over time have not always been high enough. Although some teachers’ expectations are now higher, too often students are still not challenged to do well or to work hard. This reflects in the quality of work seen in some students’ books. Not all teachers always insist that students present their work to a high enough standard. Poor standards of handwriting, spelling and punctuation are sometimes accepted too readily.  Teachers are not always clear enough about what students already know and can securely do. As a result, planned work does not always meet their varying needs and abilities. It does not stretch or challenge students to achieve their best. Notably, the achievement of the most able students is held back. Students

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

who have completed a task are sometimes required to wait for others to do so before they are moved on to more challenging work.  Work provided is not always interesting or varied enough to motivate students to learn. Consequently, learning is hampered by the low-level disruption of a few students, which the vast majority of other students, who want to learn find frustrating. The skills of some new, less experienced teachers in managing students’ behaviour in lessons are still developing.  The quality of marking is variable. Most teachers mark students’ work accurately and regularly and some students receive good feedback so that they are clear about what they need to do to improve. However, this is not yet consistently the case. Some teachers’ written comments are extensive, yet there is limited evidence that this leads to improved achievement. This is because teachers do not always expect students

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

to improve or correct their work after it has been marked.  In English, teaching is improving and, as a result, achievement is improving. Reading is taught well. In English lessons, students are given on-going opportunities to read and to study what they are reading in some depth. They develop a good range of vocabulary as well as the skills they need to help them to understand more difficult texts. For example, Year 8 students studying ‘The Hobbit’ used a wide range of vocabulary to compare evocative excerpts from the film and the book. Students’ achievement in writing, however, is held back because expectations are not always high enough.  High expectations, along with stimulating experiences that maintains students’ interest in some teaching enables students to make good and better progress. In science, Year 10 students made rapid progress in science when investigating the different processes of plants. Students enjoyed learning; they cooperated

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

very well, explained their understanding and learned the technical vocabulary they needed to achieve well. However, this is not consistently the case across the school or subjects.  Students have good opportunities to use their writing and mathematics skills in some subjects, such as science and geography, but this is not consistently the case in all subjects.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Students start school in Year 7 with attainment that is broadly average. Inspection evidence shows that students across the school are working at levels of attainment that are generally similar to those expected for their age. From their individual starting points, students in Key Stage 3 and 4 make expected progress. Students are not yet making good progress across a wide range of subjects, including in writing in English and in mathematics, because the quality of teaching requires improvement.  Achievement in English, although improving, requires further improvement because the quality of teaching is still inconsistent. For some students, their writing skills are now developing at a better rate because teachers’ expectations of the quality of written work students’ produce are higher than previously. However, this is not always the case. As a result, not all students work hard enough or present their

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

written work to a high enough standard for their age and ability. Their books are sometimes untidy and the handwriting, punctuation and spelling skills of some students are poor.  Students achieve well in reading because they are well taught. Students read regularly and with increasing fluency and understanding. They have a good knowledge of different types of books and understand and use a wide range of vocabulary. Students have good opportunities to develop their reading skills in English lessons and to use and apply them in other subjects across the curriculum.  Achievement in mathematics requires improvement. The pace of learning in mathematics, although adequate overall, is not quick enough to ensure students make consistently good progress. Expectations of what students are capable of achieving are not always high enough. Although some students are given good opportunities to practise their mathematical skills when undertaking work in some subjects, such as

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

science and geography, this is not always the case.  The most able students are not yet making consistently good progress because the work that teachers set for them does not always take enough account of their ability. They are not always stretched or challenged enough to reach their full potential.  Disabled students and those with special educational needs make similar progress to their classmates. Individual students’ attainment and progress is regularly assessed and carefully tracked. However, these assessments are not always used well enough to set the right level of work to meet their particular needs in order to make good progress.  There is no nationally published data available in order to make meaningful statistical comparisons about the attainment and progress of disadvantaged students in the school with non-disadvantaged students in the school or nationally. Although the school regularly tracks the progress of disadvantaged students and

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

compares it with other students, their ability to evaluate their achievement accurately is hampered because of the unreliability of the information collected in the past. Inspection evidence shows that disadvantaged students make similar progress to other non-disadvantaged students in the school.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 138111 Local authority Kirklees Inspection number 443811

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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 11–15 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 560 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sharon Light Principal Jo-anne Atkinson Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01274 871225 Fax number Not Applicable Email address office@bbgacademy.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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