Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy

Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy King George Avenue, Ilkeston, DE7 5HS

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Inadequate 4 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Sixth form provision Requires improvement 3

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that has serious weaknesses.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Attainment is low in many subjects, particularly English and science, and students’ progress has been too slow.  The gap in achievement between disadvantaged students and their classmates is too large and is not closing quickly enough.  Too much teaching is inadequate. Many teachers do not set tasks that sufficiently engage, challenge or support students at the right level. This particularly affects the most-able students, who find the work too easy.  The marking of students’ work does not help them enough to improve. Teachers do not always check that students act on the advice they receive.  Poor behaviour in a significant minority of lessons disrupts learning. Too often teachers allow unacceptable behaviour to go unchallenged, and they do not apply the academy’s behaviour policy consistently.  Attendance is below average and not rising sufficiently quickly.  Subject leaders do not play a full role in improving

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

teaching and students’ progress.  The sixth form requires improvement. Students are well guided and cared for, but leaders are not sufficiently aware of how different groups are performing to be able to identify any underperformance effectively.  The academy is not engaging parents sufficiently in their children’s learning.

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The school has the following strengths

 Students achieve well in mathematics and art because teaching in these subjects is good. Students’ inspirational artwork, displayed around the academy, is treated with respect.  The Principal is well supported in beginning to improve the academy by a strong senior leadership team, the governing body and the academy trust.  The systems for eliminating inadequate teaching and holding all staff more robustly to account for the progress made by their students are already showing an impact.  The senior leaders’ clear and effective tracking of students’ progress and performance data are enabling underachievement to be identified and addressed.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed students’ learning in lessons across all year groups and subjects. Two of the lessons were seen with one of the academy’s senior leaders.  Meetings were held with students, members of the governing body, the academy’s education adviser, a representative of the Ormiston Academy Trust, and staff.  The inspectors observed the academy’s work and looked at policies, the academy’s own assessment of its strengths and weaknesses, and its plans for development. They also looked at minutes of meetings of the governing body, records of lesson observations, information about students’ progress, safeguarding documents, and samples of students’ work, including their English books.  The views of the 10 parents and carers who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, were taken into account. Inspectors also considered the 21 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Mary Davis, Lead inspector Additional 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 significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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Information about this school

 Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy was formed in September 2013 from the merger of the former Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy with Ormiston Enterprise Academy. Both predecessor academies were placed in special measures at their previous inspections.  In September 2014, the academy moved from two separate sites to one. A rebuilding programme is currently taking place, due to be completed by the end of the academic year.  The academy is average in size for a secondary school.  The large majority of students are from White British backgrounds. Fewer than one in four students are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Very few students speak English as an additional language.  At about 21%, the proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of disadvantaged students supported through the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for students in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals, is above

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Information about this school

average at 42%.  Off-site alternative courses are provided for seven students from Years 10 to 13 at the Island Project, the Lighthouse group, Derby Pride Academy and First Class Solutions.  The academy meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 11.  The Principal took up his post in August 2013.  Over the past two years, there has been significant turbulence as a result of the merger of two schools, high turnover of staff and high rates of staff absence.  A new Chair of the Governing Body was appointed in December 2013.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and achievement, particularly in English and science, by:  closely matching engaging activities and resources to students’ different abilities, particularly so that those of the highest ability are challenged effectively  ensuring that marking gives students a clear understanding of what they need to do to improve their work and achieve their targets, and that students follow the advice given  managing students’ behaviour consistently well, so that poor behaviour is not tolerated and all teachers take swift action to prevent learning being disrupted.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by:  communicating with students and their parents the importance of full attendance, and engaging parents more closely in their children’s learning  making more effective use of pupil premium funding to narrow the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their classmates  giving subject leaders the training and support they need to improve teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility  using the expertise in the main academy to ensure that sixth-form leaders fully analyse the progress made by different groups of students so that they can identify and tackle underachievement more effectively. An external review of the academy’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The Principal, well supported by the senior team, the governing body and the academy trust, has been robustly addressing the issues that have faced the academy since the merger. However, progress has been slow because these issues have been so severe. Leaders are relentless in their drive for improvement and in establishing their high expectations. Impact in terms of improved quality of teaching and rising achievement is now being seen and, therefore, the academy is displaying the capacity to improve further.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Subject leaders are receiving strong support from senior leaders and are being closely held to account by them for the quality of teaching and the progress made in their subjects. Senior leaders are working to build the capacity of subject leaders to drive improvement. These subject leaders are now beginning to hold teachers within their subject areas more robustly responsible for the progress made in classrooms and this is now beginning to show an impact. However, their effectiveness varies between subjects.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The academy is seeking to strengthen its partnership with parents, to involve them more closely in their child’s education and to raise their aspirations of what their children are able to achieve. Parents are kept fully informed, particularly regarding poor attendance. However, parental concerns over the merger have contributed to the poor engagement between parents and the academy.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders’ accurate analysis of performance data enables them to identify quickly individuals and groups of students who are failing to meet their targets, checking that all have an equal chance to succeed and that there is no discrimination. This leads to additional support being provided, including mentoring. Improved use of additional pupil premium funding has resulted in the gap between disadvantaged students and their classmates beginning to reduce in Years 8 to 10. The attainment gap remains too large for disadvantaged students in Year 11 because of the turbulence they have recently experienced. Strategies to ensure that the most able achieve their potential are now being put in place.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The approachability of leaders and staff helps to ensure that students can talk to adults, feel safe and be themselves. The well-being of students following alternative courses is checked carefully, as is their attendance and achievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum promotes students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. However, the weaknesses in teaching and behaviour prevent this from having a positive impact on students’ academic achievement. A choice of three pathways for students in Key Stage 4 enables the most able to follow challenging courses. A variety of alternative off-site courses, offering a smaller range of subjects, keep potentially disaffected students and those facing challenging circumstances engaged in their education.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Independent careers advice ensures that all students are able to identify their goals and are supported through their option choices. As one Year 11 student commented: ‘We get loads of careers advice. It is a big focus of the academy.’

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders recognise that the key to further improvement is to ensure that the quality of teaching improves. They are working well to eliminate inadequate teaching, and their detailed tracking data show that a much greater proportion of current students are now making the progress expected nationally. Students say how much they appreciate the new teachers who have joined the academy who make learning fun.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders set challenging performance targets for all teachers, and support and training are closely matched to their individual needs. Any teachers identified as experiencing difficulty undergo a programme of intensive support, and leaders insist that targets are met. Support is provided by experienced staff in the academy as well as through the academy trust.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The Ormiston Academy Trust works very closely with the academy’s leaders to provide support, expertise and training, including for governors. It shows a strong commitment to continue to provide the support needed to ensure that improvements take place at a fast pace. A regular Progress Board meeting holds leaders closely to account for the effectiveness of systems that are being put in place.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body now systematically challenges the Principal and senior leaders about achievement and the quality of teaching. Governors provide a strong lead in the direction of the academy. They are fully aware of its performance and how this compares to schools nationally. They know where teaching is inadequate, and provide full support for leaders in holding teachers to account and ensuring that performance management procedures are fairly applied.  Governors check carefully on the impact of additional funding on the progress made by disadvantaged students and challenge leaders where progress is not being shown. This is resulting in the gap closing for younger students.  Governors ensure that safeguarding procedures meet current requirements and are effective. They have been particularly vigilant about the safety of the school site during the building project.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Governors use their expertise well to scrutinise all aspects of the academy’s work. They ensure that they receive appropriate training in order to carry out their role effectively.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is inadequate. Too much learning is affected by inappropriate behaviour that disrupts learning and, in a significant minority of lessons, by poor behaviour. This particularly occurs when students are not set sufficiently engaging or appropriate tasks. Students in less-able sets report that much of their learning is disrupted in this way.

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Behaviour

 During the inspection, students were heard swearing in some lessons and inspectors observed poor behaviour that went unchallenged by the teacher. Here teachers did not attempt to follow the academy’s behaviour policy by imposing sanctions. Leaders are aware of subject areas where there is a particular problem, such as in science, and are providing support, although this has not been sufficiently effective.

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Behaviour

 Around the school site, behaviour is generally good, including in the dining hall. Most students look smart in their uniform and there is no graffiti or litter. The inspirational art displays around the academy are treated with respect.

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Behaviour

 Exclusion rates, while falling, are still well above national levels.

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Behaviour

 Punctuality has improved as a result of leaders’ drive to address this, and persistent absence rates are falling. However, overall attendance is below average and is not showing sufficient signs of improving despite leaders’ efforts to involve parents more. Few parents expressed an opinion about behaviour and safety.

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Behaviour

 Behaviour in the sixth form is good, and attendance rates are above average.

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Safety

 The academy’s work to keep students safe and secure is good. Students say that bullying is rare and that there is always someone they can turn to if they are troubled, including year heads and the school nurse.

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Safety

 Senior students actively work to prevent bullying, keeping their peers informed about how to tackle such things as cyber-bullying. Students are well informed about how to keep themselves safe and say that the academy looks after them well. There are well-publicised procedures for reporting concerns confidentially, and older students, including in the sixth form, support younger ones well.

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Safety

 Students are clear that homophobic or racist language will not be tolerated and say that they feel confident to ‘be themselves’.

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Safety

 The academy provides good care and comprehensive support for students facing challenging circumstances, fully involving external agencies where required. This includes ensuring that students following alternative courses are safe and secure.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 In too many lessons, students are not provided with tasks at an appropriate level, so the most able find the work insufficiently challenging and the least able are sometimes disaffected because they do not understand or have the confidence to try things out. Teachers do not always ask questions to probe students’ understanding sufficiently, or encourage them to think deeply about their learning.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 In some lessons, teachers do not plan tasks that are sufficiently fun or engaging, or at the right level of difficulty to match students’ understanding. This sometimes leads to boredom and inappropriate behaviour that disrupts learning. Too many teachers allow this to go unchallenged, with the result that it escalates.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Leaders are establishing an effective marking policy, but this is not being applied consistently across subjects. Advice on how to improve is too often not sufficiently linked to students’ targets, and is sometimes too vague or lacking in exemplification to be useful. Many teachers do not check that students use the advice they do receive to improve their work.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Senior leaders rigorously monitor all aspects of teaching and the progress that students make throughout the year. The results show that there have been improvements in the quality of teaching but that teaching is not good enough to overcome underachievement. This was confirmed by observations of students’ learning during the inspection.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Where students make the fastest progress, teachers show high expectations and set tasks that build on previous learning and are closely matched to the different abilities within the class. For example, in music, students were observed gradually building their keyboard skills and their understanding of musical devices. They were totally engrossed because the teacher had chosen a repertoire that was appropriate and engaging, and the tasks were clearly divided into different levels of difficulty so that all groups could access them and achieve well.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 In some lessons, warm relationships were evident; for example, when Year 11 English students worked in partnership with their teacher on a revision exercise that was both fun and challenging. Well-organised tasks enabled them to build on their prior learning and to apply well-explained strategies to different texts, preparing them well for their examinations and enabling them to demonstrate rapid progress during the lesson.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Students start at the academy with skills in reading, writing, communication and mathematics that are below average, although students in lower years are now entering closer to average. At the end of Year 11 in 2014, the proportion of students gaining five A* to C GCSE passes including English and mathematics was well below average, as was the proportion gaining the highest grades (A* and A). Attainment in English was well below average, although it was above average in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 The proportion of students making and exceeding nationally expected progress in English has been well below average, while progress rates in mathematics are above average. There is no significant difference between the rates of progress of students from different ethnic backgrounds, or for the very few who speak English as an additional language.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Disabled students and those who have special educational needs made below-average progress in 2014. Students following alternative courses achieve well across the smaller range of subjects that they study.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Leaders have insisted that the most-able students are identified in lesson plans and highlighted as those who require more challenging questioning. However, in lessons, this does not always happen and tasks set are sometimes not sufficiently challenging. The academy is beginning to work on raising the aspirations of the most-able students, providing opportunities through, for example, university trips.  In 2014, the gap between the attainment of disadvantaged students and other students in the academy and those nationally was too wide. In English, disadvantaged students in Year 11 were nearly a GCSE grade behind others in the academy and one and a half grades behind other students nationally. In mathematics, they were over a grade behind others in the academy and those nationally. There were similar significant gaps in rates of progress. This is a result of the staffing turbulence, poor teaching and

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

lack of support experienced by these students during their school career. The academy’s data indicate that this situation is unlikely to improve significantly for disadvantaged students in the current Year 11 for the same reason, although in the younger year groups, the gap can be seen to be closing.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Mathematics and art are strong as a result of good teaching in these subjects in all key stages. Students throughout the school say how much they enjoy mathematics, and many students enjoy the wide variety of creative opportunities they are offered through a variety of art projects. Early entry in mathematics is no longer offered, but was provided in 2014 for some students. This enabled the most able to progress on successfully to more advanced courses. A small number re-sat their examination in Year 11 to improve their grades.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Year 7 ‘catch-up’ funding is used effectively to support, for as long as it is required, any students who join the academy with below-average skills in literacy and numeracy. There is a strong focus on the promotion of literacy skills across all subjects, with students encouraged and expected to use the technical language required of each subject. Students often volunteer to read out loud in lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Achievement in the sixth form is closer to average, although there is some inconsistency across subjects, with achievement in English being weaker than other subjects, as it is in the main school. Therefore, achievement in the sixth form requires improvement.

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The sixth form provision requires improvement

 Although attainment and progress in the sixth form are broadly in line with national figures, students undertaking work-based courses generally perform better than those following academic courses. Although there is provision for students to retake their GCSE English and mathematics in order to gain a C grade or above, the pass rate in 2014 in English was low. The quality of teaching in the sixth form requires improvement.

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The sixth form provision requires improvement

 Sixth-form leaders are insufficiently aware of the performance of different groups of students and how this compares with students nationally. This inhibits their ability to identify or fully address underachievement, or to plan actions for development effectively.

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The sixth form provision requires improvement

 Sixth-form students behave well, being well motivated and keen to succeed. Not all, however, are punctual to lessons.

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The sixth form provision requires improvement

 The advice and guidance that students receive are good. Students report that the academy cares for them well and that they feel safe. Retention rates are high; an above-average proportion of students stay on and complete the courses they start because students are well guided onto appropriate courses.

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The sixth form provision requires improvement

 The sixth form fully meets the requirements of the 16–19 study programmes. The focus on employability skills is a notable strength of the sixth-form provision; consequently, the proportion of students who do not go on to education, employment or training when they leave is very low.

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The sixth form provision requires improvement

 Sixth-form students are fully involved in the life of the academy, and lead and support younger students well. For example, they hear younger students read and lead the school council as student ambassadors. The curriculum promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, including the promotion of modern British values.

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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 137109 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 453813

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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 sponsor-led Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 810 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 94 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Carlton Midgley Principal David Smith Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 0115 9303724 Fax number 0115 9441315 Email address info@oiea.co.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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