Setting

Mr Adam Daly Principal Crawshaw Academy Robin Lane Pudsey West Yorkshire LS28 9HU

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Crawshaw Academy

Following my visit with Marianne Young Her Majesty’s Inspector to your academy on 17 and 18 March 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the academy’s previous monitoring inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Crawshaw Academy

The inspection was the third monitoring inspection since the academy became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in January 2014. The full list of the areas for improvement which were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Crawshaw Academy

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Crawshaw Academy

The academy is making reasonable progress towards the removal of special measures.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Crawshaw Academy

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that the academy may appoint newly qualified teachers (NQTs) but I strongly recommend no more than one NQT be appointed per subject area.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Crawshaw Academy

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be published on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Interserve Academies Trust (IAT) and the Director of Children’s Services for Leeds and as below. CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566937 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email :jsimmons@cfbt.com Yours sincerely

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place in January 2014

 Improve the quality of teaching, including in the sixth form, so it is at least consistently good and enables students to make good or better progress in English, mathematics and science, by ensuring all teachers:

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place in January 2014

- take into account the varying needs and abilities of students to set work that is well matched to their capabilities, particularly to challenge the most able - ensure all students, especially boys, are engaged in their learning and encouraged to answer questions more often to show they understand what they are being taught - mark students’ books regularly in order to provide them with the information and advice they need about how to improve their work and by insisting students act upon this - check carefully students’ understanding, especially the boys, of what they are learning by asking searching questions and swiftly reviewing their work during lessons - support the development of English skills by insisting on high-quality presentation of students’ work, especially their written work and ensure spelling is always accurate give students more opportunities in mathematics to work things out for themselves and extend their understanding.

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 Improve students’ behaviour, safety and attendance, as well as reduce the number of students who are excluded by:

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- rapidly reducing students’ absenteeism, particularly that of pupils supported by the pupil premium and those with special educational needs - making sure all students arrive at school on time - making sure disrespectful behaviour is managed consistently well by all staff both inside and outside the classroom - developing the confidence of those very few vulnerable students who say they feel unable to socialise at breaks and lunchtimes.

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 Rapidly improve the impact of leadership, management and governance by:

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- appointing as soon as possible permanent key senior leaders and headteacher - ensuring leaders at all levels, including governors, focus relentlessly on improving the quality of teaching and learning and standards of students’ behaviour - eradicating the inadequate teaching that exists and improving that which requires improvement so teaching is at least good - ensuring subject leaders take the information about students’ progress fully into account when assessing the impact of teaching in their areas of responsibility - ensuring the pupil premium funding is used effectively to improve achievement, behaviour and attendance of those students supported by the funding - checking rigorously on the quality of teaching and students’ achievement in the sixth form - ensuring governors hold the school to account effectively for ensuring the quality of teaching, students’ achievement, and behaviour and attendance

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An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the academy’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the Principal, other senior leaders, the Chair of the Local Advisory Body and three groups of students. An inspector held telephone conversations with the Trust’s Chief Executive Officer and Director of Education and the National Leader of Education (NLE) supporting the academy.

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Context

Since the last monitoring inspection two teachers have left the academy. Two more teachers will leave at the end of the summer term. Two managers with administrative responsibilities have left the academy and a human resource manager has been appointed on a temporary basis. All members of the Local Advisory Body have now been recruited and a new Chair has taken up post.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Academy data indicate that progress is improving and attainment is on track to rise for students currently in Year 11. Gaps in performance between boys and girls, and between disadvantaged students and their peers are narrowing. Disabled students and those with special educational needs are also predicted to achieve more highly than in 2014. However, improvements in other year groups appear more modest, reflecting, in part, the intensive work that is being done with students currently in Year 11. A range of support is in place for students who enter the academy with levels of attainment below those expected for their age. There are some signs that this is additional support is helping to accelerate progress.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

There has been a period of higher teacher absence since the last monitoring inspection. More is being done to ensure the quality of supply teachers and steps are being taken within affected departments to minimise disruption to students’ learning. However, leaders acknowledge that these staff absences have had a negative impact on the rate at which students’ progress is improving in the subjects and classes affected in each key stage.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

In the sixth form, student retention rates are on track to rise but some other measures of achievement are not showing strong enough signs of improvement. To date, only a few students who entered Year 12 without a grade C in English and/or mathematics at GCSE have managed to improve on their previous performance. Opportunities for sixth form students to develop their personal, social and employability skills are still at an early stage of development.

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The quality of teaching

Leaders have an accurate view of the quality of teaching in the academy and are taking effective steps to bring about improvement. Evidence from checking the quality of teaching suggests it is improving more slowly at Key Stage 3 than elsewhere in the academy. Leaders do not have a clear enough view about the quality of teaching for sixth form students when they are taught in other confederation schools.

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The quality of teaching

A number of measures are helping teachers to develop their skills further. These include individual support plans, support from Specialist Leaders in Education (SLE) and more effective use of departmental time to share good practice. For example, in mathematics, teachers are analysing students’ work more effectively to inform their teaching. This is leading to a greater focus on addressing gaps in students’ knowledge and understanding. As a result, progress is improving. Additional teaching after school and during holiday times for Year 11 is helping them to prepare more effectively for their upcoming examinations. There has been a sharper focus on ensuring students are better placed to tackle examination questions successfully and homework is being used more effectively to support progress.

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The quality of teaching

Overall, teachers have higher expectations of what students should achieve but not all are providing sufficient challenge to ensure students make good progress. Some teachers are too willing to accept poor quality presentation, particularly from lower ability students; others do not encourage students to expand on their verbal answers to extend their thinking. The quality of marking and feedback provided to students continues to develop and there is more evidence of students taking action to improve their work. Recent progress towards ensuring all subject teachers effectively help students to develop their literacy skills has been limited.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Improvements in punctuality and attendance in the Years 7 to 11 evident at the last monitoring inspection have been sustained and, for some year groups, further improvements are evident. Differences between the attendance of disadvantaged students and others in the academy have decreased overall, but less so in Years 8 and 11. The number of students who are persistent absentees is decreasing. Expectations for students’ behaviour have increased with the introduction of a ‘zero tolerance’ policy. This has led to a sharp increase in the use of internal isolation as a sanction; it is too soon to see whether the frequency of these incidents is now on the decline as students modify their behaviour. The number of fixed term exclusions is reducing over time. Leaders and managers have increased the focus on helping students to develop good attitudes to learning. This is enabling academy leaders to identify and support

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

those who need to develop better learning behaviours in order to achieve well. Behaviour around the academy is calm and orderly and older students feel behaviour has improved. While students are confident that bullying issues are dealt with effectively, there is some evidence to suggest that not all students show tolerance and respect for others’ differences.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Improvement is being driven strongly by the Principal. He is providing the clear vision and the strategic direction needed to bring about more rapid and sustainable improvement. Other senior leaders are increasingly contributing to tackling priorities quickly and this is reflected in rising attainment and improvements in the quality of teaching, behaviour and attendance. Leaders have an increasingly accurate grasp of the academy’s strengths and weaknesses because monitoring and evaluation are more robust overall, although less so in the sixth form. Data about students’ attainment and progress are being used more effectively by senior and middle leaders and class teachers to identify the impact of actions taken and where more intensive work is required. However, the wealth of data now available is not always summarised in a way that enables leaders, including governors, to easily evaluate measurable improvements in performance for different groups. In addition, while

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

leaders are very confident about the accuracy of the assessment of students’ attainment in Year 11, there is a little less certainty about the reliability of data for students in other years. Curriculum developments planned for September 2015 are positive steps towards ensuring students experience a broader and more balanced learning experience that is better suited to their needs and aspirations. Arrangements for providing advice and guidance for students are beginning to improve. For example, events, such as the recent Apprenticeship Week supported by the Trust, are helping students understand the wider range of choices on offer for the next stage of their education or training.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

While the academy’s governance structure is now fully in place, these arrangements are not working as efficiently and effectively as they should to support the academy’s improvement. Actions to ensure key policies are reviewed and ratified have not been timely enough. Governors have not ensured that the academy’s website provides all the necessary information for parents.

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External support

The Trust is continuing to build its capacity to support the academy’s improvement. For example, the provision of additional support for human resource matters is enabling the Principal to dedicate more time to the academy’s improvement. Other Trust actions, such as those to improve the academy’s information and communication technology infrastructure, are being moved forward successfully. The external support brokered by the Trust for the academy’s improvement is proving effective. For example, middle leaders presented convincing evidence of the impact of the SLE support for their respective departments. The Task and Monitoring Group is working productively to check the academy’s progress in on track and ensure any necessary adjustments are made to the package of external support. The Trust’s new Director of Education is able to devote a greater amount of time to supporting the academy than the previous post holder and this is appreciated by the Principal.

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External support

The support provided by the Director of Education also dovetails very well with that of the NLE; this is helping the Principal and other leaders to sustain more rapid improvement.

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