Setting

Mrs Philippa Foster Headteacher Christ Church of England Academy Wrose Brow Road Shipley West Yorkshire BD18 2NT

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England Academy, Bradford

Following my visit to your school on 9 July 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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England Academy, Bradford

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in February 2015. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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England Academy, Bradford

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to:

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England Academy, Bradford

 sharpen up the action plan to include clear time scales and measures by which to evaluate the improvements in pupils’ achievement

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England Academy, Bradford

 ensure middle leaders check that teachers have acted upon advice to improve outcomes for children. 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 566863 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email :jbennett@cfbt.com

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, middle leaders, the governing body, the representatives from the Bradford Diocesan Trust and Pivot Care. A telephone conversation was held with a local leader of education to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. The school improvement plan and the mathematics development plan were evaluated. Together, we visited lessons, talked to pupils and looked at their work. Pupils’ mathematics work was scrutinized with the middle leaders to see what improvements have made to learning since the inspection. I looked at some writing books to check on the effectiveness of teaching and learning. The middle leaders’ monitoring files were also scrutinized.

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Context

Since the last inspection there have been significant changes to staffing. Three teachers have left and three permanent members of staff are due to start at the school in September, including a new deputy headteacher and subject leader for mathematics. Three teachers are employed on temporary contracts until the end of July.

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Main findings

You now have a detailed plan which addresses the areas for improvement, sets ambitious targets and places behaviour and safety are at the heart of all you do. The plan includes helpful success criteria against which actions can be monitored by you and the governing body. This document needs to be developed further to include clear time scales to help governors focus on key areas each month to support their assessment of the impact of improvement work.

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Main findings

You are ambitious for the school, and your work on improving teaching and learning is showing that you will not tolerate weak teaching. A significant number of staff have left the school and the high proportion of temporary staff has slowed the implementation of new initiatives in Key Stage 2. However, existing leaders are clear about what will need to be in place in September to enable all new staff to ‘hit the ground running.’ All the new staff have visited the school and are already familiar with their classes. Plans are in place for a four week intensive development package to begin in September to support the new teachers.

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Main findings

Middle leaders are now taking on more responsibility for the monitoring of teaching and learning. They are working closely alongside you to ensure a consistent and accurate approach to monitoring, using assessment information, observing teaching and reviewing children’s work. While middle leaders are becoming more confident in their abilities, they need to ensure their feedback and tracking systems have more impact so that advice acted upon quickly. During our tour of the school, you pointed out areas where the impact of recent actions is evident. The Early Years writing on display reflects high expectations and shows children are writing for longer at a higher level. Writing in Year 1 books is also showing the impact of higher expectations. In classes, children are on task and settled, reflecting positive attitudes to learning. Time in the mornings for the children to respond to marking is not being fully implemented in some classes. The impact of

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Main findings

actions to ensure children know how to improve their own work remains to be seen.

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Main findings

A more active mathematics curriculum is developing and children have a wider range of practical experiences. In one class the children were baking and using this experience as a focus for writing and developing work on measures. Another class was reviewing its findings from a shape walk.

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Main findings

Early indications from 2015 tests and assessments show rising attainment in Early Years, Year 1 and Year 2. Almost one third of the current Year 2 achieved standards well above the national average in reading. Key Stage 2 results show a more mixed picture, although the proportion of children achieving the expected level in mathematics has risen. Work scrutiny shows that the more able children are now being given challenging tasks. Clear evidence of higher expectation is evident in classrooms, with Year 1 children estimating and measuring using millilitres and working in numbers above 100.

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Main findings

As a result of the incident in April, classes on citizenship are being run for the older pupils to help them understand the impact of different behaviours on other members of the school community.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further monitoring inspections and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The trust has provided a wide range of support for the school. Some of this has been effective in enabling the school to move forward, for example, the support for school leaders. However where support has been fragmented some conflicting advice has been given to school staff. Governors and the trust need to evaluate the impact of the overall support package by considering carefully the value of different components.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Bradford.

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