Crawshaw Academy

Crawshaw Academy Robin Lane, Pudsey, West Yorkshire, LS28 9HU Inspection dates 3–4 November 2015

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

16 to 19 study programmes Require improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Inadequate

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This is a good school

 The Principal has created a culture in which he, other leaders, teachers and associate staff are sharply focused on securing the best possible outcomes for pupils. His excellent leadership has been instrumental in accelerating the pace of the improvement in the academy since June 2014.  The quality of teaching has improved markedly since the last inspection, leading to good progress for pupils currently in Years 7 to 11.  Pupils’ typically good behaviour and their positive attitudes to learning are contributing well to better outcomes.  Close monitoring of pupil progress and effective action to tackle identified underachievement have contributed well to raising standards and narrowing gaps in performance between different groups of pupils.  Pupils feel safe and well supported by academy staff. Relationships between pupils and with staff are respectful, leading to a calm, orderly atmosphere within the academy.

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This is a good school

 Senior and middle leaders are making a strong contribution to the academy’s improvement.  Governors are providing the challenge and support needed to help the academy improve further.  The Interserve Academies Trust (IAT) and the support provided through the partnership with the Red Kite Teaching School Alliance have enabled leaders to decisively tackle the weaknesses found at the last section 5 inspection.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 While outcomes for pupils in the sixth form are better than at the time of the last inspection, elements of the 16 to 19 study programme are not well delivered.  Not all pupils take pride in their work.  Feedback by teachers to improve pupils’ work is not always acted upon, limiting its impact on learning.  Not all teachers are adept at planning learning to take account of pupils’ starting points. As a result, at times, progress is less rapid for the most-able pupils and pupils with literacy skills below those expected for their age.  Subject teaching does not always contribute effectively to the development of pupils’ literacy skills.  Attendance, although improved, is not high enough.

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Full report

In accordance with section 13(4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so all pupils make rapid progress by: ̶ using information about pupils’ current knowledge, skills and understanding even more effectively to plan learning, particularly for the most able and for pupils who have weaker literacy skills ̶ providing time for pupils to respond to teacher comments and feedback in accordance with the academy’s expectations ̶ using teaching in subjects beyond English and mathematics more effectively to improve pupils’ spelling, punctuation, grammar skills and the overall quality of their written work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that teachers consistently reinforce the academy’s PROUD approach so that all pupils demonstrate its impact in their learning and presentation of their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Take further action to build on the improvements in pupil attendance already secured.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality and impact of the 16 to 19 study programme by: ̶ ensuring that all pupils receive their entitlement to work experience ̶ enhancing the breadth of activities and experiences available to pupils to support the development of their personal qualities and employability skills ̶ taking steps to secure consistently high-quality teaching for Crawshaw pupils across the Pudsey confederation ̶ improving progress in GCSE English and mathematics for pupils who enter the sixth form without a grade C in these subjects.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The Principal’s ambition, skills and determination have been catalysts for the academy’s improvement. Staff share his high expectations of what pupils should achieve and are strongly committed to securing the best-quality provision and outcomes for pupils. It is this shared commitment and unrelenting focus on checking that actions taken are effective that has led to rapid improvements in teaching, pupil progress, behaviour and attendance.  Senior and middle leaders have risen to the challenge of their new roles and responsibilities and are key drivers in the academy’s ongoing improvement. Developments are led effectively with impact carefully monitored. They respond swiftly when performance issues arise. However, some staff with leadership roles are very new to post and it is too soon to fully judge the effectiveness of their work.  Systems to track pupils’ progress are used well to pinpoint where individuals or groups are not

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

making the progress they should. Additional support is timely and effective in accelerating improvement.  Leaders have improved the quality of teaching, learning and assessment swiftly. Training for all staff and bespoke packages of support for individuals are very effective and well informed by frequent and thorough quality checks. Good use has been made of in-house and external expertise to develop practice. Where underperformance in teaching has persisted this has been tackled decisively.  Targets for staff to improve their work are challenging and sharply focused on securing measurable impact. Pay awards are only given when these challenging targets are achieved.  The curriculum is contributing effectively to pupils’ improved attendance, better outcomes and good personal development. It provides a good breadth of subjects in Key Stages 3 and 4, with additional support available to those pupils who need to further develop their literacy and numeracy skills. There

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

is a clear focus on promoting pupils’ well-being, linked to the ‘Crawshaw standards’, with carefully planned links between assemblies, tutor times and guidance sessions. The good choice of extra- curricular and enrichment activities is broadening pupils’ experiences and effectively promoting their well-being.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well with pupils gaining a secure understanding of British values through planned learning experiences across all subjects.  Provision for the few pupils accessing a more individualised curriculum is effective in ensuring they gain qualifications that will enable them to progress to the next stage of their education or training.  Academy leaders review the curriculum frequently. They recognise, for example, that a few small gaps remain in the curriculum at Key Stage 4 in ensuring pupils are fully prepared for life in modern

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

Britain. Plans are in place to address these gaps.  Leaders check carefully the impact of additional funding. They know that during the last academic year the Year 7 catch-up funding (additional government funding for those pupils who did not reach the expected levels in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6) has had more impact on improving pupils’ progress in English than in mathematics. This led to changes to ensure current pupils have the time and specialist support needed to catch up, but it is too soon to judge the impact of this new approach.  Pupil premium funding (additional money to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority) has had a positive impact. Gaps between the performance of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the academy are closing rapidly.  The sponsor, as a new multi-academy trust, has developed its capacity to promote the academy’s

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

improvement effectively over time. The chief executive officer has successfully developed his understanding of how the trust can best support Crawshaw by spending a considerable amount of time in the academy each week. Academy improvement support through the trust’s partnership with the Red Kite Teaching School Alliance has been very beneficial. This has enabled the academy’s leaders to draw on a wide range of expertise, including two national leaders in education, a number of specialist leaders of education and other best practice to inform its work. The expertise in human resources and finance now available is enabling the Principal to spend more time on other matters.  The governance of the school Governors are supporting the academy’s improvement effectively. Members of the Crawshaw Governing Board have engaged in extensive training to ensure they have the skills and knowledge needed to challenge leaders robustly. They have a clear understanding of the academy’s

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

performance, including how well achievement gaps between different groups of pupils are being narrowed, because information shared by leaders is timely and detailed. Their regular visits to the academy and surveys of the views of pupils and parents are helpful in gaining different perspectives of the academy’s work. The trust board has worked closely with academy leaders to ensure the budget is carefully managed.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Extensive training for staff has ensured all understand their roles with regard to safeguarding children, including protecting them from the risk of radicalisation, extremism and child sexual exploitation. Policies reflect latest guidance and are well implemented. Academy leaders work closely and in a timely way with external agencies where concerns arise.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Improvements in teaching mean that pupils are now making good progress and for older pupils any past underperformance is being tackled effectively. The academy is fully staffed and teachers are teaching their specialist subject. Teacher absence and a reliance on supply staff are no longer barriers to pupil progress. The large majority of parents who responded to Parent View believe their child is well taught.  Expectations of what pupils should achieve are usually high and approaches to teaching are successfully engaging pupils in their learning. Teachers’ strong subject knowledge is also used well to capture pupils’ interest.  Questioning is used skilfully by most teachers to probe pupils’ understanding and deepen their thinking. There is a clear focus on ensuring all pupils are involved in contributing their ideas in lessons. Assessment is used well to pinpoint gaps in pupils’ knowledge, understanding or skills.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Relationships between pupils and teachers are constructive and lessons proceed with little or no disruption.  Marking and feedback typically follow the academy’s policy. There are some very strong examples of pupils responding to the guidance they have been given and making improvements to their work as a result. However, in other cases, despite detailed feedback there is little evidence of this making a difference to pupils’ learning.  Most teachers are taking account of pupils’ starting points, so learners are suitably challenged. However, not all teachers are adept at choosing resources or approaches that fully meet the needs of pupils with weaker literacy skills and this hampers pupils’ progress. Similarly, on occasion the most- able pupils are not provided with enough challenge from the outset so their learning is less rapid.  At times, teachers of subjects other than English and mathematics do not fully support the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

development of pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar skills so the quality of pupils’ written work is not always as good as it could be.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The Crawshaw standards support the academy’s expectations and ambitions for pupils well and promote pupils’ health and welfare effectively. Parents who responded to the Ofsted questionnaire Parent View are very positive about how well the academy looks after their children. As one staff member wrote, ‘Children are at the centre of all we do’.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning are typically positive. They are keen to contribute to group tasks and class discussions. The academy’s use of ‘PROUD’ to improve pupils’ preparedness for learning and the quality of presentation in their books has had a positive impact. However, a small minority of pupils, often older boys, still do not take enough pride in their work.  Pupils are polite and respectful to each other and to adults in the academy. They take pride in their appearance and look after the academy’s environment.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. It has notably improved compared with when the academy had its last section 5 inspection. Pupils and staff who spoke with inspectors were very positive about behaviour in lessons and around the academy. Low-level disruption in lessons is infrequent and movement around the academy is typically calm and orderly. The large majority of parents who responded to Parent View are confident behaviour is managed well. Staff views, as expressed in responses to the inspection questionnaire, are overwhelmingly positive about pupils’ behaviour.  Pupils know that the use of derogatory or homophobic language is not acceptable and will be dealt with robustly by staff. Pupils are aware of different forms of bullying and feel confident about how any incidents are addressed by staff.  Pupils feel safe in the academy. They are well informed about how to keep themselves safe, including

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Behaviour

risks associated with use of the internet, child sexual exploitation and radicalisation or extremism.  Pupils understand the importance of good punctuality and attendance. Action to improve attendance has been effective and absence rates are declining over time. However, although improving strongly with a much better current picture, attendance remains below the national average.  The careful choice of offsite placements combined with time spent in the academy’s ACE centre is ensuring the pupils who access alternative provision are well supported and safe. Attendance for this group of pupils has improved.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Academy performance information shows that pupils in all year groups are typically making good progress in English, mathematics and most other subjects as a result of good teaching, learning and assessment. The school’s records show that standards at the end of Key Stage 4 are on track to rise further in 2016. Other inspection evidence from lesson observations and pupils’ work in their books supports this.  From broadly typical starting points pupils who completed Year 11 in 2015 made at least the progress expected across a range of subjects. Progress in mathematics was slightly stronger than in English. The proportion of pupils gaining five or more A* to C grades in GCSE was closer to the national average than in 2014. However, these pupils did not achieve consistently well, despite accelerated progress during the last academic year, because of slower progress in earlier years. Additional teaching in English and mathematics for pupils in Year 11 was successful in accelerating their

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Outcomes for pupils are good

progress, particularly in English.  The academy’s most-able pupils make good progress in most subjects. Their overall attainment is in line with the most-able pupils nationally.  Outcomes in 2015 and current performance information for different year groups show that gaps between the performance of boys and girls are closing over time. This is because the progress made by boys has improved. Nevertheless, girls still make better progress than boys in many subjects.  The progress of disadvantaged pupils in Year 11 also improved in 2015, particularly in mathematics, narrowing the gap in attainment between these pupils and others in the academy significantly. However, standards remained well below those of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Leaders and teachers are relentless in their focus on this group of pupils and current performance information shows that gaps are continuing to narrow quickly.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs currently in the academy are making good progress from their starting points. This is a result of improvements to in-class teaching, more careful checking of their progress and more sharply focused additional help to address underperformance.  Pupils who enter the academy with standards below those expected for their age receive additional teaching and support to help them catch up. In the last academic year this was more effective in English than in mathematics.  There is a strong focus on improving pupils’ reading skills during Key Stage 3 with very regular opportunities for independent reading. Pupils in Year 7 commented positively about the reading programme, saying there was an interesting choice of texts. Tutor times are also used productively to engage pupils in discussion about current events, effectively promoting their speaking and listening

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Outcomes for pupils are good

skills.  Outcomes for pupils who have an alternative curriculum have improved markedly. They are successful in gaining a range of qualifications, including in English and mathematics, which enables them to progress to the next stage of their education and training.

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16 to 19 study programmes require improvement

 Too few pupils have substantial work experience as part of their study programme, which is an important element in ensuring pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment.  Leaders have been successful in improving outcomes for post-16 pupils, particularly in those subjects where historically progress was poor. The percentage of pupils gaining the highest grades at A level has also improved in many subjects. Fewer pupils are leaving before completing the qualifications that they started. Overall, pupils’ progress in both academic and vocational qualification is similar to that found nationally.  Pupils receive clear advice and guidance about next steps including taking part in university visits and apprenticeship taster sessions. Expertise within the teaching school alliance is being used to support pupils who are considering applying to Oxford or Cambridge universities. Almost all pupils successfully

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16 to 19 study programmes require improvement

move on to a higher level of education, training or employment after completing their studies at the academy.  The confederation arrangement enables the academy to offer a broad range of academic and vocational qualifications despite the relatively small number of pupils in the sixth form. Arrangements for checking the quality of teaching for Crawshaw pupils taught in the other two confederation schools have been improved and staff teaching each subject are being chosen more carefully to ensure pupils are taught well. Academy leaders provide pupils with courses and qualifications that meet their needs effectively.  Expectations for pupils’ attendance have increased. Careful tracking of non-attendance and robust action by academy leaders more recently has led to a marked rise in attendance.  Success in improving outcomes for those who enter the sixth form without a grade C or above in English and/or mathematics is modest, in part because not all pupils attended these sessions

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16 to 19 study programmes require improvement

regularly. In the current academic year a more robust approach is being taken to hold teachers accountable for improving pupils’ progress in these two GCSE subjects.  Pupils have a secure understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They understand risks associated with the internet and also the importance of considering the views of future employers when using online social networks.  Pupils’ personal and employability skill development is adequately promoted with opportunities for volunteering, leading fund-raising activity and participating in business-led workshops. In the current year, some pupils have also taken on additional leadership roles following a process of application and selection.

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School details

Unique reference number 138304 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 10005198 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Secondary comprehensive School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 11–18 Gender of pupils Mixed

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programmes

Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Anne Reed Principal Adam Daly Telephone number 0113 256 4722 Website www.crawshawacademy.org.uk Email address info@crawshawacademy.org.uk Date of previous inspection 21–22 January 2014

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Information about this school

 When the academy had its last section 5 inspection it was a stand-alone converter academy. On 1 September 2014 it became a sponsored academy. The sponsor is Interserve Academies Trust (IAT) and at the time of the inspection Crawshaw was the only academy in the trust.  The trust uses the Red Kite Teaching School Alliance for school improvement services. The trust’s interim Director of Education, Richard Sheriff, is a national leader of education (NLE) from Harrogate Grammar School. He is also Director of the Red Kite Teaching School Alliance. The academy is also supported by Neil Clephan, a national leader of education from Roundhay School.  The academy is one of three schools in the Pudsey Confederation for post-16 provision. The two other confederation schools are Pudsey Grangefield and Priesthorpe.  The academy meets the government’s floor standard, which is the government’s minimum expectation

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The academy is an average-sized secondary school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium funding is broadly in line with the national average.  The proportion of minority ethnic pupils is below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is below average.  The academy uses West 11, West 14 and Oasis to provide offsite alternative provision for a few pupils. It also uses an onsite provision, the Alternative Curriculum and Enrichment (ACE) centre.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors made a series of longer and shorter visits to lessons to observe teaching and learning, looked at work in pupils’ books and evaluated the academy’s performance information. Inspectors visited assembly and tutor times.  Inspectors met with the Chief Executive Officer for the trust and the trust’s interim Director of Education; the NLE supporting the academy; the Chair of the Crawshaw Governing Board and another governor; the Principal, senior leaders and middle leaders; and two groups of staff.  Inspectors spoke formally to six groups of pupils in meetings and informally to others around the academy site at social times.  One inspector visited two offsite alternative provision settings and the academy’s ACE centre.  Inspectors took account of 50 parental responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and spoke with a few parents over the telephone. Inspectors also considered the views of 54 staff who

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Inspection team

Katrina Gueli, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Lynn Selkirk Ofsted Inspector Graham Crerar Ofsted Inspector Mary Lanovy-Taylor Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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