Oasis Academy Nunsthorpe

Oasis Academy Nunsthorpe Sutcliffe Avenue, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, DN33 1AW

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is an inadequate school

 Weak teaching over time has resulted in pupils failing to achieve as well as they should.  From starting points broadly typical for children entering school, all pupil groups make inadequate progress and reach well-below-average standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Pupils are not well prepared for learning in secondary school.  Teaching in the early years is inadequate. Children do not make enough progress. What children can do by the end of Reception is consistently below national averages.  Leadership of provision for pupils with special educational needs is weak. The needs of these pupils are not being met and they significantly underachieve.  Senior leaders and governors have not addressed the very low standards or the poor quality of teaching.  Subject leaders have not been well developed. They have had limited impact on raising standards in their subjects. Systematic checking of the

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This is an inadequate school

impact of actions is not completed.  The curriculum fails to meet the needs of pupils. Opportunities for practical science are limited.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe is not robust enough. The systems to record incidents of bullying lack rigour. Opportunities to support vulnerable pupils are missed. Exclusions are much higher than national averages and these have not been fully analysed for trends.

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The school has the following strengths

 The recently appointed Executive Principal is beginning to tackle weaknesses with decisiveness and vigour.  Pupils generally behave well in lessons and are polite to visitors.

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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 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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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Urgently improve the quality of teaching so that it is at least good in order to raise standards for all groups of pupils by:  immediately raising teachers’ expectations of pupils’ progress in lessons and over time  planning work which pupils find interesting and challenging so as to improve their concentration and attitudes to learning  ensuring that the basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics are taught consistently well in all classes, including in the early years  consistently implementing the new policy for marking to provide feedback to pupils so they can improve their learning  improving the impact of teaching provided by teaching assistants  using the school’s recently developed assessment information to match work accurately to the abilities of pupils and ensure that gaps in learning are eliminated  developing teachers’ questioning skills to better probe pupils’ understanding and extend their thinking

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 adapting teaching within lessons to respond promptly to pupils’ identified learning needs.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels by:  increasing the rigour of monitoring and evaluating the performance of the school  fully implementing the school’s recently created action plan to improve the quality of teaching, learning, assessment and pupils’ outcomes  embedding the newly reviewed roles and responsibilities of senior leaders and subject leaders of English and mathematics  developing the curriculum to better meet pupils’ needs and ensure a balanced coverage in English, mathematics and science  developing the skills of subject leaders to be able to check the impact of initiatives and to measure this against national comparators  improving leadership of provision for pupils with special educational needs to ensure that they make at least good progress  developing leadership in early years, including ensuring that assessments are accurate in the Nursery

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the personal development, behaviour and well-being of pupils by:  improving behaviour at lunchtimes and playtimes and eradicating bullying  analysing the school’s exclusions, accidents and bullying information effectively and acting upon the findings.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’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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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 Senior leaders and governors have failed over time to tackle the poor quality of teaching or to improve standards in reading, writing, mathematics and early years. They have not had a sufficient impact upon raising expectations for behaviour during playtimes and lunchtimes.  There has been a lack of rigour in monitoring and evaluating the performance of the school. Senior leaders have not established an accurate view of the school’s weaknesses and where priorities need to be swiftly addressed.  Subject leaders do not systematically check the impact of actions to improve standards in the subjects they lead. This makes it difficult for them to accurately identify if changes including staff training are making a difference to the quality of teaching .  The school has a high proportion of teachers who are at the start of their careers. Leaders are beginning to provide coaching and support for less-experienced colleagues. However, currently this has not brought

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

about discernible impact upon the overall quality of teaching.  The leader for special educational needs does not have a clear view of how to improve outcomes for these pupils. The impact of interventions is not checked rigorously enough. Approaches to sharing information and progress of pupils with parents are undeveloped. As a result, pupils with special educational needs are significantly underachieving.  The curriculum does not provide well for the needs of pupils. Provision in English and mathematics does not inspire pupils to make good progress. Science teaching is limited both in the frequency of teaching and opportunities for practical experiments and investigations. Some aspects, such as the scouts, cubs or beavers provided during the school day, have a positive impact upon developing pupils’ self-esteem and team skills. The range of educational and residential visits enriches the curriculum

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

offer.  The school’s use of the pupil premium is weak. The majority of pupils in the school are eligible for support through this additional funding. Their progress is inadequate and analysis of exclusions show that excluded pupils are made up entirely from this group. The school targets some of this funding to widen opportunities for pupils to attend residential visits which enrich their learning opportunities.  The additional funding for physical education (PE) and sport is used effectively to increase the opportunities pupils have to enjoy physical activities and learn from specialist coaches. Staff have also had the opportunity to learn from the specialist PE teachers. This has improved their skills and the quality of teaching in this subject. Regular football coaching at lunchtimes is helping older pupils to improve their sport and social skills.  Responsible roles in school such as the school’s council and playground ambassadors develop pupils’

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

understanding of fundamental British values such as democracy. An understanding of British culture is also well developed through educational visits and initiatives such as the Shakespeare for schools project.  Since joining the school the Executive Principal has accurately assessed the school’s strengths and weaknesses. He has explained these clearly to staff, pupils and parents and made explicit the expectations for improvement. This is beginning to set an improved direction for the school’s development.  Recent reorganisation of the senior leadership team has provided a clearer understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Assistant principals are now better prepared for tackling the challenges ahead.  A new school action plan has been devised linked to the school’s priorities. It is too early to determine the impact of this plan.  The governance of the school  Since the last inspection governors have failed to produce the required improvement in the quality of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

teaching and pupils’ achievement. Recent arrangements for governance are providing a more accurate view of the school’s effectiveness and actions have been taken which are starting to address the school’s inadequacies. Arrangements to manage the performance of staff have been tightened. There is an appropriate link between salary progression and staff performance.  The Chair of the Academy Council supports the school with developing relevant community links.  The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. Safeguarding policies and arrangements for safeguarding pupils in respect of checking the backgrounds and qualifications of staff are robust. Staff have received relevant safeguarding training including how to deal with extremism and radicalisation. However, systems for analysing accidents, exclusions and bullying have shortcomings. This means that leaders are not checking carefully enough how such incidents can be reduced.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

 Over time, teaching has not enabled pupils to achieve as well as they should. As a result, pupils’ progress has been too slow and the work they produce is well below the expected standards for their age.  Teachers’ expectations of the rate at which pupils learn are too low. Time in lessons is not used effectively and pupils are often left with too little time to apply the learning that has taken place.  Some teachers do not have strong enough subject knowledge. This can sometimes lead to explanations which are unclear and do not support pupils’ learning.  Pupils with special educational needs often miss key parts of the main lesson when attending catch-up interventions. Links to the main lesson are not well established and as a result their work shows large gaps in their learning, particularly in writing and topic lessons.  The expectations and level of challenge for most-able pupils are often too low. As a result they produce

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

work which is well below the expectations for their age range. This is particularly the case in pupils’ written work.  Teachers’ questioning is often too superficial or does not probe pupils’ responses to explain the thinking behind their answers. Consequently pupils’ responses are not sufficiently challenged and their learning is not deepened.  The impact of teaching assistants on pupils’ learning is variable . This is because they are not always effectively deployed in lessons or do not have a clear role in moving pupils’ learning forward.  There is a lack of consistency in teaching the basics for writing. As a result, pupils’ spelling in independent work is weak and there is no consistency in the quality of handwriting. There is not a carefully thought through match of pencils and pens to pupils’ stages of handwriting development.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) is weak. As a result, not enough pupils

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

develop the required early reading skills. Home reading books are generally well matched to pupils’ abilities and reading records are well kept to encourage regular reading. Older pupils display an interest and enjoyment of reading.  Expectations during guided reading lessons do not move pupils’ learning forward fast enough, and resources are not always effectively organised. For example, younger pupils are set questions which are too hard for them and older pupils share a text one between three, making it difficult to successfully complete their work.  Recent improvements to assessment along with moderation of writing standards are establishing a more accurate picture of current pupils’ attainment. Further work is needed to firmly establish the accuracy of the reading and mathematics assessments.  Coverage of the mathematics curriculum is variable across year groups. Opportunities for pupils to use

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

reasoning and problem solving are limited. In some pupils’ books there is insufficient evidence of the development of basic number skills and calculations. Stronger examples of both the coverage and the impact of the school’s marking policy on pupils’ mathematics learning were seen in Year 6.  The school’s marking policy has recently been revised. Where this is used well there is early evidence that it is having a positive impact upon pupils’ learning. However, it is not used to good effect across the whole school.  The recent introduction of a whole-school approach to classroom displays is supporting learning. Pupils can identify where their work is celebrated and the progress they are making in writing. Displays also provide a useful resource to support pupils’ learning. However, not all teachers are maintaining this approach and there are variations in how well this is completed in different classes.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

 Recent increased expectations and some stronger teaching are impacting positively on pupils’ writing progress, particularly in Year 6. The evidence in pupils’ books shows that this improvement is inconsistent across classes.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupil’s personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Steps taken to ensure the welfare of pupils are weak. Senior leaders are not routinely analysing accidents at playtimes and lunchtimes and taking action to reduce these.  Pupils successfully develop team skills and self-esteem through their scouts, beavers and cubs lessons, which are provided as part of the school’s curriculum.  A range of residential experiences are available for pupils to increase their understanding beyond the school community. However, not all pupils are able to attend these opportunities.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is effective. For example, regular class discussion sessions develop pupils’ personal skills and reflective diaries are well used to support vulnerable pupils. The school’s development of global learning helps pupils understand the lives of people beyond their

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Personal development and welfare

community and widens their cultural understanding.  A number of pupils attend alternative provision. The school’s pastoral team carefully check that these pupils regularly attend and that this provision is meeting the pupils’ personal development, welfare and academic needs.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is inadequate.  Pupils generally behave well in lessons and when moving around school. However, where the teaching is weak, pupils become disinterested and their engagement with learning falls away.  Behaviour at playtimes and lunchtimes is much more variable. During lunchtimes organised, structured activities are provided which pupils engage in well together. However, in less structured play some pupils’ behaviour is too rough and this is not always addressed promptly by supervisory staff.  The school’s systems for recording bullying are not robust. The school’s bullying log has no recorded incidents of bullying. However, pupils and parents identified that there is some bullying at the school. The school’s playground incidents record included incidents of bullying which had not been transferred to the bullying log.  Exclusion rates are above national averages. The school does not complete detailed analysis of exclusion

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Behaviour

figures. As a result, leaders do not have a clear understanding of trends and patterns of the profile of excluded pupils.  The school has been very successful in improving rates of attendance which are above the national average. This has a high profile across the school and staff rigorously follow up poor attendance and punctuality.

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Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

 From their starting points pupils’ progress is too slow, particularly in reading and writing. As a result, by the end of Year 6 pupils’ standards are significantly below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.  Judgements about pupils’ current progress from Year 1 to Year 6 are difficult to determine from the school’s assessment information as accurate baselines have only recently been established. However, it is possible to identify that too many pupils are currently working below expectations for their age in reading, writing and mathematics.  Disadvantaged pupils are not making enough progress from starting points, particularly in reading and writing. The school’s information shows that these pupils are working below the expectations for their age and that they are performing at a lower level than other pupils in the school.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability are not making enough progress. By the end of

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Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

Year 6 they make significantly less progress than the averages found for other pupils nationally. Currently these pupils are working well below the expectations for their age in all year groups.  In 2015, the proportions of Year 6 pupils achieving the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics were well below national averages. The proportions of pupils who are currently working at the higher expectations are too low, particularly in writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ achievement in the Year 1 phonics check is too low. The proportion of pupils, particularly those pupils entitled to pupil premium, achieving the expected level was well below the national average in 2015.  The proportion of Reception children who are well prepared for transition to Year 1 is not high enough. Too many Year 6 pupils are not well prepared for starting secondary school as too few achieve the expected standards in English and mathematics.

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Early years provision is inadequate

 Most children start the school at levels generally typical for their age. They do not make enough progress and by the end of early years they are achieving below the national averages. As a result children are not well prepared for starting Year 1.  Approaches to assessment and moderation across early years are weak. There are inconsistencies in assessments when children enter the Nursery and a lack of moderation across the Reception classes leads to wide variation in assessments of children’s progress.  The school’s assessment recording processes are in a state of flux and do not accurately measure children’s progress. There is a disparity between the school’s analysis of the results and the standards displayed by the current Year 1 pupils. The school’s information for the current Reception children indicates that the proportions achieving a good level of development will again be well below national

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Early years provision is inadequate

averages.  The quality of teaching is too variable. Staff are constrained by the school’s systems and rarely follow the interests of children when developing learning opportunities. As a result, teaching does not effectively meet the needs of early years children.  The outdoor provision is underdeveloped and underused. The outdoor learning areas are not providing opportunities to motivate and reinforce reading, writing and mathematics skills. For example, following teaching about phonics in the classroom, when children accessed the outdoor learning area there were no opportunities for children to further explore this work.  On occasions where children do make choices about their learning, adults do not intervene to extend their learning effectively. Opportunities to question, demonstrate or encourage are often missed. As a result, children’s learning is not moving forward at a quick enough pace. For example, at the end of one session

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Early years provision is inadequate

children were not expected to tidy away the resources that they were working with and an opportunity to develop their personal and social skills was missed.  The early years leader has a more clearly defined role following reorganisation of the senior leadership structure. She is now better placed to address the weaknesses across early years.  The school does not make good use of the additional government funding for children who are eligible for the early years pupil premium. Plans for this resource are not clear and this makes checking the impact difficult. As a result, this funding is not addressing the wide gaps between the performance of boys who are entitled to pupil premium funding and other children in the school.  The school’s safeguarding systems in the main ensure that children are safe and cared for. However, during the inspection the staffing ratio was not fully compliant as the Nursery did not have the required

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Early years provision is inadequate

teacher in place. The Executive Headteacher has taken immediate steps to address this.  Where teaching is stronger it generates immediate enthusiasm from children. For example, a vet role-play area produced a high level of interest from children and enhanced communication skills. Similarly, work on painting butterflies created a sense of awe and wonder and improved children’s understanding of symmetry.

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School details

Unique reference number 138237 Local authority North East Lincolnshire Inspection number 10012073

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 591 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Simon Cross Executive Principal Mick Beresford Telephone number 01472 310013 Website www.oasisacademynunsthorpe.org Email address office.oasisnet@oasisnunsthorpe.org Date of previous inspection 25–26 June 2014

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  The school makes use of a range of alternative provision for pupils where necessary.  There are three full-time Reception classes and two part-time nursery classes.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above average. (Pupil premium is the funding the school receives for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.)  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups and those pupils who are believed to speak English as an additional language is well below the national average.  The proportion of pupils with special education support is below the national average. The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an education, health and care plan (EHCP) is below the national average.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The Department for Education (DfE) sent a warning notice to the school on 14 January 2016, stating concerns about pupils’ achievement.  The Executive Principal currently holds an interim post, which he has been in since December 2015.  Oasis Academy Nunsthorpe converted to become an academy school in September 2012.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed a range of lessons and part lessons in all classes. The Executive Principal joined the lead inspector for four of the observations in lessons on the first day of the inspection. Other senior leaders also joined inspectors for observations in lessons.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around the school and reviewed the school’s promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The inspectors observed pupils in the playground and during lunchtime.  The inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work in their books and in the learning journals of children in the early years. The school’s subject leaders joined inspectors for work scrutinies in English, mathematics and science.  Inspectors held meetings with the Executive Principal and teachers responsible for leading English, mathematics, early years and the special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector met with the

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Information about this inspection

Chair of the Academy Council, and held meetings with the Regional Academy Director, the Director Monitoring Standards (Primary) and the Chief Executive Officer for Oasis Academy Trust.  Two groups of pupils discussed their opinions about the school, their attitudes and their learning with inspectors. Inspectors listened to seven Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils read.  Inspectors took account of the responses on Ofsted’s online parent survey, Parent View. Inspectors held discussions with parents at both the start and the end of the school day.  The lead inspector considered the responses to the online staff and pupil questionnaires.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including reviews of the school’s performance, pupils’ achievement information, the school’s evaluation of its own performance and the school’s development plan. Behaviour and attendance records and information relating to

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Inspection team

Michael Reeves, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Janet Lunn Her Majesty’s Inspector Janet Keefe 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

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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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