BBG Academy

BBG Academy Bradford Road, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire BD19 4BE

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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

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Inadequate

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This is a good school

 All groups of pupils, regardless of their starting points, make good progress across a wide range of subjects, including English and mathematics.  The gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers are closing across the school. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils making expected progress is higher, in many subjects, than that found nationally.  Attendance has improved since the last inspection and is above the national average. More pupils are attending the school on a day-to-day basis.  Teaching enables pupils to make good progress. In the vast majority of lessons, pupils settle quickly and are motivated to complete the work set.  Senior leaders, and governors, are highly ambitious for the pupils at BBG Academy. Senior leaders have ensured that there is a consistent approach to behaviour management and have rapidly improved the quality of teaching. As a result, pupils are better behaved and are making

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ achievement in other subjects, although good, is not as strong as it is in English, mathematics and science.  A small minority of pupils, more often boys, demonstrate less positive attitudes to their learning than other pupils in the school.  A small number of teachers do not adhere to the school’s policy on marking and feedback so some pupils are not clear about how to improve their work.  The most-able pupils are not challenged to make rapid progress.  The development of pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills is not consistently well embedded across subjects.  Middle leaders are developing their understanding and expertise, but they are not contributing to driving further improvement as strongly as they should.

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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?

 Further improve the quality of teaching, especially in subjects other than English, mathematics and science, to enable pupils to make even more progress by: ensuring that the school’s policy on marking and feedback is consistently adhered to by all teachers providing all pupils, and in particular the most able, with work which challenges them to make rapid progress focusing across all subjects on the development of pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the expertise of middle leaders so that they are able to fulfil their roles effectively and ensure consistency in their departments by: continuing the training programme already in place ensuring that actions planned focus on improving outcomes for all groups of pupils evaluating the actions taken and ensuring actions which have a positive impact are shared and developed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improving the attitudes to learning of pupils, and in particular boys, so that they are outstanding by: continuing to work with parents, pupils and outside agencies to reduce the proportion of repeat external exclusions ensuring that work completed is presented to the highest standard making sure that all pupils, and especially boys, respond to the comments made by teachers about their work in line with the school policy.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Senior leaders have communicated their high expectations very clearly. As a result, pupils and staff are rising to the challenge set, teaching has improved, behaviour is now good and all groups of pupils are making good progress.  The training for the newly qualified teachers is comprehensive and much valued. Whole-staff training focuses closely on the needs of the staff and pupils. As a result of training, the quality of teaching has improved and pupils are making much better progress than they were.  The school uses the funding it receives for those entering Year 7 with starting points lower than expected for their age to provide ‘rise and read’. This involves most of Year 7 and a large number of Year 8 pupils arriving at the school early in the morning to read. The impact has been significant, with most of the pupils rapidly improving their reading ages.  The pupil premium money is used effectively to support disadvantaged pupils in a variety of ways, such

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

as small group work and the provision of the ‘resilience camp’ for Year 7. The pupils enjoyed the resilience camp and appreciated the opportunities it gave them. The gaps between the disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils are closing. More significant, however, is the fact that the disadvantaged pupils are making better progress than pupils nationally in the majority of subjects and in most year groups.  Reports to parents are comprehensive and easy to understand. The school also holds parents’ evenings at which attendance by parents has risen significantly and now is over 90%. In addition, parents are provided with helpful resources, such as booklets on mathematical techniques to enable them to support their children more effectively at home.  The curriculum is broad and allows the pupils to combine a range of academic and practical subjects depending on their needs and interests. The school has worked with a range of external providers to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

ensure pupils are given many opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding of different cultures and life in modern-day Britain. There is a comprehensive programme of curricular and extra- curricular activities, including sports activities, ‘period seven’, and trips to develop pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural understanding.  There is a very small number of pupils who are educated at alternative providers. The school makes sure that these pupils are safe. There is comprehensive and regular contact between the school and alternative providers and the attendance, behaviour and progress of these pupils is monitored regularly and rigorously.  Middle leaders share the ambition of senior leaders for pupils’ success. The training provided for middle leaders is much appreciated, tailored to their needs and is enabling them to develop in their roles. However, action plans written by middle leaders do not have specific links to improving the progress

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

made by pupils or identify the intended impact of actions. Middle leaders do not consistently evaluate the impact of the actions taken on the progress pupils make.  The governance of the school The school improvement board members have an extensive knowledge and understanding of education. They challenge and support the leaders and managers of the school effectively. The school improvement board is focused on monitoring the progress pupils make, including looking closely at the performance of different groups. As a result, the leaders and managers have to justify the impact of the money spent and the actions taken.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The arrangements are thorough and good systems are in place to make sure pupils are kept safe. Referrals to the local authority are made in a timely manner and actions taken are followed through. There are comprehensive links with outside agencies to support

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teaching in English, mathematics and science (the three core subjects) has improved considerably since the last inspection. Lessons in these subjects are sharply focused on what pupils need to learn to enable them to achieve well in their GCSE examinations and enable them to move onto the next steps in their education or training.  Many teachers mark books, and give feedback, according to the school’s policy. This marking and feedback enables pupils to know what they have done well and what they need to do to improve. Pupils then respond to the marking and feedback in purple pen. Pupils appreciate the opportunity to do this and the marking that their teachers do. However, not all teachers adhere to the school’s policy and sometimes marking is not followed through by pupils, more commonly by boys.  In mathematics, lessons were observed which enabled the pupils to develop their mastery of mathematics. For example, in a Year 7 lesson, succinct and focused questioning enabled the teacher to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

check the pupils’ understanding of percentages at the start of the lesson and from this develop their knowledge and understanding of complex interest rates.  Teachers have good subject knowledge. In many lessons, this is used to good effect to ensure that most pupils are challenged with the work they are set. However, in a small minority of lessons, the work does not challenge the most-able pupils to make the brisk progress that they are capable of.  In the non-core subjects, teaching is not as effective and pupils’ progress, although good, is not as strong as in the core subjects.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils turn up to lessons fully equipped and ready to learn. They are punctual to lessons and do not waste time at the beginning of lessons. This means lessons start on time.  There is very little bullying in the school. The very rare incidents which do happen are dealt with swiftly. Pupils have confidence in staff to deal with issues. Pupils are aware of the impact of bullying, particularly prejudicial and cyber bullying. As a result, they treat each other with respect and accept each other’s differences.  The ‘growth mindset’ curriculum enables the pupils to accept that they will make mistakes and they are keen to learn from their mistakes. The use of quotes around the school, many from the pupils themselves, focuses the pupils on what and how they can learn.  The vast majority of books are presented well, showing how proud the pupils are of their work. However,

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Personal development and welfare

there is a small minority of pupils, mostly boys, who take less care over the presentation of their work and their books.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Around the school, pupils are polite and well mannered. They are proud to be members of BBG Academy community and wear their uniform proudly and immaculately.  Attendance has improved since the last inspection. All groups of pupils are attending more regularly and the unvalidated data shared by the school shows attendance is above the national average. A smaller proportion of pupils are persistently absent than at the last inspection and much effective work is being done to support the promotion of good attendance.  There is a very small number of pupils who are regularly externally excluded, these pupils are well known and programmes are in place to support their learning. The school has worked hard with parents, pupils and external agencies to reduce the number of fixed-term and permanent exclusions.  In the vast majority of lessons, pupils behave well. They are willing to learn and pay attention to their

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Behaviour

peers, teachers and other adults in the room. The positive discipline system (PD) is used consistently by all staff. Pupils and staff are fully aware of the consequences and rewards system. PD enables the pupils to make positive choices about their behaviour.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils, including the most able and those who are disadvantaged, are making good progress across all subjects. This is as a result of effective teaching and the careful tracking of pupil performance. Progress meetings each week discuss pupils on an individual basis. As a result, bespoke programmes of support and intervention are quickly provided to make sure that any pupil who is at risk of falling behind is able to catch up.  Pupils currently in Year 11 will be the first cohort to sit GCSE examinations at the school. The school is very mindful of this. As a result, mock examinations are marked both internally and then by experienced examiners. Work is moderated across the trust and reports are written highlighting strengths and weaknesses to inform teaching. As a result of this approach, the information about progress and standards is accurate and confirms that pupils are achieving well.  Pupils with special educational needs or disability are well supported in lessons by teaching assistants.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

These staff are trained and are able to support the pupils effectively so that they make good progress.  Pupils’ literacy skills are developed through English lessons and a focus, in most subjects, on key words. However, the effectiveness of support for the development of pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills in subjects beyond English and mathematics remains too variable.  Pupils are provided with careers advice to enable them to make informed choices about their futures. This guidance starts in Year 8 and increases as the pupils reach Year 11 and are in the process of making choices about their next steps. Year 11 pupils say that they were well informed about their choices and, as a result, nearly all of them have decided what they are going to do when they leave BBG Academy in September 2016.

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School details

Unique reference number 138111 Local authority Kirklees Inspection number 10009767

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School details

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 School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 692 Appropriate authority School improvement board Chair Brian Sheldrake Executive headteacher Andy Goulty Telephone number 01274 871225 Website www.bbgacademy.com Email address office@bbgacademy.com Date of previous inspection 21–22 October 2014

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Information about this school

 BBG Academy is part of the Rodillian Multi Academy Trust. It became part of the trust in November 2014, after the previous inspection.  BBG Academy uses the following alternative providers, depending on the needs of the pupils at the time: Westfield PRU, Brian Jackson College, Southway, ETHIS and Rodillian Academy. At the time of the inspection, there were a very small number of pupils in alternative provision. The number was too small to make a comment in this report on their progress, attendance and behaviour.  There is a small group of governors who form the school improvement board of BBG Academy. This small group is also on the trust’s governing body.  As the first Year 11 pupils will sit their GCSEs in summer 2016, there is no published data about their progress and attainment.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors spent time in lessons considering learning, books and the impact of teaching on progress made by pupils over time. Many of the observations, learning walks and examinations of pupils’ work were completed with members of the senior leadership team.  Meetings were held with members of the school improvement board (the equivalent of the governing body), senior leaders, middle leaders, teachers, teaching assistants and pupils.  Discussions were held with groups of pupils at break and lunchtimes.  Inspectors scrutinised documents, including those to do with safeguarding, progress made by pupils, teaching, training programmes and the curriculum. In addition, two telephone calls were made to alternative providers attended by pupils.  There were an insufficient number of responses to Parent View to allow the inspection team to take them into account. The inspection team did consider the views of parents collected by the school during

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Inspection team

Tanya Stuart, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Mary Lanovy-Taylor Ofsted Inspector Paul Welford Ofsted Inspector Lynn Selkirk 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

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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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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