Tudor Grange Samworth Academy, A church of England School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr Ian Harrison Principal Tudor Grange Samworth Academy, A Church of England School Trenant Road Leicester Leicestershire LE2 6UA

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Academy, A Church of England School

Following my visit with Ian Colling, Ofsted Inspector and Kevin McHenry, Ofsted Inspector, to your school on 5 and 6 May 2016, 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 that have been taken since the school’s previous monitoring inspection.

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Academy, A Church of England School

The inspection was the second monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in May 2015. The full list of the areas for improvement that were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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Academy, A Church of England School

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

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Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of

The school’s action plan is fit for purpose. Having considered all the evidence, I strongly recommend that the school does not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of

I am copying this letter to the chair of the multi-academy trust board, the director of education for the diocese of Leicester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Leicester. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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place in May 2015

 Improve the quality of teaching across all year groups by ensuring that all teachers: accurately assess pupils’ work and plan learning to challenge all groups of pupils, particularly those who have special educational needs or disability, the most able, and disadvantaged pupils have high expectations for behaviour and use the school’s systems for managing behaviour consistently and plan lessons that engage pupils in their learning plan the work of teaching assistants more carefully so that their work is focused on improving learning rather than just on managing behaviour insist on high standards of pupils’ presentation of work, that pupils take sufficient care over their work, and regularly do their best.

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place in May 2015

 Raise achievement across the school, particularly in English and mathematics, by: developing a more consistent approach across all subjects to improving pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills reviewing the effectiveness of the extra help for individuals and small groups during lessons improving the identification of the individual learning needs of disadvantaged pupils, the most able and those who have special educational needs, and planning more effective support, including from teaching assistants.

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place in May 2015

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by: making leadership roles clear and sufficiently accountable ensuring that subject leaders and those with other roles of responsibility, such as for special educational needs, have sufficient training and skills to carry out their roles effectively taking action to engage parents and gain the trust and support of those who are not currently confident about the school evaluating more rigorously the use of extra funding to support disadvantaged pupils, those who need to catch up in literacy and numeracy in Year 7 and the development of additional sporting activities in the primary age range ensuring that the governors and sponsors are more effective in monitoring the school and checking that agreed actions have had sufficient impact using the new leaders’ accurate evaluation of school performance to create an action plan for improvement, with clear criteria to judge success.

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place in May 2015

 Improve the management of behaviour and safety by: ensuring that all staff regularly insist on high standards of behaviour, especially for those who find it difficult to comply, by making effective use of the school’s behaviour code in lessons making sure that expectations for the presentation of work, grammar, punctuation and spelling are consistently high, especially for older pupils ensuring that expectations for wearing uniform are high enough and pupils comply with them making sure that strategies to improve attendance are more effective and codes for recording absence are used accurately.

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place in May 2015

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

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the principal, the head of school (primary), two executive principals and one associate principal from the Tudor Grange Academies Trust and the chair of the multi- academy trust board to discuss the school’s progress since the previous inspection. Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils from Years 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10 and with parents as they brought their children to school.

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Context

Since the previous monitoring visit, a newly appointed senior leader has taken up post. One teacher has left the school. Two senior leaders remain on long-term absence. A new curriculum leader for mathematics has been appointed and will take up post in September, as will an additional senior leader.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The senior leadership team has been restructured in order to better address the school’s areas for improvement. New leaders have strengthened the quality of leadership and management and brought a fresh perspective to the school’s views of its strengths and weaknesses. This has enabled faster progress to be made on the key areas for improvement from the section 5 inspection. For example, leaders have now carried out a detailed analysis of the impact of the pupil premium funding. This is additional government funding for pupils who are disadvantaged. As a result of this analysis, they have drawn up plans to ensure that this funding has greater impact on the attendance and outcomes of eligible pupils.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Senior leaders recognise that effective middle leaders are key to securing and sustaining improvement across the school. These leaders have visited other schools within the trust to learn about good practice elsewhere; some have delivered training to colleagues in other schools in the trust. Middle leaders have been more fully involved in quality assurance activities, and now have a better understanding of the level of rigour required to do this work effectively. Senior leaders acknowledge that these leaders will need ongoing coaching and support to ensure that they continue to improve. Some lack confidence in their understanding and use of data. Leaders from the trust have put in place additional support to address this issue, but it is too soon to judge the impact of this work. Leaders’ actions to improve the quality of teaching are leading to some improvements. Following the previous monitoring visit, leaders put in place support

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

plans for teachers who needed more intensive help to improve their practice, and this is leading to some improvements. Other teachers have been helped to manage behaviour more effectively, and some have been able to visit and learn from good practice elsewhere in the trust. Leaders have reviewed the effectiveness of the training programme for staff and recognise that it has not led to sustained improvements. They have now drawn up new plans for this area of its work. Effective teachers and curriculum leaders will play a role in coaching and developing others to improve. Leaders rightly see this as key to ensuring that the school does not become too dependent on external support, and that improvements can be sustained.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The school’s work to engage parents and gain the trust and support of those who are not currently confident about the school shows some signs of improvement. For example, attendance at the recent parents’ evening in the primary phase was much higher than previously, and a recent options information evening for parents of Year 8 pupils was very well received, with positive feedback from the parents who took part. The majority of parents who spoke with inspectors confirm that the school is improving, although one or two expressed reservations about how well the school’s leaders respond to their concerns.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leadership is strengthened by the strong and robust governance of the multi- academy trust board. Members question and challenge information provided by school leaders and carefully monitor the school’s progress towards the removal of special measures.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The overall quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not yet leading to sustained improvements in pupils’ outcomes, but there are signs of improvement. Across the school, teaching is now more organised. The more consistent use of the ‘learning journey’ ensures that teachers plan more effectively and assess more regularly. As a result, they have a clearer idea of how well pupils are doing. Better resources are making teaching more engaging, and there is evidence of teachers using what they know about pupils to plan more effectively. There are improvements to marking and feedback, which as a whole are more in line with the school’s policy. Inspectors saw examples of teachers and teaching assistants using questioning effectively to keep pupils engaged, focused and challenged. This was evident in a religious studies lesson, where the teacher used a series of questions to nudge the pupils towards increasingly sophisticated answers. In Year 6, effective

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

oral assessment of how well pupils were doing enabled the teacher to adapt the learning to different needs. Where learning is most effective, it is because teachers have developed good relationships with their pupils without compromising their standards. This is not consistent across all subjects, or within departments. In some cases, teachers ask too little of pupils, or give them tasks that keep them occupied rather than develop their learning. In some instances, pupils are overly reliant on the teacher and are not helped to develop the skills and resilience they need to become successful learners. There is more to do to ensure that all teachers have the same high expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Some teachers go to great lengths to provide detailed written feedback to pupils. Increasingly, this is focused on the skills pupils need to do well, but there are occasions when the additional tasks set do not promote better progress. This is creating unnecessary workload for teachers and is not having the desired effect. Leaders agree that there is work to do to refine and to simplify the strategy.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

There are still instances when the least-able pupils and those with special educational needs or disability do not get the support they need in class to make good progress. Some effective practice was noted in the primary phase and in a mathematics lesson in the secondary phase, but this is far from consistent. There are plans in place to address this issue, but their impact cannot be judged at this stage.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

At the time of the inspection, pupils were eagerly preparing for the ‘Bake Off’ competition. This is a good example of how the school uses the college system to create a sense of community and common purpose. During an assembly, a college leader confidently encouraged a thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion on the Christian response to evil.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Attendance is slowly improving. New leaders of this area ensure that where necessary, the school uses its legal powers to discourage absence from school. The school continues to use a range of off-site provision for pupils from Year 6 upwards; this includes a Forest School for some pupils. These measures are helping to ensure that pupils re-engage with their learning; most of those pupils who follow alternative pathways have increased their attendance. However, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils remains stubbornly below that of others, and the proportion of these pupils who are persistently absent from school is still too high. The standard of pupils’ work continues to improve. Work is now neatly presented across a range of subjects, and most teachers take action where pupils fall short of this standard. This is evident from the early years upwards. In the sample of books inspectors viewed, pupils had ensured their books and folders were well maintained.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

There is increasing evidence of teachers routinely correcting pupils’ spelling and punctuation. Sometimes, pupils’ informal and incorrect use of language is not corrected. There is more to do to help pupils express themselves confidently and accurately. Leaders have rightly identified this as a key priority.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

The school’s records show that the number of behaviour incidents is reducing, although pupils who spoke with inspectors are less convinced of the effectiveness of the ‘hot spot’ room. Not all teachers consistently address behaviour issues in class. Expectations are on display in every classroom, but not all teachers ensure that pupils consistently comply with these expectations. Sometimes teachers continue to accept behaviour that is disrespectful and that disturbs the learning of others. These areas must be addressed with urgency.

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Outcomes for pupils

Rapidly improving pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills across the school remains a key priority. Some progress has been made, and inspectors noted effective development of pupils’ reading skills in particular in the primary phase. In the early years, a range of activities captured children’s interest and enabled them to consolidate and develop their reading skills. These developments are leading to improved outcomes in the primary phase. Although attainment is likely to remain below national averages, there is evidence that a greater proportion of pupils across different classes are developing the skills they need to be successful in their next steps. There are some signs of improvement in the secondary phase, but rates of progress across different year groups and classes remain highly inconsistent. A high proportion of pupils need intensive support to recover lost ground. Leaders recognise that the support these pupils receive is not always effective in helping

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Outcomes for pupils

them to make progress, and this is currently under review. In class, some effective teaching, such as the use of key words, is improving pupils’ literacy skills. There is more to do to ensure that these strategies are consistent across phases and subjects, and that teachers are equally effective in addressing these areas of need, particularly for those pupils who have difficulty accessing the mainstream curriculum.

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External support

The Tudor Grange Academies Trust continues to provide effective support to the school. Most recently it has supported the early years leader to improve the quality of provision and the accuracy of assessments. Leaders from the trust evaluate the effectiveness of their work with the school and as a result, know which actions have been successful and which need refining. The impact of their support is evident in improving leadership across the school and in the improved organisation of teaching, learning and assessment. Most importantly, the leaders supporting the school know that there is much more work to be done. They know that sustaining further improvements will depend on developing the capacity of the school to improve from within.

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