Grange Technology College

Grange Technology College Haycliffe Lane, Bradford BD5 9ET

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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 Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is an inadequate school

 There are significant shortcomings in the leadership of this school. Pupils’ progress has declined and leaders have not done enough to address this.  Attainment is low. Too many pupils, by the time they leave the school, are insufficiently prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment.  Pupils’ progress across most subjects is weak. Achievement in mathematics across all key stages, including the sixth form, is especially poor. Outcomes are not improving at a fast enough rate.  Senior leaders have not developed the middle leadership well enough. Consequently, many leaders do not have the skills and experience to bring about the changes needed.  Leaders do not check the quality of teaching with sufficient rigour, nor do they pinpoint weaknesses in teaching precisely enough, so teachers are not given helpful feedback.  Training and development of teachers have not had the desired impact. Many teachers have not

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This is an inadequate school

acquired the basic teaching skills to secure adequate progress for pupils.  Behaviour requires improvement. Minor disruptions in too many lessons detract from learning. Many teachers and support staff do not feel well supported in managing behaviour.  Pupils’ personal development requires improvement. Teaching does not help the majority of pupils to develop the resilience and confidence needed to become successful learners.  Attendance is low and persistent absence is high. Neither are improving at a fast enough rate.  Governors and trustees give too much credence to leaders’ excuses for weak progress. Governors have misplaced confidence in the capacity of leaders to drive improvement.  Outcomes in the sixth form are inadequate. Study programmes and teaching do not help young people to reach their potential.

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The school has the following strengths

 Interventions for pupils new to English help these young people get off to a quick start in learning to speak and write in English.  The school makes effective provision for the personal development of some pupils with disabilities.

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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?

 Improve teaching so that it is consistently good and accelerates the rate of pupils’ progress in all subjects by ensuring that teachers: – make effective use of assessment information to match tasks to the needs of different groups of pupils, including the most able, those who have special educational needs or disability and those who speak English as an additional language – ask questions that challenge pupils and deepen their thinking – provide regular opportunities for pupils to develop literacy and speaking skills in lessons, and particularly to write at greater length.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by: – sharpening development plans so they focus more on the specific impact of actions taken – ensuring leaders at all levels more rigorously and systematically check the quality of teaching and provide teachers with helpful feedback – matching professional development activities more precisely to identified weaknesses in teachers’ practice and checking that this results in improvements to teaching – making sure that all staff know who to go to if they have a concern about a pupil.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ behaviour by: – ensuring teaching stimulates and interests pupils so they are more fully engaged in learning – eliminating boisterous and aggressive behaviour at social times.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve attendance by: – ensuring school provides an enjoyable, relevant and interesting experience for pupils each day – reducing persistent absence.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve 16 to 19 study programmes by: – ensuring learners in key stage 4 are given the advice and guidance they need to make choices that match their planned next steps, and providing better careers guidance and support for university applications for sixth formers – improving the quality of teaching so that students make good progress in their chosen study programmes – ensuring all students achieve at least a GCSE grade C in both English and mathematics – raising levels of attendance – listening to the views of students and increasing their involvement in a relevant and fulfilling enrichment programme that better develops their life skills.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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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

 Pupils’ achievement has declined rapidly and senior leaders have failed to take effective action to address this collapse. The school’s values of aspiration and equality are not realised in practice because too many pupils do not reach their potential.  Middle leaders, many of whom are relatively new to their posts, do not have the skills and experience to make adequate checks on the quality of teaching. Some leaders are inclined to judge teaching to be effective without taking sufficient account of pupils’ learning and progress. Senior leaders have not developed middle leaders’ skills, so arrangements for checking on the quality of teaching are not rigorous and systematic enough, and too often do not result in improvements in learning.  The professional development of teachers is not good enough because teachers choose the training they will take part in rather than being directed to the opportunities that will make the biggest difference.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

Fewer than half the staff completing the Ofsted online questionnaire were positive about leaders’ use of professional development and said that leaders do not do enough to ensure staff are motivated and respected.  Leaders have developed a new assessment system to check the progress of pupils and identify gaps in learning. However, the system is not well established and senior leaders have not made adequate arrangements to properly test out the accuracy of these assessments. Leaders have not made the best use of assessment information. For example, leaders were unable to quantify the impact of interventions for pupils who have special educational needs or disability.  Leaders’ use of the considerable additional funding for disadvantaged pupils has not sufficiently closed achievement gaps between these pupils and others either in the school or nationally.  The school offers a broad and balanced curriculum. A renewed emphasis on the performing arts is

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

popular with pupils. Leaders have introduced a popular craft and construction course that encourages, and is enjoyed by, a number of pupils whose attendance has been weak and who enter school with low attainment and limited English-speaking and literacy skills.  Leaders’ commitment to promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is evident in such activities as mock elections to promote an understanding and appreciation of democracy, and Black History month. Pupils have opportunities to discuss issues of significance to Muslim youth. These activities reflect the school’s key value of ‘respect’ and help prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.  The trustees have recently recruited a new chief executive. The chief executive has quickly recognised the need for a substantial and sustained extended partnership with a successful school. A partnership has now been formed, though it is too early for this to have had any impact.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 The governance of the school – The actions of the trustees and local governing board have not prevented the school’s failure to provide an acceptable standard of education. Governors have accepted unconvincing explanations for declining progress and have not properly held leaders to account. – Attendance at governing body meetings has not been good enough. A few governors, though committed to the school, do not have the skills and experience to challenge leaders. Some governors ask appropriate questions to challenge leaders, but have not been tenacious enough in following up when improvements have not materialised. – Governors fulfil their basic statutory functions, ensuring appropriate policies are produced, that finances are managed properly and safeguarding arrangements are in place.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Systems and procedures are in place for adults to be checked during recruitment to make sure they are suitable to work with young people. All staff have been

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

trained and know how to report concerns they may have about a pupil, including concerns that a pupil may be at risk of radicalisation. Leaders act quickly, keep detailed records, and follow up with other agencies where pupils may be at risk, for example when families go missing. Leaders need to monitor some safeguarding arrangements more carefully, such as the numbers of post-16 students who are off- site at any one time, and that all staff know who the right person is to contact when they have concerns about pupils.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

 The majority of pupils make inadequate progress in mathematics because teaching in this subject does not develop their knowledge, understanding and skills sufficiently. The progress of too many pupils in other subjects, including in the sixth form, is not good enough because teaching does not meet their needs.  Many teachers do not take enough account of what pupils already know and can do when planning learning, so work is often too easy for some pupils and too hard for others. All pupils are expected to do the same work regardless of their prior attainment. The most able pupils, especially, are not challenged well enough, so many do not make the progress they should.  The needs of too many pupils who have special educational needs or disability are not met because teachers often provide tasks which do not challenge or support them well enough. The gaps in achievement between disadvantaged pupils and others remain because teachers are ineffective at

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

targeting these pupils to help them catch up.  While many teachers have strong subject knowledge, they do not check carefully enough in lessons whether pupils understand or whether they need to be challenged more. Teachers’ ability to question pupils in a way that deepens their thinking, rather than expecting one-word answers, is variable.  Some work in workbooks in a few classes shows deterioration over time. While some work is neat and well presented, many workbooks are scrappy and untidy. Inspectors saw graffiti in some workbooks. Some teachers do not insist pupils use the correct equipment. For example, pupils in science are sometimes allowed to draw graphs without the use of a ruler.  Pupils’ literacy and speaking skills are underdeveloped. This is because teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to give extended answers or to write at length. Tasks are often too simplistic or

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

too short. Consequently, too many pupils are not able to express themselves well enough.  Intervention teaching for pupils new to English enables them to make rapid progress from very low starting points. However, the needs of these pupils are largely not well met in mainstream lessons because teachers do not adapt the lesson content or resources well enough.  There are pockets of better practice among some teachers in some subjects. Where teaching is more challenging, pupils are inspired and engaged; they enjoy their learning. Some teachers’ questioning is more effective, and some apply the school’s marking policy effectively, helping pupils to improve their work. However, far too much teaching is slow, plodding and not challenging enough.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Though most pupils present as confident young people, a minority lack the social confidence to say what they think. Teaching does not help the majority of pupils to develop the resilience needed to become successful learners.  Many pupils were keen to approach inspectors and share their views about what it is like to be a pupil at Grange Technology College. A significant minority of these pupils feel that staff do not listen to their views; this includes students in the sixth form. Some said they felt that they did not receive enough information about the range of study, training or employment opportunities that may be open to them.  Pupils largely work well together and get on socially. They listen to each other and are respectful of each other’s views. The vast majority of pupils demonstrate attitudes of tolerance and respect for pupils of

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Personal development and welfare

different backgrounds and beliefs. Pupils value the Friday tannoy presentation by their peers, for example the recent presentation entitled ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’.  Teachers provide well for the personal and social needs of pupils who access the specialist provision, helping them to integrate with their peers.  Most pupils say they feel safe. Pupils say bullying is rare and they are generally confident that staff will sort issues out. A few of the youngest pupils say they sometimes feel a little intimidated by immature behaviours of a small minority of older pupils, such as the use of derogatory language.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Staff largely manage behaviour well. However, fewer than half the staff who filled in the online survey said they think behaviour is managed effectively or feel well supported by leaders in managing behaviour. Fewer than half of the staff believe behaviour is good.  The behaviour of a small minority of boys at social times is boisterous and aggressive. Some pupils reported occasional fighting. Staff are quick to intervene but not all are effective in sorting things out quickly.  Pupils are largely biddable and get on with their work. However, because much of the teaching does not inspire pupils, a few pupils in some classes do not behave well. They talk over the teacher and each other, and generally exhibit poor self-discipline.  Of the relatively small proportion of pupils who filled in the online pupil questionnaire, fewer than half think that behaviour is good all or most of the time. About a third said they think behaviour is good some

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Behaviour

of the time.  Attendance remains some way below the national average. The attendance of the Pakistani heritage group, who make up about three quarters of the pupils on roll, has improved so that it is broadly in line with average. The attendance of pupils of East European heritage is too low and this disadvantages them. The determined attendance team has had some success with improving the attendance of a number of pupils who have been persistently absent but, in the meantime, the attendance of other pupils has dropped below 85%, so the overall absence figure has not been reduced by much. Leaders recognise that key to improving attendance is creating a school that pupils want to attend.

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Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

 Pupils’ progress by the time they leave Year 11 has declined over the last two years. Last year, the school was in the bottom 10% of all schools nationally for progress in mathematics, science and languages, and in the bottom 25% in English and the humanities. This represents a sharp fall in progress compared with the previous year in some subjects.  Because of inadequate teaching, pupils are underachieving considerably in mathematics. The progress of the 2015 Year 11 cohort of pupils was especially weak; more than half of the pupils did not make expected progress. Progress is not much better for pupils currently in Year 11.  Consistently low attainment means too many pupils’ opportunities are limited at the next stage of their education, training or employment.  Assessment information for pupils currently in the school suggests an improving picture. However, inspectors do not consider the school’s assessments to be secure and a number of leaders agree that the

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Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

accuracy of assessment is inconsistent. Observations of learning and the work in pupils’ workbooks do not match up to this assessment information.  Progress in English has historically been stronger than in most other subjects, reflecting some better teaching in this subject.  Considerable gaps remain between the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others. This is especially acute in mathematics, where disadvantaged pupils are not making up any ground on their classmates. In other subjects, gaps in achievement are variable.  The progress of pupils who have special educational needs or disability has been weak, and continues to be so, because teachers do not meet the needs of these pupils well. This includes pupils in the school’s specialist provision.  Around a quarter of pupils enter the school with low prior attainment. Hardly any of these make up ground to gain five GCSE A* to C grades, including English and mathematics. Very few pupils enter the

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Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

school with high prior attainment and those that do make insufficient progress to reach the highest standards in mathematics because teachers do not challenge them well enough.

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16 to 19 study programmes are inadequate

 Senior leaders have not given due attention to tackling weaknesses in teaching, learning and improvement planning in the face of stark shortcomings. Training is not successfully providing teachers and key stage leaders with the skills to effect the urgent improvement needed. Consequently, a sixth form populated with young people of great potential has declined in its effectiveness over time.  Outcomes in this large sixth form are disappointing. In 2015, academic achievement was too low. On vocational programmes, students made broadly expected progress.  Inspectors found insufficient evidence to suggest current progress is appreciably different. Teaching has more weaknesses than strengths. Plodding lessons lack challenge for the most able students. Some teachers’ skills in assessment, pitching work, pacing learning and developing literacy are significantly underdeveloped. Leaders struggled to provide evidence of the impact of GCSE resit programmes for

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16 to 19 study programmes are inadequate

students in Year 13 who still do not have a C grade in mathematics and/or English.  Students’ lukewarm views of their sixth-form experience were laid bare in the school’s own survey in September 2015. Articulate, well-mannered young people shared frustrations that not enough has changed. Dissatisfaction with careers guidance, and support for university applications, was strongly voiced.  Students value work experience, saying it makes a positive difference to their future plans. An enrichment programme complements programmes of study, but this is neither firmly secure in sixth-form culture nor highly subscribed. Students say provision to develop their ‘life skills’ is poor and inspectors agree.  Around one third of students did not transfer into the current Year 13 from Year 12, choosing courses at other colleges. While drop-out is high, three quarters of leavers in 2015 took up places in higher and

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16 to 19 study programmes are inadequate

further education.  Attendance this school year is 91%. It is particularly low, at 84%, for Year 13. The school could not verify the astonishingly high persistent absence figure presented for Year 13, due to the unreliability of registration data.

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School details

Unique reference number 139982 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 10000572 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 11–18 Gender of pupils Mixed

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programmes

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,831

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programmes

Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Professor Donna Pankhurst Headteacher Nicholas Bell Telephone number 01274 779662 Website www.grangetechcollege.co.uk Email address info@southfieldgrange.org.uk Date of previous inspection 3–4 November 2011

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Information about this school

 Grange Technology College is much larger than the average-sized secondary school.  The vast majority of pupils are from minority ethnic groups. About three quarters of the pupils are of Pakistani heritage. A small but growing proportion are from Eastern Europe. The large majority of pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above the national average. The pupil premium is additional government funding for disadvantaged pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and for children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is above the national average.  The school meets the current floor standards. These are the minimum expectations of pupils’ achievement in English and mathematics set by the government.  The Southfield Grange Trust New to English Hub was launched in February 2016.

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Information about this school

 The school has two specialist units for pupils with autism.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 40 lessons to observe teaching. Some of these visits took place with senior and middle leaders. Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ workbooks.  Inspectors met with pupils to discuss their learning and what it is like to be a young person at the school. Pupils’ behaviour was observed around the school, including at breaktimes and at lunchtime.  Discussions took place with the headteacher, chief executive, senior and middle leaders, a small number of trustees and members of the local governing board, and a representative of the Bradford Partnership.  There were too few responses to Ofsted’s online parent survey (Parent View) to analyse.  Seventy-nine responses to the staff questionnaire and 42 responses to the pupils’ questionnaire were received and analysed.  Documents were examined, including school development plans, governing body minutes, leaders’ monitoring notes and information about pupils’ achievement.

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Information about this inspection

 Records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding were scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Philip Riozzi, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Cathryn Kirby Senior Her Majesty’s Inspector Claire Hollister Ofsted Inspector Lynn Kenworthy Ofsted Inspector Joanne Ward Ofsted Inspector Jennifer Cave Ofsted Inspector Paul Watson Ofsted Inspector Stephen Ruddy 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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