Setting

Ms Charlie Blencowe Headteacher Hatfield Academy Hatfield House Lane Sheffield South Yorkshire S5 6HY

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Hatfield Academy

Following my visit to your academy on Wednesday 15 June 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 which have been taken since the school’s previous monitoring inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Hatfield Academy

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

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Hatfield Academy

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

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Hatfield Academy

The academy leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Hatfield Academy

The HBH’s trust’s statement of action is not fit for purpose.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Hatfield Academy

Having considered all the evidence I strongly recommend that the academy does not seek to appoint NQTs.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Hatfield Academy

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be published on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the chair of Reach4 Academy Trust, the chair of the transition board and the director of children’s services for Sheffield local authority.

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Her Majesty’s Inspector

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Urgently improve the quality of teaching, particularly in Key Stage 2, 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 – ensuring that teachers take full account of pupils’ prior learning, including in science, when planning work – 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, mathematics and science 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 support assistants – insisting on higher standards of presentation and a greater volume of pupils’ written work

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– providing training to improve teachers’ questioning skills – ensuring equality of opportunity across each class in any given year group – strengthening the responsibility of all class teachers as the prime deliverers of high-quality teaching for all groups of pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels of governance, senior leadership and subject leadership, including in the early years by: – increasing the rigour of monitoring and evaluating the performance of the school – fully implementing the academy’s action plan to improve the use of the pupil premium – embedding the newly reformed roles and responsibilities of senior leaders – identifying and creating effective subject leaders for all subjects and most urgently for English and science – ensuring robust systems are put in place to manage staff performance, holding staff to account for pupils’ achievement and financially rewarding only good and better practice – providing training for staff matched to any areas which need improvement, paying due regard to those identified in this report – develop effective links with other schools to learn from the very best practice in teaching

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– urgently improving the strategic leadership provided by governance – providing training for governors to improve their ability to hold leaders to account – ensuring the curriculum fully meets the needs of all pupils.  Improve pupils’ behaviour and safety by: – ensuring teaching is stimulating and motivating for pupils so that they develop good attitudes to learning – improving the management of any inappropriate behaviour to reduce the need to exclude pupils.

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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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Evidence

The inspector observed the academy’s work, scrutinised documents and observed learning and behaviour at different times during the academy day. The inspector met with the headteacher, senior leaders, pupils and representatives of the Reach4 Trust. The lead inspector focused on the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels during this inspection in response to the recent change in the trust status of the academy.

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Context

Since the last monitoring inspection the HBH Academy Trust have relinquished their responsibilities as trust for Hatfield Academy. These responsibilities have been taken on by Reach4 Trust since May 2016. The Reach4 Trust have not yet written a formal action plan. There are two new members of the senior leadership team, one of whom is new to the academy. The teaching team has seen little change since the last inspection.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The new trust has set up a transition board to support the academy in joining the Reach4 Trust. This board has clear written terms of reference which state its purpose. Members have designated roles and responsibilities so they can support and challenge the academy effectively. One of the board’s roles is to facilitate the establishment of a local governing board. The trust has supported the academy well during and following the transition period. Priorities have been identified and acted upon. For example, policies have been ratified and the academy website compliance checked. Senior leaders have already been able to access a range of training opportunities through the new trust, such as self-evaluation and assessment for learning. These opportunities have already strengthened leadership and management within the academy. The academy has been able to work with other academies within the trust to moderate writing assessments to secure accurate

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The director of inclusion for Reach4 Trust has completed a pupil premium review and a review of provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability. The transition board have also planned a moderated two-day evaluation of the academy. The previous trust’s statement of action was not fit for purpose. Reach4 Trust is in the process of completing a new and suitable statement of action. It is the intention of the trust that at a meeting with the senior leaders in June 2016 they will use recently completed evaluations and reviews to compile the trust’s new statement of action. Due to the formation of a transition board, a review of governance has not taken place. The new board has clear terms of reference and roles and responsibilities and therefore there is no requirement for an external review of governance.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The headteacher along with her senior leadership team have implemented a ‘tiered support plan’ which now rigorously monitors and evaluates staff performance. This has enabled senior leaders to hold staff to account for pupils’ performance and offer appropriate support and coaching to improve the quality of teaching across the academy. Senior leaders now consider all aspects of teaching, such as pupils’ work, progress information, planning and lessons to monitor the quality of teaching. Individual coaching and weekly professional development meetings mean that any areas of development are quickly addressed and support given. Initiatives, such as the Tuesday morning briefing, allow teachers to share good practice and support improvement. Pupils comment on how their learning has improved as lessons are now more engaging and teachers provide good support when they need it. This improvement in the quality of teaching has had a direct impact on pupils’ outcomes

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

in some areas of the academy. However, this improvement is still not yet consistent across the academy. While outcomes in the early years continue to improve and in key stage 1 have been maintained, in key stage 2 they remain variable. Evidence demonstrates that for pupils in Years 3 and 4 there have been periods where achievement declined as a direct result of the poor quality of teaching.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The leadership has effectively implemented new behaviour strategies. The number of exclusions has reduced dramatically since the last inspection and the number of pupils being excluded has fallen significantly. Pupils’ attendance has risen and is now much closer to the national average. Pupils comment on how behaviour has improved. They acknowledge that better behaviour in class means that they are able to learn at a faster rate and find learning more enjoyable. Behavioural incidents are well monitored and numbers of incidents are consistently declining. Some pupils are proud to discuss dramatic improvements in their own behaviours, particularly in class.

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External support

The headteacher continues to broker support from three other schools and has ensured that the vast majority of teaching staff have now had the opportunity to observe outstanding teaching in different settings. Since joining the Reach4 Trust, the academy has been able to make regular contact with other schools while, for example, attending training events, moderating writing and through headteacher conferences.

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