The Ridings Federation Winterbourne International Academy

The Ridings’ Federation Winterbourne International Academy High Street, Winterbourne, Bristol BS36 1JL

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The progress of pupils varies considerably across the school. In key subjects, pupils do not learn as well as they should and do not attain the GCSE results of which they are capable.  Disadvantaged pupils are making considerably less progress than other pupils nationally, particularly in mathematics.  The most able pupils are not making sufficient progress because they are not consistently helped to extend their learning.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils are capable of are too low because they do not take sufficient account of what pupils know already. Teachers do not plan activities which challenge pupils to think more deeply.  Teachers do not share their ideas regularly and so the good practice in some areas is not passed on effectively to others.  The quality of tutorial work in the sixth form is weak and too many students are not developing their wider skills.  Many pupils do not show an active interest in

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

their work. They lack the resilience to keep going when they are not able to understand and this causes them to leave work unfinished.  Pupils’ attendance overall is above average and improving. However, it remains below average for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Staff have not benefited from concerted leadership for some time and so there has been confusion about roles and a lack of direction.  Senior leaders do not analyse assessment information effectively. Their evaluation of the performance of different areas in the school is inaccurate.  Governors have not challenged senior leaders effectively. They have not overseen the use of pupil premium funding well and consequently disadvantaged pupils continue to underachieve.  Until recently, the trust has not had effective financial control. A large budget deficit exists. The school has the following strengths

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The interim principal has a clear vision and ambition for the future.  Relationships between teachers and pupils are good. Many pupils are proud of their school.  Drama and the arts are taught well. January 2017

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of 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 pupils’ progress in subjects across the school by: – taking urgent action to improve the quality of teaching – ensuring that teachers have suitably high expectations of what pupils can achieve – ensuring that teachers use assessment information more effectively to plan learning activities which are at the right level for pupils – providing disadvantaged pupils with the help they need to learn and make better academic progress – providing the most able pupils with work which deepens their knowledge, skills and understanding.  Improve the quality of 16 to 19 study programmes by helping students develop their employability skills and study skills more effectively.  Improve the personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils by: – focusing the efforts to improve attendance more effectively on disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities – developing the curriculum to build pupils’ self-confidence so they take an active

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

interest in their learning and are motivated to do better.  Improve leadership and management at all levels by: – ensuring the trust board takes further action to improve governance so that it holds the school’s leaders rigorously to account for pupils’ progress and the spending of pupil premium and catch-up funding – ensuring that senior leaders analyse and evaluate assessment information more rigorously and use it to develop effective plans to improve the quality of teaching and learning – giving middle leaders greater direction and holding them to account for improving pupils’ progress in their subject areas – providing a systematic approach to sharing the good practice that exists in some areas to improve the consistency of teaching quality across the school – providing school leaders and other staff with opportunities to develop their skills and experience by working with effective colleagues in other schools.

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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 January 2017 aspect of leadership and management may be improved. 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. January 2017

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders and governors have been ineffective in improving the school since the previous inspection in April 2015.  The poor progress of pupils in 2015 and 2016 continues in key subjects because the wide variability in the quality of teaching has been allowed to persist. Leaders have not involved themselves in local networks and so the school has become inward-looking. Frequent reorganisation of governance structures has not brought about the improvements required.  Leaders have not ensured that all pupils have equal opportunities to succeed. Disadvantaged pupils continue to make significantly less progress than other pupils because leaders have not made good use of pupil premium funding. They have not provided effective guidance to teachers. Consequently, classroom strategies to help disadvantaged pupils are underdeveloped. Similarly, Year 7 catch-up funding is poorly targeted and so it is not used to help the pupils who need it most.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have not been successful in raising teachers’ expectations of the most able pupils and so work is not planned to meet their needs.  Until very recently subject leaders have not had effective plans in place to raise pupils’ achievement in their areas. They have focused too much on pupils’ attainment and not enough on the progress key groups of pupils make from their starting points.  Leaders’ efforts to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment have had little impact. Although they monitor the quality of teaching by, for example, checking work in books and gathering assessment information, they do not evaluate this information well. Consequently, leaders do not have a good grasp of the reasons why pupils are underperforming.  The system to manage teachers’ performance and agree future targets is not as robust or as accurate as it needs to be to secure real change. Leaders have not made whole-

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

school development priorities clear and so the training provided for teachers has not been focused effectively on the areas that need to be improved. Teachers have not been given enough opportunity to share the good practice that exists in some parts of the school.  The trust board has very recently commissioned two multi-academy trusts to give interim leadership support to the school. They have swiftly appointed an interim principal who has immediately started to make connections with parents and others in the school community to begin rebuilding their trust. He has high aspirations for the school and its pupils. However, he has only had a matter of days to begin this work.  Teachers’ morale is low. Many teachers comment on the need for more effective leadership at the school. They have welcomed the arrival of the interim principal and are hopeful that his expertise and experience will provide the stability the school needs.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The curriculum enables pupils to study a broad range of subjects at GCSE and A level. However, the curriculum is not meeting the needs of the most able pupils or disadvantaged pupils and so they are not progressing well. Senior leaders have made January 2017 frequent changes to the personal, social and health education programme. Pupils in key stage 3 are offered good opportunities to think carefully about life in modern Britain. As a result, they understand democratic processes, the importance of the law and of tolerance of others’ views. Pupils in key stage 4 have fewer opportunities and so their understanding of British values does not broaden as they get older. This trend continues into the sixth form.  Leaders have ensured that pupils receive impartial careers education through a range of activities which meets pupils’ needs well. Although students in the sixth form also receive advice, their understanding of a variety of employment routes is less well

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

developed.  Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular activities including artistic, sporting and cultural events. For example, the production of the play, ‘Our House’, being prepared during the inspection, illustrates good-quality extension of the curriculum in the performing arts. This is an area of learning which is particularly well taught.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is generally well supported by the curriculum. Pupils are able to understand and appreciate other cultures and points of view because of this.

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Governance of the school

 The local governing committee has not held senior leaders to account for the performance of the school. They have not challenged leaders robustly enough about the continuing poor progress of pupils.  Governors have not ensured that either pupil premium funding or Year 7 catch-up funding is used effectively. They do not evaluate actions to improve the achievement of key groups of pupils based on assessment information. Consequently, they are not well placed to set the strategic direction of the school.  Poor oversight of arrangements to manage the performance of teachers has resulted in weak systems in school.  Until recently, the trust has not ensured that there is effective financial control and so the school has a deficit budget.  New appointments to the trust board have significantly improved the quality of governance. However, these actions have taken place so recently that there has been no time for any impact to become apparent.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Appropriate checks are made on adults working in the school. All staff receive safeguarding training and this training is updated regularly so that there is a good understanding of the signs of abuse or neglect. Procedures to keep pupils safe are understood and followed.  Leaders and governors have ensured that safeguarding is a high priority by maintaining January 2017 a culture of vigilance where all staff are aware of their responsibilities.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Teaching over time is inadequate. Across a range of subjects, it is failing to help pupils make the progress they should.  Teachers do not use information about pupils’ prior attainment effectively and so they do not have suitably high expectations of what pupils are capable of. Consequently, groups of pupils with different needs, particularly disadvantaged pupils, are not having their needs met and this puts a ceiling on the progress they can make.  The most able pupils are not consistently challenged because tasks are not planned to stretch and deepen their understanding. As a result, they are not being encouraged to extend their knowledge and skills. For example, in mathematics, pupils are often able to describe mechanisms for solving problems but they are not able to explain the underlying reasoning behind the method.  Pupils often lack self-confidence and so do not know what to do when they are unsure

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

about the next step in their work. They frequently sit and wait for help from their teacher and this wastes time in lessons.  Many pupils are confused about the new assessment system which has been introduced this academic year. While some pupils can explain how it works, few are able to talk confidently about the target they are aiming for in each subject and how they can improve their work to achieve it.  Teachers are not using homework consistently. Pupils say that the amount of homework set, and its usefulness for learning, varies markedly between teachers.  In the majority of classes visited there were good relationships between pupils and teachers. When necessary, teachers use the agreed procedures for managing poor behaviour. However, the removal of pupils from lessons does place a demand on pastoral managers.  The quality of teaching has improved in English and so pupils are now making much

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

better progress in this subject. Teaching in drama and other creative subjects is also enabling pupils to make better progress.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  While many pupils do show interest in their work and were keen to speak to inspectors about their learning, a significant number of pupils do not engage well enough in their learning. When these pupils find a task too difficult they lack the confidence to keep trying. All too often they give up and so tasks are not completed and gaps are left in their knowledge. January 2017  Pupils are not developing the attitudes needed to be successful learners through the curriculum. Therefore, they are not building a set of skills that will help them to achieve at higher levels. Likewise, students in the sixth form are not challenged enough to reflect on how they learn. As a consequence, many students are not becoming more sophisticated in their study habits.  Most pupils show pride in their school. They respect the school environment and many

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Personal development and welfare

speak highly of their teachers, particularly in the sixth form. Generally good relationships between pupils and staff have resulted in a community where pupils feel safe and well cared for.  Parents and pupils say that bullying is not common but when it does happen it is dealt with well by staff. School records confirm that incidents are rare and that because appropriate action is taken fewer incidents are happening.  Pupils are taught how to make good choices to support a physically and emotionally healthy lifestyle and how to avoid risks in a range of situations. As a result, pupils know about strategies to keep themselves safe, for example, when using the internet and when using social media.  Pupils receive a programme of impartial careers guidance through a range of activities and this is largely effective. A high proportion of all pupils go on to secure places in education or training when they leave. However, the proportion of disadvantaged

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Personal development and welfare

pupils who are similarly successful is much lower.  A very small number of pupils attend off-site provision at Pathways Learning Centre to support their learning. They are well looked after and make good progress.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Pupils’ attendance overall is currently above the national average. However, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not come to school as regularly. The rate of attendance of these two groups of pupils remains too low.  Many disadvantaged pupils are persistently absent from school and this contributes to their poor progress.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons is generally good, although there are incidents of minor misconduct where pupils are not given work which interests and motivates them. Teachers are using a newly agreed procedure for dealing with these incidents and the school’s records show that they are now becoming less frequent.  Pupils who find it difficult to behave are supported in school by the Academic Reintegration Centre which provides them with individualised help. This initiative, among others, has caused the number of fixed-term exclusions to fall year-on-year for

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Behaviour

three years and there are now few repeat exclusions.  Pupils’ behaviour around school is typically mature and courteous. Consequently, there is a calm and orderly atmosphere at lunch and breaktimes. January 2017

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Pupils join the school in Year 7 with attainment which is well above average. The progress made by pupils who left in 2015 was well below the average for pupils with similar starting points. In 2016, there was still a significant lack of progress. Pupils are not learning as well as they should be in many subjects, including science, languages and humanities.  Pupils in other year groups are not making the progress they are capable of because teachers’ expectations are too low. Pupils’ ability to express their knowledge and understanding varies greatly across the school.  Disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, make consistently poor progress. The school’s use of pupil premium funding has caused little improvement for these pupils since the previous inspection. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who attain the basic qualifications of English and mathematics GCSE at this school is around half of that of other pupils nationally.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Pupils’ confidence and self-reliance are not developed effectively through the curriculum and, so, many are not well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment.  The most able pupils, who form a large percentage of the school population, do not make good progress. The proportion of the most able pupils who achieve the English Baccalaureate is much lower than pupils of similar ability nationally.  Pupils’ progress in English has improved in the last year and is now above average. In mathematics pupils’ progress overall is average, however, disadvantaged pupils make considerably less progress than other pupils in this subject.  Lower-ability pupils make progress which is in line with the national average for pupils with similar starting points. Pupils across Years 7 and 8 are supported well by a programme to develop their reading skills. However, senior leaders do not use catch-up

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

funding effectively because it is not targeted at those pupils who need the most help.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making better progress since the appointment of a new special educational needs coordinator. These pupils are now receiving better support and so their needs are being met more effectively.

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

 The sixth form requires improvement. Although many students experience academic success, the non-qualification work which is provided for them is not helping them to develop their wider skills effectively. Time set aside for tutorial work is not used wisely and results in only limited development of students’ understanding of life in modern Britain.  Students are offered work experience placements alongside other work-related activities. Too many students do not take up the offer and therefore do not have a fully rounded view of the skills different employers will demand of them. January 2017  Students are proud of their sixth form, they attend well and behave well in lessons. Most are self-assured and confident learners. However, those students who are not as confident when they join the sixth form are not getting the structured guidance they require to rapidly develop effective study skills. Consequently, some students are not

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

able to use independent study time in school effectively.  The senior leader with responsibility for 16 to 19 study programmes has only been appointed to the role very recently. She expresses vision and ambition but has not yet had a chance to evaluate the current position or form a plan for the future.  Students on academic programmes make above average progress from their starting points. In 2016, the average A-level grade was B, one grade above the national average. Students on vocational programmes made progress in line with the national average.  The quality of teaching is more consistent and effective in the sixth form than the rest of the school. Teachers use questioning well to check students’ understanding and help them think through complex issues. Students are motivated and this contributes well to the academic progress they make. Teachers on A-level programmes are invariably experienced subject specialists and so students have confidence in them.

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

 Teachers assess students’ work accurately against exam board criteria and students’ progress is monitored closely, allowing teachers to intervene when students need extra help.  As a result of effective induction procedures, the vast majority of students who begin A-level courses in Year 12 stay on them through to completion in Year 13. They feel safe and are well looked after. Students are given effective, impartial advice about their next steps. The vast majority apply to higher education and most gain places at universities of their choice.  The curriculum offers a good range of predominantly A-level qualifications alongside a small number of vocational subjects. This provides sufficient choice to meet the needs and aspirations of students.  A small number of students join the sixth form without a GCSE grade C or better in English and/or mathematics. An effective teaching programme for these pupils ensures

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16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

that a high proportion improve their grade to a C or better when they resit these qualifications. January 2017

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School details

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

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School details

Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Mixed

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,782

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School details

Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes Appropriate authority Academy Trust

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School details

Date of previous inspection 23–24 April 2015

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Ridings’ Federation of Academies Trust. Since the previous inspection a new chair of the trust has been appointed. The chief executive of the trust and the principal of the academy left their posts in October and December 2016 respectively.  Two local multi-academy trusts, the Olympus Trust and the Castle School Education Trust are supporting the school temporarily. This arrangement began two weeks before the inspection.  An interim principal, currently the headteacher of The Castle School, started work at January 2017 the school six days before the inspection.  This school is much larger than the average-sized secondary school.  The large majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs/or disabilities is well below average.  The proportion of pupils who are supported through pupil premium funding is below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum

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Information about this school

expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 11.  A small number of pupils with emotional or behavioural needs attend off-site provision at the Pathways Learning Centre.  The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the use of pupil premium funding on its website.  The school does not comply with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish about the use of pupil premium funding. January 2017

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors looked at documentation including minutes of governors’ meetings, development plans, analysis of pupils’ progress, attendance and behaviour logs and documents relating to safeguarding.  Inspectors observed learning across a range of age groups and subjects, listened to pupils read and scrutinised samples of pupils’ written work. Many of these observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors held meetings with the interim principal, senior and middle leaders, groups of pupils in key stages 3 and 4 and sixth form students. Meetings were also held with the chair of the trust, the chair of the local governing committee and the interim chief executive officer of the trust.  A telephone conversation took place with one other governor.  Inspectors took account of 168 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, 250 responses to the pupil questionnaire and 74 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Paul Williams, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Shelagh Pritchard Ofsted Inspector January 2017 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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