Stockley Academy

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

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Ms Ann Colgan Principal Stockley Academy Park View Road Yiewsley Hillingdon UB8 3GA

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Stockley Academy

Following my visit with Carolyn Dickinson, Her Majesty’s Inspector, and Geoff Butler, Ofsted Inspector, to your school on 7–8 February 2017, 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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Special measures monitoring inspection of Stockley Academy

The inspection was the fourth monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in June 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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Special measures monitoring inspection of Stockley Academy

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

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Stockley Academy

Leaders and managers are not taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Stockley Academy

Having considered all the evidence I strongly recommend that the school does not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Stockley Academy

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hillingdon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

 Improve leadership and management by: – ensuring that all safeguarding incidents are reported to appropriate parties and recorded immediately – reviewing regularly targets and timescales in the academy improvement plan to check that the academy is making progress quickly – developing a rigorous approach to monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching by linking it closely to the progress pupils make over time and how they are improving the quality and presentation of their work – strengthening tracking systems so that the progress and attendance of disadvantaged students and those with special educational needs are monitored systematically to enable staff to close the gaps between them and other pupils – improving the way tutors deliver the spiritual, moral, social and cultural curriculum – ensuring greater consistency in the way staff handle bullying incidents and implement behaviour policies – increasing the rigour in the way attendance for disadvantaged students is

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

monitored.  Improving the quality of teaching and achievement for all students, particularly in Years 7 to 9 by: – ensuring all staff have the highest expectations of the amount, quality and presentation of work that pupils complete – improving feedback so that it clearly identifies what pupils need to do to improve and ensuring that pupils have opportunities to correct their work – providing suitably challenging and interesting work for pupils, especially the most able, to challenge them to think more deeply about their learning – ensuring that teachers’ use of questioning deepens pupils’ understanding – ensuring that pupils’ skills in writing and numeracy are consistently well developed across the curriculum – setting all pupils homework tasks which challenge and extend their learning.  Improve sixth form provision by: – increasing attainment in A-level courses and the GCSE re-take examinations in English and mathematics

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

– improving consistency in the quality of teaching – increasing the proportion of learners who continue from Year 12 into Year 13.

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Evidence

During the visit, inspectors met with the chair of governors, the principal, senior and middle leaders, staff and pupils. Inspectors visited 26 parts of lessons, 22 of which were jointly observed with the school’s leaders. Inspectors spoke to pupils both formally and during break and lunchtimes. A range of documents provided by senior leaders was analysed. These included the single central record (showing the checks made on the suitability of staff to work with pupils), school development plans and the school’s analysis of the progress of current pupils. The particular focus of this monitoring visit was on the capacity of leadership to improve the school. Also in focus was the progress of current pupils, particularly those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged; and pupils’ attitudes to learning.

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Context

Since the previous monitoring visit in November 2016, there have been further staff changes. The executive headteacher is no longer supporting the school. The principal has appointed two new senior leaders temporarily to add capacity to the existing team, while they recruit a substantive vice-principal. Senior leaders’ roles and responsibilities have been restructured. Key vacancies, including the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), finance director and business manager, have now been filled. However, staff recruitment and retention is still posing a significant challenge.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The principal has ably maintained staff and pupil morale through a time of continuing change and uncertainty. She has attempted to utilise current staff’s strengths, be more vigilant in holding staff to account for poor performance and focus on improving key areas. However, staff recruitment and retention is still proving a significant challenge to school improvement. The principal has been proactive in securing further leadership capacity and creative in her attempts to minimise disruption to key pupil groups, particularly the current Year 11. Consequently, her actions are beginning to have a positive impact on the culture and ethos of the school.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The new SENCo appointed in December has already made substantial progress in this area. They have assessed the reading ages of the current Year 7 and begun to measure accurately pupils’ progress over the first term. Pupils heard reading during the inspection were keen and enthusiastic about the books they had chosen and the support they receive to improve their literacy. The SENCo has assessed all eligible Year 11 pupils to ensure that any examination access arrangements are appropriate. A system that helps teachers support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities in the classroom has been launched this week. Consequently, leadership of this area has improved since the previous monitoring visit.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Middle leaders are a competent group, who work cohesively together. During the inspection, many observed lessons with inspectors and demonstrated that they have an accurate and reflective understanding of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment seen. They are loyal to the school and pupils and determined to provide a good standard of education. However, some are plagued by regular staff changes in their departments. While they strive to minimise the ensuing disruption to pupils’ learning, often this means prioritising some year groups over others. A new head of mathematics starts after the February half-term break and the substantive head of English returns in the summer term.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Safeguarding arrangements continue to be effective. During the inspection, systems for admitting new pupils, supporting at-risk pupils and checks on the movement of pupils to other providers were scrutinised. These were found to be detailed and appropriate. Child protection and inclusion continues to be a high priority.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The chair of governors supports the actions of the new principal and ensures that there is financial support and resources for them to bring about whole-school improvements.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

However, senior leaders’ actions to secure rapid school improvement are often too preoccupied with output rather than outcomes. Many initiatives do not have specific and measurable targets. Some whole-school plans lack a strategic overview, focusing on activities rather than quantifiable impact. For instance, the pupil premium strategy details where funding is spent. However, it does not identify specific barriers to learning for particular groups of disadvantaged pupils and plan explicit actions to address them. It does not specify how senior leaders will check whether these actions have had an impact on the progress of disadvantaged pupils. Equally, although senior leaders carefully track the progress of individual, current pupils, they do not scrutinise this information in enough detail. They do not challenge staff on the validity of the data or question anomalies of individual pupils’ performance in different subjects. They do not use pupils’ progress information to

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

inform a strategic plan. This lack of strategic planning is preventing significant and rapid whole-school improvement. While a number of appropriate actions have been taken since the previous monitoring visit, some are still in the early stages of implementation or the impact is not significant enough to ensure the removal of special measures.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Leaders continue to deploy the best teachers to examination classes in an attempt to accelerate pupils’ progress. Consequently, subject specialists teach many pupils in key stage 4, particularly in Year 11. These teachers know pupils well, are clear about the course requirements and plan activities accordingly. In these lessons, pupils are challenged and make progress. The current Year 11 are highly focused on achieving well in the summer examinations, work hard and have pride in their work. Teachers are acutely aware that they have much to do to help pupils catch up with pupils nationally. In some subject areas, such as science, staff changes have caused inconsistencies in the quality of education pupils are receiving. Pupils believe that they have gaps in their knowledge and continue to be frustrated by the disparity in the quality of teaching.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

In September 2016, leaders introduced a new system for monitoring the quality of pupils’ work in class. Weekly scrutiny of selected pupils’ books and work ensures that senior leaders are more aware of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across departments. This information is used to inform professional development needs and specific support for individual teachers.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The quality of teaching continues to be highly variable across the school. Some teachers are highly competent subject specialists who ensure that set activities build on pupils’ prior knowledge to deepen their understanding and learning. These teachers by necessity support those who are less confident or lack their expertise. Equally, staff, partly due to the number of new or non-permanent staff, do not consistently use the SWAT (‘state, warning, action, transfer’) behaviour system to manage poor behaviour in class. Consequently, pupils’ attitudes to learning continue to be highly inconsistent across the school, particularly in key stage 3. This is often due to the inappropriateness of activities set. In such lessons, pupils quickly become disengaged from the task and silliness and low-level disruptive behaviour is common.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Since the previous monitoring visit, the principal has instigated a system of horizontal tutoring to ensure that pupils in each year group feel a sense of belonging and receive tailored support. The transition to this system has been quick and smooth. Heads of house remain, with responsibility for a particular year group. Pupils were quick to tell inspectors who their ‘new’ head of year was and explain some of the activities they have done together.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Conduct around the site continues to improve. Though recreational areas are busy, they are heavily supervised and pupils mingle well together across year groups. Prefects support younger pupils and the atrium offers a peaceful sanctuary for Year 11 and sixth form students to work, in the hub of the main school. However, at times pupils’ behaviour is more boisterous, particularly when new staff are supervising.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

School leaders continue to plan extra-curricular opportunities for pupils in the wider world. For instance, a group of Year 8 pupils recently visited ‘Jamie’s Farm’ near Bath. Pupils value these activities highly. Attendance is still a serious concern across Years 7 to 11, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Currently, almost a quarter of pupils are persistently absent from school and overall attendance is much lower than the national average in every year group. Poor attendance is particularly stark for disadvantaged pupils. In January, leaders introduced a whole-school tracking system that checks daily on individuals’ attendance and prescribes particular actions, for instance a meeting with parents. Heads of year are marketing the importance of good attendance with pupils and regular rewards for good attendance are highlighting its importance. However, more significant and rapid action needs to be taken in order to minimise

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

the impact of low attendance on the progress pupils make.

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Outcomes for pupils

The principal has rightly prioritised the progress of the current Year 11 and has instigated a number of initiatives to support this, including department ‘Rapid Improvement Plans’. Each pupil has a learning mentor and pupils value their weekly meetings. During tutor time, Year 11 receive extra mathematics and English tuition. ‘Lectures’ focusing on different aspects of the English or mathematics curriculum help to focus pupils’ learning and compensate for any gaps in knowledge that pupils might still have. However, while the principal is creative in her attempts to diminish the impact of continuing staff turbulence, some pupils are rightly frustrated by the constant changes in staff, particularly in areas such as science.

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Outcomes for pupils

Staff are more familiar with the new assessment system implemented in September 2016 and appear to understand the new process for measuring progress. Stickers indicating pupils’ current and predicted grades are routinely used. Some standardisation of assessments with other schools in the borough has begun. Formal assessments are now mapped into the school year and three have taken place. What is less robust is the accuracy of predictions for the current Year 11. Some predicted outcomes need further scrutiny to check that they are accurate. Further analysis of the current data is needed to inform leaders’ strategic planning.

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Outcomes for pupils

Information provided by school leaders indicates that pupils across the school need to make significant and sustained progress in order to catch up with pupils nationally. A legacy of underachievement over time and, in many cases, poor literacy and numeracy, means that many pupils have significant gaps in their learning. Of most concern is the very limited progress made by the large group of disadvantaged pupils across the school compared to their peers and other pupils nationally.

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External support

Leaders have continued to reduce the amount of external support commissioned by the school.  Senior leaders must ensure that whole-school plans are built on detailed and comprehensive investigation of the available information, that actions focus on specific identified issues, funding is directed appropriately and resulting outcomes are measurable in terms of pupils’ progress.

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