Blue River Academy

School progress monitoring inspection report

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Blue River Academy Sara Park, 160 Herbert Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, West Midlands B10 0PR

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Main inspection findings

Part 1. Quality of education provided Paragraph 2(2)a  At the last inspection, the report stated that the curriculum was too narrow and some key subjects were not taught. Action has been taken to broaden the curriculum and now timetabled subjects include physical education, and art, which is delivered through a Princes Trust initiative. A monthly visit to Birmingham Science Museum Think Tank supplements the science curriculum and the much-needed investigative work. The provision of information and communication technology contributes towards technology, but this is limited. Humanities is addressed as cross-curricular strands within personal, social and health education and citizenship lessons. Subject staff have started mapping the strands within each subject, but this is incomplete and an overview is absent.  This standard is met. Paragraph 2(2)h  With a broader curriculum and additional support for those pupils with limited English,

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Main inspection findings

all pupils now have the opportunity to learn and make progress provided that they attend regularly. Overall attendance at the school is currently 77% and this inevitably impacts on progress. However, the opportunity for all pupils to learn and make progress is in place.  This standard is met. Paragraph 3(a), 3(c), 3(d), 3(g)  At the last inspection, pupils were not making expected progress because teaching was inadequate.  Since the start of term and the new academic year, the school has developed a framework of meetings designed to raise accountability and address issues with the quality of teaching. Pupil attainment key performance indicators are a standard agenda item.  Pupils are baseline tested on arrival and assessed every six weeks thereafter. The school states in its action plan that it will improve the performance of pupils by three levels over their baseline assessment but there is no timeline specified for this. There is

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Main inspection findings

no correlation of any levels between the initial assessment and the six-weekly assessment; therefore the evaluation of progress is fundamentally flawed. Targets have been identified for pupils and currently the majority are performing below target in their first test.  Staff training records show that most training has been for safeguarding and child protection issues, with just one session on planning assessment for learning and another on meeting the independent school standards. The school has not evaluated the impact of the curriculum training and is waiting for the external trainer to return to do this.  There is an expectation that all teachers must achieve a good rating in their termly observations. Internal monitoring has identified one member of staff needing additional support. However, pupil progress tracking, books and inspection observations indicate that teaching overall remains inadequate.

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Main inspection findings

 At the last inspection, information on what pupils already know and can do was not used well to inform the planning of teaching. This remains the case. Planning is too general and does not address the individual and diverse learning needs of the pupils. This means that work is either too easy or too hard for some pupils, causing them to disengage and become disruptive. Support staff also have little direction to help pupils having difficulties learning.  The school is working hard to try to develop an effective framework to assess pupils’ work so that information can be used to plan teaching so that pupils can progress. This has not yet been achieved. The new system has not generated enough assessment information relating to individual pupils’ attainment and progress to determine effectiveness or trends over time. Also, the school has not yet worked out how to analyse its baseline information and six-weekly assessment information, or how to use

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Main inspection findings

that to set meaningful targets and ensure that teachers incorporate all this information into their planning and teaching.  Feedback to pupils is improving but is not consistent. Some books show that when feedback is given, it is not always acted on and teachers do not always follow this through with pupils, as directed in the school’s policy.  These standards are not met. Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils Paragraph 7  The school’s safeguarding policy is comprehensive. It is reviewed annually and ratified by the governing body. It is up to date and the arrangements continue to be effective.  During the inspection, the pupils spoken to were polite and respectful. Some were highly motivated to learn and all said they liked coming to the school.  The single central register is compliant.  These standards are met. Part 5. Premises of and accommodation at schools Paragraph 23(1)a, 23(1)b, 23(1)c

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Main inspection findings

 Physical education is now delivered off-site. The school uses the local swimming pool, local health and well-being centres and leisure centres where the changing and showering facilities are integral. Paragraph 25  The premises, accommodation and facilities were generally clean, tidy and safe. This was because staff themselves have taken on this responsibility while recruitment takes place for a cleaner.  These standards are met. Part 6. Provision of information Paragraph 32(1)c  The school’s safeguarding policy is available on the website, and any parent who does not have internet access can request a hard copy as required.  This standard is met. Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools Paragraph 34(1)a, 34(1)b  At the last inspection, governance had not yet impacted on teaching, outcomes for pupils or leadership and management. The school action plan identified leadership training for the headteacher; updates on statutory guidance, roles and responsibilities

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Main inspection findings

for senior leaders and governors; and a new system of key performance indicators.  The governing body is still very new. A new headteacher has been appointed and the governors are now in a position to provide objective challenge to the school. There is a genuine and deeply caring desire for the school to succeed.  The school action plan was accepted following some modifications. Self-evaluation at all levels is not good enough to bring about sustainable change.  Issues relating to premises, accommodation and facilities have largely been addressed.  New frameworks are being developed to record and track assessment information and pupil progress, but these are at an early stage and there is insufficient information to evaluate impact, identify trends or set meaningful targets.  Even with attainment monitoring every two weeks, pupils are unlikely to make good or accelerated progress while teachers do not use any available prior attainment

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Main inspection findings

information, initial baseline information or on-going lesson-by-lesson assessments of what pupils can and cannot do to plan for improvement. Planning is too general and does not target the barriers to learning or stretch the more-able.  Issues relating to improving the quality of teaching and learning and pupil outcomes remain inadequate.  In failing to meet the standards specified in Part 1, the school has also not met the standards in Part 8.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet the requirements of the schedule to The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements that were checked during this inspection. This included the standards and requirements that the school was judged to not comply with at the previous inspection. Not all of the standards and associated requirements were checked during this inspection.

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The school does not meet the following independent school standards

Standards that were not met at the previous inspection and remain unmet at this inspection  Part 1 paragraph 3(a), 3(c), 3(d), 3(g)  Part 8, paragraph 34(1)(a), paragraph 34(1)(b)

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The school now meets the following independent school standards

 Part 1, paragraph 2(2)(h)  Part 5, paragraph 23(1)(c), paragraph 25

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School Details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School Details

Annual fees (day pupils) £33.85 per day via Pupil Placements £2,700 to £2,900 per term via school referring agency Telephone number 0121 753 1933

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School Details

Date of previous standard inspection 2–4 March 2016

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Information about this school

 Blue River Academy works with young people aged 14 to 16 who are out of mainstream school due to behavioural issues, because they are newly arrived in the country, or because they are unable to gain a school place. Most pupils have become disengaged with education, are at risk of exclusion or have missed an extended period of schooling. Some, however, are highly motivated to learn.  The new headteacher took up his post at the start of the autumn term.  The school is situated in a former children’s play centre in Sara Park and is rented from the local authority. At the time of the inspection, there were 13 pupils on roll. The school also has access to two other sites; one is based at Tyseley Community Centre and the other at Medley Road. Neither was in use at the time of this inspection.  The school was last inspected in March 2016 and judged to be inadequate. An action plan was produced and evaluated by Ofsted in July 2016 resulting in some modifications.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out at the request of the registration authority for independent schools and was the first progress monitoring inspection since the school’s last inspection in March 2016. The purpose of the inspection was to monitor the progress the school has made in meeting the independent school standards and other requirements that it was judged not to comply with at its previous inspection.  The Department for Education accepted the school’s action plan with modifications on 16 July 2016.  The school was given no notice of this inspection.  The inspector met with the proprietor, the headteacher and other senior managers, teaching, support and administrative staff. Lessons were observed, including a joint observation with the headteacher, and discussions were held with individual pupils. Pupils’ work was scrutinised. A range of documents were reviewed, including the school’s safeguarding policy, single central register and staff files, the school’s action

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Information about this inspection

plan and progress file, curriculum and schemes of work folder, staff training records, minutes of a governors’ meeting, pupils’ progress information, and attendance information.  There were no responses recorded on Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.

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Inspection team

Elizabeth Ellis-Martin, lead inspector 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

Parent View 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 visitwww.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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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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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