Landau Forte Academy Moorhead

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

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Mrs Fiona Smith Head of School Landau Forte Academy Moorhead Brackens Lane Alvaston Derby Derbyshire DE24 0AN

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Moorhead

Following my visit to your school on 15–16 March 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 recent section 5 inspection. The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in June 2016. Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time: Leaders and managers are not taking effective action towards the removal of special measures. The trust’s statement of action is fit for purpose. The school’s improvement plan is not fit for purpose. Having considered all the evidence I strongly recommend that the academy does not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Moorhead

I am copying this letter to the executive board, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Derby. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by: – making sure that school improvement plans are detailed and precise so that it is clear what actions are to be taken to improve teaching, and ensuring that the action plan is evaluated regularly in terms of the extent to which actions have had a positive impact on pupils – securing an accurate self-evaluation, so that school leaders and the governing body agree about the school’s strengths and areas for improvement – giving accurate feedback to teachers about the quality of their practice, so that they know how to improve, and provide them with the support and training to do so – ensuring that teachers with responsibilities for subjects make a major contribution to checking and evaluating the quality of teaching – monitoring the impact of support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities to ensure that they make good progress – developing the content of the whole-school curriculum, in order to ensure

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

that it is delivered with clear learning intentions, outcomes and assessment opportunities – improving governance, so that governors challenge senior leaders more closely about the progress that is made by different groups of pupils – ensuring that governors monitor the use and impact of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and the use made of the primary sport funding.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment rapidly to accelerate pupils’ progress by: – using information about pupils’ prior learning to plan accurately the knowledge, skills and understanding required to deepen pupils’ learning, particularly in mathematics – using information about pupils effectively to support the achievement of groups of pupils, such as those who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, so that they make faster progress – providing work to pupils that provides sufficient challenge for all groups of

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

pupils, particularly the most able pupils – checking on pupils’ learning more closely to identify misconceptions and to address them quickly – developing teachers’ subject knowledge of mathematics, so that they have a better understanding of how to deal with pupils’ misconceptions and help them to develop their skills in problem solving and ability to reason – applying the whole-school marking and feedback policy consistently, so that pupils understand how well they are doing and how to improve their work – ensuring that pupils’ reading books are appropriate for their ability.  Improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare by: – ensuring that the behaviour policy is applied consistently across the school in order to eradicate low-level disruption in lessons – dealing with persistent absence of pupils and ensuring that there are effective systems in place to secure improved attendance, particularly of

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

disadvantaged pupils.  Improve the quality of provision in the early years by: – ensuring that all adults have secure subject knowledge in mathematics, so that children learn key vocabulary and concepts accurately – ensuring that leaders’ evaluation of the quality of early years provision is accurate through the use of effective monitoring practices. An external review of governance, to include a specific focus on the school’s use of the pupil premium and sport funding, 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 school’s work and met with the head of school; two members from the governing body, which included the chair and the primary director; two members from the trust, including the chief executive officer; the assistant headteacher; leaders responsible for English, mathematics, early years and special educational needs; and a group of pupils from key stage 2. The inspector spoke to parents before the start of school, visited every class, evaluated pupils’ work and listened to pupils read. The statement of action, the school improvement plan and the English and mathematics subject action plans were evaluated. The inspector considered the school’s most recent attainment information of pupils. Documentation relating to pupils’ attendance, behaviour and arrangements for safeguarding pupils were also considered. The inspector also scrutinised information relating to the monitoring of teaching and learning; the external review of

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Evidence

governance; minutes from governing body meetings and information relating to pupil premium funding.

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Context

Following the inspection, the principal and vice-principal resigned their posts. An interim head of school has been appointed. The assistant headteacher returned to the school following a secondment in November 2016. One learning support assistant has resigned. The leadership team has been restructured. There is one vacancy on the leadership team for assessment and data analysis. There are currently three vacancies on the governing body.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders and governors have not taken effective action since the Ofsted inspection in June 2016 to improve the school quickly enough. Consequently, too many pupils are not making the progress that they should. The leaders’ current self-evaluation is overgenerous.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders have not improved the quality of teaching quickly enough. Too much of the teaching remains poor. The pupils are set work which does not sufficiently challenge them to make good progress. The most recent teacher assessments show that a significant proportion of pupils are not achieving well.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders have not put sufficient training in place to improve the quality of teaching. Consequently, pupils are not making good progress across the curriculum.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The governing body have been too slow to develop their role. They are not closely scrutinising the work of the school leaders. There has only been one governor visit which has focused on the curriculum in the current academic year. While the governing body have started to ask more questions about the achievement of different year groups, they have not asked about the progress of groups of pupils, for example the most able or those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The governing body do not know how the pupil premium funding has been allocated to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The new head of school has started to improve teaching and learning. She has brought rigour to teachers’ planning. Teachers are now using age-related expectations as the basis for their planning of lessons for the whole curriculum. There are a range of systems in place to monitor the quality of teaching and learning, and pupils’ work. Consequently, leaders know where the overall strengths and weaknesses are in the quality of teaching.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

However, the monitoring of teaching is not as precise as it should be. Leaders do not consistently check on the progress of groups of pupils, for example the most able. As a result, teachers are not consistently receiving feedback about the progress of the groups of pupils. The most able and disadvantaged pupils are particularly underachieving through the school.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The head of school has motivated staff to improve the learning environment. There are attractive displays around the school to celebrate the pupils’ work, particularly their writing. For example, pupils have written poems in response to a governor’s writing challenge.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The school improvement plan does not state precisely how teaching will be improved. Training is rarely mentioned and it is unclear how leaders expect to improve the quality of teaching. In addition, there are very few actions planned for the rest of the academic year to improve standards at the school. I have asked that the school action plan be revised and sent to me by the 13 April 2017.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The head of school, who is also the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO), has worked closely with the assistant SENCO to meet the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They have acted swiftly to meet the needs of this group of pupils. Extra support from external professionals has been brokered to help assess pupils’ needs and to provide support for the teachers to meet the needs of these pupils. The assistant SENCO has tracked the intervention strategies that pupils have received and has monitored the pupils’ progress. Leaders now have a more informed view of the progress this group of pupils are making.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The subject leaders for English and mathematics have started to monitor their subjects through brief observations of lessons and looking at pupils’ work. One of the leaders of English has led training for staff to develop their questioning of pupils. She has then observed in classes to check if teachers are asking more open- ended questions and allowing pupils to give more extended answers. She found some improvement in some classes. However, during this inspection, pupils were rarely observed giving extended answers in lessons.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The early years leader has not formally observed staff in the early years. The head of school has completed this leadership role and is accurate in her observations. The teachers in the early years have visited another school and further developed their practice by setting more ambitious targets for the children to achieve in their learning. However, this practice is inconsistent and there are activities that are still being planned which do not sufficiently challenge the most able. The staff have had no training to improve their subject knowledge of mathematics.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders have reviewed how the sport premium funding is being used but have not developed a plan to show how the funding is being allocated in the current year. All pupils have had a taster session for kick boxing and aerobics, and a group of pupils are receiving regular tuition for kick boxing. However, the school has not analysed the proportion of pupils who are participating in extra-curricular sporting activities through the school.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

There are substantial differences in the quality of teaching. There are significant weaknesses in key stage 2. Teachers’ expectations are too low. Consequently, pupils are not making the progress that they should.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Teachers are now planning lessons in line with age-related expectations. However, teachers are not developing pupils’ knowledge and skills well enough to enable them to make good progress. This is particularly evident in mathematics. Sometimes, pupils are introduced to a new topic, for example angles, but they are not given the time to deepen their knowledge before moving on to a new topic. On other occasions, pupils are spending a great deal of time consolidating their knowledge and skills, but are not given the opportunity to use their knowledge to solve more complex problems. Consequently, pupils are not gaining a solid understanding of mathematical concepts.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The most able pupils are underachieving. In Years 5 and 6, the most able mathematicians were given questions about averages which did not sufficiently challenge their learning. Teachers’ questioning did not provide the opportunity for pupils to think independently about how they could solve the questions set.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Occasionally pupils are being given tasks to develop their reasoning skills. In Year 4, pupils were asked to think about different corresponding numbers to total a thousand. Pupils in the Year 2 class were thinking of how they can use different coins and notes to pay for everyday items. However, these opportunities are rare and are not fully explored throughout the school. Consequently, pupils do not have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. In English lessons, pupils are being given opportunities to write for different genres. The whole school wrote stories based on the book ‘Orion and the Dark’. Pupils wrote imaginative sentences, but many struggled to punctuate accurately. The pupils’ written vocabulary is underdeveloped. The head of school has recognised this and has very recently purchased more dictionaries and thesauruses. Although pupils are writing more frequently, the writing is mostly in short pieces and pupils

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

are not developing their ability to structure and write a longer piece of text.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

In the early years, the children are developing their letter formation. Teachers have raised their expectations of what to expect for the children’s writing. The most able children have started to use ‘because’ and ‘and’ to make their sentences more complex.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

However, there are still activities which are not appropriate for all children. For example, some children were using plastic tweezers to pick up objects and to sort. This was too easy for many of the children. Consequently, the children are not consistently learning or making good progress.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The teaching of phonics is improving. Teachers do insist that pupils pronounce the sounds of letters accurately to help them to read. The less able are motivated to learn but are not yet confident with sounds that they should know at their age.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The pupils’ reading books are appropriate for their ability. Older pupils are pleased with the range of books they can choose from at school and could name their favourite authors. The school is promoting a love of reading for pupils.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Pupils’ behaviour around the school is improving. The pupils have responded well to the new behaviour code in school. They know what they have to do to ‘stay green’. The pupils are very knowledgeable of the consequences if they do misbehave. Pupils told me that behaviour in class is mostly good. Where teaching is stronger, pupils show an enthusiasm for learning. However, more pupils show compliance to school rules in their lessons rather than demonstrate an enthusiastic approach to learning.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Leaders are monitoring behaviour closely. There has been a recent rise in fixed- term exclusions. However, repeat exclusions are rare.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

The overall attendance of pupils is in line with the national average. The school rewards good attendance and teachers are promoting it well in their classes. However, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are persistently absent remains too high. The school has worked closely with parents and pupils to improve attendance. The learning mentor has visited the houses of pupils if the school does not know why pupils have not attended school that morning. The school is also working closely with the local authority’s education welfare office to improve attendance.

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Outcomes for pupils

Pupils’ outcomes in the statutory tests at the end of key stage 2 in 2016 were low. Only 33% of pupils gained the expected level in reading, writing and mathematics combined compared to the national average of 53%. Pupils’ outcomes at the expected level were low in reading and writing. However, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected level in mathematics was only just below the national average. Pupils’ progress through key stage 2 in all three subjects was broadly average.

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Outcomes for pupils

The proportion of pupils who achieved at a higher level in reading and mathematics was below the national average at the end of key stage 2. No pupil achieved highly in writing. The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected level or higher for English grammar, spelling and punctuation was also well below the national average at the end of key stage 2.

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Outcomes for pupils

The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who achieved the expected level in reading and writing at the end of key stage 2 was low compared to other pupils nationally. In mathematics, disadvantaged pupils achieved better, but still less well than other pupils nationally. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who achieved highly in all three subjects was low.

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Outcomes for pupils

In key stage 1, pupils’ outcomes at the expected level for reading and mathematics were just below the national average in 2016. The outcomes in writing were low. Not all pupils made good progress through key stage 1 in writing and mathematics. The proportion of pupils who achieved highly in any of the three subjects was well below the national averages.

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Outcomes for pupils

The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in the phonics check in Year 1 was below the national average in 2016. The proportion of pupil who achieved a good level of development at the end of the early years was broadly in line with the national average.

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Outcomes for pupils

The school did not have reliable assessments for Years 1, 3, 4 and 5 pupils at the end of the previous academic year. Consequently, the school has introduced standardised testing for all pupils in Year 1 to Year 6 for reading and mathematics. Pupils are tested at the start of each term. However, leaders have not checked the progress made by pupils from the first term to the second term unless they have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Consequently, it is difficult to get an accurate picture of the progress pupils are making.

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Outcomes for pupils

However, teachers are making assessments of pupils’ learning in reading, writing, English grammar, spelling and punctuation and mathematics each term. Therefore, the school does have information about the pupils’ current attainment. Teachers have had the opportunity to moderate their judgements with other schools to improve the accuracy of their assessments. However, leaders are not yet assured that all of the teachers’ judgements are sufficiently accurate.

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Outcomes for pupils

The latest pupils’ outcomes are low, particularly in Years 3 and 5. Pupils are underachieving considerably. Disadvantaged pupils are achieving below national expectations through the school. Moreover, there are very few disadvantaged pupils who are achieving highly. Leaders have not closely checked the progress that disadvantaged pupils are making in the intervention groups to see if their progress is accelerating.

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Outcomes for pupils

Boys are performing less well than girls in reading, writing and mathematics in Years 1, 2 and 4, except in mathematics in Year 2. Girls are performing poorly in all subjects in Year 5.

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Outcomes for pupils

Using the latest teachers’ assessments, pupils in Year 2 are not on track to be above last year’s national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. In Year 6, pupils are not on track to meet last year’s national averages in writing and mathematics. However, pupils are achieving well in reading in Year 6 and are on track to be above the previous national average.

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Outcomes for pupils

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are also making good progress with their reading. The school has encouraged pupils to arrive at school early to boost their reading skills. Conversely, this group of pupils are not making good progress with their mathematics.

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Outcomes for pupils

The school is expecting more pupils to reach the expected standard in the phonics check in Year 1 than was achieved in 2015 and 2016. Nevertheless, the school’s target is still below the national average.

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Outcomes for pupils

In the early years, most children are making good progress from their staring points. The teachers’ latest assessments show that the proportion of children on track to reach a good level of development is just above the previous year’s national average.

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External support

The trust has not ensured that the support they have brokered to improve the school has been timely. As a result, the pace of improvement has been too slow.

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External support

A national leader of governance has led the external review of governance. This has taken too long. The delay has partly been due to the unavailability of governors to meet with the reviewer. Although the review started in September 2016, it has only just been completed last month. Furthermore, the governing body is not due to discuss the outcome of the review until later this month. As a result, the ability of the governing body to effectively hold senior leaders to account has not developed well enough.

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External support

A local leader of education was commissioned to review pupil premium funding. The governing body has not yet received an action plan of how the pupil premium funding is being spent. Consequently, governors cannot scrutinise and appropriately challenge school leaders about how well this money is being used. The governing body is aware it is not fulfilling its role for scrutinising this funding effectively and has requested an update about the review.

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External support

The director of primary education from the trust has supported the head of school well. She has quality assured the head of school’s work and set up visits for the teachers to visit her school to observe good practice. This has supported teachers to develop their planning and to assess pupils’ work accurately. However, much more training and support is required to further improve the quality of teaching.

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External support

The trust’s most recent statement of action now recognises the need for more ongoing training and support to develop the quality of teaching and to accelerate pupils’ progress. This is not yet outlined in more detail within the school improvement plan as to when it will happen. I have asked the trust to review their targets for pupils’ outcomes in 2018.

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