Westfield School

Westfield School Eckington Road, Sothall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S20 1HQ

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils 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

 Leaders have failed to improve the school sufficiently since the last inspection. They have been too slow to tackle weaknesses in teaching and pupils’ outcomes.  Leaders do not demonstrate high expectations of teachers or pupils. Their evaluation of the school’s performance is overly positive.  Strategic planning lacks rigour and does not identify the correct priorities to raise standards.  Disadvantaged pupils, boys and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make slow progress. Pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils is not used well to improve their achievement and attendance.  Governors have not been effective in holding leaders to account for the slow pace of improvement.  In many subjects, teachers do not use assessment information effectively enough to plan work that has the right level of challenge, especially for the most able pupils.  Teachers’ use of questioning is underdeveloped

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

so pupils’ oracy skills are not strong enough. Pupils’ writing skills are also weaker than they should be.  Pupils’ behaviour requires improvement because pupils do not show consistently positive attitudes to learning. Some are late to lessons and some do not behave well around the school.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Subject leadership of mathematics is bringing about improvements in pupils’ progress across all year groups.  The school’s off-site provision supports some of the school’s most vulnerable pupils successfully.  Some teachers plan and teach effectively. This good practice is beginning to be shared across the school.  The school takes great care to ensure that pupils are given support and guidance to move on to future education or training at the end of Year 11.  Leaders and governors have sought the support of another academy to assist them in improving the school more rapidly.

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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?

 Rapidly improve leadership and management by ensuring that: – leaders raise their expectations of what pupils can and should achieve – leaders monitor the impact of teaching on pupils’ progress and learning more effectively, including for different groups of pupils across all subjects – subject leaders check rigorously the consistent application of school policies – senior leaders accurately evaluate all aspects of the school’s work and use this evaluation to develop an effective plan for improvement – senior leaders and governors plan effectively to diminish the differences in outcomes and attendance between disadvantaged pupils and those of other pupils nationally – governors hold leaders to account for the school’s performance robustly.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in order to accelerate pupils’ progress in all subjects, by: – making sure that teachers apply leaders’ expectations for teaching and learning

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

consistently – raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve and providing pupils with appropriately challenging work, especially the most able pupils – developing pupils’ writing and oracy skills more effectively across all subjects – sharing the good practice that is already available in the school.  Improve pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning by ensuring that: – all adults consistently apply the school’s behaviour policy and challenge any poor behaviour around the school site – teaching engages all groups of pupils so that they are motivated to participate and do well – pupils are punctual to lessons. 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. 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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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Since the last inspection, leaders and governors have been too slow to address the areas for improvement necessary to provide pupils with a good level of education. Consequently, pupils’ achievement has not improved quickly enough, teaching is not consistently effective and pupils’ behaviour has deteriorated.  Leaders’ expectations of pupils and of staff are too low. Leaders’ self-evaluation represents only a partial picture of the school’s performance, highlighting some improvements in pupils’ attainment but failing to take account of the pupils’ starting points when measuring pupils’ progress.  Plans for improvement lack urgency and do not focus sufficiently on the actions needed to accelerate the progress of groups of pupils who are not doing well enough, for example, boys, disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Disadvantaged pupils make too little progress from their starting points because the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

school makes ineffective use of the pupil premium funding to diminish the differences in English and mathematics between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally. Leaders do not have a clear strategy for raising their attainment or improving their attendance.  The leadership of teaching is weak. Leaders have not made sure that all teachers understand the school’s expectations. For example, teachers have been given advice on how to use skilful questioning to help pupils to develop their thinking but questioning is not well used across the curriculum. Some teachers do not follow the school’s marking policy and teachers’ planning often lacks challenge, especially for the most able pupils.  The quality of subject leadership is too variable. Some subject leaders are new to post and have not been given sufficient guidance on how to check systematically the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Consequently, they have an inaccurate view of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

the quality of teaching and learning.  Arrangements to manage the performance of staff are ineffective because they lack rigour. Leaders and teachers have not been held to account for the full range of their performance, including the progress made by pupils in their subjects or classes. Training is not provided where it is needed and teaching remains too variable across and within subjects.  Since the last inspection, pupils’ behaviour has deteriorated because leaders do not insist that staff consistently challenge poor behaviour during social times and lesson changeover. Leaders have not been successful in developing pupils’ positive attitudes to learning in all classrooms because some teaching is not effective enough.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The local authority has identified the school as a cause for concern and so has brokered support from external consultants and other local schools. Some of this support has been successful, for example in sustaining improvements in mathematics. However, the support has focused insufficiently on other weaknesses in teaching, learning, assessment and leadership across the school.  Leaders have begun to use the Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium to develop the reading skills of Year 7 pupils and these are improving. Leaders’ analyses also show some improvements in numeracy for pupils who follow the catch-up programme. However, leaders have yet to tackle systematically the weaknesses in pupils’ writing and oracy across subjects.  Funding to support the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used well to improve their reading skills at key stage 3, but it is too early

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

to see an impact on this group’s progress. Teaching assistants have received additional training to guide these pupils through learning tasks. This approach is used effectively in some English and mathematics lessons.  The curriculum is broad and balanced and has recently been reviewed to provide current pupils with courses in which they can succeed. The key stage 3 curriculum has been reviewed to make it more challenging, particularly for the most able pupils, and to better prepare them for GCSE programmes.  The school provides a range of extra-curricular activities, especially in sport but also in the creative arts, science and technology. The ‘ambassadors’ programme develops the leadership skills of the pupils who are selected to take part. The ‘Westfield Fabulous 50’, introduced in Years 7 and 8, encourages pupils to engage in a wide range of activities such as helping in the community or taking part in sporting or cultural events.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

Many pupils respond well to these challenges.  Pupils have access to a well-planned programme for careers guidance. The school has attained the Sheffield City Region bronze award for the quality of this programme. Some pupils also benefit from being part of the Cutler’s ‘Made in Sheffield’ programme, a centre of excellence for promoting employability. However, some pupils do not take up the opportunities available.  Leaders carefully monitor the progress, attendance and behaviour of the pupils who are educated off site. Their achievement is tracked well and they are kept safe because information is shared regularly between the staff who teach this group and school leaders.  Leaders may appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Governance of the school

 Governance is ineffective. Governors do not have a good enough understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses because they rely too heavily on the partial information provided by school leaders. They do not challenge leaders effectively enough when they are given information about pupils’ progress and teachers’ performance.

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Governance of the school

 Governors do not have a good grasp of the way in which additional funding is used, especially funding for disadvantaged pupils. They have failed to challenge leaders to provide up-to-date reports on the impact of this funding. As a result, they have not checked on the success of any interventions used to support these pupils.  There have been several changes to the governing body since the last inspection and governors have been successful in recruiting new governors with a range of expertise. They are keen to develop their skills, so they undertake training to improve their effectiveness.  Governors have engaged well in the process for securing more support for the school from a multi-academy trust. They recognise that pupils’ progress is not good.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders carry out appropriate checks on the eligibility and qualifications of staff. School records are kept up to date. The school’s designated safeguarding team provides strong support for pupils at risk. The team engages well with other agencies and uses robust systems for ensuring that concerns are addressed in a timely manner.  Pupils said that they feel safe in school and parents who responded to the Ofsted survey agreed.  Leaders do not always ensure that published policies are kept up to date. However, staff do receive regular training updates so they have a good understanding of local and national safeguarding concerns. Staff take appropriate action to refer any concerns to the designated safeguarding leader, records are well kept and pupils are well supported.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching varies too much between subjects and within subjects. Some teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do are too low and boys do not make as much progress as girls. Teachers do not take effective action to help disadvantaged pupils to overcome their barriers to learning.  Teachers do not always use the information they have on pupils’ needs and starting points to plan activities that are appropriately challenging. This results in some pupils finding new learning too difficult and the most able pupils finding the work too easy.  Some teachers do not check pupils’ understanding thoroughly enough or use skilful questioning to help pupils to develop their thinking. Teachers do not focus sufficiently on modelling the appropriate use of subject-specific language, helping pupils to develop their vocabulary or challenging them to develop their answers. Consequently, pupils’ oracy skills are not developed well enough.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teachers do not provide enough opportunities to develop pupils’ writing skills, although there is evidence of improvement in key stage 3. Literacy errors, for example in sentence punctuation and paragraphing, are not routinely corrected. Too little emphasis is given to improving pupils’ vocabulary in their writing.  In mathematics, pupils are given opportunities to develop their reasoning and apply their knowledge to problem-solving activities. Effective planning is leading to improved progress across year groups. However, some work set is still not challenging enough for the most able pupils.  Teachers said that they value the recent opportunities to share and develop their practice through morning briefings or training events. However, there is not a shared understanding of the features of effective teaching.  Teachers have a good knowledge of their subjects. Relationships between teachers and

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Many pupils are not self-assured and their oracy skills are not well developed. Many pupils are not confident enough to express their views in lessons and teachers do not do enough to encourage them to participate actively in learning activities.  Most pupils show a pride in their work and present themselves well. However, a small proportion of pupils show a disregard for the school’s uniform and do not respond to repeated correction by teachers.  The programme for developing pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development has some strong features. For example, the tutorial programme is called ‘The Big Debate’. Topics such as conflict, environment and homelessness encourage pupils to reflect on other people’s experiences. Tutorials are planned to develop pupils’ oracy skills and their understanding of local and national issues. However, some teachers are

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Personal development and welfare

more skilled than others at engaging pupils in debate, so some pupils’ attitudes to tutorial sessions are poor. Opportunities for pupils to learn about aspects of life in modern Britain such as democracy, the rule of law and individual liberty are quite limited.  Pupils say that they feel safe in the school. They say that any bullying is dealt with well. They show a sound understanding of the different types of bullying and there is a well-planned programme about online safety which includes support for pupils when they transfer from primary school. Pupils know how to manage risks and whom to talk to in school if they have concerns. For example, they understand the importance of security settings and the consequences of disclosing personal information.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities said that they enjoy life at school and feel well supported by their teachers.  Pupils attending off-site education behave well and their attendance is improving

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Personal development and welfare

because staff know them well and encourage positive attitudes to learning.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Most pupils manage their own behaviour well and conduct themselves appropriately around the school site. However, a small minority of pupils, particularly boys, show a disregard for others by shouting, swearing or pushing each other. Some social areas are not well supervised during breaks and, in these situations, some pupils do not behave well.  The proportion of pupils who are excluded from school for a fixed period is reducing because leaders use a variety of strategies to improve the challenging behaviour of some pupils. However, the number of exclusions for disadvantaged pupils remains high.  In lessons, pupils generally show respect for each other and for adults. However, when weaker teaching does not challenge pupils sufficiently, they become disengaged and off-task talking prevents them from making good progress.  Not all pupils are punctual to lessons and their lateness is not challenged consistently

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Behaviour

by teachers.  Overall, attendance is above average and the proportion of pupils who are frequently absent is below average. However, leaders have not established an effective approach to improving the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Therefore, their attendance remains lower than that of other pupils.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Outcomes require improvement because too many pupils are not making the progress they should across a range of subjects, including English, modern languages, science, history and geography. This is due to some weaknesses in teaching and leaders’ lack of focus on how to improve teaching and accelerate pupils’ progress.  The school’s performance information shows that boys, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities made slow progress in 2016 across a range of subjects. Currently, these groups of pupils, and in particular the most able disadvantaged, are not on track to achieve well because leaders have been too slow to implement effective intervention for these groups of pupils.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not make good progress from their starting points. Programmes to develop reading have recently been introduced but are not yet making enough of a difference in the classroom. Teachers

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

do not provide enough support to help these pupils develop their literacy and numeracy skills.  The most able pupils, especially boys, are making less progress than similar pupils nationally, especially in English. This is because they are not challenged enough to develop their writing skills effectively in key stage 4 and some boys are disengaged in lessons.  Pupils arrive at the school with average attainment and, while attainment levels in the school improved in 2016, the proportion of pupils attaining GCSE grades A*–C in both English and mathematics remained below the national average.  An analysis of pupils’ work by inspectors, as well as the school’s current performance information, indicate that pupils’ progress remains variable across subjects and year groups. Leaders have improved the reliability of assessment information through regularly working with other schools. At key stage 3, pupils are making better progress

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

towards their targets in English and science.  The small number of pupils who are educated off site are beginning to make better progress due to the targeted support they receive.  The school’s work to promote reading is beginning to have a positive impact in Years 7 and 8. Pupils are encouraged to read widely during dedicated reading lessons, but pupils said that they do not discuss their reading regularly with others or with their teachers. There are too few opportunities across subjects for pupils to develop their basic skills effectively.  Progress in mathematics is continuing to improve at both key stages 3 and 4. This is due to improved teaching and effective subject leadership, which is driving up standards and expectations.  The school provides effective support to help Year 11 pupils move on to appropriate education or employment with some formal learning, including apprenticeship programmes.

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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

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,250

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.westfieldschoolsheffield.org.uk

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School details

Email address enquiries@westfield-admin.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9–10 December 2014

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Information about this school

 Westfield School is an above-average-sized school. Most pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is average and the proportion of disadvantaged pupils is average.  Seven pupils attend alternative provision full time. They are educated off site in Rose Avenue and taught by school staff.  The school is part of the Westfield Trust. The partnership includes Westfield Health, Sheffield Hallam University, SUFC plc and Crystal Peaks. The school has an academy order to join Silverdale Multi-Academy Trust in August 2017.  In 2016, the school met the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 11.  The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about details of governance on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 55 lessons across both key stages and several subjects, including tutorials. Some were observed jointly with members of the senior leadership team. In addition to a scrutiny of pupils’ books in lesson observations, two inspectors undertook a separate scrutiny of books. Inspectors also undertook learning walks with leaders to evaluate the effectiveness of support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and to evaluate the way in which the school promotes spiritual, moral, social and cultural education.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior and subject leaders, and governors. Inspectors also met with a group of teachers and with pupils from all year groups. The lead inspector spoke to local authority representatives on the telephone.  Inspectors reviewed the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, the

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Information about this inspection

school’s quality assurance, monitoring and assessment records, minutes of the governing body meetings and case studies of vulnerable pupils who receive additional support. Inspectors scrutinised safeguarding procedures and related policies.  Inspectors considered 51 responses received from parents to Ofsted’s survey, 21 responses from pupils and 31 responses from staff.

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Inspection team

Lynn Kenworthy, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Michael Cook 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

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

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

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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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