Oasis Academy Coulsdon

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Andy Booth Principal Oasis Academy Coulsdon Homefield Road Old Coulsdon Croydon Surrey CR5 1ES

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Short inspection of Oasis Academy Coulsdon

Following my visit to the school on 3 July 2018 with Sarah Parker HMI, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in March 2015.

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Short inspection of Oasis Academy Coulsdon

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Oasis Academy Coulsdon

Pupil outcomes at GCSE have shown further improvement, and you and your leaders are determined to ensure that these can be even better. Your leaders track and monitor pupils well, planning effective interventions where appropriate. Staff are overwhelmingly supportive of your leadership and are proud to be members of the school community. They feel that their development as teachers is seen as important. The school receives strong support from the multi-academy trust leaders, particularly at regional level. Their advice and challenge are important factors in driving school improvement.

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Short inspection of Oasis Academy Coulsdon

On the day of the inspection, pupils’ behaviour around the school was calm and orderly. Pupils spoken to said this was typical. Pupils are polite and well mannered and engage positively with adults. They particularly enjoy the ‘family’ atmosphere of the school and feel well supported and cared for. Many parents and carers who responded to the Ofsted online questionnaire are also positive about the school. ‘My child is flourishing’ was one parental comment, typical of the majority of responses. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Oasis Academy Coulsdon

Your leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Checks on the suitability of staff to work at the school are in line with current guidance. The designated safeguarding lead and his team work effectively with external agencies, so that pupils get timely support. Procedures for safeguarding pupils are secure and records of referrals to the local authority are well kept. Staff have received the appropriate training on safeguarding issues, including preventing pupils from being radicalised. Pupils spoken to say they feel safe. They say they receive appropriate advice on a range of safeguarding topics, including staying safe online. The school supports its vulnerable pupils well, for instance offering a summer activity programme.

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Inspection findings

 Several areas of focus were agreed at the beginning of the inspection. The first of these was the progress of the most able pupils. This was because the school had identified this group as performing well at GCSE.  Your leaders carefully track and monitor the progress of the most able pupils across each key stage and quickly intervene for the small number who are below target. You expect classroom teachers to set high levels of challenge in lessons. This was an area for development identified at the last inspection. Individual subjects, for example English, allow time in class for the most able to write in greater depth. This was seen working effectively in a Year 9 lesson on ‘Macbeth’. Equally, in art, the most able pupils are given additional tasks to stretch them. However, in some classes, the most able pupils are not always challenged consistently well. For example, inspectors found that some top-set English pupils

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Inspection findings

in Year 9 had not chosen challenging texts which matched their ability. This was hindering their progress.  The next area of focus was the progress of disadvantaged pupils. These pupils made progress in line with all pupils nationally by the end of 2017. However, they did not make as much progress as other groups at Oasis Academy Coulsdon.  Systems are in place for tracking the progress of this group of pupils. You and your leaders believe this is effective. The attendance and progress of this group has been a priority for the school, and you have been successful in securing improvements. You ensure that initiatives, ranging from literacy support to a breakfast club, are targeted effectively at disadvantaged pupils. The impact of this has been to improve their attendance and punctuality. You are confident that this has had a positive impact on the progress this group has made this year. However, progress towards closing the attainment gap between these pupils and

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Inspection findings

their peers is still not as fast as you want it to be and, consequently, it remains a whole-school priority.  Disadvantaged pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities receive a strong level of support from the SEN co-ordinator. Inspectors saw some very effective teaching-assistant support for pupils in this group. This ensures that current pupils are accessing the curriculum and it helps them to make good progress.  A final area of focus was the variance between subject outcomes in the 2017 GCSE results. The school did particularly well in some subject areas, but less so in others. You have focused intensively on ensuring consistently high-quality teaching across all subject areas. This was another area identified at the last inspection. You have recruited new teachers and encouraged all staff to share best practice. You have reviewed the GCSE options process, so that pupils have

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Inspection findings

greater choice. The introduction of a carousel in Year 7 enables all pupils to gain a foundation in French, German, or Spanish. Therefore, pupils are acquiring language skills and vocabulary earlier in key stage 3. You believe this will help them when they get to GCSE, particularly in Spanish.  In the classrooms visited, inspectors witnessed the strongest teachers motivate and engage pupils, by ensuring that their careful planning of tasks met the pupils’ needs. However, in some lessons this was not consistently the case. The progress shown in books sometimes varied, with some pupils clearly making strong progress over time and others less so.  You are confident that the changes you have made will continue to close the gap between the highest-performing subjects and others. Current progress information provided by you supports this view. You have developed a clear procedure for sharing the practice seen in the most effective departments.

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Inspection findings

However, you are aware of the need to develop and extend this process, in order to ensure greater consistency between departments.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  the most able pupils are further challenged, especially when choosing tasks independently  teachers share good practice between departments to eliminate differences in subject performance further  the progress of disadvantaged pupils continues to be a priority, so that they attain as highly as their peers

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the multi academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Croydon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, we visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and had discussions with pupils. Inspectors met with pupils from Years 7 to10 in a formal setting. We also spoke to pupils informally at lunch and breaktime. As well as information about their progress, inspectors looked at school information about pupils’ attendance and behaviour, and held discussions with relevant staff. We also looked at school documentation, including information about safeguarding, behaviour and exclusion records and attendance figures. We met with representatives from the multi- academy trust. In addition, we considered 42 responses to the staff survey, and the 62 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents. No pupils responded to the online survey.

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