Olive Secondary

Olive Secondary Boys Byron Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD3 0AD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Inadequate

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders’ curriculum plans do not show clearly enough how they intend pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding. As a result, teachers do not always plan lessons effectively and accurately assess pupils’ progress.  Teachers do not meet the needs of all pupils in their lessons well enough. Leaders are now more aware of the needs of lower-ability pupils, but do not challenge the most able sufficiently.  The presentation of pupils’ work, especially handwriting, is often poor.  Pupils do not make good enough progress across all subjects. Leaders do not have fully effective systems to assess the progress that pupils make.  There are relatively few opportunities for pupils to participate in extra-curricular activities. Some pupils’ wider experiences of sport, for example, are therefore limited.  The school’s policies lack clarity and so their usefulness is diminished. Improvement plans relate to routine matters and do not reflect the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

proprietor’s vision for future development.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Arrangements for developing pupils’ personal development and welfare are strong.  The proprietor and leaders have ensured that the independent school standards are met.  The school’s work to promote pupils’ appreciation of diversity and equal opportunities is exemplary.  Pupils have high aspirations and are well- prepared for their next steps. All continue into further education or apprenticeships.  Pupils are courteous and well behaved. They attend well and have pride in their school and their appearance.  Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain, and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered well.  Teachers value the opportunities that leaders provide for professional development. Safeguarding is particularly effective because staff are vigilant, and pupils feel supported and safe.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management, by: – sharpening policy and improvement planning so that key priorities and actions to improve the school are clear and measurable – developing a clearer basis for the curriculum that is offered and strengthening the schemes of learning so that teachers can plan work that enables pupils to make rapid progress and achieve stronger outcomes – tracking pupils’ progress more accurately so that the progress that they make across all subjects is clear – increasing the opportunities for pupils to participate in extra-curricular activities.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that: – activities are planned more carefully to consistently meet the individual needs of pupils, especially the most able, to enable them to make the best possible progress – the presentation of pupils’ written work, especially their handwriting, improves.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 The curriculum plans for the school are unclear and do not fully reflect the ethos of the school. In addition, they do not clearly show the school’s intended sequence of learning in core and foundation subjects. This means that teachers do not have sufficient guidance in order to construct their lesson plans or accurately assess the progress that pupils make.  Leaders’ attention has been mainly on pupils’ attainment and they have relatively little information about the progress that pupils make. Consequently, leaders cannot say what impact teaching has had on pupils’ progress. New systems have been introduced but it is too early to evaluate their effectiveness.  Leaders have produced a range of policy documents to guide those working in the school. However, many of these are confusing because they lack clarity, are repetitive, or are out of date. The school development plans largely relate to routine matters and do not reflect

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

leaders’ plans for improving the school effectively enough.  The school provides a limited range of extra-curricular activities and some pupils say that they do not participate in these. As a result, wider experiences, particularly in relation to sport, are limited for pupils.  Pupils benefit, however, from a strong programme to promote their personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. Lessons, assemblies and visits foster British values, promote financial awareness and also support pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. Parents particularly value this aspect of the school. One parent commented, ‘The school is helping my son to become a better person and giving him a good start to life with British values.’  Well-established and effective systems to check the quality of education ensure that leaders are aware of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. However, leaders

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

have been slow to appreciate weaknesses in their analysis of assessment information.  Leaders ensure that the school consistently meets all the requirements of the independent school standards.  Parents receive informative mid-year and end-of-year reports. These include a record of attendance, punctuality and behaviour in addition to comments about academic progress and attainment. Targets are set, although these usually exhort pupils to work harder rather than suggest anything of a subject-specific nature.  Relevant and useful professional development and training opportunities are planned for all staff. Recently, this has been enhanced so that teachers are more aware of the learning needs of pupils, especially the least able. Staff morale is high. The staff who made their views known to inspectors feel well supported by senior leaders. There is an improving picture of teaching quality since the last inspection.

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Governance

 The proprietor is passionate about his school and has a strong vision for its future. He is aware of the need to review the curriculum. He has recently enhanced the leadership capacity in the school to ensure that there are skilled professionals to do this work.  The proprietor rigorously holds the headteacher and other leaders to account. Through regular meetings and a variety of monitoring and evaluation activities he knows the school intimately. As a result, he has an accurate appreciation of the school’s strengths and knows what areas should be improved.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The safeguarding policy is available on the school’s website and is compliant with the latest government guidance.  Leaders foster a strong safeguarding culture. All staff receive safeguarding and ‘Prevent’ duty training and are aware of the hazards that young people may face in the locality, including from drugs and knife crime. Pupils say that they feel safe and they know that they have staff to speak to if they need help.  A second member of staff is being trained to become a deputy designated safeguarding lead. This will strengthen the school’s safeguarding provision and is an indication of the proprietor’s commitment to promoting a safeguarding culture in the school.  Pupils learn about relationships, healthy living and radicalisation in their PSHE lessons, and about keeping safe online in information and communication technology (ICT) lessons. Pupils can talk about the risks of social media, and the internet, and how to

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Safeguarding

minimise these risks in order to stay safe.  The school’s computer network is equipped with a suitable filtering system to protect pupils from harmful material on the internet.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not consistently good. Sometimes teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do are not high enough, particularly for the most able. When this occurs, pupils spend too much time completing low-level activities that do not encourage them to think more deeply about their learning.  Teachers sometimes do not use questioning effectively enough to ensure that pupils make good progress. Questions can be superficial and addressed with limited responses. As a result, opportunities are lost to explore and develop ideas.  Teachers are inconsistent in the checking of pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar. Comments in the books of the most able pupils frequently indicate how understanding can be developed further. However, in other books comments are often limited to the presentation of work. Teachers’ writing in pupils’ books is sometimes difficult to read.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Although the school has policies about the development of literacy and numeracy across the school these are yet to be fully implemented. For example, there is no consistency between mathematics and science about the construction of graphs.  Teachers make use of a variety of strategies to motivate pupils and to help them to learn. Some of these have been introduced relatively recently, following training, and are yet to be fully effective. Pupils participate in group work enthusiastically, for example in history where they were discussing Emily Davison’s contribution to the suffragette movement. However, teachers are not yet sufficiently skilled to ensure that all pupils in a class benefit from this type of activity.  Teachers are beginning to take pupils’ prior attainment into account when planning their lessons, but this is not fully effective across all subjects. In Urdu, the teacher grouped pupils according to their proficiency in this subject. Some are fluent as they speak this

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

language at home, and these pupils were given additional challenges. In an English lesson, however, all pupils used the same worksheet, which was too hard for some and too easy for others.  Homework is set in accordance with the school’s policy and helps to reinforce and consolidate pupils’ learning.  There are strong relationships between adults and pupils, and this creates a calm and purposeful learning environment in the classroom.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Leaders are committed to promoting equality and have been highly successful in developing pupils’ understanding about equal opportunities. Pupils speak with great maturity about faith, race, gender and lifestyle matters. They demonstrate tolerance and respect for diversity.  Pupils usually show very positive attitudes towards their learning. Staff have created a culture where pupils feel confident to express their views and opinions. Pupils enjoy learning about current affairs. They talk positively about the regular opportunities to discuss events in the local and national news. They are prepared to ask questions in lessons because they feel safe and cared for.  Pupils demonstrate high levels of respect and tolerance for each other. They are very clear about the unacceptability of abusive or discriminatory behaviour and, as a result,

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Personal development and welfare

such incidents do not occur. Bullying is rare, and pupils state that, should it occur, they have confidence in adults at the school to address it successfully. The school’s records confirm that the school is a friendly community.  The school is highly supportive of pupils’ well-being and has a sophisticated intervention system which is implemented should concerns arise about attendance, behaviour, emotional health or attainment.  There is a culture of pride in the school. Pupils wear their uniforms smartly and correctly and keep their school clean and tidy. Pupils also value the rewards system which offers generous awards for effort, production of good work, good behaviour, community work and helping others.  In some lessons a small proportion of pupils are passive in their learning and as a result they make less progress.  Although the school provides opportunities for pupils to take part in a range of extra-

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Personal development and welfare

curricular activities, some boys find the range limited. There are currently no clubs and limited opportunities for involvement in sports.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  In lessons and around the school pupils are courteous and respectful towards staff, visitors and each other. Instances of poor behaviour are very rare and usually limited to low-level inattentiveness in lessons. Exclusions are very rare.  Pupils themselves have high expectations of how they treat each other and, as a result, confidently report that everyone gets along well together.  Pupils attend well, are punctual, and none are persistently absent. Over time, pupils’ attendance has been broadly in line with the national average.  The school has effective systems to monitor attendance. Parents are contacted very quickly if a pupil is absent and the school has not received a telephone call about the absence.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Evidence in pupils’ books evaluated by inspectors shows that the progress of groups of pupils over time is variable. Progress in religious studies and ICT is strong because teachers sequence learning activities thoroughly, develop a strong understanding of terminology, and encourage pupils to write at length.  Progress in history is weaker because the curriculum is fragmented, and pupils have insufficient opportunities to make connections, draw contrasts and analyse historical trends. In science, pupils do little practical work and so do not develop their investigative skills well enough.  The school is updating its assessment framework. Currently the assessment data does not clearly demonstrate the progress made by pupils. While the data shows improvements made by individual pupils, this does not clearly link to their starting points. There is no summary data which can be used to compare the progress made in different subject

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

areas.  The presentation of work by pupils is variable and often poor. In particular, the standard of many pupils’ handwriting is weak.  Pupils read with fluency and comprehension. They are used to reading out loud in lessons from newspapers, novels and text books. The school now has a well-stocked library containing a wide range of appropriate literature. However, the library is disorganised and so pupils do not borrow books.  The school aspires for all pupils to study the English Baccalaureate. However, some are prevented from achieving this standard because of weaknesses in the humanities component.  GCSE results in English and Mathematics are in line with national averages. In addition, the school has achieved a 100% pass rate in Urdu, and high pass rates in citizenship and religious studies.  The school’s work and support from an impartial careers officer ensures that pupils are guided skilfully on to their next steps in education or training. The school is making strong

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

progress towards achievement of the Gatsby Benchmarks, which define the best careers provision in schools and colleges. Pupils also benefit from a week of work experience in Year 10.  All pupils last year moved on successfully to their chosen destinations. Pupils speak highly of the work the school does to prepare them for the future world of work. Most have high aspirations and can speak confidently about their plans to move to local colleges or onto apprenticeships.

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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

Email address amohammed@olivesecondary.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11–13 July 2017

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Information about this school

 At the time of the last standard inspection this school was known as Olive Secondary School and was open to boys and girls. Following that inspection, in October 2017, the Department for Education agreed to the proprietor’s request to formally separate Olive Secondary School into Olive Secondary Boys school and Olive Secondary Girls school. This is the first standard inspection of the boys school, which kept the original unique reference number.  The previous standard inspection took place in July 2017.  The school makes full-time provision for up to 175 boys. Currently, there are 70 boys on roll aged 11 to 16. There are no pupils in the sixth form.  The school is owned by the sole proprietor, who governs the school.  The school has an Islamic ethos. The uniform and furnishings within the school follow Islamic codes.  In September 2016, the proprietor changed the curriculum so that the core school day of

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Information about this school

six hours is based on a range of academic subjects aligned to the English Baccalaureate. The previously taught Islamic curriculum is an option for pupils to follow in the madrasah on the same site.  The school does not use any alternative providers to educate its pupils.  No pupils currently on roll have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out over two and a half days with a day of notice.  The inspectors toured the school building, both inside and outside.  The inspectors observed teaching and learning in a range of lessons.  The inspectors held meetings with the proprietor, headteacher, middle leaders and teaching staff.  The work of several pupils was reviewed.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school was observed. The inspectors met formally and informally with pupils.  Pupils take part in physical education on the school site and at a nearby public playing field.  The inspectors evaluated a range of documentation, including leaders’ evaluations of the school and development plans, admissions and attendance registers, policies, monitoring information, child protection and safeguarding information, and minutes of meetings, with the proprietor. The inspectors also looked closely at all other documents and policies as

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Information about this inspection

required as part of the independent school standards.  Consideration was given to the school’s evidence of communication with parents. There were 12 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View.  Five staff and 11 pupils responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Steve Rogers, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Gordon Watts 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 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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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