South Wiltshire UTC

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

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Joe Mulligan Principal South Wiltshire UTC Wilton Road Salisbury Wiltshire SP2 7HR

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Special measures monitoring inspection of South Wiltshire UTC

Following my visit with Kevin Williams, Ofsted Inspector, to your school on 8 and 9 May 2019, 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 previous monitoring inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of South Wiltshire UTC

The inspection was the second monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in February 2018. The full list of the areas for improvement that were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of South Wiltshire UTC

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Special measures monitoring inspection of South Wiltshire UTC

Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of South Wiltshire UTC

The school’s action plan is fit for purpose.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of South Wiltshire UTC

The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers before the next monitoring inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of South Wiltshire UTC

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

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by: – ensuring that senior leaders have the capacity necessary to carry out their roles successfully – developing middle leaders so that they are able to improve the quality of teaching and hold teachers to account for the progress pupils make – recruiting staff with appropriate skills and expertise, particularly in engineering, to raise achievement – ensuring that the curriculum is sufficiently broad and balanced to meet the needs of pupils in all year groups, particularly in respect of physical education (PE) provision – ensuring that the challenge and support provided by governors is fully evaluated for effectiveness and has demonstrable impact – accessing appropriate external support that assists leaders in improving the quality of leadership and teaching, and raising achievement – improving communication between different members of the school community, including parents, pupils and staff

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

– engaging parents more effectively in the work of the school – ensuring that day-to-day managerial processes are more efficient and better organised – improving leadership of the sixth form to ensure that the requirements of 16– 19 study programmes are met.  Improve the quality of teaching and raise achievement for pupils of different abilities across both key stages, including those who are disadvantaged, by ensuring that teachers: – have high expectations of what pupils can achieve – set challenging and interesting work that meets pupils’ different needs and engages them in their learning – use progress information more effectively to help pupils achieve their targets – consistently apply the school’s feedback policy to help pupils improve their work.  Improve pupils’ personal development, welfare and behaviour by ensuring that: – pupils develop more positive attitudes to learning beyond compliant, passive

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

behaviour – attendance improves for different groups of pupils – pupils are provided with suitable careers advice that enables them to make informed decisions about their next steps after leaving school.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

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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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

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.

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the principal, senior and middle leaders, pupils and the chair of the board of trustees. The lead inspector held discussions with the deputy chief executive officer (CEO) and the director of education of Activate Learning Education Trust (ALET). The director of education is currently seconded to the school, three days per week. Inspectors also reviewed pupils’ work in lessons and observed pupils in lessons and around the school.

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Context

Since the monitoring inspection in January 2019, the staffing arrangements at the school have remained stable. The number of pupils and students has reduced slightly as some older students have taken up apprenticeships or joined the armed services.

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Context

The interim executive committee, which oversees the strategies for improving the performance of the school, continues to meet monthly. Two new governors have been appointed to the board of trustees.

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Context

The support agreement with ALET continues. However, the level of intensity of ALET’s work on operational matters has reduced recently.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders’ actions are ensuring that the school is recovering steadily. Through their actions, pupils’ attendance has improved considerably. This is enabling the school to better safeguard pupils and ensure that they are exposed to the taught curriculum.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders and staff are committed to ensuring that the outcomes for pupils and students in the sixth form continue to improve. Leaders’ strategy to ensure that pupils and students complete tasks to secure their qualifications is proving effective in vocational subjects. This is particularly the case in engineering. However, teaching is not enabling pupils with gaps in their knowledge elsewhere in the school to catch up quickly enough. As a result, pupils’ underachievement continues.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Both leaders and teachers are devoting significant time to teaching pupils during the school day and at other times. This has slowed leaders’ capacity to drive school improvement rapidly. Therefore, there is still considerable work to be done to bring about the urgent improvements required. This work is in hand and, with support from ALET, leaders are clear about the road ahead.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders and those responsible for governance, including the board of trustees and the interim executive committee, understand the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Governors appreciate the scale of the task and know what must be achieved in the coming months. Although leaders and governors understand what needs to be done to bring about improvement, leaders are not yet communicating their aims or how they will be realised clearly enough. Staff and pupils are keen to contribute and play their part.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders, alongside the support of ALET, are putting systems in place to improve teaching and learning. This work is recent and needs more time to embed. Core teaching programmes are being completed with greater rigour so that pupils’ readiness for achieving qualifications is strengthening. However, there is still a need for tighter systems to be in place so that pupils have a clearer understanding about the progress they are making in their subjects.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Leaders, particularly those who have responsibilities for a subject area, are not yet clear enough about the expectations of them. This lack of clarity means that staff are sometimes underused to bring about change. Plans are in place to tackle this in the coming months.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

With fewer pupils and students, the curriculum has been narrowed slightly in Year 10. This is as a result of pupils’ choices of the courses they wish to follow. Consequently, no pupil in Year 10 is studying geography, history or religious education. This is placing some pupils at a disadvantage in their English lessons as they do not have the knowledge of place, the period in time or understanding of culture to fully appreciate the texts they study.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The level of challenge in the work that is planned in some subjects has increased markedly. For example, pupils are expected to use the correct scientific terms in chemistry. They then use these accurately to write accounts of chemical processes and experiments they carry out.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

However, the quality of teaching across the school is still too variable. In some subjects, such as mathematics, teachers take care to ensure that any previous misunderstandings are tackled successfully in future lessons. In others, teachers do not establish what pupils already know in order to modify their plans.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The feedback that pupils and students receive about their work is of variable quality. Where staff provide useful feedback, pupils do not routinely act on this to improve their work. Pupils and students report that they are unclear about how progress is tracked. Few are clear about what they need to do to make strong progress in their studies. Consequently, the rates of progress vary.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Teachers do not yet have high enough expectations of pupils. Consequently, too few pupils routinely show pride in their work across subjects. In some subjects, work is left unfinished. Similarly, where there are errors, teachers do not routinely require pupils to correct their work and so mistakes are repeated in later work.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Leaders’ actions to bring about a common approach to writing across the school are not yet having the required impact. Consequently, the accuracy of pupils’ spelling and punctuation remains too inconsistent.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Pupils are respectful of each other and staff. They behave well in class and around the school site. Students in the sixth form show a greater interest in their studies. However, in Years 10 and 11, pupils are not keen to share their thinking orally or to read aloud in class.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Overall, pupils’ attendance has improved further. However, it is still below the national average. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has fallen sharply. It is now slightly higher than that seen typically nationally. For many pupils, their attendance since joining the school is much higher than it was at their previous school.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

At the inspection in February 2018, the arrangements for careers guidance were poor. Leaders have taken action to remedy this. The school’s own careers adviser and teachers provide useful information for pupils and students. An impartial careers adviser is available for Year 11 and Year 13 pupils to access independent advice. Careers education is also included in the school’s personal, social and health education programme. Older students find these sessions helpful when drafting their curriculum vitae and applying for apprenticeships or places at colleges and universities. Students also benefit from specialist teaching staff who use their knowledge of the commercial sector to broker opportunities for students to explore different career routes.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Leaders have secured significantly more independent provision for the upcoming academic year. This will include individual interviews, discussions with parents, assemblies and workshops.

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Outcomes for pupils

Key stage 4 pupils’ outcomes continue to improve. More pupils are on track to reach their target grades than has been the case in recent years. However, this is not the case in all subjects. In engineering and English, although improved, too many pupils are not working at the standards they should be.

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Outcomes for pupils

Year 13 students have not made the progress they should in engineering due to the disruption in Year 12 and at the start of this academic year. Around a quarter of Year 13 students are on track to achieve the qualification they enrolled on at the start of Year 12. The majority have transferred to a lesser qualification because they have not completed enough modules.

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Outcomes for pupils

Nevertheless, the vast majority of Year 13 students have secured apprenticeships or a place at university to continue their studies. Few Year 11 pupils intend to return to the sixth form.

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External support

ALET continues to provide support to the school. The director of education from the trust has reduced the amount of time she works in the school. She has introduced a range of systems and procedures to improve the quality of teaching and learning. She provides direct support for some teachers to help them improve their practice.

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External support

Teachers have also joined with colleagues from the schools that are operated by ALET at a recent conference. Plans are in place to develop links between subject teachers and leaders with colleagues in ALET schools. This is in its infancy.

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External support

The deputy chief executive of the trust continues to work with the principal and a separate leadership coach is in place.

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