Q3 Academy Langley

Q3 Academy Langley Moat Road, Oldbury, West Midlands B68 8ED

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher and senior leaders have a clear and compelling vision for this new school. They are highly ambitious for pupils. Since opening, leaders have built a thriving, harmonious and caring school community. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school.  Staff in the school are hard-working and talented. They are very keen to ensure that all pupils fulfil their potential. Leaders and staff are very well supported by the trust and its officers.  Pupils’ behaviour is impeccable. Close supervision and very well-established routines ensure exemplary pupil behaviour throughout the school day. Pupils’ attendance levels are exceptionally high. Pupils value and engage wholeheartedly in their education.  Pupils feel safe and secure in school. Staff know pupils very well and afford each pupil a high level of care. Pupils’ personal qualities are developed in a systematic and well-organised

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

way. In turn, pupils at the school display markedly positive attitudes to learning.  The curriculum is sound. However, aspects of teaching in some subjects are temporarily constrained by building works and a lack of specialist provision.  The quality of teaching is usually good or even better. In many subjects, such as history and modern languages, teaching is routinely outstanding. While teachers across the school are keen to set challenging work, pupils do not always understand enough of what they have been taught.  No pupils have sat GCSE or other examinations yet. While most pupils are doing very well, a few do not yet achieve as well as teachers expect in formal internal tests. Some pupils find it difficult to apply or demonstrate new knowledge accurately. When writing, pupils often make too many spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors.  Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported very well.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Additional adults are highly effective in helping these pupils tackle and complete new work. Disadvantaged pupils are supported very effectively and achieve as well as other pupils.  Governors are very effective. The local governing body has a wealth of experience and expertise which it uses to hold leaders to account. Governors carry out their responsibilities effectively, including for safeguarding.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that pupils develop enough understanding of what they are taught so that more can apply new knowledge accurately and in different contexts.  Strengthen the quality of pupils’ written work further by improving spelling, punctuation and grammar.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

 Leaders have established a clear and compelling vision for the school. They are led by a visionary, highly visible, energetic and passionate headteacher. He is supported by a highly effective leadership team.  Senior leaders have created an ambitious, caring and respectful ethos, which reflects the school’s active promotion of Christian values. All involved in the school have worked very hard to foster a culture where exemplary behaviour, consideration for others and positive attitudes are the norm.  Parents speak very positively about the school and the opportunities it provides for pupils. They believe that the school is different from a ‘normal’ school in the way it sets out to achieve the highest standards of behaviour. They support leaders’ uncompromising quest to achieve the very best for pupils, reflected in the trust ethos ‘Seek that which is good, right and true.’ Communication with parents is exceptionally

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

regular, detailed and informative. It makes innovative use of new technologies, and meetings with parents are frequent.  All members of the school community are expected to conduct themselves impeccably. Routine activities in the school are extremely well organised. Together with the evident warmth shown to pupils, this creates a very strong family feel to the school.  Leaders regularly foster ambition for pupils among staff. They promote aspiration and are unfailingly buoyant in their dealings with each other. Middle leaders share a fervour for excellence and nearly all are highly effective. They support senior leaders very well. Other staff are hard-working and enthusiastic. They enjoy working at the school and have ample opportunities to develop professionally. Morale among staff is very high. Many of the staff are relatively new to teaching and benefit from a well-developed programme of training. Most have very good subject knowledge.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

 Leaders have an accurate view of strengths and weaknesses in the school and keep a watchful eye on the behaviour and attendance of pupils. Information about pupils’ progress, attendance and behaviour is used regularly to check on how well pupils are doing. A well-led programme of review and training identifies where teaching and learning are effective and where they can be better still.  The content of the curriculum is usually challenging. It reflects high scholastic expectations of pupils. In a few instances, for example in music, design and computing, aspects of pupils’ curriculum experience are limited temporarily by building works and a lack of specialist provision. These shortfalls are being tackled ready for the next academic year.  Opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities are widespread. Pupils have access to an enriching range of sporting, cultural and creative experiences. Pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

respond impressively when taking part in well-planned, regular and productive discussions on a range of personal, local and national issues.  Leaders use additional funding effectively to support pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged. Additional adults are deployed carefully and extensively to support any pupils who need very specific additional help.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. Pupils are given extensive opportunities to reflect on themselves and the world in which they live. They routinely show respect for themselves and for others. The school’s very strong ethos and its successful focus on personal development reflect the very close attention that leaders pay to preparing pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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Governance of the school

 Governance of the school is very effective.  The local governing body works systematically and regularly with leaders. It draws on a wealth of experience and expertise to support and challenge the school. The local governing body has an effective working relationship with trust officers and trustees.  Individual governors visit the school regularly and meet with pupils and staff. They use regular reports from leaders to check on the performance of the school. They have a thorough understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development.  Governors fulfil their statutory responsibilities very well, including for safeguarding.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Safeguarding is very well led. All staff are trained well and are alert to the needs of individual pupils. Staff are aware of their responsibility to safeguard pupils. Vulnerable pupils are identified quickly and given careful support, including from outside agencies.  Pupils feel very safe in school. Supervision of pupils is exemplary. Pupils say that unkind behaviour occurs very rarely and is always dealt with very swiftly. All pupils know who to speak to if they have any concerns.  Pupils are helped to understand the risks that they may face as they grow older, including when using the internet. Pupils benefit from regular and thoughtful discussion of many of the key issues facing pupils locally and more widely in Britain today. Leaders are vigilant in keeping pupils safe from association with extremism. They discharge their responsibilities in relation to the ‘Prevent’ duty very well.

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Safeguarding

 Safeguarding records are detailed and of sufficiently high quality. All safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is usually good or better. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are strikingly positive, reflecting the very high standards of behaviour that exist throughout the school.  Relationships between pupils and their teachers are highly productive and respectful. Pupils know what they are expected to do in lessons. They respond to teachers’ requests without delay. When asked to do so, they listen very attentively and contribute thoughtfully in class.  Nearly all teachers implement agreed whole-school teaching methods with great skill and confidence. These common teaching approaches, for example when introducing new work, asking question or reviewing how well pupils have performed in assessments, are evident across all classrooms.  Much teaching is highly effective. In these instances, teachers make the most of pupils’ excellent attitudes and give them very challenging work to do. They provide

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

opportunities for pupils to acquire an array of subject knowledge, which is reinforced by regular recall and application in different situations. Most teachers have sufficiently expert subject knowledge.  Where teaching is more uneven in quality, pupils are not given enough time or help to fully grasp what they are being taught. Consequently, their knowledge is insecure and they find it difficult to apply it to new tasks. As an example, pupils learn about different literary devices in English but find it difficult to apply their knowledge of these to the texts they read.  Insufficient attention is given to ensuring that pupils spell and use punctuation accurately. Too many pupils make grammatical errors when writing. Some pupils’ handwriting is unnecessarily erratic. In a very few instances, the glossaries given to pupils to help them read more challenging texts are inexact.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils benefit from a comprehensive, thoughtful and ambitious programme of personal development.  Leaders and their staff have worked very hard to organise the school, and its way of working, so that pupils are given frequent and imaginative opportunities to develop their strikingly good personal habits and social skills. Pupils are taught to be honest, well mannered and confident in themselves.  At the start of the school day and before lessons begin, pupils sit and eat breakfast together. Between lessons, pupils move quickly and quietly with little or no time wasted. At lunch, pupils eat together with staff again and discuss a relevant topic of the day. Tutor time is used very effectively to check on pupils’ well-being and to ensure that they are properly equipped for the day.  Assemblies are frequently inspirational. As with all other activities in the school that

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Personal development and welfare

promote the pupils’ personal development and welfare, tight organisation and challenging content allow pupils to reflect carefully on their own and other’s views.  Pupils’ personal development and welfare are afforded the highest priority by the school and very little is left to chance. Very effective liaison with other agencies ensures that pupils receive timely support from external agencies where this is needed.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils are unfailingly courteous and polite. Routines for managing behaviour throughout the school day are impressive and exceptionally well established. Supervision of pupils before, during and after school is visible, highly organised and very effective.  In lessons, pupils listen very attentively and contribute quickly when asked to do so. They respond very well to regular reminders of what is expected of them. Notably, all staff in the school are unfailingly consistent in the way they apply rules, practise routines and encourage and reward their pupils.  Pupils’ levels of attendance are consistently excellent, including for disadvantaged pupils, and reflect their enjoyment of school and their eagerness to learn.  The pupils’ outstanding behaviour and attendance, which result from painstaking work by all staff, make a major and significant contribution to the success of the school.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 As the school has no key stage 4 pupils yet, no pupils have sat GCSE or other externally validated public examinations. Current Year 9 pupils will sit the majority of their GCSE examinations in 2021. Some Year 9 pupils are sitting GCSE examinations in citizenship and languages in 2019.  Pupils are taught relevant and challenging subject matter across the different subjects they study. In this context, most pupils make at least good progress in acquiring relevant knowledge, concepts and skills.  In many subjects, for example in history and modern foreign languages, pupils consistently work at a very high standard.  Pupils with SEND are achieving well academically because of the strong support that they receive. Disadvantaged pupils usually make good or better progress.  However, lower-attaining pupils are not doing as well as other pupils overall, given their starting points. A few pupils, for example in science, have not replicated their

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Outcomes for pupils Good

classroom performance in formal internal tests. In other subjects, for example mathematics, pupils are occasionally moved on to tackle a more difficult topic without having fully mastered the necessary earlier steps.  Where pupils struggle to understand or apply what they have learned, their work can be cursory or superficial. While pupils are able to reproduce what they have been taught in class, some do not understand it enough. For example, in English, pupils incorrectly apply terms they have learned or are unable to select relevant quotations to illustrate the points they make.  Standards of spelling, including of specialist and subject-specific vocabulary, punctuation and grammar are not yet consistently high enough. Consequently, the quality of pupils’ written work is often undermined by minor errors.  Outcomes for pupils in relation to their personal development are consistently outstanding.

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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

Email address enquiries@q3langley.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school was opened as a new school in September 2016. Currently, it has pupils in Years 7 to 9. Although it is smaller than most other secondary schools, it is growing rapidly.  The school is part of the Q3 multi-academy trust, which is led by a chief executive and sponsored by a local businessman. Two other secondary schools are in the trust. A governing body provides local oversight of the school and reports to a board of trustees.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is slightly below average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above average. Under half of the pupils are White British, and many different ethnic groups are represented in the school. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is slightly above average. Two pupils currently attend alternative provision at the Sandwell Community School.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited classrooms in the school to observe the work that pupils were doing. They also looked at the quality of work that pupils had completed recently. They observed the pupils’ behaviour and attitudes throughout the school day, including on arrival at school. They spoke with many pupils, including during break and lunchtimes.  Inspectors spoke with parents on the telephone and after school. They also interviewed senior staff, middle leaders, local governing body members, a trustee and the chief executive. They considered an extensive range of key documents, including information about pupils’ progress, safeguarding and pupils’ welfare. During the inspection, inspectors met regularly with the headteacher and chief executive.  Inspectors scrutinised a large sample of pupils’ books in each year across different subjects, including books from when pupils started at the school.  Inspectors took account of the 209 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire,

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Information about this inspection

Parent View, including 70 written comments. Inspectors also considered the 50 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire and the 15 responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Mike Cladingbowl, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda McGill 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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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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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