City United Academy (CUA)

Inspection of City United Academy (CUA) 10 Edward Street, Birmingham, West Midlands B1 2RX

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff provide strong pastoral care to pupils. However, they do not give enough attention to pupils’ academic development. Leaders have not planned a curriculum that is sufficiently broad. It does not offer pupils the opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills in a wide range of subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils describe City United Academy as a family. They like their school and say that all staff care about them. Pupils feel, and are, safe. They say that bullying is rare. Staff quickly deal with any that does occur. Staff provide effective support to help pupils manage their behaviour, feelings and attitudes to school. Pupils’ behaviour and attendance improve during their stay at this school. Most pupils have experienced exclusions and had very low attendance before they joined this school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff know the pupils extremely well. Every day, they use this information to work closely with them to overcome any barriers to learning. For example, a member of staff greets every pupil each morning at the door and asks them how their evening was. Any issues are picked up quickly and dealt with immediately before they become problems during the school day. As a result, the school day usually runs smoothly.

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better?

The curriculum at the school is too narrow. It does not allow pupils to gain knowledge, understanding and skills in a wide range of subjects.

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better?

At the moment, the curriculum focuses heavily on the core subjects of English, mathematics and biology. Other subjects feature as projects within these core subjects, for example drama within English or drawing in biology. However, these projects are not planned well enough. Subject plans in English, mathematics and biology highlight what teachers should teach and in what order. In these subjects, staff have good subject knowledge and most lessons are engaging. However, teachers’ planning for the delivery of other subjects lacks sharpness and does not focus enough on pupils’ learning.

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better?

Some curriculum areas are not taught because of a lack of staff subject knowledge. For example, experiences in human, social, aesthetic and creative education are not provided and the areas of science that are taught are narrow. In addition, leaders have not ensured that staff have stayed up to date with training that focuses on securing effective teaching strategies. This has hindered school improvement. Some teachers do not ensure that lessons are sequenced well enough or include appropriate subject content. Therefore, pupils do not always learn as well as they should.

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better?

Most pupils at the school have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers and staff know their pupils’ emotional needs well. They regularly adapt lessons in response to pupils’ moods. When pupils are struggling, staff recognise this 5–8 November 2019

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quickly and support staff work with them individually to ensure that lessons are not disrupted by poor behaviour. In conversation with inspectors, pupils spoke highly about the support they receive when they are not coping well in whole-class settings. However, teachers are less effective in planning for pupils’ academic needs. Lessons do not always take pupils’ prior knowledge or aptitudes into consideration. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

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Leaders and teachers are not able to check effectively on pupils’ learning over time. This is because assessments are quite superficial rather than a check on what pupils have learned and can remember. Teachers do try to use information about pupils to plan and adapt lessons but the shortcomings in arrangements for assessment mean that the information they have is not always accurate enough. Therefore, lessons do not consistently take into account the aptitudes and prior learning of pupils.

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However, since the previous inspection there have been some developments. There is now a new scheme of work for religious education. This allows pupils to compare the similarities and differences between different religions. This helps to broaden pupils’ horizons and demystify religion and faith. Through their work about different cultures and beliefs, pupils have learned about the dangers of prejudice and ignorance. One pupil exemplified his learning when he said, ‘We don’t care about where you’re from, we care about who you are as a person.’

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While the academic curriculum is underdeveloped, pupils’ personal development is at the heart of what the school does. Leaders give plenty of attention to pupils’ safety, physical and mental health. The school provides one-to-one mentoring sessions for all pupils to help them understand their emotions and behaviours. Furthermore, the school helps pupils to gain useful life skills and a positive outlook on life through their involvement with special projects. For example, pupils have visited a synagogue and will soon be starting to work on a local allotment. Projects such as these aim to help pupils understand the value of commitment and effort. However, careers advice and guidance about pupils’ next steps in education, work or training are at a very early stage of development. Every pupil has an interview about possible career interests but the breadth of advice is too narrow. For example, there are no established links with employers or colleges. Currently, there are too few

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opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and interests so as to encourage them to reach their full potential. The lack of the arts in the curriculum does not help.

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Staff are always looking for new ways to help pupils develop self-confidence and resilience. They make sure pupils are taught about the difference between right and wrong. Pupils know about British values such as democracy and rule of law and can talk about what they mean.

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Pupils’ behaviour is managed well. Staff work hard to build constructive and positive relationships. In response, pupils’ attitudes to education are improving but negative habits and attitudes still exist, and can cause problems. However, most of the time pupils are calm and lessons are increasingly free from disruption. Pupils’ attendance, which has often been poor at their previous schools, improves during their time at 5–8 November 2019

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Leaders and governors have been too slow to bring about sufficient improvements to the academic curriculum. They have not ensured that all of the independent school standards are met consistently. For example, they have not created a curriculum that makes certain that pupils gain experiences in a broad range of subjects. Also, they have not made sure that the independent school standards related to teaching are consistently met so that pupils can learn well. Similarly, the standards around providing pupils with effective information about their next steps in education or employment remain unmet.

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Staff are unanimous in their support of leaders and say that they enjoy working at the school.

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Leaders have ensured that the school meets the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive regular and specialised training to help them spot any signs that a child may need help. All staff know who to refer any issues on to. They know about potential risks that exist within the immediate and wider community. All staff are vigilant because they understand some of the additional challenges that may be faced by pupils at the school.

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Safeguarding

Leaders complete the required employment checks on staff and keep accurate records. They ensure that all staff at the school are suitable to work with their pupils. Leaders work well with outside agencies such as social services. Leaders have created a safeguarding policy that meets statutory requirements. As the school does not have a website, the policy is made available to all parents on request.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 The curriculum at the school is too narrow. Leaders have not ensured that the curriculum at the school offers pupils the opportunity to gain knowledge, understanding and skills in a broad range of subjects. For example, pupils are not provided with experiences in human, social, aesthetic and creative education. Leaders should make sure that the curriculum they offer provides pupils with a sufficiently broad range of experiences.  Assessments are not planned well enough to give teachers the information they need about what pupils have learned previously. Leaders should ensure that checks on learning provide teachers with useful information about what pupils know and remember.  Leaders have not made sure that all pupils receive effective advice and guidance 5–8 November 2019

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about their next steps in education, employment or training. Leaders need to ensure that all pupils receive the information they need to make informed choices about their futures.  Leaders have not ensured that all teaching staff have access to training that focuses on teaching strategies. Therefore, some teaching staff lack the necessary skills to implement lesson plans effectively. Leaders need to make sure that all staff have the training they need to fulfil their duties well.  The proprietor and leaders have not ensured that all of the independent school standards are consistently met. They need to make sure improvements to address any unmet standard are swiftly and securely implemented so that all of the standards are met consistently over time.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 5–8 November 2019

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School details

Unique reference number 137819 DfE registration number 330/6010

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School details

Inspection number 10112498 Type of school Other independent school

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £6,500 to £40,000

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School details

Email address sandra.jones@cityunited.org

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20–22 March 2018

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Information about this school

 City United Academy is run by City United Limited, which is the proprietor of the school. A number of trustees have recently been appointed.  The school provides education for pupils between the ages of 11 and 16. It is registered by the DfE to accommodate up to 35 pupils. The school moved to its current site in January 2018. The school does not use any other premises.  Pupils attending City United Academy typically have a range of social and emotional difficulties and many have been excluded or are at risk of exclusion from their previous setting. Around two thirds of pupils have an education, health and care plan. 5–8 November 2019

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 The school aims to address the individual social, emotional and learning needs of its young people by developing their self-esteem and helping them to make appropriate choices. This is to enable them to reintegrate into school or continue into further education and employment. The school’s aim is to ‘nurture young people of our city’.  The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school was first registered by the DfE in January 2012. The school’s most recent inspection was a progress monitoring inspection in June 2019 and before that a standard inspection, which took place in March 2018.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection 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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Information about this inspection

The school has failed to meet the independent school standards. These are the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with senior leaders including the headteacher, deputy headteacher and with the chair of the board of trustees.  We scrutinised the school’s safeguarding arrangements and documentation, including the single central record. We met with the school’s designated safeguarding lead and spoke to staff about safeguarding. We went on a tour of the premises to ensure that it meets all of the independent school standards.  We scrutinised the school’s policies and documentation and ensured that they meet the expected standards.  We took account of 11 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  We visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, met with subject leaders and teaching staff, and met with pupils to talk about their learning.  We observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at social times. We spoke to all pupils during the inspection.  The inspection focused deeply on English, mathematics, biology and personal,

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Information about this inspection

social and health education. All other subjects offered by the school were considered as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

Bianka Zemke, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Martin Pye Her Majesty’s Inspector 5–8 November 2019

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

 2(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if- – 2(1)(a) the proprietor ensures that a written policy on the curriculum, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work, which provides for the matters specified in sub-paragraph (2) is drawn up and implemented effectively; and – 2(1)(b) the written policy, plans and schemes of work- – 2(1)(b)(i) take into account the ages, aptitudes and needs of all pupils, including those pupils with an EHC plan; and  2(2) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(1)(a), the matters are- – 2(2)(a) full-time supervised education for pupils of compulsory school age (construed in accordance with section 8 of the Education Act 1996), which gives pupils experience in linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical and aesthetic and creative education; – 2(2)(e) for pupils receiving secondary education, access to accurate, up-to- date careers guidance that-

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

– 2(2)(e)(i) is presented in an impartial manner; – 2(2)(e)(ii) enables them to make informed choices about a broad range of career options; and – 2(2)(e)(iii) helps to encourage them to fulfil their potential; – 2(2)(h) that all pupils have the opportunity to learn and make progress.  3 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school- – 3(a) enables pupils to acquire new knowledge and make good progress according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught; – 3(b) fosters in pupils self-motivation, the application of intellectual, physical and creative effort, interest in their work and the ability to think and learn for themselves; – 3(c) involves well planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time; – 3(d) shows a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

attainments of the pupils, and ensures that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons; – 3(e) demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter being taught; 5–8 November 2019

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– 3(g) demonstrates that a framework is in place to assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly and use information from that assessment to plan teaching so that pupils can progress.

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school- – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently. 5–8 November 2019

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