Oasis Academy Mayfield

Inspection of Oasis Academy Mayfield Ashley Crescent, Southampton, Hampshire SO19 9NA

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 3–4 March 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Oasis Academy Mayfield is a caring and friendly school at the heart of its community. Leaders want the best for pupils, but in recent years the quality of education has been inconsistent. Pupils did not learn all they needed in some subjects and their examination grades suffered as a result. Although teaching is now stronger, many older pupils still lack some of the knowledge or skills to prosper.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe. They are very well prepared for life in modern Britain. Staff go out of their way to make sure that all young people feel part of the school. Relationships are strong between staff and pupils, leading to orderly behaviour. Pupils respect diversity and express themselves with confidence. One pupil summed this up when he told us that, ‘In this school, you can wear your heart on your sleeve.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders successfully broker support from different agencies to assist the pupils’ families. Parents rightly value the variety of help that their children receive. There are many extracurricular clubs, especially in sport. Bullying is rare. If it does happen, staff deal with it quickly and fairly. They look after the victim but also help the offender to improve their behaviour in future.

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better?

In recent years, the school’s curriculum was not demanding enough for all pupils. Leaders are now more ambitious. Their new curriculum is well constructed, using academic subjects from the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) to stretch all pupils. However, in a few areas, turbulence in staffing has delayed its introduction. In those subjects, pupils still do not study topics in a logical order to support future learning. Sometimes, pupils are taught new ideas without the knowledge that underpins them.

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better?

Teachers’ subject knowledge is strong. They use their expertise well to explain topics and to pick up on pupils’ misconceptions. Pupils’ knowledge is now improving quickly. Pupils’ understanding was checked less well in the past. In some subjects, especially when there were many changes of teacher, pupils were not always taught the agreed curriculum. Teachers duplicated work, or did not cover some topics in enough detail. As a result, many older pupils have gaps in their knowledge or misunderstand key topics.

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better?

Reading has a high priority. Key stage 3 pupils talk about the novels they have read. Key stage 4 pupils can describe how, for example, reading has helped them to use synonyms to improve the quality of their writing. All pupils are tested for their reading when they arrive. Those who need extra help with reading get specialised support from trained staff. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities have strong individual support plans that explain how those pupils can learn best. Staff use these plans well to shape activities in lessons. 3–4 March 2020

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Leaders have introduced clear procedures to manage conduct around the school. Pupils generally respond well to instructions from staff. We saw strong attitudes to learning across all subject areas, especially where staff and pupils knew each other well.

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The programme for pupils’ personal development is particularly strong. For example, pupils described a day on anti-bullying which changed their whole perspective. They told us that some pupils’ behaviour was transformed by seeing how their past actions had affected others. Extracurricular activities and assemblies encourage ideas of democracy and representation. Leaders make sure that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are included in these programmes. The ‘Phoenix’ team helps pupils who are struggling with school to have a fresh start and remain in the school. Pupils receive sound careers advice at the right time for their next steps. As a result, more pupils are staying on in education, employment or apprenticeships when they leave school.

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Leaders use the resources of the multi-academy trust well to reduce staff workload and provide high-quality training opportunities. This helps to motivate and retain staff.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are well trained. They encourage a culture where everybody is responsible for pupils’ safety. We saw many examples of staff diligence and strong care for young people.

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Safeguarding

Leaders work well with outside agencies to make sure that pupils get extra support if they need it. The multi-academy trust ensures that proper employment checks are made for all staff.

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Safeguarding

Senior prefects work with the school to develop courses on mental health. Pupils feel safe and well looked after. Pupils of all ages told us that they have many staff they can talk to if they are worried, including a specialist counsellor.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In the past, the curriculum was not ambitious enough for all pupils. Some pupils did not acquire important knowledge and understanding and this led to considerable underachievement. Leaders have introduced a better curriculum model. It provides all pupils with stronger foundations for future learning. This has not yet been fully adopted across all subject areas and in all year groups. Leaders should ensure that every subject area has a sufficiently ambitious curriculum in place for all its pupils. 3–4 March 2020

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 In the past, turbulence in teaching has meant that some pupils did not follow all of their planned curriculum. Some repeated work or did not cover key knowledge and concepts in enough detail. As a result, some pupils, especially in key stage 4, have gaps in their knowledge or understanding. Leaders should ensure that teaching identifies and fills existing gaps in pupils’ knowledge to give them the secure knowledge base they need in each subject.

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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 are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 3–4 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10133164 Type of school Secondary

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School details

Website http://www.oasisacademymayfield.org/

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4-5 May 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A very small number of pupils attend Compass School, which provides emotional and behavioural support.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with officers of the multi-academy trust, senior leaders and curriculum leaders. We spoke on the telephone to representatives of the local authority and of Compass School. We met teaching and support staff, as well as groups of pupils from different backgrounds and ages. We went to assembly, visited tutor times and observed behaviour around the site, including before school, during break and at lunch times.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of documents, including reviews of the school by the multi-academy trust, information from the school website, published performance data and relevant reports and information about the school.  We considered 84 answers to the staff survey and 78 returns on Ofsted Parent View, including 32 separate written responses. 3–4 March 2020

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 We did deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, science, history, geography and physical education. We visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work. We also met curriculum leaders, teachers and pupils from each of these subjects.  We looked carefully at safeguarding arrangements in the school, including the single central register of employment checks, policies and procedures. We met the designated safeguarding lead as well as other school staff who have safeguarding responsibilities.

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Inspection team

Keith Pailthorpe, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sue Bullen Ofsted Inspector 3–4 March 2020

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regulates and inspects to 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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