Olive Secondary Girls

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

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Inspection dates 30 October–1 November 2018

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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 Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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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

 The proprietor and the headteacher have not ensured that all the independent school standards have been met.  The school’s admissions register was incomplete at the time of the inspection. Missing information included the whereabouts of a small number of pupils after they had left school.  Pupils are offered a range of different information and support to help them to choose a future career. However, leaders have not ensured that they are offered an unbiased individual careers interview.  In a small number of lessons, staff missed opportunities to deepen pupils’ learning, particularly that of the most able.  Current school data shows that pupils make less strong progress in developing skills and knowledge in English language than in English literature and mathematics. Work in pupils’ books also evidenced this slower progress.  The school’s plan for further improvement was out of date at the start of the inspection and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

made reference to the boys’ school as well as the new girls’ school.  Middle leaders are at an early stage of development in their roles of managing curriculum areas.  Responses received by the inspection team from parents and carers spoken to and from the online questionnaire did not wholly support senior leaders’ work.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

The school has the following strengths  The headteacher and proprietor have a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement within the school.  School leaders have put in place an effective system to identify pupils’ starting points. It is used to identify future targets for learning.  Leaders have ensured that, overall, the quality of teaching and learning is good and ensures that most pupils make good progress from their starting points.  Pupils’ welfare and personal development are a clear focus for all members of staff.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school must take action to meet the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 and associated requirements. The details are listed in the full report.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning, by: – ensuring that work set for the most able pupils gives them sufficient opportunities to deepen and extend their knowledge and understanding, and maximise their progress – increasing opportunities for pupils to develop their English language skills, particularly in comprehension, through widening the range of texts available for pupils to read.  Increase the effectiveness of leadership and management, by: – ensuring that the school’s admissions register is updated regularly and has recorded accurately the required details for each child who is currently attending or has attended the school – improving the quality of careers education through ensuring that pupils have individual access to an impartial careers adviser – further developing the school improvement plan so that it succinctly and effectively identifies how to bring about future improvement

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– further developing the role middle leaders play in leading and managing their own curriculum areas – developing a more effective system of communication with parents to increase their understanding of and support for the school.  The school must meet the independent school standards, as set out in the annex of this report.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 The leadership team has not ensured that all the required independent school standards have been met. At the time of the inspection the admissions register was incomplete. Pupils have access to a range of different opportunities to assist them in deciding on future careers. They do not currently have access to an independent careers adviser, as required by the independent school standards.  The headteacher and the proprietor have an understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement within the school. However, documents presented during the inspection were outdated and did not reflect the views put forward in discussions with leaders on school improvement. Leaders are aware of this and by the end of the inspection they had put in place a first draft of documents which more accurately reflected school improvement.  Parents spoken to during the inspection and those who completed the Ofsted online

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

survey, Parent View, did not hold wholly positive views of the school leadership team. Concerns were wide-ranging but were mostly around communication between home and school and the temperature of the building in winter. Senior leaders were aware that some parents were not entirely satisfied, particularly since the removal of the Islamic curriculum and the focus on secular (academic) subjects which took place two years ago. Leaders also recognised that more needs to be done to engage parents further.  Middle leaders have recently taken a more active role in starting to develop their subject areas. However, in discussions during the inspection, they were not confident in explaining the main changes they have put in place. As yet, subject leaders do not have sufficient knowledge and understanding to effectively support senior leaders towards further school improvement.  Leaders regularly review the curriculum. New subject areas are regularly introduced to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

increase the number of accreditations pupils can achieve. The curriculum is discussed at the half-termly review meetings held by senior leaders and the proprietor. For example, leaders are aware that the key stage 3 curriculum for English and mathematics is currently focused on ensuring that pupils obtain basic levels of accreditation. However, leaders are now looking closely at providing a key stage 3 curriculum which is closer to the national curriculum, to increase the number of higher grades attained by pupils in their GCSE examinations. This demonstrates leaders’ commitment to continuous curriculum review and improvement.  None of the teaching team who work at the school are qualified teachers. However, they all receive ongoing continuous professional development, which is closely monitored by senior leaders. For example, they receive support based on a scheme designed for newly qualified teachers. Their ongoing support is clearly linked to their starting points. For

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

example, where a teacher may encounter an issue, leaders offer support and guidance and independent study opportunities to help develop the staff member’s learning.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good overall. Work in pupils’ books in nearly all subjects shows clear progress towards targets set by staff. Pupils’ behaviour in lessons is often exemplary and pupils display a real thirst for learning and are clearly focused on gaining the accreditation required to enable them to develop their career aspirations.  The personal, social and health education programme currently in place enables pupils to gain a good understanding of the protected characteristics within the 2010 Equality Act. Pupils spoken to were knowledgeable about other religions and had visited both a gurdwara and a local church recently. Elections for the school council and visits from local councillors have enabled pupils to develop a clear understanding of democracy and the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

rule of law. These activities help ensure pupils’ strong levels of spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding.

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Governance

 The school does not have a governing body at present. The proprietor has considered this carefully, but currently does not have firm plans in place to establish a governing body.  The proprietor has a teaching qualification and educational leadership accreditation. He often plans learning with staff and is closely involved in all aspects of strategic decision- making within the school.  The proprietor has an office on the site of the co-located Olive Secondary Boys school. He meets frequently with staff and senior leaders. Minutes from these meetings show that the proprietor holds the headteacher to account by evaluating the quality of the work undertaken by staff, as well as that of the headteacher.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The school’s safeguarding policy meets requirements and is displayed on the school’s website. The policy is also available directly from the school for parents who request it.  At the start of the inspection, school leaders had not implemented all aspects of the changes required in ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (2018). By the end of the inspection, staff training had been carried out and all aspects of the required changes had been met.  The headteacher ensures that there is a very clear focus on developing a culture of safeguarding within the school. Staff spoken to understand what to do if a pupil approaches them with a problem. Pupils were also clear that they knew who to talk to if they had a problem.  The headteacher has completed her designated safeguarding lead (DSL) training. She has also ensured that a member of the office staff has also completed DSL training. Analysis

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Safeguarding

of safeguarding records shows that both DSLs attend safeguarding meetings and know the correct route of referral should a concern be raised.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teachers have a clear understanding of the needs of pupils. The assessment coordinator ensures that targets are set for individual pupils using information gathered on their starting points.  The learning opportunities provided meet the needs of most pupils. Work in pupils’ books shows that they make good progress from a variety of different starting points.  Overall, staff are enthusiastic about their work. This shows in their positive attitudes in the classroom. They are quick to learn new skills and are very keen to improve, often undertaking further study in their own time.  Work in pupils’ books shows that staff use a variety of different approaches to develop pupils’ learning. Staff are conscientious in their approach and use resources effectively. For example, in science, pupils are able to study biology, chemistry and physics and carry out practical investigations with confidence in the purpose-built science laboratory.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Mathematics teaching in the school enables pupils to develop their problem-solving and thinking skills. Some lessons also demonstrate pupils’ early understanding of mathematics mastery, which deepens pupils’ knowledge and understanding.  Pupils enjoy physical education lessons. This could clearly be seen as pupils enthusiastically practised their football skills. They demonstrated prowess and team spirit in equal measure.  Pupils currently make least progress in English language. This is because teachers do not offer pupils a wide enough variety of different texts to read. As a result, pupils’ comprehension skills are not as well developed as they could be.  In some subjects, the progress of most-able pupils is not as strong as it could be because staff do not provide work that is challenging enough. For example, in a small number of lessons, pupils were not offered extension activities once they had finished the main

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

activity. This lack of challenge hampers the progress made by most able pupils over time.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The inspection team spoke to almost a third of pupils who attend the school. All confirmed their enjoyment in attending school. All were also clear that wearing a burka or niqab is a personal choice in school and is not imposed.  Pupils spoken to also demonstrated confident attitudes both inside and outside the classroom. They were clear that school is a ‘family’ which enables them to grow and develop. Pupils also commented that, through the school council and prefect system, they felt listened to by senior leaders.  Pupils are clear that they feel safe and well cared for and know where to turn if they have a problem. They are aware of the different forms that bullying can take, but are clear that bullying does not happen often in their school.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ behaviour both inside and outside the classroom is good and exemplary at times.  Learning is almost never disrupted by incidents of difficult behaviour in the classroom. The school’s records of pupils’ behaviour confirm that no incidents have been recorded since the school opened in September 2018.  Pupils’ attendance is higher than the attendance for other pupils nationally. Pupils are also punctual and take pride in their appearance.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 The majority of pupils make good progress from their starting points.  When pupils arrive in school, staff and leaders use information gathered from the local authority to assess their previous learning. Data shows that most pupils who arrive are below or in line with national expectations. Very few have attained higher than expected for their age.  Work in books shows that pupils are making good progress from their different starting points, particularly in science, mathematics, religious studies, Urdu and English literature. However, pupils currently make less strong progress in English language.  All girls who left Year 11 the previous school in 2018 made a successful transition to the next stage in their education.

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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

Annual fees (day pupils) £2,075 per annum

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School details

Email address amohammed@olivesecondary.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 This inspection was the school’s first standard inspection. The school was registered with the Department for Education in October 2017 and opened soon afterwards. The proprietor made the decision to formally separate Olive Secondary School into Olive Secondary Boys school and Olive Secondary Girls school.  The school makes provision for up to 350 girls. Currently, there are 66 girls on roll.  The school does not use any alternative providers to educate its pupils.  The school has an Islamic ethos.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team carried out a range of activities, including an inspection of the school building to ascertain the school’s compliance with the independent school standards.  Meetings and discussions were held with teachers, the headteacher, pupils and the proprietor.  The inspectors carried out an analysis of all documents required for the school to meet the independent school standards. These included the school’s curriculum policy, safeguarding documentation, health and safety documents and the school’s complaints policy.  The inspectors also took into account the feedback given directly by two parents and the feedback from five questionnaires received from current staff.

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Inspection team

Marian Thomas, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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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(2) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(1)(a), the matters are- – 2(2)(e) for pupils receiving secondary education, access to accurate, up-to-date careers guidance that- – 2(2)(e)(i) is presented in an impartial manner.

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Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 15 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that an admission and attendance register is maintained in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006[13].

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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; and – 34(1)(c) actively promote the well-being of pupils. 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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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