Outwood Academy Adwick

Inspection of Outwood Academy Adwick Windmill Balk Lane, Woodlands, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN6 7SF

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 January 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Sixth-form provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 17 and 18 January 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Outwood Academy Adwick is a friendly and inclusive school where everyone is welcome. Leaders pride themselves on their high expectations. These expectations are met by the majority of pupils. Staff share leaders’ ambitious vision for the school and help pupils to make positive choices inside and outside of the classroom.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has a supportive and caring culture. Staff build warm and friendly relationships with pupils. Pupils achieve their full potential. Pupils know that staff will listen to them if they have a concern. Pupils feel safe and valued at the school. Leaders’ records show that bullying is rare. If it happens, pupils are confident that staff will deal with it quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Instances of poor behaviour have reduced significantly over time. However, lessons are still affected by low-level disruption from a minority of pupils. Leaders recognise that more work is required with a small group of pupils to ensure their behaviour improves more rapidly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have created a positive culture at the school. Pupils’ achievements are celebrated regularly. Leaders have established ‘The Adwick Way’ which provides staff and pupils with a clear understanding of excellence. Pupils always do their best. They value the opportunity to be recognised for their hard work.

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better?

Pupils learn a well-planned and varied curriculum. A wide range of qualifications are on offer, including for pupils in the sixth form. The school curriculum prepares pupils well for their next stage in employment, education or training. The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. An increasing number of pupils study the English Baccalaureate, including English, mathematics, science, a language and either history or geography.

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better?

Leaders have considered the important knowledge and skills that pupils must learn at each stage of their education. Staff are beginning to help pupils understand how different knowledge and skills link to their previous learning. In some subjects, such as mathematics, pupils understand these connections well.

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better?

Staff present topics with enthusiasm. They are knowledgeable about their subjects. Those who teach lessons outside of their specialism are well supported and access additional training. This helps all staff provide a high-quality education for all pupils. Staff select appropriate learning activities for each lesson. Pupils engage well with their learning. Opportunities for discussion are frequent. Staff ask thoughtful questions to find out what pupils do, and do not, understand.

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better?

Assessment is used well to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Each lesson provides an opportunity for pupils to revisit prior learning. This helps pupils to remember more of what they have learned over time. Assessment is also used to recognise 17 and 18 January 2023

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pupils’ successes as part of the ‘Praising Stars’ initiative. Pupils respond well to staff feedback in many subjects. Where assessment is less secure, staff do not always identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge as well as they might.

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Leaders have ensured that there is a considerable amount of help for the weakest readers. These are having a significant impact on pupils’ ability to read. Developing a love of reading across the school is also a priority for leaders. A range of reading rewards, events in the library and ‘Buddy Reading’ all contribute towards this.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported by staff. These pupils have appropriate plans which match their individual needs. Staff meet these needs well in lessons. Pupils with SEND receive additional support and guidance when joining the school or moving on to the next stage of their education, including into the sixth form.

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Attendance at the school has been poor in recent years. Leaders recognise this and are taking effective action to improve attendance, including for students in the sixth form. This work is having a positive impact on some pupils. However, improvements among other groups of pupils have been too slow. Leaders make use of alternative provision for some pupils who have struggled to engage in their education. This work is having a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes toward their education.

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Pupils benefit from a wide range of personal development opportunities. These include a varied ‘Life’ curriculum which includes important messages about healthy relationships, different religions and fundamental British values. Outside of the classroom, pupils participate in clubs, including robotics and a ‘maths murder mystery’ as well as sports teams and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Careers education is a strength throughout the school. Students in the sixth form receive effective guidance that supports their choice of either academic or vocational courses upon leaving school.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. Their well-being and workload are a priority for leaders. Staff benefit from regular training and development opportunities. Leaders have made many successful changes to the school over time. However, the impact of leaders’ work in some areas, for example improving pupils’ behaviour, is less well understood. This means that the actions that leaders take do not always have as much impact as they might intend.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders provide regular training about the potential risks posed to pupils in the school and wider community. Staff understand these risks well. They report all concerns so that leaders can act quickly to safeguard pupils. Leaders’ records show how their actions help to keep pupils safe, including those who attend alternative provision. 17 and 18 January 2023

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Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe. They receive important messages about risks in school and online. They are confident to speak to an adult if they are worried. Leaders ensure that pupils can report their concerns in several ways. There is an effective culture of safeguarding across the school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 A minority of pupils are not meeting the behaviour expectations at the school. This means that some lessons are disrupted by poor behaviour and learning time is lost. Leaders should review which strategies are having the most impact on improving behaviour and implement these consistently and at pace across the school so that the behaviour of pupils who continue to misbehave improves over time.  The attendance of some groups of pupils is improving too slowly. These pupils do not benefit from a good quality of education because they are not attending school often enough. Leaders should further strengthen their approach to improving attendance, ensuring all pupils come to school regularly.  Some leaders do not have a clear strategic understanding of the impact of their work, for example around behaviour. This means that some actions being taken are not as effective as they might be. Leaders should ensure they have a strong,

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

shared understanding of which strategies are most effective to address school improvement priorities, particularly pupils’ behaviour and attitudes.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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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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. 17 and 18 January 2023

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,098

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 26 and 27 March 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school joined Outwood Grange Academies Trust in September 2009. Since the previous inspection, there have been several changes in senior leadership.  The school has a combined sixth form provision with Outwood Academy Danum.  The school makes use of 13 alternative provisions. Eight of these are not registered with the Department for Education.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 7 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. 17 and 18 January 2023

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the principal, the executive principal, senior leaders and representatives of the trust. Inspectors spoke to teaching and non-teaching staff, in addition to representatives of the local governing body. The lead inspector met with the chief executive officer.  To evaluate the quality of education, deep dives were carried out in mathematics, art and design, music, history and modern foreign languages. Inspectors spoke with curriculum leaders, visited lessons, looked at books and spoke to both pupils and staff.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and a sample of pupils’ work from science and computing.  Inspectors examined the schools’ behaviour records, spoke to pupils who had

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Information about this inspection

been suspended from school and spoke with providers of alternative education.  Inspectors met with the special educational needs coordinator. They looked at a range of documentation, including education, health and care plans and individual learning plans. Inspectors also checked how pupils with SEND are supported in lessons.  Inspectors checked the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures, including checks made on all adults who come onto the school site. Inspectors spoke with pupils and staff to ensure their understanding of safeguarding procedures. An inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead to check on their work to keep pupils safe in school.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s parent, pupil and staff surveys, including free-text responses.

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Inspection team

John Linkins, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Bernard Clark Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 January 2023

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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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