Dean Trust Rose Bridge

Inspection of Dean Trust Rose Bridge Holt Street, Ince, Wigan, Greater Manchester WN1 3HD

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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

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 7 and 8 March 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Dean Trust Rose Bridge Academy strive to live up to the school’s motto of ‘believe, achieve, succeed’. Pupils are proud of their school. They are respectful towards each other and members of staff. Pupils eagerly welcome visitors to their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils comment that they feel happy and safe when they are in school. Without hesitation, pupils told inspectors that they have a trusted adult to speak to if they have any worries or concerns. Teachers and pastoral staff know pupils and their families well. Pupils value the support for their well-being that they receive from staff. Leaders deal with any incidents of bullying swiftly and appropriately.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. They ensure that rules and routines are adhered to consistently well by pupils and staff. As a result, there is a calm and orderly atmosphere in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), benefit from studying a wide range of subjects. Leaders and teachers expect pupils to achieve highly. However, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should over time.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils embrace taking on leadership responsibilities and developing their talents and interests. They appreciate the ample opportunities they have to take an active role in decision-making in school. Pupils readily engage in a wide range of extra- curricular activities, such as trampolining, drama and library club.

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better?

Leaders and governors have an ambitious vision for the quality of education that they want pupils to receive. To this end, they have taken judicious steps to improve the curriculum. For example, the proportion of pupils choosing to study the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects is increasing. Despite this, pupils’ achievement in many subjects remains low.

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better?

In some subjects, leaders have thought carefully about the essential knowledge that they want pupils to learn. They have organised the curriculum well so that pupils can deepen their learning over time. As a result, in these subjects, pupils are learning increasingly well.

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better?

In other subjects, leaders’ curriculum thinking is at an earlier stage. These subject leaders have thought about the broad topics they want pupils to learn. However, they have not sufficiently considered the key knowledge within these topics that they want pupils to retain. In these subjects, pupils do not develop a rich body of subject knowledge. They are not as well prepared for the next stage of their education as they should be. 7 and 8 March 2023

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Teachers have strong subject knowledge. Where the curriculum is well designed, teachers use their expertise to select appropriate learning activities. However, this is not the case in all subjects. This is because some teachers are not as clear as they should be about what content to teach and when this should be taught.

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Some teachers do not use assessment strategies as effectively as they should to check how well pupils have followed the curriculum. At times, some teachers introduce new concepts before pupils are ready. Added to this, some teachers do not address pupils’ misconceptions or gaps in their knowledge quickly enough. This hinders how well some pupils learn.

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Leaders are committed to ensuring that all pupils read well. They have implemented a reading strategy that fosters reading for pleasure. Across the school, pupils spoke enthusiastically about the books they are currently reading.

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In key stage 3, leaders’ systems for identifying and supporting pupils who find reading more difficult are beginning to show some impact. However, some older pupils do not read confidently and fluently. This hampers their ability to fully access the wider curriculum. These pupils have not benefitted from the support in place for younger pupils.

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Leaders identify pupils’ additional needs quickly and accurately. Leaders have ensured that staff are suitably trained to adapt their delivery of the curriculum well. Pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers. However, weaknesses in the curriculum mean that some of these pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

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The positive culture that leaders have established means that pupils can learn without disruption. Leaders are also working tenaciously to ensure that pupils attend school regularly. While their efforts are improving the rates of attendance for some pupils, other pupils do not attend as regularly as they should. These pupils miss out on important learning.

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The programme for pupils’ wider development is strong. This prepares pupils especially well for life in modern Britain. For example, pupils spoke confidently about what constitutes a healthy relationship and about sexual consent. Pupils also engage in meaningful debate about topical issues. They are keen to promote equality and diversity, and they demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the protected characteristics.

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Leaders, including governors and trustees, are passionate about improving opportunities for all pupils, irrespective of their background or ability. Governors and trustees are aspirational for the success of all pupils. This drives their relentless focus on challenging leaders to continue to improve the school.

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Staff feel well supported. They value leaders’ consideration of their workload and well-being. 7 and 8 March 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders provide effective and up-to-date safeguarding training for staff and governors. Leaders are knowledgeable about local and national safeguarding matters.

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Safeguarding

Staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities. They know how to spot the signs that may suggest that a pupil may be at risk of harm. The safeguarding team works effectively with external agencies to ensure that pupils and their families get timely support when needed.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. For example, they learn about the dangers associated with knife crime. They learn how to be safe online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders’ developments to the curriculum are at an earlier stage. This means that teachers are unclear about what pupils should learn. As a result, pupils’ learning is uneven. As leaders finalise their curriculum thinking, they should ensure that they clearly identify the essential knowledge that pupils should learn and when this should be taught.  In subjects where curriculum developments are at an earlier stage, some teachers do not use assessment strategies well enough to identify and address pupils’ misconceptions. Some pupils achieve less well in these subjects. As leaders finalise their curriculums, they should ensure that teachers are fully equipped to check that pupils’ knowledge is secure before moving on to new learning.  Some older pupils do not read as well as they should. This hinders how well they access the wider curriculum. Leaders should ensure that staff support pupils in

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

key stage 4 to catch up quickly with their reading knowledge.  Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough. This contributes considerably to the underachievement of some pupils. Leaders should ensure that they continue to support these pupils to increase their rates of attendance.

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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. 7 and 8 March 2023

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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. 7 and 8 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10267827 Type of school Secondary Comprehensive

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School details

Website https://www.deantrustrosebridge.co.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 This school joined the Dean Trust multi-academy trust in February 2019. When its predecessor school, Rose Bridge Academy, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be inadequate overall.  Leaders use one unregistered provider for a small number of pupils.  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.

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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. 7 and 8 March 2023

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 Inspectors met with the head of school, deputy headteacher and other senior leaders.  The lead inspector met with representatives of the board of trustees and the governing board. The lead inspector also spoke with a representative of the local authority.  As part of this graded inspection, inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: science, English, history, mathematics and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors met with curriculum leaders, visited some lessons and spoke with pupils and teachers. They looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also reviewed aspects of the curriculums in other subjects. They also met with the subject leaders in these subjects.  The lead inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including the free-text responses. Inspectors also considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.  Inspectors checked on leaders’ safeguarding procedures. They met with leaders,

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those responsible for governance, staff and pupils to discuss the wider aspects of safeguarding. Inspectors also scrutinised a range of documentation pertaining to safeguarding.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school, at breaktimes and at lunchtimes. They spoke with them about behaviour and bullying.

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Inspection team

Niamh Howlett, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Mark Cocker Ofsted Inspector 7 and 8 March 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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