Winifred Holtby Academy

Inspection of Winifred Holtby Academy Midmere Avenue, Leads Road, Bransholme, Hull HU7 4PW

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Requires Improvement 27 and 28 June 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff put the pupils of Winifred Holtby Academy at the centre of everything that they do. Staff and pupils share strong relationships. Pupils feel safe and trust adults to help them if they are concerned about something or feeling upset. Many pupils say that bullying is rare. If it happens, it is dealt with by the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for every pupil. These expectations are shared by staff and are reflected in the calm and purposeful environment in the school. Pupils benefit from a strong curriculum that meets their needs and helps them to achieve well. Leaders carefully consider the curriculum for each pupil. This is with the aim of ensuring the best possible outcome for them. Staff provide personalised support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities(SEND). This helps these pupils to experience a high-quality education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders help pupils to develop personal attributes that enable them to behave well and learn effectively. They widen pupils’ horizons by raising their awareness of different careers. Pupils have opportunities to join different clubs to develop their fitness and their social awareness. These include wheelchair basketball, knitting and LGBTQ+ clubs. The pupils who attend these clubs spoke positively about their experiences.

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better?

Leaders make sure that the quality of education that pupils receive is of a consistently high standard. Teaching is matched to the needs of the pupils and taught by staff with strong subject knowledge. Leaders have designed a curriculum that gives pupils access to a wide range of knowledge and skills. Recent changes at key stage 3 have added extra breadth. Over time, the curriculum helps pupils to remember important knowledge from the topics they have studied. Leaders have high ambitions for what they want pupils to achieve. This ambition is further reflected in the increasing numbers of pupils studying the English Baccalaureate suite of qualifications.

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better?

The school has a clear and consistent approach to assessment. This is embedded in most subject areas. Teachers use assessment to help pupils to identify gaps in knowledge and to check their understanding. Where these approaches are not fully embedded, there are clear plans in place to further develop this.

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better?

Leaders have prioritised reading across the school. They support pupils who find reading difficult. They use a variety of assessment tools to identify specific barriers, such as phonic knowledge, comprehension or fluency. There has been careful consideration of how to develop pupils’ vocabulary and their love of reading. Strategies such as whole class reading and work on subject-specific vocabulary are enabling pupils to read with greater purpose. 27 and 28 June 2023

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Pupils understand leaders’ high expectations for behaviour. In lessons and around the building, pupils are polite and courteous. When behaviour falls short of expectations, staff address this well. Staff use the system of ‘warn, move, remove’ to manage behaviour in a staged and proportionate way. Although some pupils feel that consequences are not used consistently, behaviour strategies are supporting high standards of behaviour.

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Pupils’ attendance is too low and this is particularly the case for pupils with SEND and those in receipt of the pupil premium. Leaders recognise this needs to improve. Leaders have made recent appointments to increase capacity in the attendance team. There are some early signs of improvement. Despite this, poor attendance is impacting negatively on pupils’ academic outcomes. Those pupils who are absent miss out on learning and are too often not catching up on work missed.

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Leaders develop pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development well. Pupils value their achievements and this is evident in the pride they take in their well- presented work. Pupils learn about protected characteristics and British values and can discuss these subjects well.

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Pupils with SEND benefit from well-considered pastoral and academic support. Those attending the HUB (a specialised provision in the school for pupils with SEND) are taught by specialist staff with expertise in this area. The support offered to these pupils is highly effective.

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Pupils benefit from high-quality careers advice and guidance across key stages 3 and 4. Pupils receive independent careers advice and guidance alongside careers discussions that take place in the context of their subjects.

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Staff feel supported by leaders. During the course of inspection, staff and pupils were keen to share how proud they were to be a part of the Winifred Holtby Academy. Leaders, including those responsible for governance, recognise the important role the school plays in the community. Leaders at all levels are driving improvement at the school. Many have a strong understanding of the effect of their work. However, oversight of some areas of the school, notably pupils’ behaviour and the use of alternative provision, lacks precision.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have built a highly effective culture of safeguarding at the school. Staff understand the risks that pupils might face and know how to report concerns over pupils’ safety or welfare. Records show that swift action is taken to support pupils when concerns arise.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have identified local safeguarding risks that pupils may face and these are understood by staff in the school. Pupils are taught about how to keep themselves safe. 27 and 28 June 2023

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Leaders and staff know their pupils and families well. Teachers are trained to identify any safeguarding concerns. Leaders have effective systems in place for staff to report and record any concerns. They work closely with a range of external agencies to ensure that pupils and families receive timely help and support if necessary.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders’ oversight of some important aspects of their work, such as the use of alternative provision, lacks precision. This means that leaders, including those responsible for governance, do not have as precise an understanding of the impact of their work as they might. Leaders should ensure that they have better oversight of their work in this area so that they identify areas that require further development.  Attendance rates at the school, notably for pupils in receipt of the pupil premium and those with SEND, are not improving well enough. This impacts negatively on the achievement of some pupils in these specific groups. Leaders should intensify actions to secure better rates of attendance, especially amongst more vulnerable pupil groups.

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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. 27 and 28 June 2023

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School details

Local authority Kingston Upon Hull City Council

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School details

Inspection number 10268213 Type of school Secondary Comprehensive School category Academy converter

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,329

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24 September 2021, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Consortium Academy Trust.  The school uses six alternative provisions. Two of these are unregistered. The inspection activities checked the suitability of these provisions for the pupils attending.  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 second routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 27 and 28 June 2023

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, science, history, geography and physical education. As part of the deep dives, inspectors visited lessons, reviewed curriculum plans and spoke with curriculum leaders and teachers. They also talked to pupils about their learning and looked at the work they have completed.  Inspectors met with the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator, reviewed educational healthcare plans and support plans for pupils with SEND, visited the provisions the school has in place for these pupils and visited lessons to see how pupils with SEND are supported to learn.  Inspectors met with the leader responsible for reading to discuss how reading is promoted in the school.  Inspectors met with the designated safeguarding leads and reviewed a range of documentation, including safeguarding records and policies.  Inspectors considered the views of pupils, parents and staff through Ofsted

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surveys.  Inspectors scrutinised the school’s records of bullying, reviewed the actions leaders take when bullying occurs and spoke to several groups of pupils, including some single-gender groups, to understand their experience of school.  Inspectors met leaders to discuss pupils’ behaviour and reviewed the school’s data on suspensions and internal suspensions.  Inspectors met with representatives from the local governing body and representatives of the board of trustees.  Inspectors visited an alternative provision that was being used by the school.  Inspectors scrutinised records relating to attendance and the number of pupils’ who have joined or left the school roll.

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Inspection team

Andrew Gibbins, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sam Broome Ofsted Inspector 27 and 28 June 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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