Outwood Academy Brumby

Inspection of Outwood Academy Brumby Cemetery Road, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire DN16 1NT

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Inspection dates: 14, 15 and 23 May 2024

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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 Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The principal of this school is Donna Fitzgerald. This school is part of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Lee Wilson, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by David Earnshaw. 14 to 23 May 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Outwood Academy Brumby is a school that puts the best interests of pupils at the heart of everything it does. The school has an unswerving commitment to providing pupils with a high-quality education, irrespective of their background or ability. Staff strive to remove the many barriers to learning that pupils face. This includes a strong focus on improving pupils’ rates of attendance.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at school. They learn to take responsibility for their own behaviour. They understand the impact of their actions on others. Most pupils get along well. They are polite and friendly. The school has high expectations of pupils’ conduct. This ensures that pupils can learn successfully. Typically, pupils show positive attitudes to learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that the school wants them to have the best possible start in life. An abundance of extra-curricular activities, such as sports and other developmental opportunities, are carefully woven into the school day. This ensures that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those who are disadvantaged, can access them equally well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school places equal weight on pupils’ academic achievement. An increasing number of pupils benefit from an effective curriculum that fosters their aspirations and enables them to succeed.

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better?

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum that supports pupils to build a deep body of subject knowledge from Year 7 to Year 11. The curriculum in place is effective. Across the school, many pupils learn increasingly well.

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better?

The school’s relentless drive to increase attendance is improving the achievement of many pupils, including those who are disadvantaged. However, the impact of the school’s work is not borne out in the 2023 published data. This data does not reflect the quality of education that current pupils enjoy.

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better?

The school has recognised that empowering pupils with literacy is a priority. Teachers carefully model appropriate subject-specific vocabulary. This helps pupils to build confidence and discuss their learning fluently. Teachers use their subject expertise skilfully to deepen pupils’ understanding. Pupils routinely draw on prior knowledge to apply what they know to more sophisticated ideas and concepts.

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better?

The school prioritises reading. Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy reading aloud. They said that this is building their confidence and helping to prepare them for the future. In key stage 3, the school’s strategies enable staff to pinpoint the precise deficits in pupils’ reading knowledge. Bespoke support, including phonics, is used effectively. This is helping younger pupils to read with increasing accuracy. However, some older pupils, including some who are disadvantaged, have not benefited from 14 to 23 May 2024

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the same support as their younger peers. These pupils do not access the wider curriculum as well as they should because they find reading difficult.

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When pupils are in school, they learn well. Teachers use assessment information systematically to shape future learning. The school has implemented clear processes to enable teachers to support those pupils who miss learning due to absence. However, from time to time, some teachers do not identify or address gaps in these pupils’ knowledge swiftly enough. This hinders how quickly these pupils catch up on any missed learning.

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The school identifies the additional needs of pupils with SEND quickly and accurately. Pupils with SEND access the same curriculum content as their peers. Most of these pupils build on their prior knowledge securely.

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The school has developed an effective attendance strategy, working closely with parents and carers to reduce absence levels. Whole-school attendance has increased sharply. Many pupils attend school more regularly than they did in the past. Despite this, some pupils remain absent from school too often. These pupils miss important learning and all that the school has to offer.

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The school has adapted its approaches to managing pupils’ behaviour. This has included strengthening the pastoral team to support those pupils who find it more difficult to regulate their behaviour. As a result, the number of suspensions is reducing. Around the school, pupils conduct themselves positively. They know the school rules and understand the behaviour policy well. In lessons, staff deal swiftly with any low-level disruption.

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Pupils experience a broad personal development offer that is carefully designed and delivered successfully through ‘life’ lessons. These lessons cover important aspects of pupils’ development appropriate to their age. For example, pupils learn about youth justice, diversity, charity and different faiths. Pupils receive comprehensive information about their next steps in education, employment or training. This helps pupils to make well-informed, aspirational choices about post-16 training and education.

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Staff, including early career teachers, feel well supported in their roles. They appreciate the actions that the school has taken to ensure that their workload is manageable. Governors and trustees have high ambitions for the school. They share the school’s passion for all pupils to receive a positive educational experience.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 14 to 23 May 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. These pupils miss important learning and all that the school has to offer. The school should ensure that it continues to support these pupils and their families to further improve their rates of attendance over time.  Some older pupils have gaps in their reading knowledge. This hinders how well these pupils access the wider curriculum. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to identify and remedy the gaps in these pupils’ reading knowledge quickly and effectively.  Some pupils, including some who are disadvantaged, have gaps in their knowledge because of absence from school. On occasion, some staff do not support pupils to address these gaps in knowledge swiftly enough. This prevents these pupils from building a rich body of subject knowledge across the curriculum. The school should ensure that staff implement the agreed approaches

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

to addressing gaps in pupils’ knowledge consistently well.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 14 to 23 May 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, there have been several changes to school leadership. The principal joined the school in April 2024.  The school is part of Outwood Grange Academies Trust.  The school uses one unregistered and two registered alternative education providers.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 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. A further visit was made to the school on 23 May 2024 to gather additional evidence. 14 to 23 May 2024

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 Inspections are a point-in-time judgment about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspection started on 14 May 2024. Inspectors returned on 23 May 2024 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.  Inspectors met with the principal, senior leaders and other staff in the school. The lead inspector met with the CEO of the multi-academy trust, the chair of the trust board and other trust members. The lead inspector spoke to members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, science, physical

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education and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in a range of situations, including at breaktimes, lunchtimes and in lessons. Inspectors also spoke with pupils about their perceptions of behaviour and bullying in the school.  Inspectors reviewed a range of school documents, including the school’s self- evaluation and development documentation.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for pupils and for

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staff.  Inspectors also considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

David Mills, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Rachel Goodwin, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Ben Hill His Majesty’s Inspector 14 to 23 May 2024

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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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