Elements Academy

Inspection of Elements Academy Doe Quarry Lane, Dinnington, Sheffield S25 2NF

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement

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Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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The headteacher of this school is Victoria Woodrow. This school is part of Ethos Academy 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), Chris Davis, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Graham Dewhirst. 4 and 5 February 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Elements Academy have a mixed experience. Recently, the trust reset expectations across the school. Pupils say they have noticed improvements. Pupils now learn in three ‘zones’. This helps the school to build a consistent staff team around each group of pupils. Pupils have a range of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The primary need for most pupils is social, emotional and mental health (SEMH). Staff manage behaviour incidents in a calm and consistent way. However, parents and pupils continue to raise concerns about behaviour in the school. Pupils say bullying does happen, but they are confident staff will deal with it well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils talk about enjoying specific subjects. They also value positive relationships with key members of staff. However, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. This is partly because the curriculum is not consistently well taught. It is also because pupils’ rates of absence are too high and they miss too much school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn how to develop socially, including through dedicated lessons. Here, they gain knowledge about how to stay safe in the wider world. Pupils confidently explain their understanding of online risks and what makes a healthy relationship.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

With support from the trust, the school has recently made changes to systems and structures. This is leading to an improved culture of learning. Subject curriculums across primary and secondary are increasingly well connected. For example, pupils develop mathematics skills progressively from Year 3 to Year 11. In addition, pupils’ creative writing skills develop well over their time in school.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

New ‘zones’ in the school mean some staff teach out of their subject specialisms. Where this happens, staff lack the subject knowledge to confidently develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding. In addition, pupils in the school have increasingly complex needs. As well as SEMH, pupils often have additional learning difficulties. Staff do not consistently adapt learning to meet pupils’ complex needs. This means pupils’ progress through the curriculum in some subjects is slower than it should be.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school is developing a strong reading culture. Pupils in the primary phase engage in daily phonics activities with trained staff. Pupils of all ages enjoy ‘drop everything and read’ time. Pupils engage in regular after-lunch reading activities with staff. This includes hearing adults read a story aloud. As well as promoting a love of reading, this helps settle pupils back into learning. There is more work to do to support reading across the curriculum. This includes helping pupils of all ages catch up in reading quickly. The school knows this and is making careful improvements.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils’ attitudes to learning are variable. Some thrive in the classroom and are proud to share their work. Others are more disengaged. Behaviour incidents requiring physical intervention from staff are too frequent. However, over recent months, these incidents have started to decrease. Pupils often join the school with historically low attendance. The 4 and 5 February 2025

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school breaks down barriers to positive attendance. This is successful for many pupils. However, too many pupils still miss vital learning due to high rates of absence.

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The school prioritises the pastoral care of its pupils. Warm relationships are at the heart of the school’s work. Pupils enjoy a range of therapeutic support. This includes music therapy. Through playing instruments, pupils learn important strategies to help them manage their emotions. Pupils would like more opportunities to develop their wider interests. The school recognises this. It aims to increase the personal development offer over time. Careers provision in the school is effective. Most pupils move on to suitable and successful destinations.

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The school is going through a period of change. During this, some oversight and record- keeping is not as clear as it should be. This is particularly the case for pupils who have alternative learning packages. Trustees and the recently formed interim management board know the school well. They provide effective support and challenge to help the school to improve its work. Nevertheless, some parents express dissatisfaction with the school. They raise concerns that include the quality of communication. Staff are proud to work at the school. They recognise positive changes this academic year. However, some staff have concerns about their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not ensured that all staff have the necessary support with subject- specific knowledge when teaching outside of their specialism. This can limit how well the curriculum is implemented. The school should ensure that staff receive the necessary support to implement the curriculum well across a breadth of subjects, particularly in the secondary phase.  Adaptations to the delivery of the curriculum are not consistently well matched to the complex needs of the pupils. Some pupils do not progress through the curriculum as well as they should. The school should ensure that staff develop expertise in a range of adaptive teaching strategies to meet pupils’ complex SEND needs.  The attendance of pupils at the school is too low and persistent absence is too high. Pupils miss out on too much learning. The school should ensure that the recent developments in the work of its attendance team, including with parents and carers

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

and wider services, improve pupils’ attendance and engagement in school.  The school’s oversight and record-keeping relating to pupils on temporary part-time timetables and alternative provision pathways is not as comprehensive as it should be. School staff lack clarity in their oversight of these pupils’ quality of education and the timeliness of the support they receive. The school should further improve its strategic 4 and 5 February 2025

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oversight of pupils’ pathways and its approaches to collaborative working between staff teams.  The school has gone through a significant period of turbulence over recent time. During this time, engagement with key stakeholders, including parents, has suffered. Leaders should ensure that their continued work to improve the school is supported by effective communication with all key stakeholders.

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How can I feed back my views?

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). 4 and 5 February 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Ethos Academy trust.  The headteacher was absent at the time of the inspection. The school is currently overseen by leaders from the multi-academy trust.  The school currently uses four unregistered alternative provisions for some of its pupils.  The school caters for pupils with SEND who have a primary need of SEMH. All pupils have an EHC plan.  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

Inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and 4 and 5 February 2025

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management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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.  Inspectors met with the director of education for the trust (currently overseeing the school), and other trust and senior leaders over the course of the inspection. The lead inspector also met with the CEO for the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics and personal, social and health education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  An inspector met with the leader responsible for SEND and reviewed pupils’ support

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plans.  Inspectors reviewed the use of part-time timetables and alternative provision in the school. This included speaking with the manager of Elevate, the school’s in-house alternative provision.  The lead inspector met with trustees and members of the interim management board. She also reviewed documentation related to governance, including minutes of meetings.  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.  The inspectors met with groups of pupils and staff formally throughout the inspection and spoke with them at social times and in lessons.  Inspectors reviewed a range of school documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and the school improvement plan.

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 Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. Inspectors also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and for pupils.

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Inspection team

Hannah Millett, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Steve Kernan Ofsted Inspector 4 and 5 February 2025

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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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