Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mark Robinson Principal Outwood Academy Normanby Normanby Road South Bank Middlesbrough TS6 9AG

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Outwood Academy Normanby

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 15 May 2025, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and was the second monitoring inspection since the school was judged to have serious weaknesses following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in February 2024.

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Outwood Academy Normanby

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Outwood Academy Normanby

During the inspection, I discussed with you, other senior leaders and trust leaders, including a trustee and a governor, the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also reviewed documentation. This included behaviour and attendance data, your self-evaluation and your school development plan. I spent time in lessons and talked to staff and pupils. I also met with the leaders responsible for special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and reviewed a sample of pupils’ support plans. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to no longer be judged as having serious weaknesses.

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For this monitoring visit, I focused on key areas for improvement since the last inspection. These were mainly around pupils’ attendance and behaviour. In addition, I spent time considering the quality of education in classrooms. I also focused activities on the school’s provision for pupils with SEND. Since the last visit, the school’s staffing has been stable. This term, you added further capacity to the pastoral team.

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With support from the trust in some subjects, you have a well-designed curriculum in place. There are many occasions where this curriculum is implemented well. Where this is the case, staff provide clear explanations for pupils. They break learning down effectively and give helpful feedback. This allows pupils to move forward in their learning. However, this implementation is inconsistent. In some lessons, misconceptions go unaddressed and pupils do not receive clear guidance on how to improve their work or deepen their understanding. In addition, staff do not consistently adhere to school policies, for example, how the school expects pupils’ work in books to be checked. You are aware that these inconsistencies remain. Published outcomes have improved in some parts of the curriculum. However, you acknowledge they are still too low compared to national averages. With the trust, you have plans to introduce a staff coaching model from

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September. This is to put stronger systems in place to help best practice to be more effectively shared and developed.

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The school has made a positive difference to the quality of support plans for pupils with SEND. Each plan reflects the pupil’s voice in a meaningful way. This helps staff quickly get to know the pupils they teach. In addition, the targets that pupils are set give staff helpful guidance on what pupils should be working towards. These plans make clear the adaptations that need to be made to give pupils with SEND the help that they need. However, you recognise that the implementation of these plans is variable. Some pupils with SEND do not progress through the curriculum as well as their peers. There is more work to do to ensure these pupils achieve the very best outcomes at your school.

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Reading is a high priority in the school. You and your team are highly aware of the literacy needs of many of your pupils. Pupils’ reading ability is assessed as soon as they join the school. This data informs effective support programmes that are delivered by specially trained staff. As a result, the school is closing gaps in pupils’ reading ability. This year, you have also introduced a home reading initiative for Year 7 pupils. You are proud of the engagement in this important project. You are continuing to work on developing a love of reading throughout the rest of the school. Older pupils are not consistently positive about their reading experiences. You are also in the early stages of introducing reading strategies across the curriculum. Currently, staff are not clear about how they can best support reading in their subject area.

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At my last visit, you had stabilised attendance and started to improve behaviour. This positive trajectory has continued. Attendance for all pupil groups has increased. Persistent absence for almost all pupil groups has gone down significantly. At the point of this visit, the persistent absence of pupils with SEND had not improved. You recognise this and are determined to improve the engagement of these pupils in school. You have increased the capacity and expertise of the attendance team to help you reach this goal. Behaviour data shows that your improvement plans are making a difference. Notably, repeat suspensions have reduced by two thirds since the same point last year. Staff and pupils now say that behaviour is getting better in the school. They can see the difference you and your team are making. You acknowledge suspensions are still too high. You also know attendance is still too low. However, you are putting structures in place to address this.

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The school’s personal development offer for pupils is constantly expanding. This is evident from the newsletters published on your website. The local governors (academy council) continue to help enhance careers education. This includes facilitating recent mock interviews for Year 11. Pupils now talk about a range of trips, visits and experiences in the school. With the trust, you have plans to expand the personal development offer further. This includes amending the school day so you can devote more time to this important area.

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You and your team continue to make effective progress towards your goals. Leadership capacity is in place to ensure this continues. The school development plan is a working document that you constantly revisit to ensure that it is fit for purpose. The trust supports you well with the improvement process. Regular post-inspection plan review meetings help with this. They ensure you are evaluating the impact of your actions. They also help the trust provide the right support at the right time. You all know there is more work to do but are progressing well.

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I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, and the CEO or equivalent of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Redcar and Cleveland. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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