Djanogly City Academy

Inspection Report Djanogly City Academy Nottingham

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134253 Unique Reference Number Not Applicable LEA 284059 Inspection number 20 April 2006 to 21 April 2006 Inspection dates Mr. Paul Brooker LI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Sherwood Rise School address Academy Type of school NG7 7AR Non-maintained School category 11 to 18 Age range of pupils 0115 9424422 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0115 9424034 Fax number 1623 Number on roll Mr.Ron Kenyon Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr. Mike Butler Headteacher Not applicable Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 284059 20 April 2006 - 11 to 18 21 April 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by four of Her Majesty's Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The academy was formed from a merger of two schools: the Djanogly City Technology College (CTC) and The Forest School that was closed by the LEA in July 2002. The academy opened in August 2003 in the buildings of the predecessor CTC and in temporary accommodation on several other sites. The state-of-the-art 11-14 centre was completed, 18 months behind schedule, in June 2005 on the nearby site of The Forest School. Further sports facilities and vocational provision are situated at a number of other locations. The academy enjoys excellent facilities and resources to support its specialism in information and communication technology (ICT). With 1623 students on roll, including 272 in the sixth form, the academy is a large and expanding school. It serves a multicultural area of inner city Nottingham with high levels of social and economic deprivation. As the academy becomes more popular and over-subscribed,

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Description of the school

its catchment area has become increasingly localised; the majority of students live within a one mile radius of the school. Around half of the students are white British; others are from a wide variety of minority ethnic heritages, the largest proportions of which are Pakistani, Indian and black Caribbean. A small but increasing number of students are from families of asylum seekers or refugees; 15% of students have a first language other than English. At 36%, the proportion of students who are eligible for free school meals is above average and is increasing year-on-year. The proportion of sixth form students who are eligible for free school meals and/or educational maintenance allowance is also very high. The proportion of students with learning difficulties and disabilities is above average and increasing. Pupil mobility is high. There are more boys than girls. Since the academy opened, it has had a relatively low

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Description of the school

turnover of teaching staff, although it has faced difficulties in recruitment and retention in English and mathematics.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Djanogly City Academy Nottingham, 20 April 2006 to 21 April 2006

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Grade: 3

The academy is an improving school with a number of emerging strengths. However, its overall effectiveness is satisfactory, rather than good, because some of the developments have yet to impact fully on raising standards for all students. Inspectors recognise that the academy has faced considerable challenges in its first two years and that its development has been well managed through this difficult time. The principal and senior management team have been innovative and resourceful in finding short-term solutions to some challenging problems, whilst also maintaining the drive to raise standards. This demonstrates that the academy is well led and managed and that it has the capacity to improve further. The academy's rigorous quality assurance system gives it a clear view of its strengths and areas for development. The academy has developed a good curriculum with significant strengths, particularly in its range

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Grade: 3

and flexibility. The quality of teaching is improving and is satisfactory overall. The students make satisfactory progress in lessons and over time. Despite difficult circumstances the students generally made sound progress last year. Indeed, results in GCSE examinations in 2005 showed good improvement overall. Nonetheless, the students' achievement and attainment have been too low in some subjects, particularly in English and also in mathematics. Low levels of literacy continue to act as a barrier to high attainment for many students. The academy has a settled and positive ethos. The students are well cared for and supported, and their personal development is satisfactory overall. However, sixth-form students have too few enrichment opportunities to promote their personal development. In addition, academic guidance for sixth-form students is underdeveloped. The academy makes good use of its excellent

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Grade: 3

ICT resources. The best teaching is promoted by high-tech equipment that is used innovatively to accelerate the students' learning. The academy provides satisfactory value for money.

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Grade: 3

The academy's open-access sixth form provides a satisfactory quality of education for its students. Its inclusive philosophy has significantly increased the proportion of students who choose to stay in post-16 education. The broad range of vocational and academic courses meets the needs and aspirations of the students and offers suitable flexibility for them to follow courses at different levels of accreditation. There is good collaboration locally with other post-16 providers. Teaching in the sixth form is satisfactory overall. Standards are very low in comparison with national averages, but represent satisfactory achievement in relation to the students' starting points. The students speak highly of the support that they receive from their teachers and year learning leaders. However, aspects of academic guidance are underdeveloped: prior attainment information is not used effectively to set individual targets, to check

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Grade: 3

progress or guide students in their options beyond the sixth form. The academy has planned improvements to the current limited sixth-form facilities, but the delays in this development have frustrated many students, a significant number of whom have 2 Inspection Report: Djanogly City Academy Nottingham, 20 April 2006 to 21 April 2006 left since September. In addition, the students have too few enrichment opportunities. Their role in the school community is underdeveloped, particularly as there is no sixth form council.

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What the school should do to improve further

- continue to raise standards of attainment, particularly in English and mathematics - focus more sharply on developing students' speaking, listening and writing skills in all lessons in order to improve their literacy - improve provision for sixth form students by strengthening academic guidance, providing wider enrichment opportunities and more suitable facilities for independent study.

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Grade: 3

Notwithstanding the significant improvements in GCSE examinations in 2005, achievement is satisfactory overall because the students' progress across key stages and between subjects is too uneven. When students enter the academy their standards are generally below those expected for their ages. Overall standards are below average but most students make satisfactory progress in relation to their prior attainment. There is no significant difference in the achievement of different groups of students. Students with learning difficulties and disabilities make satisfactory progress. The attainment of students at the end of Key Stage 3 in 2005 was low in comparison with national average figures. Results in mathematics and science were broadly in line with expectations based on students' prior attainment. However, results in English were significantly lower than in 2004 and represented inadequate achievement. Key changes

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Grade: 3

have improved provision in English this year; students were seen to be making satisfactory progress in English lessons during the inspection. Nonetheless, weaknesses in literacy are a barrier to high attainment for many students. GCSE results in 2005 showed significant improvement compared with the previous year. The proportion of students that achieved at least 5 A*-C grade GCSEs rose to 57%, broadly in line with national figures and exceeding the academy's target. The academy is rightly proud of the achievement of targeted groups of students, particularly Pakistani boys and the students that had transferred from The Forest School. The academy's specialism in ICT made a positive contribution to raising standards. Nonetheless, attainment in mathematics and English was too low. Standards of attainment in the sixth form are very low in comparison with national figures. However most students make satisfactory

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Grade: 3

progress in relation to the standards they achieved before starting their sixth-form courses. The academy has very good systems for assessing, tracking and reporting the students' progress. Targets are soundly based on prior attainment data, although target setting for sixth-form students is underdeveloped. In several subject areas, such as ICT, the use of assessment is well integrated into lessons so that students are able to check and guide their own progress. 3 Inspection Report: Djanogly City Academy Nottingham, 20 April 2006 to 21 April 2006

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Grade: 3

Most of the students are positive about the academy and the opportunities it offers them to develop as young citizens. Their attitudes and behaviour in lessons are satisfactory, and quite often good. This settled ethos is built solidly on the foundations of the generally strong relationships that students enjoy with their teachers. The number of exclusions has begun to decrease, but it remains relatively high and demonstrates that a few students find it hard to respond positively to the academy's expectations. While anti-social behaviour does occur, the students recognise that most teachers deal with it effectively and challenge bullying robustly. The academy takes care to monitor and promote good attendance, which is broadly satisfactory in Years 7 to 9, but well below average in Years 10 to 11, and equally low in Years 12 and 13. The academy recognises that punctuality at the start of the day is a concern for a few

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Grade: 3

students, especially in Year 10. However, good systems have been implemented since December 2005 to monitor lateness and to identify students who need support. The students have responded reasonably well to the academy's approach to promoting safe and healthy living. The younger students, in particular, use the new restaurant provision well and enjoy the healthy eating options available. A good number of students take advantage of the opportunities offered to them in sports and dance activities, including the Sports Leaders initiatives. The students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory overall. They learn to be tolerant and sociable members of the school community. However, their awareness of spiritual diversity is less strong; opportunities for students to reflect on their own lives and those of others are missed. Assemblies cover a range of moral issues, but do not deal overtly with

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Grade: 3

spirituality. The students develop their work-based skills effectively through work experience and a number of well organised vocational courses.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. There was a very close match between the academy's view of teaching and that seen during the inspection: almost all lessons were at least satisfactory, including around half in which students made good progress. In a few lessons the quality and pace of learning were inadequate. In general ICT was well used to structure and support the students' learning. Several interesting presentations, prepared in advance, were well used to aid teachers' exposition and to make lessons interesting. In the best lessons, teachers set deliberately challenging work. Detailed planning was effective in securing brisk progress through a range of varied learning activities. In these lessons there was a good balance of directed and independent learning, with students developing and refining their ideas in pairs and small groups. The best questioning was skilfully targeted to build the

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Grade: 3

students' understanding and to assess their progress, and good marking set clear targets for improvement. Effective teaching paid close attention to students' speaking 4 Inspection Report: Djanogly City Academy Nottingham, 20 April 2006 to 21 April 2006 and listening skills and promoted writing well. In the weaker lessons, planning was not sharp enough and students were uncertain about the main purpose or outcomes of the lesson. Weaker teaching did not plan for the diverse range of learners' needs, and expectations of students' speaking, listening, presentation and writing were too low in a number of lessons. Opportunities to develop extended writing, such as in homework, are often missed. When learning activities engaged too few students, small groups were allowed to be passive and it was unclear whether they had understood the main points. Learning was also affected by poor attendance and punctuality in

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Grade: 2

The academy has developed a good curriculum which provides a wide range of learning opportunities. Moreover, it is constantly reviewed to ensure that it meets the changing needs of its students. The curriculum flexibility enables targeted students to take accelerated courses leading to early GCSE and AS level entry in a range of subjects. The curriculum is broadened by the Friday afternoon enterprise programme and by the good extra-curricular provision, particularly for gifted and talented students. The broad range of vocational pathways and work-related learning courses provides well-regulated options for the academy's students and also some from a wider area. The academy's specialism in ICT is very well resourced across both sites, as is its library provision. The students' use of the libraries is monitored effectively, but the development of literacy across the curriculum is still inconsistent.

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Grade for sixth form: 3

The academy provides a safe, supportive and caring environment for its students. A caring team of staff work closely together to ensure that there are thorough procedures for protecting students, including those under the care of the local authority. The academy has effective systems of personal support and guidance, and is constantly looking at ways to improve the range and quality of its provision, particularly as the entry profile of each cohort is gradually changing. The procedures for monitoring students' progress are well used to set targets for individual students, although this is underdeveloped in the sixth form. A range of effective intervention strategies is used to support students who have learning difficulties and disabilities. They are well managed and their effectiveness is regularly checked. The 'Thinking and Learning Centre' and 'Social Skills Centre' are well resourced and make a good contribution to

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Grade for sixth form: 3

students' overall personal, social, emotional and academic well-being. 5 Inspection Report: Djanogly City Academy Nottingham, 20 April 2006 to 21 April 2006

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Grade for sixth form: 3

Leadership and management are good overall. The academy is rightly proud of what has been achieved in its first few years, during a period of considerable expansion and upheaval. These improvements demonstrate that the academy has capacity for further improvement. The principal, ably supported by an effective senior leadership team, has led the academy's development well. He has communicated a clear vision and high aspirations to the staff and students. The leadership has successfully balanced the long-term development needs of the academy with its immediate and changing priorities. The development of temporary accommodation has been particularly enterprising and well managed. The fact that the education of Year 11 students last year was not unduly disrupted, and that they did well overall, was a commendable achievement. The academy's quality assurance procedures are systematic and rigorous. They ensure that middle leaders are closely involved in monitoring and strengthening

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Grade for sixth form: 3

provision and that they are effectively held to account by senior leaders. Systems for self evaluation give senior and middle leaders an accurate overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the academy and the priorities for improvement. Parents and students are generally positive about the academy's ethos and provision, but a small number of parents expressed concerns about the academy's poor communication and its slow response to issues raised. Governance is good. The governing body is well organised, well informed and effective in holding the academy to account. The academy values the specialist expertise and support provided by individual governors. Sound financial management procedures are in place. Unforeseen problems with the development if the 11-14 centre have frustrated the planned developments on the 14-19 site. A very good working relationship has developed with the local authority (LA), which co-ordinates admissions from primary schools and liaises closely with the

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Grade for sixth form: 3

academy. These links have worked for the mutual benefit of both parties, and have enabled the academy to have a wider influence on improving provision in the local area. 6 Inspection Report: Djanogly City Academy Nottingham, 20 April 2006 to 21 April 2006 .

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Grade for sixth form: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 Inspection Report: Djanogly City Academy Nottingham, 20 April 2006 to 21 April 2006

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Inspection judgements

16-19 School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Inspection judgements

3 3 How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? 2 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA NA The quality and standards in foundation stage 2 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation Yes Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA NA Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Inspection judgements

Achievement and standards 3 3 How well do learners achieve? 4 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Inspection judgements

3 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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Inspection judgements

Personal development and well-being 3 3 How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the learners? 4 3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 3 The behaviour of learners 4 The attendance of learners 3 3 How well learners enjoy their education 3 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 4 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 4 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community 3 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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Inspection judgements

The quality of provision 3 3 How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of the learners' needs? 2 2 How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 3 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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Inspection judgements

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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Annex A

Leadership and management 3 2 How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners? How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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Annex A

The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them The extent to which learners make a positive contribution Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the

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Annex A

wider community The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams Yes Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form Yes Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for welcoming us to your academy on our recent inspection. We enjoyed talking to you and seeing your work. Your opinions were very helpful and confirmed what staff and parents told us about the academy. The 11-14 centre on Gregory Boulevard is certainly an impressive building. Many of you told us how much you appreciate these excellent facilities and the very good resources, particularly for ICT and in the libraries. The delays in developing the new facilities were tedious, and some sixth-form students are understandably frustrated that developments on the Sherwood Rise site have been further delayed. Nonetheless, many of you recognise that the academy offers you some good opportunities, not only to gain good examination results but also for your personal development. Many of you spoke positively about trips abroad, your work as sports leaders and the enjoyment you get from extra-curricular

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

activities such as sport and dance. The academy also has a number of other strengths: - your curriculum is good because you are offered a such a wide range of courses at different levels of accreditation - you are very well cared for and supported by staff - the academy is well led and managed - standards are beginning to rise, particularly at GCSE However, in common with most schools, the academy knows there are areas where improvements can be made and has plans to address these. We have specifically asked that the teachers and senior leadership team should focus on: - raising standards and improving exam results, particularly in English and mathematics; - improving your writing and literacy skills in all lessons, not just in English; - improving the sixth-form provision, for example, by guiding and advising you more carefully and by providing a better range of enrichment opportunities. We wish you all every success in

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