Lincoln UTC Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management, with a strong focus on developing the quality of teaching and learning and raising standards, by:
  • subject leaders working more closely together in checking the quality of teaching across the school and taking action to improve it where necessary
  • senior and subject leaders making sure that all teachers consistently use the teaching, learning, assessment and reporting policy when marking pupils’ work and when providing pupils with feedback about their next steps in learning
  • senior leaders ensuring that all teachers consistently use the recently introduced strategies to improve pupils’ communication skills, and that all teachers and mentors closely monitor the progress pupils make in developing these skills, particularly in reading.
• Improve teaching by ensuring that all teachers set activities for pupils that have appropriate levels of support and challenge, particularly for boys and the most able pupils in Year 11.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Senior leaders have not ensured that teaching is consistently good across all subjects, particularly in key stage 4. Because of this, some pupils, including boys and the most able pupils, do not make the progress they should.
• Senior leaders have rightly recognised that a significant proportion of pupils arrive at the school in Year 10 behind in their communication skills, particularly in their reading skills. They have put into place appropriate strategies to resolve this issue. Teachers and mentors, however, are not checking closely enough whether or not these strategies have improved pupils’ command of these skills. Leaders have not ensured that they do this.
• Until recently, subject leaders’ role in improving the quality of teaching and of raising standards throughout the whole school has been limited. They have not had a sufficiently secure understanding of the progress that pupils make in subjects other than those that they themselves lead. Consequently, subject leaders have been unable to identify with sufficient timeliness when pupils may require further support across a range of subjects to ensure that the pupils make the progress that they should.
• Senior leaders regularly check the quality of teaching at the school. They undertake visits to lessons, look at pupils’ books and speak with pupils. Where they identify performance that does not meet their expectations, senior leaders ensure that the teacher receives support to improve their classroom practice. This close monitoring and support has not yet ensured that all teaching is consistently good, however. Nor has it ensured that teachers set all pupils, particularly the most able, work that is sufficiently challenging to ensure that they achieve well.
• The principal has high expectations of staff and pupils. He has communicated these expectations well to all members of the school community. He has a very clear and precise understanding of those aspects of the school’s provision that need to improve to ensure that all pupils make good progress in their learning. Ably supported by other senior leaders, he has begun to take decisive action to resolve the issues he has identified. However, these actions are recent. It is too early to measure the sustained impact of these strategies on improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.
• Senior leaders use the pupil premium funding well to involve disadvantaged pupils in initiatives that raise their career aspirations and encourage them to engage with their learning. These initiatives have led to improved attendance among disadvantaged pupils. They have also ensured that greater proportions of disadvantaged pupils, including those who are most able, are making the progress they should across a wide range of subjects.
• The leader responsible for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities uses the additional funding well to support these pupils. She has ensured that the teaching assistants, who support these pupils in the classroom, work closely with teachers to plan these pupils’ learning. She has also ensured that teaching assistants receive relevant training to ensure that their support for these pupils is effective. As a result, nearly all pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress in their learning in a wide range of subjects.
• The system by which leaders manage teachers’ performance is robust. Teachers’ performance targets link closely with the school’s improvement priorities. Senior leaders regularly review teachers’ performance against these targets, using a wide range of evidence. They provide teachers with support, where it is necessary.
• Teachers have regular opportunities to receive training to develop their classroom practice. This training includes opportunities for teachers to share best practice. The staff who met with inspectors were appreciative of the training they have received, and recognised how it is helping them to improve their own practice.
• Senior leaders have now resolved previous issues over the recruitment of permanent staff at the school. Because of this, there is now greater continuity in pupils’ learning and a more stable learning environment.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, and enables pupils to study a range of work-related courses that develop their understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This is in keeping with the school’s educational ethos and its commitment to preparing pupils to work in the local business community. Senior leaders ensure that pupils undertake enrichment activities, including work experience, to secure their understanding of the world of work and to develop their employability skills. The school works well with local employers, enabling pupils to develop a broad understanding of local employment opportunities and demands.
• Pupils receive a wide range of opportunities to secure their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The school’s links with schools in India and Namibia have enabled pupils to develop an understanding of life beyond the local community. Pupils also receive opportunities to learn about other faiths and beliefs. Such opportunities have enabled pupils to develop a secure understanding of fundamental British values. Pupils recognise the need to respect all people, including those who have a different sexual orientation.
• Senior leaders have ensured that pupils receive effective impartial careers advice and guidance. This guidance provides pupils with a clear understanding of the employment opportunities open to them, and of the skills and qualifications they need to acquire to fulfil their career aim.
• The school works closely with other local schools, and with a school whose support has been organised through the Baker Dearing Trust. Senior leaders use this support well to provide training for staff who have taken on leadership roles. They also use this support to check the accuracy of the teachers’ assessment of pupils’ work. As a result, senior leaders have a precise view of the progress that current pupils make.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has an accurate understanding of the strengths of the school’s provision, and of the areas for improvement. For example, governors recognise that not all of the most able pupils achieve as well as they should.
• Governors provide effective support and challenge to senior leaders in their drive to improve the quality of the school’s provision. Governors undertake their own, independent, visits to the school to confirm for themselves the accuracy of the information that they receive from senior leaders. During these visits, governors speak with pupils, teachers and subject leaders.
• Governors regularly review their own collective skills, to ensure that they, as a body, can support the school and its leaders effectively. Where they identify any skills gaps, they are quick to undertake appropriate training, or to recruit a suitably qualified governor. Governors are also committed to using their own business knowledge and their contacts with local employers to enhance the school’s curriculum.
• The governing body has a precise understanding of how the school uses additional government funding to support disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Governors understand the duties of the governing body in ensuring that pupils are safe.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders who have responsibility for safeguarding work closely with staff to monitor the welfare of the pupils. When they have a concern about a pupil’s welfare, leaders are quick to take action, working effectively with parents and local agencies to ensure that the pupil receives the support that they require.
• Leaders are sensitive to issues in the local area that may affect the welfare of their pupils. Where they identify an emerging concern, they are quick to ensure that staff and pupils receive appropriate training to keep themselves safe. For example, they have ensured that all staff and pupils have received training on the dangers of radicalisation and extremism, including far-right, nationalist beliefs. They have also set up support for those pupils who may experience mental health difficulties.
• Staff receive regular training and updates about safeguarding. Because of this, staff have a clear understanding of the different types of abuse, and of the signs to look for in monitoring the welfare of their pupils. Staff understand the actions they should take if they have a concern about a pupil.
• All of the pupils that inspectors met said that they feel safe at the school. They all said that they have an adult they can go to when they have a concern. They are confident that the adult will listen to them and take effective action to support them.
• The overwhelming majority of parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, agreed that their child is safe at the school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not consistently good across the school, particularly in key stage 4. Because of this, some pupils, including boys and the most able pupils in Year 11, do not make the progress that they should in some of their subjects.
• Teachers do not consistently set work that provides sufficient challenge for the most able pupils. The work that these pupils receive often does not enable them to deepen their thinking or extend their learning. The most able pupils that an inspector met said that the work they complete does not provide them with sufficient challenge.
• Pupils receive regular, weekly opportunities to develop their reading skills. Not all teachers or mentors effectively monitor the quality of the books pupils choose to read, however, to ensure that they are suitably challenging. Furthermore, some do not consistently check pupils’ understanding of what they have read. Consequently, teachers and mentors do not have a sufficiently secure oversight of how well pupils are improving in their communication skills, and particularly their reading skills.
• Some teachers do not follow the school’s teaching, learning, assessment and reporting policy when marking pupils’ work, and when providing pupils with information about how they can improve upon their work.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and use this knowledge well to engage pupils in their learning. Teachers ensure that pupils are secure in developing their technical understanding in the work-related subjects. In an engineering design lesson, pupils in Year 10 developed good technical understanding by completing an assignment that required them to manufacture a light box to a precise specification. Pupils engaged well in this task, working collaboratively.
• Some teachers set pupils engaging and challenging tasks that enable pupils to immerse themselves in their learning. These teachers ask probing questions to check pupils’ understanding, and provide support where it is necessary. On these occasions, pupils engage well with their learning and make good progress. Pupils in Year 11, for example, discussed issues relating to child sexual exploitation that their study of ‘Othello’ had raised. The teacher managed pupils’ learning well, asking carefully considered questions to ensure that pupils thought deeply about the topic. Pupils responded well to the challenge, and discussed the topic with sensitivity.
• There are strong relationships between teachers and pupils. Because of this, pupils adopt positive attitudes to their learning and behave well in lessons.
• Teachers work well with the teaching assistants, to provide effective support to pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teachers work collaboratively with teaching assistants to plan pupils’ learning, to ensure that they set activities that meet these pupils’ individual needs. As a result, teaching assistants are able to provide effective support to these pupils as they are learning. In turn, this enables pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to make good progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Through the curriculum and their ‘life guidance’ lessons, pupils receive wide-ranging opportunities to learn how to stay safe. Pupils have learned about being safe online, being safe in the workshop, and about the dangers associated with alcohol and drugs.
• The life guidance lessons enable pupils to learn how to lead healthy lives, particularly in relation to their emotional well-being. The school provides close support for pupils who may experience difficulties in relation to these aspects of their lives.
• Pupils are aware of the different types of bullying, including physical, verbal, emotional and homophobic bullying. The pupils who met with inspectors said that incidents of bullying are rare and that, when they do occur, staff deal with them quickly and effectively. All of the parents who responded to the online questionnaire agreed with this point of view. The school’s own records indicate that there are few incidents of bullying, and that staff deal with bullying effectively when it does occur.
• Through their life guidance lessons and assemblies, pupils are aware of the need to respect all people, regardless of race, belief or sexual orientation.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school. They have positive attitudes to learning that enable them to engage well in lessons. Many of the pupils who responded to the online questionnaire said that they felt the work teachers set them to complete challenged them only some of the time.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave well in lessons. They engage well with their learning. This is because of the strong relationships they have with the staff and with each other.
• Pupils behave well around the school site, between lessons and during social time.
• Senior leaders work well with the schools that pupils leave to come and study at Lincoln UTC, to identify any support that pupils may require to manage their behaviour. This enables leaders to put in place, where it is appropriate, timely and effective support to enable pupils to manage their own behaviour well.
• The proportion of pupils who are excluded from the school, including those who are excluded more than once, has reduced. This is due to the strong focus that leaders now place on rewarding pupils for good behaviour.
• Overall attendance at the school is above the national average. This is due to the close monitoring of pupils’ attendance that leaders, including the lead persons for behaviour and attendance, undertake. The proportions of disadvantaged pupils and of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities who are absent from school has reduced considerably. This is due to the close support that these pupils receive to enable them to attend school regularly. Their attendance is now close to the national average for all pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 4 in 2016 was below average in a range of subjects. The school’s performance information indicates that greater proportions of current pupils in key stage 4 are making the progress they should across a wide range of subjects. This improvement in current pupils’ attainment is less strong in Year 11, where some pupils are not making the progress they should.
• In 2016, pupils made slower progress from their starting points at the end of key stage 4 in GCSE English than pupils nationally. The school’s current performance information and those books that inspectors looked at indicate that greater proportions of current pupils in both Years 10 and 11 are making the progress that they should in this subject. This is due to a recent change of leadership. The new leader has been quick to identify where pupils are not making sufficient progress, and to ensure that appropriate support is in place. Although improving, the proportion of the most able pupils in Year 11 who are making the progress that they should in this subject remains too low.
• The attainment that the most able pupils achieved in 2016 was too low in a range of subjects at the end of Year 11 because they made slow progress from their starting points. The current most able pupils are making much better progress, but some in Year 11 are not making the progress they should. This is because teachers in some subjects do not set these pupils work that is sufficiently challenging, or that enables them to deepen their learning.
• The achievement of boys currently in the school has improved across a range of subjects when compared with that seen in 2016. Some boys in Year 11, however, are making slower progress than they should in a few subjects.
• The differences in the achievement of disadvantaged pupils in Years 10 and 11, including those who are most able, when compared with other pupils nationally are diminishing across most subjects, including in English and mathematics. This is due to the school’s effective use of the additional government funding that has resulted in these pupils attending school more regularly and engaging well with their learning.
• In nearly all subjects at key stage 4, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are achieving well. This is due to the strong support that they receive in lessons, particularly from the teaching assistants.
• Pupils achieved well in GCSE mathematics in 2016. Most pupils attained at least a grade C in this subject, making strong progress from their different starting points. The school’s performance information, and those mathematics books that inspectors looked at, indicate that current pupils are also making strong progress in mathematics.
• Attainment of current pupils in engineering is much stronger than that seen among those who left Year 11 in 2016. This is due to the robust actions that senior leaders have taken to improve the quality of teaching in this subject.
• Pupils who started at the school with low prior attainment from key stage 2 made strong progress across a range of subjects in 2016, including in science. This was due to the close support that they received to catch up where they had previously fallen behind. Current pupils with lower prior attainment are making good progress.
• The school prepares pupils well for their next steps after GCSE. In 2016, all pupils in Year 11 moved on to sustained places in education, training or employment.

16 to 19 study programmes

• Leadership of the 16 to 19 study programmes is good. Senior leaders work closely with the member of staff who has responsibility for the students’ welfare to ensure that the provision and the curriculum meet students’ needs. Students receive close support from leaders to ensure that they make the progress that they should.

Good

• The quality of teaching is good. Teachers have high expectations of their students. They set students tasks that are suitably challenging and that enable students to engage well with their leaning and make good progress. In a business studies lesson, students in Year 12 considered the different types of finance available to support a commercial business. Students were able to evaluate critically the advantages and disadvantages of each type of finance.
• The well-designed 16 to 19 curriculum provides students with effective opportunities to develop their study skills and their employability skills. Through their study of both academic and work-related qualifications, students prepare well for their next steps after school, including for the world of work.
• Students take advantage of a range of work experience opportunities. Leaders ensure that these opportunities match students’ career intentions. These experiences enable students to gain a valuable insight into the nature of the career they are interested in, and to ensure that their career aim is appropriate.
• Students receive careful advice and guidance when applying to study at the school and when considering their next steps after their 16 to 19 studies. Students receive independent careers advice and guidance, including information about university courses and apprenticeships. They receive close support from their teachers as they make their applications for their next steps. All students who left the school in 2016 moved on to places of education, training or employment.
• Students on 16 to 19 study programmes behave well, and engage well with their learning. They take advantage of opportunities to develop their leadership skills, including providing mentoring to pupils in Years 10 and 11. The training they have received as part of this mentoring programme has further enabled them to develop their personal skills. Students learn how to be safe, and staff are available to turn to if they have any concerns. The students that an inspector met said that they are confident that, should such occasions arise, staff will help them to resolve their concerns.
• Students who have not previously achieved a grade C or above in GCSE English or mathematics receive support in the respective subject as they prepare to resit the examination. Most students who took the GCSE examination in 2016/17 attained a grade C or above in the qualification. Those who did not reach a grade C continue to receive appropriate support from their teachers.
• Standards in the school’s academic and work-related courses were average in 2016. Current students are making faster progress in both types of courses, with students now making good progress from their different starting points across most subjects.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140950 Lincolnshire 10023072 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Technical School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Number of pupils on the school roll Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes University technical college 14 to 19 Mixed Mixed 214 104 Appropriate authority The UTC Trust Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Paul Birt Paul Batterbury (Interim principal) 01522 775990 lincolnutc.co.uk enquiries@lincolnutc.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• Lincoln UTC is a university technical college whose curriculum focuses on developing pupils’ understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and on preparing them for the world of work.
• The school is much smaller than the average secondary school.
• This was the school’s first full inspection since it opened in September 2014.
• The current interim principal took up his position in January 2017.
• The majority of pupils are from a White British background. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is much smaller than average.
• The proportion of pupils who are girls is well below average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average, as is the proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan.
• The school works with two local schools, the Lincoln Minster School and Hartsholme Academy. The school also receives support, arranged through the Baker Dearing Trust, from Redbourne Upper School and Community College, which is located in Bedford.
• The school does not use any alternative provision for its pupils.
• The school met the government’s current floor standards in 2016. These are the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress in eight subjects, including English and mathematics, by the end of key stage 4.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in 20 lessons. The lead inspector conducted two of these observations jointly with the principal. Inspectors also observed two assemblies.
• A selection of pupils from key stage 4, including some of the most able pupils, read to an inspector.
• Inspectors looked at a range of pupils’ books, both when observing learning and as a separate activity.
• The inspectors spoke with the principal, other senior leaders, other members of staff and governors, including the chair of the governing body.
• Inspectors met with pupils and students from all year groups, both formally, and informally.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour between lessons and during break and lunchtime.
• Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation relating to the school’s provision, including those concerning: the school’s self-evaluation; pupils’ attainment and progress; behaviour and attendance; the quality of teaching; governance; and safeguarding. The lead inspector checked the school’s single central register and the school’s systems for recruiting staff.
• Inspectors took into account the 27 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as the 23 responses to the free text service. Inspectors also took into account the 99 responses to a questionnaire for pupils, and the seven responses to a questionnaire for staff.

Inspection team

Simon Hollingsworth, lead inspector Victor Reid Alastair Ogle

Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector