Ormiston Six Villages Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the standards and progress of pupils further, especially the most able, by ensuring that:
  • teachers have consistently high expectations of what pupils can do and achieve
  • pupils are given work that challenges them and makes them think hard.
• Improve teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that the advice and guidance teachers give to pupils help them deepen their knowledge, skills and understanding.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since her appointment, just days before the previous inspection, the principal has worked relentlessly to reverse a trend of declining standards. Together with her senior team, members of the interim executive board (IEB) and support from the Ormiston Academies Trust, she has systematically addressed the issues that were holding the school back. As a result, the school is improving rapidly.
• Leaders at all levels are honest and accurate about the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Improvement planning is collaborative and thorough. Leaders regularly and robustly monitor the impact of their actions. As a result, improvements have been swift to take effect.
• Many parents recognise and value the changes leaders have brought about and the effect this is having on improving outcomes for their children. School staff actively encourage parental involvement through invitations to the parents’ forum, for example. As one parent said, ‘I feel that we as parents are very much included as part of the school.’
• Staff share leaders’ vision for the school’s future and are excited about the changes that have been implemented. They appreciate the opportunities they have been given to develop their skills and take on wider responsibilities. There is a very strong ethos of everyone working together and driving forward in the same direction.
• In recent times, the school has had a high turnover of staff and has had difficulty in recruiting high-quality teachers, particularly in subjects where there is a shortage nationally. This has hampered pupils’ progress in some areas, particularly mathematics. However, staffing in most departmental areas is now more stable.
• The school is innovative in developing its own trainees and benefits from the expertise of several teachers provided by the academy trust. As a result, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has made great strides forward and is now good.
• Middle leaders are increasingly effective in their role and are passionate and united in wanting the best for the pupils. They monitor the quality of teaching and learning robustly and appreciate the tighter assessment systems introduced by senior leaders to help them do their job well.
• The school has invested heavily in training for staff, using both internal and external expertise. Support is swiftly provided for staff needing extra help. Newly qualified teachers, trainees and staff new to the school speak very positively about the support they receive. This is having a positive effect on the quality of teaching and is leading to rising standards.
• The principal has introduced an effective and rigorous system to monitor teachers’ performance. Staff are assessed against a number of areas of their work and they know they will only receive a pay rise if they can demonstrate the impact on pupils’ learning and achievement. The system is monitored closely by members of the IEB.
• School leaders have been effective in using the pupil premium and Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up grant to bring about improvements in targeted pupils’ learning and progress. Funds have been spent wisely on a range of individualised interventions which have helped pupils to catch up with their peers. The impact of spending is rigorously monitored. A recent independent review of pupil premium spending demonstrated the marked effect it is having on improving the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils.
• Dedicated funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is spent sensibly on providing individual help for pupils. For example, inspectors saw several instances where learning support assistants were skilfully helping pupils in class with their work. As a result, these pupils are making good progress from their starting points.
• The school works closely and harmoniously with members of the Ormiston Academies Trust. Staff with expertise in key subject areas, such as mathematics, visit the school regularly to deliver lessons and help school staff to develop their expertise. Senior representatives from the trust provide ongoing support and challenge to school leaders, which they greatly appreciate. This collaborative relationship is having a marked impact on raising standards.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced and leaders keep it under constant review. They have a clear rationale for the subjects they offer and guide pupils carefully onto courses that meet their individual needs and ambitions and which challenge them to fulfil their potential. The number of pupils following the EBacc (English baccalaureate) is increasing. The school makes good provision for pupils for whom a different curriculum is more appropriate.
• The taught curriculum is supported by an impressive range of over 40 lunchtime and after-school enrichment activities which develop pupils’ wider skills in areas such as sports and the arts. For example, all pupils in Years 7 and 8 learn a musical instrument provided by the West Sussex Music Service.
• The school’s provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and their understanding of British values are strong. Pupils receive input during tutor times, assemblies, dedicated ‘drop-down’ days and through the taught curriculum. For example, in a Year 8 assembly, pupils were encouraged to think about how they can learn from their mistakes and not give up. As a result, pupils understand such things as right from wrong, the rule of law and how democracy works, and consequently are better able to deal with life beyond school.
• Leaders understand that they are still on a journey of improvement. Some pupils, particularly the most able, are not routinely given work which is sufficiently challenging and makes them think hard. As a result, some are not making fast enough progress and reaching their true potential. Leaders are taking effective action to ensure that teachers challenge pupils to aim high.

Governance of the school

• All members of the IEB have given tirelessly of their time and expertise to drive improvement forward and secure the long-term success of the school. As a result of their actions, the school is now on a very stable footing.
• Members of the IEB are totally committed to the school, are knowledgeable and skilled and fulfil their statutory duties in an exemplary fashion. To ensure its effectiveness into the future, the board has taken the wise step of recruiting some additional members with specific skills in education and business, to add further strength to the newly named local governing board.
• The IEB regularly monitors the impact of spending of the pupil premium and Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up funding and challenges leaders on how this is improving the progress of these targeted pupils. As a result, standards have risen quickly and pupils are making faster progress.
• Board members hold the principal and other leaders firmly to account and monitor the school’s performance management processes to ensure that they are both robust and fair. As a result, the quality of teaching has risen sharply.
• Members of the IEB are fully involved in the school’s self-evaluation processes and in improvement planning. Consequently, they are very aware of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They regularly challenge the principal and members of the senior team. For example, they asked senior leaders to present pupils’ progress data to them in a different way to allow them to monitor standards even more rigorously.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Safeguarding has high priority in the school for staff and members of the IEB. There is a strong culture and ethos of safeguarding throughout the school. Training is regular and rigorous, including on aspects such as the ‘Prevent’ duty and awareness of child sexual exploitation. Staff are vigilant and they fully understand what to do if they have any concerns about a pupil’s well-being.
• The school’s designated leaders for safeguarding have undertaken appropriate specialist training, including a member of the IEB. Records are well maintained and kept securely. Referrals are made in a timely manner, and school staff work closely with outside agencies to ensure that pupils are kept safe. The school engages with parents by providing safeguarding information on the school’s website and by running workshops for parents on issues such as cyber bullying.
• Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe in school, and this was confirmed by results from the pupils’ survey. If they experience any difficulties, such as with bullying, they have confidence to speak to a member of staff and they appreciate and value the support they get from their tutors and members of the pastoral support team.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching and learning has improved since the previous inspection and is now good overall. School leaders and members of the IEB have taken decisive action to eliminate poor teaching. Underperformance is swiftly dealt with. Regular reviews of teachers’ performance ensure that standards remain high and teachers who need help quickly get the support they need.
• Parents and pupils say that teaching has improved over the past 18 months. One parent noted: ‘The staff seem very conscientious and dedicated to providing a challenging, stimulating and enjoyable education for the pupils.’
• Across the school, the way teachers plan learning is effective. Teachers use regular assessment information effectively to help pupils make the progress they should. As a result, pupils are now making good progress from their starting points.
• Relationships between staff and pupils are very strong, and this mutual bedrock of respect is helping to drive standards upwards. Staff know their pupils well and understand their individual needs.
• Increasingly, teachers use questioning skilfully to probe pupils’ understanding and encourage them to explain their ideas. Consequently, pupils are becoming more confident learners and are making faster progress.
• Classroom routines are well established, and pupils arrive to class properly equipped and ready to learn. They settle quickly to work and respond willingly to the directions they are given. Pupils treat each other respectfully in lessons, and inspectors saw many examples of pupils working together collaboratively and harmoniously.
• During the inspection, inspectors saw very effective practice across a range of subjects. Teachers had high expectations of what pupils could do and achieve, the work made pupils think hard and pupils’ engagement was high. Pupils rose to the challenge and, as a result, they made rapid progress in their learning.
• Appropriate homework is set regularly to consolidate and expand on classroom learning. Pupils understand how it supports them to make more progress.
• Work in pupils’ books from last year shows that most teachers are following the school’s policy on giving regular and useful feedback to pupils on how to improve their work. There were many examples seen where pupils had responded to this advice and had improved their work as a consequence. However, school leaders are aware that there is more work to do to ensure that teachers’ feedback is of a consistently high quality to deepen pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding.
• Where teaching is less effective, there is a lack of challenge, particularly for the most able pupils. When this happens, the pace of learning slows down.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• All staff are committed to pupils’ personal development. They provide a varied and stimulating range of enrichment activities which are timetabled into the school day. All pupils in key stage 3 are required to participate in at least one activity per week and many choose to do more. Such activities help pupils to widen their experience and develop their skills.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. The personal, social and health education programme is well designed and helps pupils understand the importance of British values, how to keep themselves safe and how to adopt a healthy lifestyle. For example, in a tutor-time activity, pupils reviewed the importance of rules and whether people should obey them. This led to a lively debate in which pupils presented their ideas and listened attentively and respectfully to each other’s points of view.
• Pupils’ welfare and well-being have a high priority in the school. Pupils say that they feel safe at school and they know how to protect themselves from threats such as online bullying. Pupils demonstrated a solid understanding of issues concerning discrimination and extremism.
• Pupils wear their uniform proudly. Leaders are insistent on high standards of personal presentation and pupils respond well to this expectation.
• A very small number of key stage 4 pupils attend an alternative provider, Chichester College, full time. School staff liaise closely with the provider to ensure that learning and progress are closely monitored and to ensure that pupils behave well and stay safe. Pupils follow appropriate courses for their needs and achieve both GCSE and vocational qualifications.
• Pupils are encouraged to take on leadership opportunities, and this is a strong feature of the school. For example, pupils can apply to be peace ambassadors, sports ambassadors, sports leaders, community leaders and peer mentors, among others. This develops their sense of responsibility as well as their interpersonal and leadership skills.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Behaviour has improved since the last inspection. Pupils conduct themselves well in lessons and around the school site. They are very welcoming and polite to visitors and are clearly proud of their school.
• Pupils arrive punctually to lessons and have positive attitudes to learning in class. They respect the building and keep the school site free from litter.
• Pupils move around the school in a calm and orderly way. They understand the school’s expectations of their behaviour. Leaders and teachers enforce these expectations consistently and deal with any behavioural instances effectively. As a result, fixed-term exclusions have dropped considerably.
• The school can demonstrate a three-year trend of improving attendance, with current figures now close to the national average. All groups of pupils are improving their attendance because of the school’s rigorous monitoring processes. An attendance officer follows up absences quickly, and school staff liaise closely with families who are experiencing difficulty getting their children to attend school.
• Leaders recognise that small numbers of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities attend school less regularly than their peers. Leaders have put a raft of strategies in place to remedy this. As a result, the proportion of pupils frequently absent is declining. Outcomes for pupils Good

• A high proportion of pupils enter the school with attainment well below that found nationally. A scrutiny of current pupils’ work showed that, in all year groups and across a range of subjects, the large majority are making at least expected progress from their starting points. Pupils are making faster progress than in the past, including in English, mathematics and science.
• The rates of progress of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have speeded up because they are well supported with specialist help. For example, some pupils have extra literacy lessons and targeted Year 11 pupils received some intensive support in English and mathematics prior to their examinations.
• The most able pupils in the school are making progress in line with national expectations. However, leaders recognise that there is more work to do to ensure that more of them achieve the highest grades of which they are capable.
• Since the last inspection, Year 11 pupils’ GCSE outcomes have shown solid improvement year-on-year. This is due to better teaching and a focus on developing pupils’ extended writing skills, which has helped them to tackle examination papers with more confidence.
• Pupils achieve well across a range of subjects. The 2017 Year 11 cohort was weaker than in 2016, yet the 2017 GCSE examination results showed further improvement. Disadvantaged pupils made better progress, particularly in mathematics, due to the additional support they received, as did those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Twelve subjects, including English and science, improved their results from 2016. Pupils who sat GCSEs in the separate sciences did particularly well, and there were strong performances in religious studies, history, physical education, art and music.
• Pupils’ achievement in mathematics is improving. Turbulence in staffing within the mathematics department during the 2016–17 academic year had a negative impact on the continuity of teaching for a substantial number of pupils. Due to effective leadership, this situation is now a great deal better and the quality of teaching in mathematics is improving. As a consequence, the proportion of pupils achieving a standard pass in mathematics in 2017 was similar to 2016 and very close to the national average.
• School leaders have worked hard to develop pupils’ literacy skills. Those who are struggling receive extra help. Pupils are encouraged to read widely and often. They appreciate how this helps them with their school work, especially their writing. As a result, the quality of pupils’ extended writing is improving across a range of subjects.
• Pupils receive high-quality guidance to help them prepare for their future paths when they leave the school. As a result, only one pupil in the past two years has not progressed into education, training or employment.

School details

Unique reference number 140199 Local authority Inspection number West Sussex 10036951 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 500 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Principal Telephone number Website Ken Lloyd Umbar Sharif 01243 546800 http://www.ormistonsixvillagesacademy.co.uk/ Email address office@ormistonsixvillages.org.uk Date of previous inspection 13–14 January 2016

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.
• This is a below-average-sized secondary school.
• The organisation sponsoring the school is the Ormiston Academies Trust.
• The school currently uses one alternative provider, Chichester College, to provide alternative education for a small number of pupils in key stage 4.
• The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for support from the pupil premium (additional government funding) is broadly average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well above average.
• The governing body was replaced with a small interim executive board in October 2015. Membership has now been expanded and the new body has been redesignated as a local governing board.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in 46 part-lessons, 26 of them jointly with senior leaders. They also visited assemblies and form time. During visits to lessons, inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books.
• As the inspection was early in the academic year, inspectors also examined a selection of pupils’ books in key stages 3 and 4 from last year to give a broader picture of progress over time.
• Meetings were held with staff, including newly qualified teachers and staff new to the school; pastoral and academic senior and middle leaders; two members of the interim executive board, including the chair; and a representative from the Ormiston Academies Trust.
• Inspectors took account of the 110 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View) as well as the written comments submitted by 146 parents. Inspectors examined 26 responses to the staff questionnaire. Pupils’ views were gathered from 55 responses through the online survey and through meetings with groups of pupils from Years 7 to 11.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of school documentation. This included the school’s evaluation of its performance, the school’s plan for improvement, information about standards and progress, the school’s website, logs about behaviour and attendance, as well as a range of policies.

Inspection team

Paula Sargent, lead inspector Neil Strowger Keith Pailthorpe

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector