Oasis Academy Brislington Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching in order to continue to raise pupils’ achievement, particularly that of disadvantaged pupils, by:
  • identifying the needs of different groups of pupils and ensuring that they receive effective support with their learning in lessons
  • ensuring that the quality of teaching is more consistently strong within and across subjects
  • providing pupils with learning activities that interest them and closely match their needs
  • checking that initiatives to improve teaching and outcomes are implemented tenaciously by all staff
  • ensuring that pupils develop consistently positive attitudes to learning and study.
• Build on the successful measures the school has taken to improve attendance and so make sure that pupils attend school regularly and persistent absence is rare.
• Ensure that senior and subject leaders check closely that improvements in teaching are consistent across the school and that they result in clear improvement to the quality of pupils’ work. 


Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders’ efforts to improve the school are proving effective and gathering momentum. Improvements to the curriculum, pupils’ behaviour and middle leadership have been secured and are having a growing positive impact on the progress of pupils in Years 7 and 8. The quality of teaching, although improving, is not yet consistently strong.
• The principal’s committed and ambitious leadership promotes a strong vision for the future of the school. He is fully aware of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and is working hard to make sure that the upward trend in the school’s performance continues.
• Senior leaders share the principal’s vision. They understand their responsibilities well and are taking effective action to improve practice at the school. Collectively they are working to ensure even greater consistently in the quality of teaching for every subject.
• Middle leaders are enthusiastic and committed to improving pupils’ progress. They are aware of the school’s improvement priorities and they are ambitious for the pupils they teach. Some developments implemented are relatively new and are not yet tenaciously implemented. It is therefore too early to judge their full impact.
• Teachers and leaders are well supported by the multi-academy trust, Oasis Community Learning. They speak highly of the training and guidance they receive. They appreciate the opportunities which the trust offers to work with and visit other schools to share resources and best practice.
• The challenging programme of professional development on offer from the school and the trust is improving the quality of planning, feedback and questioning for many teachers. The training provided is having a positive impact on current pupils’ achievement and progress, particularly in the younger age groups.
• Leaders have recently revised the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils more effectively. As a result, it is broad and balanced. At key stage 4, it offers pupils a good choice of vocational and academic subjects. The English and mathematics mastery programmes, recently introduced into the lower school, are improving pupils’ progress. There is a strong focus on literacy across the school. Teachers in all subjects pay close attention to helping pupils develop the vocabulary they need to express themselves thoughtfully and clearly.
• Leaders’ effective actions have brought about a significant improvement in attendance in the last year, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Persistent absence, however, is still above the national average.
• The leadership of the school’s specialist provision is strong and effective. Leaders here have a passionate commitment to improving the life chances of the pupils in their care. They work successfully to understand and meet individuals’ needs. The same quality of leadership is not evident for pupils in the mainstream school who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• An effective system of performance management links closely to the school’s improvement priorities. Improvements to the curriculum, pupils’ behaviour and attendance, and middle leadership are evident as a result. However, the impact of the system is yet to be seen in improvements to the academic performance of older pupils over time who have had further to catch up on their learning.
• Leaders and support staff ensure that the additional funding which the school receives to support disadvantaged pupils is used efficiently in most cases. However, some monitoring is broad brush and therefore its impact on pupils’ performance is not evaluated sufficiently to ensure maximum benefit.
• Leaders monitor students attending alternative provision courses closely. They ensure that they are well behaved and attend regularly.

Governance of the school

• The trust ensures that governance of the school is effective. A significant number of the functions of governance are the responsibility of the regional director, who works closely with the school and is therefore able to monitor the performance of leaders regularly, for example to ensure that all safeguarding responsibilities are met.
• The trust monitors the work of the school closely through regular visits and detailed reviews of pupil performance. The trust offers good management of finance, premises and staffing. It is aware of the strengths and weaknesses at the school and has been challenging leaders to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment more rapidly.
• The local academy council provides an opportunity for the local community to be involved in and contribute to the work of the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a highly effective safeguarding culture in the school. Arrangements to ensure that students are kept safe are fully in place and meet statutory requirements.
• Leaders are confident, knowledgeable and tenacious in their pursuit of safety. Training for all staff is regular and up to date. Work with a wide range of external agencies is highly effective.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and who to talk to if they have any concerns regarding their safety. They have a good understanding of keeping safe online and are aware of the risks of sexual exploitation.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment varies too much across the school and within some departments. It is not yet good enough. Regular staff training is leading to improvements but teaching standards are not yet high enough to ensure that more pupils make good progress.
• New systems to improve consistency in the quality of teaching across the school have been established but not all have fully taken hold. Their impact is not yet apparent in improved achievement and progress for some pupils. For example, the ‘beautiful books’ initiative is designed to ensure that pupils’ books are well presented and kept up to date. However, too often the presentation of work remains poor.
• The school’s ‘First Five’ approach in classes ensures that teachers are fully aware of pupils who are disadvantaged or have SEN and/or disabilities. Some teachers use it very effectively to adapt their teaching to suit the needs of the learners. Others, however, do not use their awareness of pupils’ needs to plan support sufficiently well.
• In a minority of lessons teachers do not set tasks which build effectively on prior learning. This does not allow pupils enough chance to consolidate their learning in order to deepen their understanding of the topics being studied, or move learning forward more rapidly for those who are ready.
• The impact of the feedback teachers provide to pupils about the quality of their work is not good enough in too many subjects. In some subjects, such as English, pupils know what they have done well and what they have to do to improve, but in other subjects they are less clear.
• Support and encouragement for the most able pupils is not effective in enough cases. Some teaching promotes the school’s approach to ‘stretch tasks’ well and encourages a greater depth of understanding. However, this is not typically the norm.
• Following training, the majority of lessons are well planned and adjusted to suit the needs of pupils. In these circumstances, pupils learn effectively. In a minority of lessons, planning is weaker and teachers give less consideration to the needs of individuals. Pupils therefore lose interest and disengage with their learning.
• Not enough teachers routinely use questioning well to probe pupils’ responses and reshape tasks in order to match their learning needs. When learning is more rapid, teachers use questioning effectively to challenge and extend pupils’ thinking, or develop their knowledge, skills and understanding.
• Leaders encourage pupils to attend the valuable additional support offered at the end of the day in ‘lesson 6’. Pupils with particular needs who attend benefit significantly from the extra support they receive. Leaders are aware of the need to ensure that even more pupils who need to catch up and make faster progress attend this provision.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are well cared for and there is a real sense of community in the school which reflects the ethos of the academy trust, which aspires to treat everyone inclusively.
• Teachers and other staff work effectively to help pupils understand how to stay safe and they ensure that they are well equipped to cope with life beyond school.
• A comprehensive programme of personal, social and health education is taught through assemblies and tutor time. It covers relevant social issues well, including sex and relationships, drugs education and health. Pupils have a good understanding of fundamental British values.
• A detailed and highly effective careers programme runs from Years 7 to 11. It includes a series of whole-day ‘Aspiration’ events offered with the help of external providers. The school benefits from strong links with local charities and key sponsors. Disadvantaged pupils take part in innovative initiatives aimed at raising aspirations. As well as visiting universities, pupils have the chance to work with high-profile companies. For example, Year 11 pupils recently visited a national television studio.
• Inconsistencies in the quality of teaching mean that some pupils have not fully acquired the habits of successful learners. Leaders are aware of this and are taking steps to ensure that a strong learning culture develops in the school.
• Pupils are aware of different forms of bullying and report that, when bullying occurs, staff deal with it swiftly and effectively.
• A small number of pupils attend off-site alternative provision. They make good progress. Leaders monitor their academic and personal progress closely. The school has a strong and productive relationship with these alternative providers.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils conduct themselves well around the school at break and lunchtimes. They are calm and orderly and treat each other with respect. In lessons they are generally attentive and there is very little low-level disruption.
• The school has worked successfully to reduce the number of fixed-term exclusions. Records show that these have fallen this year. The number of permanent exclusions has fallen significantly from 12 in 2016 to two so far this year. This reflects the improvement in pupils’ behaviour in the school.
• Leaders’ strong focus on developing pupils’ attitude to school is proving effective. Pupils’ increasingly positive outlook to learning is contributing more to their improving academic performance.
• Incidents of poor behaviour are decreasing. Feedback from pupils and parents confirms the view that behaviour has improved significantly.
• School leaders have had a noticeable impact on improving pupils’ attendance. It is now approaching national averages. In particular, leaders have been successful in improving the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those with SEN and/or disabilities. Persistent absence figures are improving but leaders are aware that further improvements are required to ensure that all pupils attend regularly and so are able to make good progress.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes require improvement because pupils are not making consistently strong progress. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils, who make up almost a third of the school’s pupils.
• In recent years, pupils have made significantly less progress overall than in other schools nationally. Current pupils’ progress still varies too much and is dependent on which teacher they receive in which subject.
• Pupils are making stronger progress in Years 7 and 8 as a result of the changes implemented by the leadership team. However, pupils in Years 10 and 11 continue to suffer from the legacy of underachievement in the school.
• Improvements in English teaching, coupled with the impact of the new mathematics ‘mastery’ curriculum, are leading to faster rates of pupils’ progress, especially in Years 7 and 8.
• Revisions to the curriculum are enabling pupils to make faster progress. However, activities planned do not routinely stretch and challenge the most able pupils enough.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities who attend mainstream classes are not making good enough progress. Outcomes for pupils in the specialist provision have improved this year. They now enter a more appropriate range of examinations.
• Leaders have introduced a catch-up programme for pupils who start Year 7 having not met the standard expected at the end of key stage 2. This is having a positive impact, though it is not monitored closely enough to ensure that all pupils benefit.
• Many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, successfully move on to local colleges to follow a wide range of academic and vocational courses. The number of pupils not in education or employment after leaving school has fallen significantly in recent years.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 141652 City of Bristol 10042647 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 18 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 716 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Matthew Butler Peter Knight 0117 377 2055 www.oasisacademybrislington.org info@oasisacademybrislington.org Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school is below average in size. Most pupils are of White British heritage.
• The school is part of the Oasis Community Learning multi-academy trust. The trust is responsible for 48 schools nationally. An academy council, whose representatives are from the local community, parents and the trust, delivers the functions of local governance at the school. Their work is overseen by a regional director who reports to the national board of the trust.
• The school has specialist provision which includes a speech, language and communication needs centre for 20 pupils and an autistic spectrum disorder centre for 35 pupils.
• The proportion of pupils entitled to support through pupil premium funding is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below the national average but the proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans is above the national average.
• The school uses The Futures Academy, Landsdown Park School and the City of Bristol College to provide alternative provision for a small number of pupils.
• In 2017 the school met the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in a broad range of subjects across all year groups. The majority of these observations were conducted jointly with the principal and other senior leaders.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ work across a range of subjects. Inspectors sampled the work of pupils of all ability groups, disadvantaged pupils, and those who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• Inspectors met with senior leaders, the regional director of Oasis Community Learning, middle leaders and a number of teachers. Inspectors held discussions with pupils from every year group, and also informal conversations with pupils around the school throughout the inspection.
• The conduct of pupils was observed in lessons and also around the school during break and lunchtimes.
• Inspectors examined a range of documentation, including attendance records, risk assessments, behaviour logs and safeguarding records.
• The views of parents were considered through 123 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. The views of 75 members of staff who responded to the inspection questionnaire were considered.

Inspection team

Richard Steward, lead inspector Dorian Lewis Alun Williams Jen Edwards Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector