Oasis Academy Connaught Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that the relatively new middle leadership team continue to receive effective support to develop their understanding of their roles and to maximise the impact they are having on improving pupils’ progress.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • teaching consistently pays closer attention to what pupils already know and can do when planning the next steps of learning and assessing their work
  • the teaching of mathematics consistently follows leaders’ desired approach to promoting mathematical literacy, thereby deepening pupils’ understanding of key concepts.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• School leaders, supported by staff and the multi-academy trust, have worked well to improve the standard of education since the previous inspection in 2016, when the school was judged to require improvement. As a result of this successful work, the school is now good. An unremitting drive to raise standards has resulted in good outcomes for pupils. Throughout this process, the principal has provided the school with strong direction, while never losing sight of the interests and needs of pupils and the wider community. Leaders are highly ambitious for their pupils and are clearly driven by a desire to widen their opportunities and improve their life chances.
• The school’s work with the community is exemplary. It is underpinned by a deep and sympathetic understanding of pupils, their families and their circumstances. The school sits at the heart of its community in every sense and strives to live up to Oasis Community Learning’s ambition to transform lives, learning and communities. For example, the school runs projects aimed at improving physical and mental health in the community, such as running clubs and food banks. It provides classes for parents who wish to learn new skills, such as mathematics. These efforts also help to engage parents more closely in the work of the school and their children’s education.
• Leaders have a very good understanding of the school’s strengths and the areas it still needs to develop further. Their self-evaluation, supported by strong critical oversight from the trust, is very accurate and provides a solid basis for the school to strengthen further. It allows leaders to develop an effective programme of continuing teacher training to help staff improve teaching as part of the school’s drive for improvement.
• The curriculum is well designed to meet the needs of pupils. It provides them with a secure grounding in the core subjects. A wide range of other subjects and topics are also covered. Leaders have been flexible in their design of the curriculum, modifying it successfully in response to their analysis of pupils’ needs. For example, in mathematics, streaming pupils in Years 3 to 5 for one day a week to work on mathematical fluency is enabling pupils to make good progress in this area, whatever their starting points. The emphasis on literacy in the curriculum is evident in pupils’ work and the many displays around the school, including in the early years.
• The school’s provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is good. It is well led by the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo). Effective staff training helps them to identify and meet the needs of pupils successfully. The impact of any support that pupils receive is well monitored and tracked. This allows leaders to ensure that additional funding for SEN is spent wisely. Pupils’ individual education plans are very precise, which allows teachers and other staff to use them as a secure way of measuring progress. Education, health and care plans are well monitored and reviewed by the SENCo.
• Leaders ensure that additional funding is used well. Almost two thirds of pupils are disadvantaged and eligible for the pupil premium. The school uses this funding successfully to promote better outcomes for these pupils. At the end of key stage 2, outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are broadly in line with those of others. Occasionally, leaders’ analysis of the impact of the use of the pupil premium could be sharper but this has not proved to be an impediment to improving disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes.
• School leaders are using the sport and physical education premium to improve pupils’ levels of physical activity and participation in sport. For example, the proportion of pupils who are becoming confident swimmers is rising.
• Leaders have established a programme of extra-curricular activities that supports the taught curriculum well. It promotes participation in sport and cultural activities, such as singing, to which pupils might not otherwise have access.
• Leaders promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development well. This is done through the curriculum, including specific personal, social and health education lessons. In addition, assemblies and other activities, including extra-curricular ones, support pupils’ SMSC development. Leaders pay specific attention to actively promoting fundamental British values. Pupils have an implicit understanding of fairness, tolerance, respect and right and wrong. Occasionally, knowledge of the mechanics of democracy among older pupils is not as strong. Overall, however, pupils are being well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Middle leadership is an emerging strength of the school. Most middle leaders are relatively new to their posts, to which they are bringing energy and new ideas. They are very well supported by the deputy principal, who uses coaching effectively to develop their growing leadership abilities. Nevertheless, middle leadership is not yet embedded enough across the school to reveal its full potential.

Governance of the school

• The board of trustees ensures that governance arrangements are effective and provide strong levels of both support and challenge to the school. Under the model of governance adopted across Oasis Community Learning’s schools, the direct governance role is delegated to the appropriate national and regional directors. At the time of the inspection, the regional director position had undergone recent changes in post holder. Nonetheless, the national director for primary schools in the trust has ensured that there has been secure continuity in governance. Consequently, levels of scrutiny are high and the trustees are well informed about the school’s strengths and the areas it still needs to work on.
• The school’s academy council is an advisory body. It functions as a link with the community, giving school leaders and trustees important insights into the impact of the school’s work. It supports school leaders’ high-quality engagement with the community well.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• School leaders have established a very strong culture of safeguarding. As a result, the school’s work to protect children and to keep them safe is highly successful. The designated safeguarding lead has a thorough understanding of her role and tenaciously pursues the best interests of pupils, as do all staff. The school works well with external agencies, who praise the school’s drive to ensure the best outcomes for pupils.
• Leaders have a highly developed understanding of safeguarding in the context of the school. They know their community well and the issues and challenges it faces. This allows, for example, leaders to tailor staff safeguarding training precisely to fit the needs of pupils and their families.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching, learning and assessment in the school are good and, consequently, pupils make good progress. Teachers and other staff know their pupils very well and positive relationships with pupils and families are at the heart of the school’s approach to teaching.
• Teaching is very well led in the school. Driven by the deputy principal, leaders at all levels use coaching to develop teachers’ understanding of effective teaching practice. An open culture of collective self-reflection provides an atmosphere where ideas about teaching are discussed and implemented. Leaders and teachers pay close attention to the teachers’ standards when developing teaching.
• Leaders’ precise moderation of teaching allows them to develop a programme of appropriate teacher training, which has resulted in improved outcomes for pupils.
• Teachers encourage pupils to work purposefully and with resilience. Classrooms are positive working environments where pupils strive to do their best. Teachers set high standards and pupils rise to meet them.
• Teachers use questioning well to probe, assess and develop pupils’ understanding. Teachers’ questioning successfully addresses pupils’ misconceptions, resulting in secure conceptual understanding. On occasion, school leaders’ desired approach to literacy when questioning pupils in mathematics is not consistently followed.
• Pupils’ work indicates that teachers set consistent expectations across all subjects in terms of effort and presentation. Teachers consistently follow the school’s marking and feedback policy.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and, typically, they use this well to plan pupils’ learning effectively. Leaders and teachers assess pupils’ work accurately. This is supported by external moderation with other schools in the trust. Sometimes, however, teachers do not pay close enough attention to what pupils know and can do when planning for the next steps of learning, including as part of ongoing assessment in the classroom. Pupils occasionally move on to the next activity without a secure understanding of the one they have just completed.
• Phonics teaching, including in the early years, is highly effective. Many pupils enter the school with low levels of speech and language development. Teachers help them to make quick progress in their ability to decode words and to transfer this knowledge into their writing.
• Teaching assistants play an important role in securing good-quality teaching in the school. They use their expertise well in a variety of areas, such as speech and language support or working with pupils with high levels of need. Teachers direct the work of teaching assistants well and teaching is clearly a well-coordinated team effort.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• The school puts a great deal of effort into working with pupils and their families to promote personal development. Pupils develop the self-confidence and resilience that are characteristic of successful learners. Pupils show a desire to learn and a willingness to work hard.
• Leaders’ development of a strong culture of safeguarding means that pupils learn to keep themselves safe in a variety of contexts, including when they are online. Pupils state that they feel safe and that bullying is very rare.
• Staff help pupils to develop healthy lifestyles, in both a physical and emotional sense. For example, the sports premium is used well to promote the benefits of physical activity. Effective work by teachers and teaching assistants, including in the nurture room, helps pupils to understand themselves and their emotions better.
• Leaders ensure that pupils develop a secure understanding of fundamental British values. Projects such as ‘minicops’ with Avon and Somerset Police enable pupils to develop their leadership skills and their understanding of the law and of right and wrong.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils conduct themselves well in lessons and around the school. Inspectors saw no disruptive behaviour and if any pupil does slip off task or lose focus, staff skilfully bring them back to concentrating on the matter in hand. Pupils play together in a friendly way.
• Pupils’ attendance is improving. In 2017/18, overall attendance was broadly in line with the national average, as was the rate of persistent absence. At the beginning of 2017, the principal took personal charge of attendance. Her successful work with families has resulted in improvements in attendance, which had previously been lower than the national average.
• In the past, the school had a high level of fixed-term exclusions, relative to its numbers on roll. The use of fixed-term exclusions declined noticeably last year, whether measured in terms of number of days lost, number of exclusions or number of pupils involved. The school has been very successful at working with pupils at risk of exclusion to ensure that they stay in school and continue to learn. This picture of improving behaviour over time is supported by the fact that the number of behavioural incidents is also falling over time.
• A small number of pupils attend registered alternative provision. This enables them to stay in education and continue to learn.

Outcomes for pupils

• Pupils at Oasis Academy Connaught make good progress across a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. Effective teaching enables pupils to develop their reading, writing and numeracy in a variety of contexts across the curriculum. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education when they leave Year 6.

Good

• For the last three years, pupils’ progress in each of reading, writing and mathematics has been above or in line with the national averages in key stage 2. In writing, there has been a noticeable improvement year on year. In 2018, a quarter of pupils at key stage 2 reached greater depth within the expected standard. Improving the proportion of pupils who achieve greater depth in writing had been identified as an important next step at the monitoring visit in 2017. School leaders have worked well to improve the quality of writing over time in both key stages 1 and 2. The work of current pupils indicates that these improvements have been sustained.
• At key stage 1 in 2018, attainment was below average, but this was affected by a large number of mobile pupils. Approximately 30% joined the school late in the key stage. The attainment of those pupils at the school for the whole of the key stage was much better.
• Phonics teaching is very effective. Many pupils enter the school with low levels of speech and language. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check is rising over time and approaching the national average. Considering pupils’ low starting points, this indicates they are making good progress.
• Pupils enjoy reading and the school has established systems to promote this further. Contacts with home encourage families to support their children’s reading.
• The school has a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium on its roll, nearly two thirds. Therefore, any generalisations about pupils as a whole are also true of disadvantaged pupils. In both 2017 and 2018, disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes were in line with or higher than other pupils nationally with the same starting points. The work of disadvantaged pupils currently in the school indicates that they are making good progress.

Early years provision Good

• Provision for children in the early years is strong and very well led by aspirational leaders. Leaders are well informed about the effectiveness of the early years through accurate self-evaluation. As a result, they can build on strengths and tackle areas for improvement effectively. This means that children make very good progress from what are typically very low starting points on entry to the school.
• Teachers and other staff are adept at quickly identifying children’s needs and interests. Staff use assessment well to monitor progress. This accurate understanding of children’s stages of development allows staff to plan precisely for the next steps in their learning.
• Teaching in the early years is monitored to ensure that it is of high quality and to provide the basis for further improvement. Similarly, strong leadership ensures that assessment of children’s work is accurate.
• Staff engage very well with parents from an early stage and ensure that they continue to be closely involved in their children’s learning, contributing to assessments where appropriate. Home visits and ‘stay and play’ sessions enable parents to be part of initial assessments. Parents say that they are kept well informed about their children’s learning.
• Teaching is good in the early years. The level of challenge is high and questioning and prompting are used well. Teachers ensure that an appropriate balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities is maintained. Routines are well established to ensure effective use of time and resources. The atmosphere in the Nursery and Reception classes is calm and purposeful, with the focus on learning, whatever the activity. Children develop their ability to concentrate in a variety of contexts.
• The curriculum is well planned to match the needs of children and to provide engaging activities, which are often skilfully adapted to ensure challenge and reflect children’s interests.
• The learning environment is a strength of the early years provision. The outside area is well designed to support children’s progress towards attaining the early learning goals. It is particularly supportive of children’s writing and understanding of numbers. Children behave well and they learn to make independent choices and become more self-reliant over time.
• Children make strong progress in the early years. Although the proportion of children who reach a good level of development is consistently below average, children have typically very low starting points, especially in speech and language development. Teachers work well to help all children make progress and start to catch up, although some do not go on to reach a good level of development.
• Children who join the school’s Nursery class make better progress than those who only join in Reception, many of whom arrive with little or no educational experience.
• Safeguarding is effective and there are no breaches of the statutory welfare requirements.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 138278 Bristol City of 10053294 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 377 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Keith Dennis George Fraser 01275 894590 www.oasisacademyconnaught.org info@oasisconnaught.org Date of previous inspection 29–30 June 2016

Information about this school

• Oasis Academy Connaught is part of the Oasis Community Learning (OCL) multi-academy trust. OCL operates a professional model of governance through national and regional directors. The academy council has an advisory role and represents the local community. The board of trustees is the appropriate authority.
• The school serves an area of high socio-economic deprivation. It has a much higher proportion of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds than the national average. Almost two thirds of pupils are in this category.
• The school has two classes in each year group from Reception to Year 6. It has one Nursery class for children aged three and above.
• The school received a monitoring visit from Ofsted in October 2017.
• The school uses one alternative provider, Lansdown Park Academy.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors met with a range of leaders and other staff, teaching and non-teaching, during the inspection. These included: the principal, the deputy principal, the SENCo, the designated safeguarding lead, middle leaders, teaching staff, national and regional directors from OCL, and the chair of the academy council.
• Inspectors visited lessons in all year groups to observe pupils learning. They talked to pupils and looked at examples of their work. They also observed pupils at break and lunchtime.
• Inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school, which included assessment records, attendance and behaviour analysis, and safeguarding records.
• In making their judgements, inspectors considered 66 responses to Parent View (including 23 free-text responses), 24 responses to the staff survey and 23 responses to the pupil survey.

Inspection team

Stephen Lee, lead inspector Jo Briscombe Martin Bragg Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector