Tamworth Enterprise College and AET Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the consistency in the quality of teaching and learning for pupils by ensuring that teachers:
  • raise expectations and the level of challenge for all groups of pupils, especially the most able
  • implement the school’s assessment policy more rigorously so that there is improved guidance for pupils
  • provide regular opportunities for pupils to develop the skills required to write at length
  • check the quality of teaching and learning more regularly to identify inconsistencies.
• Improve the leadership and management by ensuring that leaders:
  • detail the precise outcomes in development plans as a result of school improvement actions and the timescales within which improvements must be achieved
  • make sure that teachers plan lessons consistently to match pupils’ needs
  • check more carefully on the progress of different groups of pupils, especially the disadvantaged and the most able pupils
  • further develop assessment systems to provide more accurate information about all groups of pupils
  • provide teachers with more high-quality professional development opportunities to develop their teaching skills so teaching consistently matches that of the best
  • provide governors with appropriate information for them to be able to challenge and hold to account more effectively.
• Improve pupils’ behaviour and personal development by:
  • further improving pupils’ attitudes towards their learning and pride in their work
  • ensuring that attendance rates continue to rise, especially for pupils who are often absent
  • providing pupils with more opportunities to access high-quality, impartial advice and guidance to help them in their next steps.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders have not secured enough consistency in the quality of teaching and learning and in pupils’ progress. In particular, the disadvantaged pupils and the most able do not achieve as well as they should. The headteacher and senior leadership team have identified actions to address these issues, but they are in an early stage of their development. Therefore, the impact is yet to be seen.
• Procedures for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning are not robust. Leaders regularly check work and progress in some areas, but these checks are not consistent across the school. As a result, outcomes are variable.
• Leaders have been too slow in their actions to ensure that the attendance of all pupils is good. Although there are signs that attendance is improving, disadvantaged pupils miss too many days of school.
• Following an external review of the school’s use of pupil premium funding, leaders now make better use of this to support disadvantaged pupils. For example, they have introduced a scheme to help pupils to develop their reading skills. Consequently, the current progress for disadvantaged pupils is improving, albeit at a slower rate than for other pupils.
• The school has monitoring systems in place to track the performance of different groups of pupils. However the analysis of this information, including information about the progress of disadvantaged and most-able pupils, is not sharp enough to promote effective intervention where it is most necessary. This means that some pupils continue to underachieve.
• The leadership of provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is showing positive impact. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) tracks and monitors the progress of pupils and drills down to subjects to see where support can be best targeted. Teaching assistants are effectively deployed and, as a result, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are making more progress.
• Middle leaders have a clear understanding of what they need to do to enable pupils to achieve better results. New middle leaders are showing signs of impact, but their plans are not precise enough. This means that they are not always able to see quickly enough where pupils are underperforming. As a result, progress for pupils is slower in some areas than it should be.
• The multi-academy trust provides support to the school, including through the use of a ‘peer principal’ who offers challenge and support to senior leaders. This is proving to be effective in identifying the key school development priorities.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, with opportunities for pupils to acquire knowledge, skills and understanding. The curriculum also contributes well to pupils’ behaviour and welfare, including their well-being and safety.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well supported by enrichment activities. This helps to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. Pupils are complimentary about the use of outside agencies to support their well-being and social and emotional health.

Governance of the school

• Governors are committed to promoting an inclusive environment for all pupils and take their role very seriously. However, their knowledge and understanding of how to hold leaders to account are variable. Consequently, they do not challenge leaders sufficiently about the school’s performance.
• Leaders do not provide governors with sufficient detailed information about school development priorities. Governors are aware that they need to ensure that they have regular updates so they can challenge leaders about the progress of groups of pupils across the school.
• The multi-academy trust is in the process of strengthening governance to ensure that all governors are able to hold leaders to account.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff receive regular and effective training and are fully aware of their role in keeping pupils as safe as possible. Leaders who are responsible for safeguarding are thorough in ensuring that pupils are safe, and they keep meticulous records.
• The school knows its pupils and the communities from which they come very well. As a result, staff are able to liaise with home or external agencies swiftly to address any issues or concerns that may arise.
• Processes and procedures for the recruitment of staff are compliant with current legislation.
• The school’s care and support for vulnerable pupils are effective.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching and learning is too variable. As a result, pupils do not make enough progress in some subjects. Teachers’ expectations are too low. Pupils are not challenged to work hard often enough.
• Teachers do not consistently plan lessons that meet pupils’ learning needs. Too often, pupils who have different abilities all complete the same work, even if it is too easy or too difficult for them. Consequently, some pupils, particularly the most able pupils, do not make progress of which they are capable because they are not challenged appropriately.
• Where lessons are too easy, pupils often get distracted. This leads to some low-level disruption, which impedes pupils’ learning. Some pupils say that behaviour deteriorates when they are bored.
• Some teachers do not use the school’s assessment policy consistently. As a result, the pupils in their classes do not know how to improve their work because they do not receive enough guidance from their teachers. Teachers encourage pupils to check their work and recomplete tasks when necessary. However, this additional work is not routinely examined by some staff. Consequently, pupils often repeat the same mistakes.
• Teachers’ and leaders’ expectations of presentation in pupils’ books are not consistently high enough. They do not insist that pupils produce work to the best of their ability, which limits their progress.
• Opportunities for pupils to write at length are not widely provided. Too often, teachers provide tasks where pupils are only required to fill in gaps or write short sentences. As a result, pupils are not able to develop their writing skills in many subjects.
• Where teaching is stronger, teachers provide work that challenges and engages all learners. For example, in physical education (PE), pupils’ understanding of different muscles and parts of the body was developed in a very interactive way. This support helps pupils to make progress in their learning.
• In English, teachers use skilful questioning which deepens pupils’ understanding and develops their thinking. Where this happens, pupils make better progress in their learning.
• In some lessons, teaching assistants are effective in supporting pupils, particularly those who have SEN and/or disabilities. This targeted support leads to greater progress for these pupils.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils are not well informed about the next steps in their education. Careers information and guidance are not effective across the school. As a result, many pupils are unsure of the next steps to take to secure their future education, training or employment. For example, some pupils thought that careers education was only for gifted and talented pupils.
• Pupils are not given enough guidance and support about their choices of subject to study for GCSE examinations. As a result, some pupils do not understand the demands of the course. The school is aware of this and is strengthening its advice and guidance to ensure that the curriculum is better matched to pupils’ needs. For example, leaders are giving ‘guided choices’ to pupils for optional GCSE subjects to ensure that all pupils are on the right pathway for their future careers.
• Some pupils say there are not enough trips and visits and other opportunities outside the classroom. This means that, for some pupils, they are not able to extend their learning and see their topics in different contexts.
• Some teachers’ expectations of presentation in books are not high enough. As a result, many pupils do not have enough pride in their work.
• Pupils respect the views of others and are sensitive when discussing certain topics in lessons. For example, in an English lesson, there was a discussion about a girl transitioning to be a boy. Pupils listened attentively and asked sensible questions.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, including when online. This was confirmed in discussions with pupils. Pupils were very keen to tell inspectors that bullying and derogatory comments are rare. When bullying does occur, leaders deal with it swiftly and effectively.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Although leaders are working hard to improve attendance, and this is showing some improvement, there are a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils who do not attend school often enough. There is some low-level disruption in lessons. This is mainly when the teaching does not engage pupils and they become bored. This means that they do not learn consistently, which limits the rate of their progress.
• Over time, the proportion of pupils excluded from the school on a fixed-term basis has been high, and the number of pupils who have been permanently excluded from the school has been well above the national average. This academic year, there has been a reduction in both fixed-term and permanent exclusions. Leaders have introduced an isolation room and work with a local pupil referral unit. This means that there is now a greater capacity for working with pupils who are at risk of exclusion to keep them in education.
• Leaders ensure that the pupils in alternative provision attend well, and leaders monitor their progress.
• Pupils are courteous and polite. They hold doors open for visitors, move around the building well and are orderly during social times.
• Relationships between staff and pupils are generally positive and pupils say that teachers care for them and want them to do well.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ progress is variable and still requires improvement because of the inconsistencies in teaching and learning.
• In 2017, pupils’ progress and attainment across a wide range of subjects were below the national averages. Progress was better in English and modern foreign languages than in other subjects.
• In 2017, the most able pupils’ progress was well below the national average. In particular, these pupils underachieved considerably in science, mathematics and humanities. Current attainment and progress for this group of pupils are starting to improve.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ progress was below the national average in 2017. The school’s own assessment information shows that while the current progress of disadvantaged pupils is improving, it is still lower than the progress of other pupils in the school.
• Progress in books is too varied. In too many cases, progress is too slow. There are some subjects, such as English, where progress is better.
• While many pupils could tell inspectors their current grade and their target, many were unable to say what they needed to do to improve on that grade. Consequently, this limits their ability to reach their goals.
• More pupils are beginning to make the progress they should, particularly in Years 7 and 8. The work in current pupils’ books shows they are making improved progress in some subjects, but this is not consistent across the school.
• Leaders are trying to accelerate the progress for those pupils in Year 7 who enter the school with attainment below expectations. The impact of these initiatives is yet to be seen.
• The progress and outcomes of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are improving as a result of focused tracking and monitoring of what they can and cannot do.
• Standardised tests introduced across the multi-academy trust are starting to be used in English, mathematics and science. This is beginning to help leaders to judge pupils’ attainment and progress more accurately. Leaders plan to use this approach for all subjects.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 138435 Staffordshire 10048288 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary comprehensive School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 642 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Martin Ayres Simon Turney 01827 285596 www.tamworthenterprisecollege.co.uk/ admin@tamworthenterprisecollege.org Date of previous inspection 24–25 May 2016

Information about this school

• Tamworth Enterprise College has been part of the AET since 2012. The number on roll has fallen since the previous inspection.
• The vast majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well below the national average. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is well below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is average.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium is above the national average.
• The school works with Kettlebrook Short Stay School in Tamworth. This is a pupil referral unit and is used to provide alternative provision for some pupils.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching across 35 lessons. Samples of the work of pupils in Years 7 to 10 were scrutinised.
• A range of school documents were analysed, including the school’s improvement plan, the school’s self-evaluation, some individual subject plans and the pupil premium strategy. We also looked at current pupils’ progress records, records relating to behaviour and attendance, governing body minutes and documents relating to how pupils are kept safe.
• Meetings were held with groups of pupils from Years 7 to 10, and pupils’ views were also sought during lessons and during breaktimes and lunchtimes.
• Meetings were held with two members of the governing body, including the ‘peer principal’ who also attends governing body meetings. A telephone conversation was held with the national director from AET. Other meetings were held with the ‘peer principal’, a headteacher from another school in the trust who has been supporting the school.
• Discussions took place with senior leaders, middle leaders, newly qualified teachers and leaders responsible for safeguarding and for those pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• Inspectors took into account the response of 12 parents and carers to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also considered comments from parents. The school was unable to send out the staff questionnaire, but inspectors held brief meetings in person with 18 members of the teaching and support staff. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire.

Inspection team

Neil Warner, lead inspector Michelle Newman Mark Henshaw Michael Onyon Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector