Tudor Grange Academy Redditch Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ attendance so that it is in line with the national average and fewer pupils are persistently absent.
• Ensure that pupils’ learning is not disturbed by low-level disruption by making sure that teachers:
  • apply the school behaviour policy consistently
  • have consistently high expectations of pupils’ behaviour in every lesson.
• Improve teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that all teachers:
  • follow leaders’ whole-school guidance consistently in their teaching
  • plan tasks that more reliably engage and challenge pupils
  • have high expectations of what pupils can do.
• Improve the impact of leadership of post-16 provision. Do this by:
  • planning and tracking rigorously students’ study programmes
  • developing the curriculum so that it better meets students’ needs
  • raising retention so that more pupils complete their study programmes
  • increasing students’ attendance.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• There has been some turbulence in leadership and staffing recently as pupil numbers have decreased. Leaders and the MAT have not ensured that teaching, pupils’ outcomes and behaviour, and the sixth form are good. However, there is new leadership in the sixth form and staffing is more stable. The school is now improving and pupils’ progress is beginning to rise.
• Leaders have accurately identified the main issues in the school and put plans in place to improve the quality of education. Staff from the MAT have undertaken a broadly based review focused on disadvantaged pupils’ progress and progress in underperforming subjects. The review accurately identified that teaching is too inconsistent. Leaders have begun to implement its recommendations, but their impact cannot yet be seen consistently in lessons.
• Leaders have also carefully reviewed the provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities and have undertaken a skills audit with teachers. Leaders have given well-designed training sessions for teachers on some of the main areas that need to improve. As a result, these pupils’ needs are now being met more consistently.
• To improve teaching and learning, leaders have chosen some simple focuses they expect all teachers to maintain in lessons. For example, teachers are expected to do ongoing assessment to make sure that all pupils understand the content of the lesson. However, leaders have not yet ensured that all staff sustain these focuses consistently.
• Leaders are also improving teaching through a coaching system. Teachers value this approach because it enables them to discuss their practice in detail with their colleagues and make improvements. As a result, teachers are enjoying working collaboratively, and in some areas teaching is improving.
• Tracking has developed this year. Leaders have designed a system where assessment information, interventions to improve pupils’ progress and the line management system are linked. Managers talk to subject leaders in detail about individual pupils to make sure that pupils’ progress is maintained.
• The curriculum is well managed, broad and balanced. Leaders have recently made adaptations to meet pupils’ needs and interests. For example, recognising that the curriculum did not meet some pupils’ needs, leaders put on a range of vocational, entry-level and short courses for Year 11 pupils. These recent adaptations were too late to have a full impact on pupils’ progress at the end of key stage 4. However, leaders have now integrated adaptations into the curriculum much earlier so that pupils benefit more.
• There is a wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer such as sports teams, author visits, and performing arts productions. These activities contribute well to pupils’ personal development and wider skills.
• Leaders take many opportunities to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. They encourage participation in charity activities, for example to develop an understanding of civic duty. The school also commemorates important historical events, and pupils meet local businesses and undertake team skills events. The six days each year that are dedicated to these important activities are well planned and purposeful.

Governance of the school

• The local governing body has most of the information they need and offer challenge and support to leaders. Though the school has small groups of pupils with particular needs, they expect the very highest standards of the school.
• Governors understand the school well. They have a detailed knowledge of its strengths and weaknesses and understand what the priorities are. The school has changed the age range for which it provides education, and pupils now arrive in different year groups. In response, governors have ensured that they have first-hand knowledge of pupils’ experiences of moving schools in the middle of a key stage.
• Governors take an interest in the pupils and often get involved in school reviews and speaking with pupils. This means that they have a good understanding of the quality of education. They are confident in the effectiveness of safeguarding because of the MAT’s regular, calendared monitoring of all aspects of this.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There are many ways in which leaders demonstrate their commitment to keeping pupils safe. Leaders keep comprehensive records of concerns about pupils. When there are locally prevalent concerns, leaders take a range of actions to identify pupils at risk, and work with them to minimise these risks. When pupils are absent from school, leaders undertake safe-and-well visits.
• Pupils spoke in detail about keeping themselves safe. For example, as a result of intensive work that teachers had done with them, pupils have a deep understanding of how to keep themselves safe online, the potential risks and how to report their concerns. Pupils also spoke knowledgeably with inspectors about radicalisation and extremism, and road safety.
• Staff are appropriately trained to contribute to an effective safeguarding culture. Leaders evaluate the impact of annual updates through online questionnaires for staff and address any misconceptions. They keep clear records of who has received safeguarding updates. Most staff have undertaken training on ‘Prevent’ and female genital mutilation so that they are aware of these areas.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• There is too much inconsistency in the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Leaders have clear priorities for what should improve in teaching, and these priorities are appropriate. However, they have not yet been successful in making sure that teachers rise to this challenge consistently.
• Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ behaviour in lessons and what they can do in the time available are often too low. When this is the case, pupils do not complete tasks in a timely fashion, simply copy answers out or do not take part in the activities that teachers set for them. Teachers do not consistently challenge this.
• In tutorial time, tutors present pupils with literacy and numeracy tasks. Too many pupils do not take these seriously and so do not benefit from them.
• Teachers do not consistently match work to pupils’ abilities. Too often, tasks are not engaging and as a result, pupils’ learning suffers. Where teachers enthuse pupils and plan carefully for their needs, pupils thrive and enjoy their learning.
• In mathematics, teachers plan lessons very carefully, making sure that pupils know exactly what they need to do next to make progress. Pupils use ‘learning journals’. These are highly effective because they are well-organised records of learning which pupils can refer to and revise from. Pupils say that they value the question-by-question analysis teachers give them at the end of assessments. As a result of this effective practice, pupils’ progress in mathematics stands out from other subjects and is in the top 10% of schools nationally.
• In English, teachers are beginning to adopt the strategies that have been so successful in mathematics. It is too early to see the impact of this, and some pupils’ work remains chaotic and disorganised, undermining their ability to refer back to work or revise from it.
• In some subjects other than mathematics, teachers’ expectations of pupils are also high. In these subjects, pupils take a full and enthusiastic part in lessons. They learn at pace and with determination. For example, in a German lesson, pupils used the language exuberantly, moved from simple vocabulary to new grammatical structures with confidence, and demonstrated their new skills to the teacher and each other.
• Pupils value practical, active and vocational work. Typically, in these lessons, they take part enthusiastically, get on with their work well and make better progress.
• Leaders test pupils’ reading age when they enter the school. They then track pupils’ progress in reading with appropriate frequency. The majority of pupils’ proficiency in reading improves over time.
• Inspectors observed examples of very small Year 11 classes revising diligently with their teachers. While these revision groups were not representative of the way in which pupils are taught over the year, they do demonstrate Year 11 pupils’ purposeful approach as they face their examinations.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Many pupils are articulate and have mature attitudes to school. They say that school is a pleasant place to be, that they feel safe and that they generally get on well with one another.
• In conversations with inspectors, most pupils said that bullying was rare and when it happened, teachers dealt with it well. Leaders have interviewed vulnerable groups to check on their perceptions about bullying. These more vulnerable pupils agreed that bullying is quickly resolved when it occurs.
• Pupils say that homophobic language is used often as a part of ‘banter’. However, they acknowledge that teachers take this inappropriate language very seriously and challenge it whenever it is heard. Leaders have ensured that prejudicial language is addressed on special ‘drop-down’ days, when the normal timetable is suspended.
• Pupils spoke in detail about keeping themselves safe as a result of high-impact work that teachers had done with them.
• Various elements of the curriculum effectively support pupils’ personal development and welfare. Leaders design six special days annually in which pupils explore themes such as fundamental British values, social, moral, spiritual and cultural issues and mental health. Pupils in all year groups receive careers guidance, and all have the opportunity to undertake work experience. Almost all do so.
• Leaders undertake safe-and-well visits whenever there is a concern about a pupil’s attendance or welfare. These are recorded appropriately by leaders and ensure that pupils’ welfare is monitored consistently.
• Leaders’ work on the social and emotional capacity of vulnerable pupils is very well planned and delivered. Leaders carefully track its impact over time. This tracking shows that pupils on this programme benefit from increased resilience.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• All of the pupils who spoke with inspectors said that low-level disruption too often has a negative impact on their learning. Around half of the teachers agreed. Inspectors saw examples of lessons where pupils’ learning was disrupted or slowed by pupils not listening to teachers, talking over them and not responding to teachers’ requests. While this disruption involves a relatively small number of pupils, it has a disproportionate impact in some lessons because of small class sizes and year groups.
• Pupils said that there was a sense of relief when poorly behaved pupils were removed and learning could go ahead smoothly. Leaders and governors know about this issue and are taking steps to improve behaviour.
• Teachers do not apply the behaviour consequences system consistently enough. As a result, in some lessons, pupils are allowed to behave poorly without sanction. Some pupils told inspectors that they feel that this is unfair.
• Pupils’ attendance is weak. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is well above the national average. Attendance is below the national average. Leaders’ systems for supporting pupils who have low attendance include home visits, fines, pastoral support and early intervention. These strategies are having a positive impact on some groups of pupils’ attendance.
• In the past three years, fixed-term exclusions were very high and well above the national average. The number of pupils with repeat fixed-term exclusions was also well above the national average. While still too high, the number has fallen recently. The number of pupils missing lessons because they are isolated within the school has also reduced.
• Pupils’ behaviour around the school is generally positive. They are polite to one another and staff and move around the school in an appropriate way.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Over the past three years, pupils’ progress has been particularly weak in some subjects. Much better progress in mathematics has meant that overall, key stage 4 pupils have made average progress. However, in modern foreign languages and sciences there has been a year-on-year decrease in progress. In humanities subjects, progress has been in the bottom 20% of schools nationally.
• There are improvements for current pupils. As a result of teachers’ improved assessment and tracking, and a range of interventions, pupils are making better progress. The majority of pupils in Years 8 and 9 are meeting their targets in different subjects. However, this is not yet consistent, nor has it been sustained over time. Additionally, sometimes, progress is hampered by pupils’ low-level disruption and teaching that fails to meet their needs.
• Over time, pupils’ progress in English has improved for pupils of all abilities. However, disadvantaged pupils’ progress in English was significantly below average in 2016 and 2017. Leaders have accurately identified literacy as a key issue for current disadvantaged pupils, and have put in place more intensive literacy support. As a result, current pupils’ progress in English and a range of other subjects is improving.
• Pupils’ progress in mathematics is exceptional. As a result of well-honed teaching, regardless of their starting points, pupils make significant progress. Disadvantaged pupils’ progress, which had been weaker, has improved swiftly in mathematics since 2016.
• The small number of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities means that trends are hard to establish. However, new leaders in this area have quickly set up a range of systems to track and better support these pupils, leading to improvements in their progress.
• The percentage of pupils who are not in education, employment and training at the end of Year 11 is below the national average.
• The curriculum for 11 pupils was adapted to meet their particular needs quite late in Year 11. Some of the courses these pupils followed did not lead to qualifications that counted towards the published progress measures, negatively affecting the school’s progress score for disadvantaged pupils. These courses were, however, appropriate for the pupils’ needs, pupils did well on them and almost all of them gained places on vocational courses after Year 11.

16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

• Leadership of the sixth form has been turbulent over the last four years. Leaders have not recently evaluated their work and as a result they lack a clear view of their impact. For example, they have not properly tracked and evaluated the impact of study programmes for students this year. However, during the inspection, leaders pulled together information which showed that students had access to all of the relevant qualification and non-qualification activity this year. Therefore the requirements of the study programmes are met. New leadership is in place for the sixth form, but it is too early to see its impact.
• This year, leaders have found that the sixth form personal, social, health and economic education programme has been difficult to deliver as a result of a lack of staffing. Some elements of the tutorial programme have been missed. Leaders acknowledge that the high number of unsupervised study sessions that students have are not well monitored.
• Students’ progress on academic courses over the last three years has been weak and significantly below the national average. This was because the courses did not meet students’ needs. In 2017, students’ progress on academic courses was below the government’s minimum standard.
• All academic students take AS examinations, and leaders use the results as a mid-point check on their progress. At this point, up to a third of students leave or begin new study programmes. For some, it is because they do not meet the school’s requirement of gaining three D grades or better in their AS examinations to move into Year 13. Retention is, therefore, below the national average. Leaders have recently ensured that more students are on appropriate courses. As a result, early indicators are that retention between Years 12 and 13 will be better this year, although still below the national average.
• The majority of students undertake a work experience placement. The school provides activities for students to do to make the experience more valuable. However, as students make their own arrangements for placements, not all these experiences contribute strongly to students’ work aspirations.
• Students’ attendance in the sixth form is too low. For example, students in Year 13 miss around 10% of their lessons.
• Current students’ progress is beginning to improve. Leaders have put in place strategies to improve standards in underperforming subjects and more students are on courses that meet their needs. Students, overall, feel more positive now about their sixth-form experience.
• Around a third of sixth-form students currently take vocational courses. They make strong progress from their starting points. The success of these courses means that leaders have planned for the introduction of more vocational courses in September 2018 and September 2019.
• Leaders arrange for a variety of education and employment providers to come into school to talk about university and other destinations. The school’s own audit of sixth formers’ views on this careers guidance shows that students value their experiences in the sixth form.
• A small number of students enter the sixth form without a standard pass in English, mathematics or both. Almost all of these students improve their grades while they are in the sixth form.
• Following their studies, most students who go through to Year 13 are well supported to go on to university. The proportion of students doing so is above the national average.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140731 Worcestershire 10048323 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 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 Academy converter 11 to 18 Mixed Mixed 322 146 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Principal Jane Potter Jodie Bolter Telephone number 01527 523088 Website Email address www.redditch.tgacademy.org.uk head@redditch.tgacademy.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school became an academy converter within the Tudor Grange Academies Multi-Academy Trust in April 2014. The trust has a chief executive officer, and a member of the trust board sits on the local governing body.
• The school is a smaller than average-sized secondary school with a small sixth form. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans is above the national average, though the number of pupils is low.
• The proportion of pupils who have English as an additional language is below the national average.
• The school has specially resourced provision for a very small number of pupils who have moderate learning difficulties.
• Until recently, the area in which the school sits had a three-tier arrangement including middle schools. Tudor Grange Redditch changed its age range to include Year 7 and 8. However, due to a lack of demand for places, the school currently has no Year 7 pupils. Leaders intend to have pupils in all year groups from Years 7 to 13 in the future.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards for key stage 4. It does not meet the minimum standard for academic value added at key stage 5 (the sixth form).

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited many parts of lessons, some jointly with senior leaders. They scrutinised pupils’ work over time, leaders’ records of quality assurance, and action plans to improve teaching and learning. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, in social areas and tutor time.
• Inspectors met with the principal, the chief executive officer of the MAT, governors and a representative of the MAT board. They also met with a range of other staff in the school.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation including that on safeguarding, vetting checks on staff, in-year pupil progress, and strategic planning.
• The views of pupils were taken into account through the 13 responses to an online questionnaire, information supplied by the school, and formal and informal discussions with pupils.
• The views of parents were considered through the 19 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and 17 free-text responses. The views of staff were considered through the 39 responses to an online questionnaire.

Inspection team

Dan Owen, lead inspector Rob Steed Helen Reeves Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector