One In A Million Free School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to improve the way leaders use attendance information strategically in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their actions.
• Improve further the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • ensuring that learning meets the needs of all pupils, including those who have SEN and/or disabilities, and the most able
  • ensuring that all teachers consistently challenge low-level disruption.
• Rapidly reduce the persistent absence of pupils, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the last inspection, there have been changes in leadership. A new principal was appointed in January 2017. He has worked swiftly to raise expectations and, as a result, behaviour around the school has significantly improved.
• The new principal has a clear and focused vision for the continuous improvement of the school. He has worked closely with governors and accurately evaluated the strengths of the school, identifying areas for development and revising the school’s priorities.
• Due to the expanding nature of the school, leaders constantly review the curriculum to ensure that it meets the needs of all the pupils. As a result, pupils study courses appropriate for their needs and aspirations.
• Leaders ensure that careers information, advice and guidance provided to pupils are strong and prepare pupils well for the next steps in their education. Although current Year 11 pupils are yet to take any public examinations, almost all have secured places in further education and apprenticeships already.
• Leaders ensure that any additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is spent well. They track the progress of these pupils effectively and provide additional support when needed. Disadvantaged pupils make good progress from their starting points and in some subjects, they make better progress than non-disadvantaged pupils.
• Middle leaders are a strength of the school. The directors of sports, arts and enterprise know their areas of responsibility very well. They monitor the quality of teaching and learning regularly. They are committed and enthusiastic, and have a strong capacity for further improvement. As a result, the quality of teaching and learning and the progress of pupils in the vast majority of subjects are at least good.
• Staff are very appreciative of the support they receive in order to improve their practice. Leaders ensure that professional development is linked to the school’s monitoring of teaching and learning. All staff know and share the school’s priorities and work hard to maintain the positive relationships they have with pupils. Consequently, teaching, learning and assessment and learning behaviour have all improved since the last inspection.
• The leaders responsible for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are developing their practice in evaluating the impact of their actions strategically. They have identified the trend of increasing numbers of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities joining the school year on year. As a result, the leadership of this area has recently been strengthened. The curriculum has been adapted to meet the needs of these learners. It is too soon to see the impact of this work.
• Although the leaders responsible for attendance and behaviour have access to appropriate information about pupils’ attendance, they have not been effective in evaluating the impact of their actions to improve the attendance of different groups of pupils. Leaders have taken action to address this. Consequently, attendance is now beginning to improve.

Governance of the school

• The governance of the school is a significant strength. An experienced chair of governors very ably leads the governing body, which comprises a wide range of highly skilled governors with a rich spectrum of knowledge and expertise. Their commitment to school life and activities is impressive.
• The governors are ambitious and passionate about the continuous development of the school. They are very proud of the ethos and purpose of the school and the focus to improve the lives of young people from deprived areas of Bradford.
• The governors play a vital role in developing and further expanding the school. They include members from local organisations, as well as members with specialist educational backgrounds. As a result, they are very effective in providing robust challenge and support to leaders.
• Governors are linked to various areas of the school. They thoroughly scrutinise performance information and know the school’s strengths and areas for development well.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The atmosphere around the school is caring and inclusive. There is a culture of safeguarding in the school as well as one of high expectations, respect and tolerance.
• There is effective supervision on entry to school in the mornings, at lunchtimes and between lessons. Consequently, the conduct of pupils is calm and orderly. Pupils are punctual to lessons.
• Senior leaders, including governors, check safeguarding records regularly. The school has comprehensive policies for safeguarding. As a result, the school takes timely, supportive and appropriate actions to keep pupils safe.
• School leaders responsible for safeguarding are knowledgeable and ensure that all staff and governors have appropriate and up-to-date safeguarding training. Staff know about child protection procedures, are vigilant and know how to report any concerns.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching and learning are good. The new principal has taken swift actions to eradicate any weak teaching and, as a result, most pupils’ attitudes to learning are now positive.
• The relationships in the vast majority of lessons, between teachers and pupils, are good. Pupils are confident to ask questions and are keen to learn. Consequently, they are able to make good progress and deepen their knowledge and understanding.
• In lessons, pupils are mostly eager to apply themselves to challenging activities. Teachers use probing and skilful questioning effectively, for example in English, mathematics and health and social care. However, in a small minority of lessons, teachers accept limited, superficial responses to questions and do not challenge pupils further. Occasionally, the most able pupils are not stretched sufficiently.
• Leaders monitor the quality of teaching and learning frequently through visits to lessons, scrutiny of pupils’ books and by talking to pupils. Leaders’ findings ensure that staff have opportunities to develop specific areas of their teaching to further improve the quality of teaching and learning overall.
• The support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is improving as the school grows. The leadership of this area is also developing and has been recently strengthened through appointments of additional staff.
• Leaders have focused heavily over the last year on improving reading across the school. They have introduced various initiatives to encourage reading across subjects. Extra support is in place for almost half the pupils in the school who are learning English as an additional language, to help them catch up quickly. Pupils with low reading ages at the start of 2017 improved by the end of the year.
• Reading forms part of the start of the day during form-time activities. Inspectors listened to pupils read. Pupils were able to read with fluency, including the lower-attaining pupils, and identify and explain tricky words. They could talk maturely about the value and importance of reading.
• Teachers promote equality of opportunity through their teaching, and classrooms are inclusive environments that support learning. Pupils have access to the latest technology to support their learning and they are proud of and respect their environment.

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 provides a well-structured programme of activities to support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Form time includes sessions about respect, tolerance, being unique, racism and acceptance of others. Pupils can talk confidently about different cultures and religions, multiculturalism and inclusion. This is reflected in their respectful behaviour overall towards each other and staff.
• Pupil ambassadors are keen to greet visitors at the classroom doors and to explain the content of the lessons. Pupils are eager to discuss the successes they have achieved while studying at the school. They express their appreciation of the school’s efforts to support them in their young lives.
• The principal and the governors work hard to ensure that the school promotes self-confidence and high aspirations for all pupils, regardless of their background.
• The school’s effective work with vulnerable pupils, including its use of alternative provision, has significantly reduced the number of pupils at risk of not being in education, training or employment. Pupils who attend alternative provision are supported well to make good progress on the courses they are studying. Leaders are vigilant in monitoring pupils’ attendance and behaviour when attending alternative provision.
• Since the arrival of the new principal, links with local colleges and other institutions have improved significantly. The programme of careers information, advice and guidance is strong. Almost all current Year 11 pupils have secured places in further education and apprenticeships, even though they have not taken any public examinations yet.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Since the last inspection, behaviour in the school has improved. The conduct and behaviour of pupils around the site and in the vast majority of lessons are good. The school environment during break and lunchtime is calm and orderly.
• The arrival of the new principal signalled a rise in expectations of behaviour for all pupils. Initially, the number of fixed-term exclusions increased sharply. However, as pupils adopted the newly raised expectations, fixed-term exclusions significantly reduced. For current pupils in the school, the proportion of fixed-term exclusions is now below the national average.
• Although there have been significant improvements in teachers tackling low-level disruption since the last inspection, there still remain a few lessons where this low-level disruption is not challenged robustly. A small number of teachers do not consistently apply the school’s behaviour management policy. As a result, the learning in a few lessons is disrupted and the progress of a small minority of pupils slows.
• Leaders have recently appointed additional staff to help improve attendance. The attendance of pupils in 2017 was well below the national average and the attendance of current pupils is still below the national average. However, current attendance is higher than it was at the same time last year. Leaders recognise the need to improve attendance for all groups of pupils, including that of disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school is well above the national average. This is especially so for disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities. School leaders are working hard with those pupils and their families. The attendance of some of these pupils is beginning to improve.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The current Year 11 pupils will be the first cohort in the school’s history to take any public examinations. Consequently, there are no external examination results to compare pupils’ outcomes with those of other schools nationally.
• Current school assessment information indicates that over time, most pupils are making good progress in a range of subjects. Inspection evidence, including the quality of work seen in pupils’ books, supports this.
• Pupils enter the school with prior attainment that is typically below the national average. The school provides all pupils with challenging and aspirational targets.
• Leaders have rigorous and robust systems for tracking the progress of all pupils in all subjects. Leaders at all levels check progress against targets regularly during monitoring, evaluation and review meetings. Consequently, teachers are able to put in place appropriate support for most groups of pupils who need it.
• Leaders use a range of sources to ensure that school assessment information is checked for accuracy. As a result, leaders can be confident in the actions they take to improve school performance.
• For the current Year 11 pupils, school assessment information indicates that the progress of disadvantaged pupils in English is broadly in line with that of non-disadvantaged pupils. Pupils who are learning English as an additional language are making better progress than their peers. In mathematics and science, disadvantaged pupils are also making better progress than their peers.
• The school’s progress information shows that in Year 10, pupils are making rapid progress, particularly in English language, health and social care and sport.
• In Years 7, 8 and 9, pupils are making good progress from their starting points, especially in drama, music, food technology, English and mathematics.
• In the current Year 11, the progress of the pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities in science and mathematics is slower than the progress other groups of pupils are making from their starting points. Leaders have identified this area of the school’s work for further support.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 139474 Bradford 10042179 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 free school 11 to 18 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 343 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Mark Hughes Philip Grant 01274 723439 www.oneinamillion.org.uk/ school@oneinamillion.org.uk Date of previous inspection 30 June–1 July 2015

Information about this school

• The school was set up by One In A Million, a Bradford-based charity in partnership with Bradford City Football Club, with the aim of working with children and young people in areas of deprivation within Bradford.
• The school currently has pupils in every year group. There are currently no students in the sixth form.
• There have been significant staffing changes since the last inspection, including the appointment of a new principal in January 2017 and the addition of new staff due to the growth of the school. Just over a third of the staff were new to the school in September 2017.
• Pupils attending the school have not yet taken external examinations.
• The school uses Bradford Central Pupil Referral Unit and Pipeline Productions for alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited 36 part-lessons across most subject areas and observed all teaching staff teach. Form-time activities were also observed. Many of the visits to lessons took place with senior leaders. During visits to classrooms, inspectors looked at pupils’ work in their books and questioned pupils about their learning.
• Discussions took place with the principal, other senior leaders and directors of subject areas. Inspectors also held discussions with members of the wider body of staff.
• Discussions also took place with members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body. Inspectors visited pupils at their alternative provision and met with some parents.
• Inspectors held discussions with pupils from all year groups about what it is like to be a young person at the school. Inspectors also listened to some pupils read.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around the school, including between lessons, at breaktimes and at lunchtime.
• Inspectors took into account the three responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. They also analysed the 49 responses to the staff survey.
• Inspectors examined records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.
• Inspectors also scrutinised documents, including school development plans, parental surveys, governing body minutes, leaders’ monitoring notes and information about pupils’ achievement.

Inspection team

Dimitris Spiliotis, lead inspector Kate Lounds Mike Tull Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector