University Academy Keighley Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by:
  • improving the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in humanities subjects so that pupils make at least good progress
  • continuing to review and develop the curriculum, particularly for science, so that there is an equal focus on quality at key stage 3 and key stage 4
  • ensuring that teachers focus on the development of pupils’ literacy skills across the curriculum
  • carefully analysing and evaluating information, particularly about behaviour and barriers to learning for disadvantaged pupils, so that swifter actions are taken to improve pupils’ progress.
• Improve teaching so that it consistently enables pupils to make good progress from their starting points, by ensuring that:
  • teachers focus on developing pupils’ ability to learn so that they are resilient and open to challenges in their learning
  • teachers use information about pupils’ starting points and progress, to plan appropriate learning that challenges all groups of pupils
  • teachers’ expectations of what all pupils can achieve are high.
• Improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare by:
  • providing more opportunities for girls to develop their confidence and continuing to raise girls’ aspirations of what they can achieve
  • continuing to enhance the curriculum with opportunities for pupils to openly discuss and debate topical issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and extremism.
• Improve the quality of the 16─ 19 study programmes so that all students make good progress and are prepared for the world of work by:
  • improving the quality of teaching and learning in the sixth form including greater opportunities for pupils to learn about personal development and employability skills by ensuring that personal, social, health and economic education is strengthened.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• The recently appointed principal and her senior leaders work hard to raise pupils’ aspirations for their futures. Leaders’ belief that University Academy Keighley is ‘a great place to learn’ is in the early stages, and some pupils are starting to realise that they can achieve. However, there is work to do to ensure that all pupils commit to this aspirational ethos.
• Teachers speak highly of the opportunities for their professional development. However, in practice, some teachers struggle to implement the new strategies they learn about because some pupils lack resilience and are wary of trying to learn in new ways.
• Leaders are currently reviewing the curriculum. They recognise that the quality and depth of the curriculum for pupils in key stage 3 needs to improve, so that it has the same importance, quality of assessment and rigour as those in key stage 4. They recognise that the time allocated to some subjects, for example science, does not allow pupils to make good enough progress in this subject.
• Historically, the use of performance management has not supported school improvement plans. The principal has overhauled the system so that teachers’ targets link to school priorities to improve the quality of teaching and learning. It is too soon to see the impact of the new system.
• Leaders ensure that pupils learn about life in modern Britain and that there are many planned opportunities for social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. However, leaders recognise that there is more to do to ensure that opportunities for pupils to discuss and talk openly about the potential risks that they may face when growing up and leaving school need embedding.
• Leaders’ spending of additional funds for pupils who are disadvantaged, pupils who need to catch up and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has had a positive impact on improving some pupils’ progress and attendance. However, leaders miss opportunities to identify individual barriers to learning faced by disadvantaged pupils, which results in their not spend some of the funding as effectively as they could.
• The principal worked swiftly alongside governors to commission experienced external support for leadership in the school from a variety of sources, in particular Rodillian Multi Academy Trust. Through this, leaders are overhauling systems, policies and procedures so that the school can improve rapidly. It is, however, too soon to see the impact of these changes.
• Since her appointment, the principal has effectively decreased the previously high levels of staff absence. Staff are now attending regularly, which is helping to improve consistency in the implementation of the improved policies for managing behaviour.
• Since her recent arrival, the passionate and experienced temporary special educational needs coordinator has ensured that teaching assistants support pupils well. An effective programme of training, monitoring and evaluation is in place. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making better progress than they did and now have appropriate arrangements in place to meet their needs, for example in examinations.
• Leaders in English and mathematics have worked hard to improve pupils’ progress in these subjects. Stronger systems for quality assurance, such as the ‘red file’, are leading to higher levels of accountability and better outcomes for pupils.

Governance of the school

• Governors effectively challenge and support the principal to improve the school. Working closely together, governors ensure that they receive relevant information about the school’s performance so that they can ask appropriate questions that lead to school improvement.
• Governors are knowledgeable and skilled and have lots to offer the school. Governors ensure that they access appropriate training, including child protection training and training about how to keep pupils safe from the dangers of extremism and radicalisation.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders ensure that they record information about child protection well and they carry out appropriate checks on adults who work at the school. Leaders are rigorous and robust in their approach to monitoring pupils who are absent from school. Leaders work well with the local authority to ensure that pupils are safe.
• Staff receive child protection training annually at the start of the school year and updates throughout the year. Staff have a strong awareness of the signs to look for to determine whether a pupil is vulnerable or facing difficulties. Leaders identify pupils who are at risk quickly and put support into place to keep them safe.
• Pupils said that they are safe in the school and parents agreed. A highly vigilant and committed pastoral team has an open door policy for pupils to drop in and share any worries or concerns that they may have. Appropriate internet filters are in place to monitor pupils’ safety online, and staff investigate fully and deal appropriately with any incidents of inappropriate use.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Some teachers do not use pupil performance information to plan learning that challenges all pupils from their different starting points. Consequently, some pupils, including those who are the most able, do not make good enough progress.
• Teachers implement new strategies and activities in lessons. However, these do not always lead to progress because some pupils lack the skills to learn well. For example, when work is challenging, some pupils do not have the resilience to rise to the challenge and therefore give up too easily.
• In some lessons, teachers do not insist that pupils use the laptop computers that the school provides to support effective learning. Some pupils are easily distracted and do not use them as directed. In some lessons, the use of laptop computers limits the opportunities that pupils have to practise their writing.
• Not all teachers support pupils’ literacy development well. In too many pupils’ books, there are basic literacy errors that teachers do not correct, such as the incorrect use of capital letters or lack of punctuation. Consequently, pupils who make these errors do not learn from their mistakes.
• Opportunities for extended writing are not fully embedded across the curriculum, and so pupils do not have enough opportunity to practise the skills that they are developing in English lessons. Literacy skills are not improving rapidly enough for all pupils.
• Some teachers miss opportunities to check how well pupils understand their work. They move on too quickly and do not fully address misconceptions. This leads to gaps in pupils’ knowledge and a lack of progress. In some lessons, however, teachers use questioning well to check pupils’ understanding of the work they are completing and to deepen further pupils’ knowledge and understanding.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are variable. When expectations are higher, for example in some English lessons, pupils make better progress than in some humanities lessons, including history lessons, when teachers do not routinely expect enough.
• Pupils are beginning to make better progress when they respond to feedback from teachers to improve their work. When teachers apply the school policy of ‘blue to do’ appropriately, pupils respond and improve their work. However, this is inconsistent across different subjects.
• Teaching assistants support and challenge pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities well, so they make good progress with their work. Teaching assistants know pupils well and support teachers well to meet pupils’ individual needs.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Some pupils do not have the skills to be successful learners. Too many pupils have a passive attitude to their learning and are quite happy for teachers to do all of the work.
• Some girls lack confidence in lessons and teachers miss opportunities to check girls’ understanding, as the more confident boys dominate when teachers ask questions. There is work to do to ensure that girls are as confident as boys to take an active part in their learning.
• Leaders ensure that pupils learn, through a programme of citizenship and community time, about the risks they may face as they grow up. Pupils are able to talk openly about some risks, such as drugs and alcohol. Some pupils, however, do not have the confidence to talk openly about sensitive issues such as child sexual exploitation, grooming and extremism.
• Pupils said that bullying is rare and that if it happens school staff deal with it very effectively. Pupils value highly the pastoral support they receive.
• Leaders ensure that there are opportunities for social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. For example, pupils take part in many events to raise money for charity, celebrate their achievements together and take part in many trips.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Pupils’ attitudes to taking part in their learning and presenting their work neatly are often poor. Some pupils’ books are very untidy and teachers do not always address or challenge this.
• A small number of pupils have negative attitudes to learning and disrupt the learning for others. This is particularly the case when pupils are not challenged well by, or interested in, their learning.
• Pupils’ movement around the school overall is calm and well supervised by staff. Corridors are occasionally crowded at certain lesson changeover times, and some pupils said that there can be some pushing and shoving. Staff are vigilant to this.
• The number of pupils accessing the behaviour support unit has increased. This is because of the higher expectations that teachers and leaders have of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils said that behaviour in lessons is improving because of higher expectations. Parents are supportive of the school in addressing poor behaviour.
• The school environment is clean and tidy. Pupils’ respect the school and make an effort to tidy up after break and lunchtime.
• Pupils attend very well. Attendance is above the national average and the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is below the national average. Pastoral leaders make attendance a priority and work well with parents to address any attendance concerns swiftly.
• Pupils who attend alternative provision have good attendance and their behaviour is improving, so that they are reducing their risk of permanent exclusion. These pupils are making better progress than when they were educated full time in school.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• In external examinations in 2016 and 2017, Year 11 pupils’ progress improved. Leaders achieved this by a strong programme of interventions to help pupils to achieve well. Leaders recognise that there has been an over-reliance on these interventions to fill gaps left by weak teaching over time.
• Actions taken by school leaders are improving the progress made by disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in line with that of their peers. However, leaders recognise that, overall, progress for all current pupils needs to continue to improve. School information about current pupils’ progress shows that it is inconsistent across the curriculum, and that there are particular weaknesses in history and geography. The quality of work in pupils’ books indicates the same.
• Pupils’ attainment is below the national average in a number of different subjects, including the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. Leaders are taking appropriate action to make improvements. However, it is too soon to see the impact of the new strategies.
• Pupils who arrive at the school in Year 7 and need to catch up with their peers in English and mathematics are making good progress because leaders of English and mathematics are spending additional funds on appropriate strategies, such as reading interventions, to provide the support that this group of pupils needs.
• Recent improvements made by leaders are ensuring that pupils who speak English as an additional language are receiving appropriate support. However, it is too soon to see the impact on pupils’ progress.
• Pupils have regular access to independent careers advice and guidance in key stages 3 and 4. Pupils said that this supports them well in choosing their option subjects for GCSE and prepares them well for post-16 education or employment.

16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement

• The principal and governors recognised that the curriculum on offer was not effectively meeting the needs of a number of students. Consequently, there are now no students studying AS levels in the sixth form. A small number of Year 12 students in the sixth form study English and mathematics alongside vocational courses, which develops their skills and helps them to progress to further education or employment.
• The quality of teaching and learning is variable in the sixth form. Where teaching is stronger, questioning is stronger and students make better progress. Where teaching is weaker, there are missed opportunities to move pupils on quickly and so they do not make as much progress as they should.
• Students who study academic courses make better progress than those studying vocational courses.
• Leaders ensure that there is some provision in place for students to develop employability skills and to study personal, social, health and economic education. However, this is better for students studying vocational courses, and leaders are reliant on teachers covering the content during curriculum time. Some students access too little of this education and so do not develop a good enough awareness of the skills they need for future employment or of how to keep themselves healthy.
• Most students in the sixth form receive appropriate careers guidance and use this to help them make decisions about their next steps. However, not all students have accessed this and so some are unaware of how they will progress into further education, employment or apprenticeships following sixth form.
• Students who re-sit their mathematics and English qualifications in the sixth form receive timetabled tuition, which supports them in making good progress towards achieving a pass at GCSE.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 136198 Bradford 10036580 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 sponsor-led 11 to 18 Mixed Mixed 690 46 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Joanne Marshall Bernie Addison 01535 210333 http://uak.org.uk/ office@uak.org.uk Date of previous inspection 19─ 20 April 2016

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The current principal was appointed as interim principal in April 2016 and confirmed as principal in March 2017. A number of senior leaders and middle leaders are new in post and are on secondment from Rodillian.
• The school is a sponsor-led academy and the University of Bradford and Bradford council have reaffirmed their commitment to sponsor the school, following the withdrawal of Wakefield City Academies Trust from the proposed takeover in December 2016.
• The school is smaller than the average secondary school with a sixth form. The percentage of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is well above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language is very high.
• The school makes use of one placement for alternative education, Pipeline Productions, for a very small number of pupils on a part-time basis.
• For the last two years, the school has met the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress and attainment.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in a range of lessons and made some shorter visits to classrooms. The principal and senior leaders observed some learning jointly with the inspectors.
• Inspectors held meetings with senior leaders, middle leaders, staff, pupils and members of the governing body.
• Inspectors, alongside school leaders, reviewed the work in a number of pupils’ workbooks.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, during assembly times and during break and lunchtime. Inspectors also met formally with groups of pupils.
• Inspectors evaluated a range of documentation, including leaders’ evaluations of the school’s work and development plans, policies, minutes from governors’ meetings, external reviews and monitoring information. Inspectors also looked closely at progress information provided by school leaders.
• Inspectors took into account the views of parents during the inspection, as well as the 59 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also considered the 30 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire.

Inspection team

Debbie Redshaw, lead inspector Mike Tull David Penny Mary Lanovy-Taylor

Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector

Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures set out in the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and-alternative-provision-settings. You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection. You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website:

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. This publication is available at www.gov.uk/ofsted. Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates:

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