Archbishop Sentamu Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

In accordance with section 13(4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school no longer requires special measures.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that all pupils make good progress in all subjects by:
  • improving the quality of teaching in science improving pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar
  • ensuring that learning activities challenge the most able appropriately
  • ensuring that teachers check that pupils’ have understood what they have learned before moving on to the next task so that pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills are consolidated
  • sharpening the analysis of progress made by pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities.
• Improve outcomes for boys, the most able and the disadvantaged pupils.
• Continue the drive to increase attendance.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders and managers, including governors, have taken decisive action to drive school improvement since the last inspection. The executive principal is passionate in his determination that pupils should be provided with the opportunities for their future success. There is a culture of high expectations. Consequently, the quality of teaching and learning and pupils’ outcomes are improving. Leadership at all levels has improved.
• Senior leaders and governors have taken effective action to ensure that high-quality staff are appointed to the school. For example, the Sentamu Academy Learning Trust (SALT) provided additional funding to ensure that the mathematics department was fully staffed with specialist teachers. As a result, the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes have improved in mathematics. Decisive action has been taken to reduce poor teaching throughout the school.
• Leaders check the quality of teaching, learning and assessment regularly and rigorously. As a result, they have a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the quality of education across the school. Leaders take rapid action to address inconsistencies identified by this quality assurance process, providing coaching and support to help teachers improve. Consequently, the quality of teaching has improved and staff use the school’s policies more consistently.
• Quality assurance processes and personalised training have empowered middle leaders. They confidently monitor the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and pupils’ progress in their departments. They challenge and support staff whose practice is not good enough. Better leadership at this level is contributing to the improvements across the school.
• Imaginative professional development opportunities are valued by staff and contribute to the improvements in the quality of teaching. For example, all teachers took a GCSE examination in their own subject in January. Staff say they now have a much better understanding of the expectations of the new GCSE examinations and how to prepare pupils to be successful in their examinations. A focus on understanding examination questions was seen in lessons.
• School leaders have ensured that progress information collected at key stage 4 is accurate. Assessments have been checked by external agencies and with other schools. As a result, leaders have confidence in the data collected half termly.
• There is a diverse curriculum which caters well for the needs and interests of the pupils. Many pupils voluntarily and enthusiastically study Chinese before the start of the school day. The school invests in a range of vocational courses, such as film studies, motor vehicle maintenance and financial education. A very wide range of extra-curricular activities support pupils’ development. Pupils are involved in activities including robotics, singing, curling, a rock band and visits to the school’s outdoor centre.
• The development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning is a strength of the school. The Christian ethos is very clear and embedded. British values are threaded through both the personal, social, health and citizenship education programme and the schemes of learning for geography and religious education. Well-planned assemblies and tutor time provide ample opportunities for collective worship and reflection on important events in the news. As a result, pupils are respectful of others’ views and well prepared for life outside the immediate school community.
• Year 11 pupils and sixth-form students value the guidance they have received about opportunities for future education and training. The school employs an independent careers adviser. As a result, these older pupils are well prepared to choose the next stage in their education or training. However, independent advice and guidance is less well developed lower down the school.
• Pupil premium funding is used to support an imaginative range of interventions. Additional staff support pupils in English, mathematics and science. However, gaps between the progress of disadvantaged pupils and others persist in the school, but vary between subjects and year groups. Year 11 pupils have extra lessons at the end of the day, as well as independent study periods in which they focus on online tasks designed to fill gaps in their knowledge, understanding and skills. The pupils speak very highly of the extra help they receive. They are confident that this is helping them make good progress. It is too soon to see the impact of these new interventions.
• Strong care and guidance is provided for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities with a wide range of needs. They are included in the school’s extensive extra-curricular programme. Teachers plan carefully for the needs of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. As a result, overall progress of these pupils is improving in line with other pupils.
• The school has worked in partnership with the Pathfinder Teaching School Alliance. Specialist leaders of education from the partnership have had a positive impact on the development of middle leadership.

Governance of the school

• Governance has improved. New governors with appropriate educational experience have strengthened the knowledge, skills and understanding of the local governing committee (LGC).
• The LGC provide effective challenge to school leaders. They interrogate pupils’ outcomes carefully and ask probing questions. For example, following disappointing outcomes at key stage 4 in 2017, the LGC called the heads of English, mathematics, science, history and geography to a meeting to explain the results and identify what middle leaders were doing to improve matters. Subsequently, LGC members have conducted a ‘deep dive’, visiting lessons with senior leaders and meeting staff and pupils to check first-hand what leaders have told them. As a result, governors have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school.
• Governors are committed to developing their skills. In response to a skills audit, governors have recently received training to improve their understanding of the new progress dashboard and the school’s assessment systems. They looked at pupils’ work to see the system in practice. Governors undertake safeguarding training, which allows them to hold leaders to account for the safety of pupils.
• Working with the trust, governors assure that high-quality staff are recruited. This has impacted positively on the quality of teaching.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements, including those involved with staff recruitment, are fit for purpose.
• A strong culture of safeguarding permeates the school. Pastoral staff know the pupils and their families well and provide very effective care and support. Pupils speak highly of the staff who keep them safe and say they are happy at school. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, for example on social media.
• Safeguarding leaders are very well informed about safeguarding procedures. Training for all staff is up to date. Consequently, referrals are made and responded to in a timely manner. The school has good partnerships with other agencies, including social care, ‘Headstart’ and the school nurse. The chaplain provides additional support for vulnerable pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved since the last inspection. However, in key stages 3 and 4, the quality is not consistently good. There is variety in the quality of teaching between and within subjects. Consequently, pupils’ progress is variable. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is better in the sixth form. As a result, outcomes in the sixth form are improving consistently.
• Teachers use their good subject knowledge to plan learning activities of different levels of difficulty to try to meet the needs of groups of pupils in their classes. However, the learning activities do not always challenge the most able. Sometimes, pupils choose an activity which is too challenging or not challenging enough. As a result, the most able pupils are not making consistently good progress.
• Although many teachers encourage pupils to complete extended pieces of writing in their lessons, spelling, punctuation and grammar are frequently of poor quality and are often not corrected.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in the English Baccalaureate subjects has improved, but inconsistencies persist. This is particularly the case in science. As a result, pupils are not all making good progress in science.
• Many teachers ask probing questions which help to test and develop pupils’ understanding. However, teachers do not always check that pupils understand what they have learned before moving on to a new learning activity. Consequently, pupils do not consolidate their understanding or deepen their knowledge.
• Teaching assistants provide effective support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Adults ask questions which encourage pupils to think for themselves and ensure that pupils understand and keep up with the work. Pupils confidently seek support because of the quality of the relationships with their teaching assistants. Consequently, teaching assistants contribute well to the progress made by pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• Leaders check carefully that teachers are using the school’s feedback policy effectively. Many teachers encourage pupils to engage with the policy to help them correct misconceptions and extend their understanding.
• In the majority of classrooms, pupils display good behaviour and attitudes to learning. Relationships between staff and pupils are positive in lessons. Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Personal development and welfare of the pupils are at the heart of this school. Leaders have a good understanding of the challenges faced by pupils and work hard to ensure that pupils know how to keep safe. The trust employs a range of staff to support the physical and mental welfare of pupils, including a school nurse and a mental health professional. As a result, pupils say they feel safe and well cared for.
• The culture of the school is developed effectively through religious education lessons and the collective worship in assemblies and tutor time.
• Pupils say bullying is rare and dealt with effectively by staff when it does happen. Regular work in tutor time ensures that pupils understand online safety and the impact of cyber bullying.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning are largely positive. Most show pride in their work and participate well in their lessons.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils respond well to the high expectations of their behaviour. Behaviour in lessons and around the school is polite and respectful. Social areas are calm and orderly. Year 11 pupils were particularly positive about the respectful relationships in school, both between pupils and between staff and pupils.
• In 2016/17, pupils’ attendance was broadly in line with national average. There were improvements in the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities. Following a dip in attendance in the autumn term, the leadership and management of attendance have been reorganised. No stone is left unturned in the pursuit of good attendance. As a result, attendance is improving.
• Punctuality to school and to lessons have improved as a consequence of leaders’ actions.
• The SALT has a pupil referral unit, ‘Aspire’. This unit, as well as the school’s on-site alternative provision, the ‘Elvin Centre’, contribute to the very low exclusion rates in the school. The school’s tracking shows the positive impact of the alternative provision on pupils’ behaviour.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• In 2017, the achievements of pupils in English, mathematics, science and humanities were much lower than the national averages at key stage 4. Achievement in modern foreign languages was in line with the national average.
• Achievements in science and humanities have been very weak at key stage 4 for the last three years. Progress made by the most able in these subjects was particularly low in 2017. While there is a focus on planning learning activities to meet the needs of all groups of pupils, the most able are not consistently achieving as highly as they could across the school.
• In 2017, the achievement of boys was below that of girls at key stage 4. Although pupils’ work and the school’s progress information show that the progress of current pupils is improving in key stage 3 and key stage 4, gaps between boys’ and girls’ progress persist in the school in some subjects and in some year groups. A coordinator for boys’ achievement has recently been appointed but it is too early to judge the effectiveness of this work. However, the school’s progress information shows that a greater proportion of Year 11 boys are on track to attain a standard pass in English and mathematics this year than was the case in 2017.
• There has been an improvement in the attainment of disadvantaged pupils at key stage 4 over the last three years. However, the school’s progress information shows that gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers vary between subjects and year groups. These gaps are not closing consistently. The school has had two reviews of pupil premium spending. The most recent of these confirmed that the school was taking appropriate action to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils. It is too soon to see the impact of some of the new interventions to support disadvantaged pupils.
• The outcomes of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities have been weak in the past. Information from pupils’ books suggests their progress is improving in line with other pupils. However, the analysis of progress for this group is insufficiently sharp.
• The school’s progress information shows that a greater proportion of pupils in the current Year 11 are on track to achieve a standard pass in English, mathematics and humanities than in 2017. Similarly, a greater proportion of pupils are on track to achieve two standard passes in science. However, a greater proportion of pupils studying triple science are on track to achieve a standard pass in physics than in biology and chemistry. This is the result of inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and learning in science.
• Pupils in Year 11 speak highly of the information they have received about post-16 opportunities. They understand the range of opportunities available to them. Higher expectations of what pupils can achieve and improvements in the progress of current pupils means they are better prepared for the next stage in their education than their peers were previously.

16 to 19 study programmes Good

• Ambitious leaders in the sixth form have high expectations with a sharp focus on students’ outcomes. As a result, outcomes have improved over the last two years and are now at least in line with the national averages. The school’s progress information shows that outcomes of current students show further improvement.
• Students who need to develop their English and mathematical skills are well supported. In 2017, outcomes were above national averages for students taking examinations to improve their GCSE grades in English and mathematics.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in the sixth form is good. Teachers have strong subject knowledge and a good understanding of the examination criteria. As a result, students have a clear understanding of their progress and how to improve. The school’s assessment policy is used consistently.
• Students value the opportunities for enrichment, including work experience linked to their courses. They are well prepared for employment and life at work. Students appreciate the programme for personal development and the opportunities to develop their leadership skills, as well as extra-curricular activities such as drama and sport.
• The tutorial system helps students to keep on track, as well as providing effective care and emotional support. Students feel safe and valued.
• Attendance is rigorously monitored. Rewards encourage good attendance. As a result, attendance has improved.
• The requirements of the 16 to 19 study programme are met. Although the curriculum is limited by the small numbers in the sixth form, students study courses which cater for their needs and aspirations. As a result, retention rates have increased. An increasing proportion of students apply successfully for university places.
• The small numbers of students in some subjects prevent meaningful comparison between vocational and academic courses. However, the quality of both vocational and academic courses are rigorously monitored by leaders. Leaders took swift action to address weak outcomes in the health and social care course in 2017. The impact can be seen in the improvements in the quality of teaching and students’ current progress. The improvements have been recognised by an external moderator from the examination board.

School details

Unique reference number 135598 Local authority City of Kingston upon Hull Inspection number 10044950 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Secondary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Academy sponsor-led 11 to 18 Mixed Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1,462 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 123 Appropriate authority Chair Principal Board of trustees Mr Peter Duffield Mr Andrew Chubb (executive principal) Telephone number 01482 781912 Website Email address

www.sentamu.com/ chubba@sentamuacademy.org

Date of previous inspection 4–5 May 2016

Information about this school

• The school is part of the Sentamu Academy Learning Trust (SALT).
• The SALT trust board has overarching responsibility for the governance of the school. However, power is delegated to the local governing committee.
• The school has its own alternative provision, the Elvin Centre. Some pupils attend Aspire, a pupil referral unit run by SALT.
• Based on the school’s published results in 2016, the school met the floor standards, the government’s minimum expectations for pupils’ achievement and attainment by the end of Year 11.
• The school has received support from the Pathfinder Teaching School Alliance.
• The school is larger than the average-sized secondary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above average.
• Just less than a third of pupils receive support for special educational needs, which is well above the national average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is slightly below the national average.
• Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is very low.

Information about this inspection

• This inspection was initially conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. This was the second monitoring inspection since May 2016 when the school was judged to require special measures. This monitoring visit was subsequently deemed to be a section 5 inspection under the same Act as a result of improvements seen in the school on the first day of the inspection.
• Two inspectors undertook the first day of the inspection. They were joined by five further inspectors on day 2.
• Inspectors undertook lesson observations in a range of subjects and across the school, including in the sixth form. Many of the lesson observations were conducted jointly with school leaders. Pupils’ work was evaluated both during lesson observations and during separate work scrutiny.
• Inspectors held meetings with the executive principal, other senior leaders and staff. They also held meetings with the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and the chair of SALT. The vice-chair of the governing body is the regional director for the Diocese of York.
• Pupils and sixth-form students were spoken to formally in meetings and informally at breaktimes and lunchtimes.
• There were too few responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, for them to be taken into account.
• Documentation provided by the school was evaluated, including: the development plan; a review of the impact of actions taken to improve the school; safeguarding documents; progress information and information about behaviour and attendance. Minutes of the LGC were reviewed.

Inspection team

Helen Lane, lead inspector Lynn Kenworthy Lynne Selkirk Graham Crerar Stephen Crossley Carl Sugden Mike Tull

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