Kingswood Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that:
  • the most able pupils receive challenging work which enables them to achieve well
  • pupils achieve as well in English as they do in other subjects
  • pupils are given sufficient time to reflect on their learning so that they deepen their understanding.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that governors:
  • review how leaders spend additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils so that they meet their legal responsibilities and better understand the impact of leaders’ actions.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders articulate a clear vision. They are ambitious and have secured improving standards of achievement in a short period of time. The principal and head of school work well together. Collectively, they have led from the front and established a culture of high expectations that is shared by staff and pupils.
• An improving subject leadership team ably supports senior leaders in their efforts to develop the quality of teaching. Some subject leaders are new to the school. Despite this, they recognise the strengths and aspects that need to be developed in their areas and can demonstrate the effectiveness of their recent work. One subject leader spoke for others, stating, ‘We feel empowered to do our jobs.’
• Leadership of the provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is a strength. The small group of teaching assistants are deployed strategically and support pupils effectively. Leaders regularly evaluate their own effectiveness and that of their team. This leads to appropriate staff training or the appointment of staff with additional skills and/or qualifications. Consequently, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make very good progress.
• Leaders have introduced new, and refined more established, systems to evaluate the impact of their work. Leaders are not afraid to take decisive action when they identify areas that need to be improved. For example, a new review process enables leaders to identify subjects, such as English, in which pupil progress is not as strong as in other subjects. Leaders introduced an additional lesson at the end of the school day for Year 11 pupils. Inspection evidence demonstrates that pupils’ compulsory attendance at the extra classes is leading to improving rates of progress in English.
• Leaders’ efforts to change parents’ and carers’ perception of the school have been successful. Most parents who responded to Ofsted’s questionnaire were complimentary about the leadership of the school. They consider that their children make good progress and are taught well.
• Despite some considerable change since the previous inspection, staff morale is high. Most staff appreciate the support they receive from leaders and are proud to be a member of staff at the school.
• Leaders have developed a wide range of training opportunities to improve the quality of teaching. Teachers meet weekly to share good practice. Leaders have assigned teachers to teaching teams consisting of staff at different stages in their careers. The teachers record each other delivering a lesson and meet as a group to provide feedback on the strengths and areas to develop. Teachers told inspectors that ‘teacher-to-teacher feedback’ and an ‘open-door’ policy encouraged them to learn from each other.
• Leaders continue to review the curriculum and said that it should ‘open doors’ for all pupils. The curriculum meets the needs of most pupils who have low or average attainment when they join the school. These groups of pupils make progress at a faster rate than others nationally. The subjects offered to the most able pupils do not always contain the academic content they require to challenge them sufficiently or excel. This group makes progress that is below that of others nationally.

Governance of the school

• Governors are ambitious in their expectations of leaders. They make regular visits to the school and have an accurate understanding of its strengths and of what needs to improve. Governors hold a number of other positions in the multi-academy trust and beyond. Their backgrounds in education and leadership allow them to ask pertinent questions of leaders and teachers.
• Inspection evidence demonstrates that there are robust systems in place to monitor the work of leaders. Following visits to the school, and at meetings, governors assign appropriate actions to staff. However, minutes from governor meetings highlighted to inspectors that actions are not always reviewed in a timely manner. This slows the pace of improvement.
• Governors have a thorough understanding of their legal responsibilities. Nonetheless, they do not routinely monitor the ways in which leaders spend additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils or those who need to catch up.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding across the school and induction procedures are thorough. All new staff are required to read safeguarding policies before they begin working at the school. Leaders make checks to ensure that staff know how to keep pupils safe. Staff take their duty of care to the pupils seriously. They are aware of the signs that pupils may be at risk of harm and know whom to speak to if they have any concerns.
• Pupils feel safe and appreciate the genuine care and support offered by teachers and other staff. Pupils understand the dangers associated with social media and they can describe how to stay safe online.
• Appropriate checks are carried out to ensure that staff are suitable to work with pupils. Leaders with responsibility for safeguarding are appropriately trained and liaise closely with support agencies that provide specialist help for pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection. Teachers are aware of the ‘non-negotiables’ determined by leaders and they deliver a consistent approach to teaching that is familiar to the pupils. All lessons include ‘active listening’, high expectations related to presentation of pupils’ work and positive attitudes to learning.
• In most lessons, teachers successfully ask questions that encourage pupils to think deeply about their learning. Teachers often require pupils to elaborate on or extend an earlier answer. When pupils are unable to do this, teachers reword the question or provide support so that pupils can develop their ideas well.
• The quality of teaching in mathematics and science is strong. In these subjects, teachers successfully use pupils’ prior assessment information to inform their planning. Pupils are provided with learning activities that interest them and challenge them at the right level. Mathematics teachers’ strong subject knowledge ensures that they plan tasks that encourage pupils to apply a new concept or calculation to an example in the real world.
• The quality of teaching in English is improving. The subject leader is directing the improvements, and teachers have received specialist guidance from expert practitioners from within the multi-academy trust. Teachers are now focusing with greater intensity on pupils’ fluency and grammar when speaking. Teachers model example answers and this is helping pupils to develop their own, better-quality responses.
• When teachers ask pupils to work together, they do so with varying degrees of success. Generally, pupils collaborate well, are patient and listen to each other’s ideas. This is because teachers provide clear guidance and success criteria. A minority of pupils do not have the confidence to contribute to class discussion or answer teacher questioning.
• Teachers who are in the early stages of their careers receive excellent support. They speak highly of the training they receive and are delighted to have so many role models. More-experienced teachers regularly share resources and model effective teaching strategies.
• Teachers know pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities well. Staff are provided with additional pupil information from the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and adapt their lessons accordingly to take account of pupils’ needs. This, combined with effective collaboration with support staff, ensures that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are well motivated and enjoy their learning.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge is strong. They often provide opportunities for pupils to debate or contribute to improving each other’s work. When they are given time, most pupils know how to improve their previous work.
• Historically, the most able pupils have made weaker progress than is typical nationally. The learning and progress of current pupils shows that this remains an issue in the school. Some of the most able pupils are not aware that they are capable of achieving more. This is because teachers do not routinely provide challenging tasks or opportunities for the most able to learn from their mistakes.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is strong. Pupils said that PSHE is not just an ‘add on’ but is a regular aspect of the curriculum. Pupils appreciate the thought that teachers put into their lessons and particularly enjoy the ‘character education’ lessons. For example, pupils are taught how to prepare a speech or how to manage pressure effectively.
• Well-developed assembly programmes provide pupils with opportunities to reflect on key themes linked to spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues. During the inspection, one inspector observed an assembly linked to the holocaust. The leader delivering the assembly skilfully connected her own memories from a previous visit to a concentration camp with a wider investigation into British values such as tolerance. Pupils listened attentively and made learning notes in their journals.
• A small number of pupils attend alternative provision. The school’s assessment information demonstrates that this group of pupils makes progress in line with expectations and attends well.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils show respect for each other, staff and the school environment. They are attentive in class, and movement in and around the school building is orderly. Pupils said that behaviour has improved since the previous inspection. Inspection evidence supports this view. Systems to reward and correct pupil behaviour are robust. Most teachers apply the behaviour ‘consequences’ system consistently. The number of pupils who receive behaviour consequences has reduced dramatically in the last two years.
• Low-level disruption is rare. When it does occur, it is because work does not challenge pupils well enough, or because pupils are not clear about teachers’ expectations.
• Pupils attend school far more regularly than they used to. Pupils’ attendance is now above that of others nationally. Disadvantaged pupils are more likely to be persistently absent from school than others. However, a detailed improvement strategy and leaders’ improving relationships with pupils and families have led to the persistent absence rates for disadvantaged pupils declining considerably in the last 12 months.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Over time, leaders have worked relentlessly to improve pupils’ progress. Pupils have benefited from their efforts. Pupils’ achievement in subjects in which it was previously weak, such as mathematics and science, has significantly improved since 2016.
• Pupils currently in the school make good or better progress in a wide range of subjects. From their different starting points, most pupils make progress that is higher than that of others nationally, particularly in mathematics.
• Although their progress is improving, most-able pupils do not make as much progress as their peers. The most able pupils make progress that is below that of others nationally in a range of subjects. Leaders are aware of this. They acknowledge that teaching is not yet consistently effective in challenging the most able pupils to achieve well. Leaders have adapted training programmes and brokered specialist support to rectify this issue. It is too early to evaluate the impact of this strategy on pupils’ outcomes.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make very good progress in most subjects. Although governors do not routinely monitor how additional funding is used, the strategies to support disadvantaged pupils are having a positive impact on their achievement. In 2017, disadvantaged pupils made more progress than others in school and nationally. The high-quality support for current pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is allowing them to make very good progress.
• Pupils’ achievement in English has, historically, not been as strong as in other subjects in the school and was below that of pupils nationally for Year 11 pupils in 2017. Although improved over time, outcomes in English have not accelerated at the same rate as those in other subjects. In particular, the most able pupils and those who are disadvantaged were not making sufficiently strong progress. Pupils’ workbooks and the school’s own assessment information indicate that the quality of teaching is improving in English, particularly across key stage 3. As a result, current pupils are making better progress. However, there is more to do to ensure that progress in English is comparable with that in other subjects in the school.
• Over time, the proportion of pupils leaving school who go on to further education, employment or training has improved. Pupils told inspectors that they receive regular independent careers advice and education. Almost all pupils who left school in 2017 secured a place in education, employment or training.

School details

Unique reference number 139118 Local authority Kingston upon Hull, City of Inspection number 10044519 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary comprehensive School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 11 to 16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 770 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julie Price-Grimshaw Principal Dale Jackson Telephone number 01482 879967 Website www.kingswoodacademy.org Email address contactus@thekingswoodacademy.org Date of previous inspection 22─ 23 March 2016

Information about this school

• The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and receive support from the pupil premium is much higher than the national average.
• Most pupils are White British. The vast majority of pupils speak English as their first language.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is higher than the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards based on key stage 4 academic performance results.
• A small number of pupils attend alternative provision at Aspire Academy, Rise Academy and the Sullivan Centre.
• The school is a member of Academies Enterprise Trust (AET). Responsibility for the school rests with the governing body. The structure of the trust’s governance and management can be found on the school’s website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited a wide range of lessons across the school. Some of the observations in lessons were carried out with senior leaders from the school.
• Discussions were held with senior and subject leaders, teachers, governors and multi-academy trust representatives.
• Inspectors held discussions with pupils, observed an assembly and noted pupils’ interactions during social times.
• Inspectors spoke by telephone with governors, the national director of secondary schools from the AET and representatives from the three alternative providers.
• Inspectors listened to groups of Year 7 and Year 8 pupils read.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of evidence, including the school’s own self-evaluation, analysis of performance information, action plans and evaluations, attendance and behaviour records, safeguarding files and recruitment checks. Inspectors also reviewed a sample of pupils’ work.
• Inspectors took into account the 310 responses from parents who completed Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. Forty-five members of staff completed Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire. Twenty-five pupils responded to Ofsted’s online pupil questionnaire.

Inspection team

Lee Elliott, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Lynn Kenworthy Ofsted Inspector Gordon Watts Ofsted Inspector Janet Gabanski Ofsted Inspector