The Cheadle Academy Station Road, Cheadle, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire ST10 1LH
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School report The Cheadle Academy Station Road, Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST10 1LH Inspection dates 21–22 March 2017 Overall effectiveness Inadequate Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate Outcomes for pupils Inadequate 16 to 19 study programmes Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement Summary of key findings for parents and pupils This is an inadequate school Leaders have been too slow to address low Teaching over time has been ineffective. When standards of teaching, progress, behaviour and planning lessons, teachers do not make good attendance. use of information about pupils. Consequently, many pupils underachieve. Pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, underachieve considerably across a range of Teachers’ assessments of pupils’ achievements subjects, including mathematics and science. are inaccurate, especially at key stage 4. This has led to interventions being implemented too Governors and leaders have, until recently, late to have an impact on pupils’ learning. held an overgenerous view of the school’s and teachers’ performance. This has resulted in Leaders’ work to develop pupils’ literacy and them not being focused enough to bring about numeracy across subjects is not effective. It rapid improvements. fails to improve pupils’ basic skills. Leaders do not rigorously monitor the effect of Pupils’ poor behaviour disrupts too many the steps they take to improve the school. As a lessons. Teachers do not consistently apply the result, several strategies have been school’s behaviour policy. implemented which fail to have an impact on Pupils say that many of their lessons and social pupils’ outcomes. times are disrupted by poor behaviour. They Leaders have not correctly evaluated the have come to accept low standards of quality of teaching in the school. They do not behaviour. Leaders have not successfully tackle underperformance effectively enough. established a culture of safeguarding. Attendance, especially for disadvantaged pupils, is low and not improving. The school has the following strengths The school’s sixth form is good and is well led. The effective leadership of the school’s Students are keen to do well and they receive ‘Inclusion Hub’ is beginning to have a positive personalised support that ensures that they impact on pupils’ outcomes. make good progress. Full report In accordance with sections 44(1) and 13(3) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. What does the school need to do to improve further? Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management so that there is rapid improvement in the achievement of pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, by ensuring that: – leaders systematically evaluate which improvement strategies are effective and which are not, so that the school can move forward quickly – governors have the skills and understanding to analyse school performance information independently and so effectively hold leaders to account – leaders monitor the quality of teaching rigorously, so that well-focused support can be put in place to tackle any identified underperformance – the curriculum meets the needs of pupils and promotes their progress – teachers across the school actively promote and develop pupils’ understanding and acceptance of fundamental British values – teachers’ assessments of pupils’ progress are reliable and accurate – literacy and numeracy catch-up funding has a positive impact on those pupils in Year 7 who need to improve their basic skills. Improve the quality of teaching, so that all pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, make rapid progress from their starting points by ensuring that teachers: – use assessment and other information to plan activities that are well matched to pupils’ needs – have consistently high expectations of pupils’ progress and what they can achieve – plan activities and use resources that engage pupils and move their learning forward. Improve pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning in lessons and around school by ensuring that: – leaders establish a culture of safeguarding that permeates all the school’s work – all staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and consistently apply the school’s behaviour policy – teachers manage pupils’ challenging behaviour by consistently applying the school’s behaviour policy. Urgently improve attendance, especially of disadvantaged pupils, by fostering strong Inspection report: The Cheadle Academy, 21–22 March 2017 Page 2 of 14 relationships with parents, to involve them in the process of getting their children to attend school regularly. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. Inspection report: The Cheadle Academy, 21–22 March 2017 Page 3 of 14 Inspection judgements Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate Until very recently, leaders and governors held an inaccurate and overgenerous view of the school’s performance. This has not allowed them to tackle the areas for improvement from the previous inspection quickly enough. For example, leaders have not effectively tackled low outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in science and mathematics. Consequently, these pupils are still underperforming in these and other subjects. The current leadership team of the school does not yet have the capacity to bring about sustained and rapid improvements. This is because several senior leaders have recently left the school and others are new in post. The appointment of new leaders from the middle management level of the school is beginning to have a positive effect on school improvement but it is too early to see an impact on pupils’ outcomes. Leaders are not able to monitor pupils’ progress in key stage 4 efficiently. They have not yet created an effective mechanism which allows them to identify underperformance quickly and reliably in order to put intervention in place where it is needed most urgently. Consequently, inspectors saw many classes where predicted outcomes were far too low and large numbers of pupils were underachieving. In key stage 3, the tracking of pupils’ progress is far more focused and effective. Senior leaders have introduced a large number of improvement strategies, but have not evaluated these initiatives against pupils’ progress rigorously enough. This has led to the implementation of many different policies that are confusing to staff and that do not improve outcomes for pupils. Leaders have an overgenerous view of the quality of teaching. This is because they have not monitored teaching effectively. Leaders have not done enough to identify any underperformance quickly and put well-targeted support in place where and when it is needed. Recent teacher training is beginning to improve the quality of teaching. Teachers have begun to share strategies and best practice more frequently. Leaders now match school priorities more closely to teachers’ performance targets in order to raise standards. It is too soon to see the effects these strategies will have on pupils’ progress. Leaders have recognised that pupil premium funding was not being used effectively. An external review of the use of the pupil premium was recently undertaken. Leaders have successfully implemented some of the recommendations in the review, including the opening of the new ‘Inclusion Hub’. Funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and for those who are disadvantaged is now beginning to have an impact on outcomes. This is because the recently opened ‘Inclusion Hub’, for example, gives underachieving pupils much-needed and expertly delivered intervention in science and mathematics. Year 7 catch-up funding is not yet having an impact on pupils’ literacy or numeracy skills. For example, many pupils do not understand what they have read. The school does not actively create a reading culture. The school’s library is mainly unused. It Inspection report: The Cheadle Academy, 21–22 March 2017 Page 4 of 14 does not hold literature that pupils find appealing and includes out-of-date information sections, such as the ‘career wall’ with prospectuses from 2011. The school’s curriculum does not take full account of the many varying needs of pupils. Therefore, several pupils in Year 11 drop subjects from their timetable because they have taken on too much. This practice does not support the learning of the pupils concerned. The range of extra-curricular opportunities does not actively promote pupils’ personal development and progress. Pupils are not able to broaden and deepen their learning during extra-curricular activities. Less than half of the pupils who completed the pupil survey said that they regularly attend any activities on offer. However, pupils spoke very positively about the many varied sporting activities on offer after school. The promotion of fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, liberty and respect for others, is not yet fully embedded in the school’s curriculum. However, inspectors observed British values being successfully taught in some tutor-