School report Perry Beeches III the Free School Bath Row, Ladywood, Birmingham, B15 2EF Inspection dates 12–13 May 2015 Previous inspection: Not previously inspected Overall effectiveness This inspection: Inadequate 4 Leadership and management Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Summary of key findings for parents and pupils This is a school that requires special measures. Achievement at Key Stage 3 is inadequate School leaders do not know how well disadvantaged because too many students are underachieving, students achieve compared with others in the including the most-able. school. School leaders do not use information well Students’ attainment is low across Key Stage 3 in so do not know if the pupil premium funding is art, drama, design technology and French. making any difference to these students. Students are therefore not well enough prepared Inaccurate and inflated teacher assessments give to start GCSE courses in these subjects in Year 9. an overly positive view of the achievements of Too few students make the progress they should students, suggesting a better picture of the impact in mathematics, science and many other subjects, of teaching on learning than is really the case. with only a small number of students who make Senior leaders have an unrealistic and inaccurate good progress across all of their subjects. view of the school. Weaknesses are not identified Teaching is inadequate. Too much is dull and fails quickly enough so actions taken to improve the to engage students who become bored and start school are too slow. to fidget because they do not have enough to do Targets set for teachers, to help them to improve or work that makes them think harder. their practice, are not challenging enough. Targets The most-able students make slow progress in are not used well enough by leaders to reward the English and mathematics. They are not given best teachers and to provide support for those who work which recognises what they can already do need it the most. and appropriately challenges them. Governors are not given the information they need Too many students cannot read well enough to to help them hold school leaders to account. They make sure they are able to understand written therefore believe the school is better than it is. work and instructions in lessons. Behaviour and safety requires improvement. The school has the following strengths Students are very proud of their school. They Students and families are very well cared for enjoy coming to school which is seen in their good through links with health and social care agencies. attendance. Students are provided with a wide range of social, The small number of students who have recently moral, spiritual and cultural activities which started in the sixth form benefit from work contribute to their good development. experience, enrichment activities and opportunities to take on leadership roles with younger students. Inspection report: Perry Beeches III the Free School, 12–13 May 2015 2 of 11 Information about this inspection Inspectors observed students’ learning in 18 lessons including four that were observed jointly with senior leaders. Short visits were also carried out to lifelong learning lessons and a paired reading group. An inspector also observed an assembly. Two Year 8 students showed an inspector around the school. Inspectors met formally with two groups of students and also spoke with students during social times, at break and lunchtimes, as well as in lessons. Meetings were held with the headteacher and other senior leaders, subject leaders, the Chair of the local Governing Body and two other governors. Inspectors also met with the chief executive officer and the executive headteacher of Perry Beeches The Academy Trust. The inspection team considered the views of 41 parents and carers who responded to Parent View, the online questionnaire, and an email written by a parent to the school during the inspection. The views of 47 staff who completed Ofsted’s questionnaire were analysed together with an email written to Ofsted by a member of staff. Inspectors analysed a variety of information about students’ progress, their attendance and behaviour and other aspects of their personal development. The inspection team also examined records related to keeping students safe, the school’s self-evaluation documentation and the school improvement plan. Inspection team Denah Jones, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Bernice Astling Additional Inspector Terence Payne Additional Inspector Inspection report: Perry Beeches III the Free School, 12–13 May 2015 3 of 11 Full report In accordance with 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. Information about this school Perry Beeches III opened as a free school in September 2013. The school forms part of the Perry Beeches multi-academy trust of schools. The school is much smaller than the average-sized secondary school and currently has students in Years 7 and 8. There is a very small sixth form for students who started in the school in September 2014. In time the school will grow to accommodate the full secondary age range. The school counts Years 7 and 8 as Key Stage 3. Students will be starting their GCSE courses in Year 9. The proportion of disadvantaged students is much higher than seen nationally, with almost two-thirds of students known to be eligible for support through pupil premium funding, which provides additional government funding for students in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals. The proportion of students from minority ethnic backgrounds is much higher than the national figure. A similarly high proportion of students have a first language which is not English. Students come from a wide range of different heritages; about a fifth of students are Black Caribbean and a slightly smaller proportion are of Pakistani heritage. The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs is much higher than seen nationally at about two fifths of students. Perry Beeches III has a headteacher who reports to the governing body. The executive headteachers work across all the schools in the Trust. Twenty three teachers are employed to work in the school, about half of whom are inexperienced or recently qualified. Two are unqualified teachers. External support to improve teaching and leadership is currently provided through the other schools in the Trust. The school occupies a six-storey building which was originally built as offices but was never used for this purpose. Outside space for use in social time or for games and sports in physical education (PE), is very restricted. Students walk to a nearby sports facility for some of their PE lessons, accompanied by teachers. There are plans to develop nearby land to provide an outside area for PE. Plans to develop the building further to provide access via two existing fire escapes will reduce over-crowding on the one staircase. The school shares a sixth form with Perry Beeches II, another free school in the Trust. In 2013–14, a small number of students from Perry Beeches II were taught some of their lessons in information technology (IT), business studies and health and social care at Perry Beeches III. This arrangement has continued this year and has been extended to include English literature, geography mathematics and biology. There are no students who access alternative, or off-site, provision apart from sixth form provision and PE. What does the school need to do to improve further? Eradicate students’ underachievement and ensure their good progress in all subjects by making sure that all teachers know how, and take action, to: - assess students’ work accurately and use this information well to identify where there are gaps in learning - plan work which addresses weaknesses and builds on earlier learning, avoids too much repetition and is at the right level of difficulty for students - give clear instructions to students and check their understanding before they start work - tell other adults who are supporting the lesson what they should do and which students they should work with to make sure that all groups of students, but particularly the disadvantaged and disabled students and those with special educational needs, quickly catch up with their peers. Inspection report: Perry Beeches III the Free School, 12–13 May 2015 4 of 11 Take prompt and decisive action to improve students’ reading skills by: repeating checks on reading ages for all students to identify those who need more intensive support when they start in the school and those whose reading skills may slow as they move through the school introducing a programme which teaches the weakest students to read and ensures they read books that are at the right level for their stage in reading training sixth form students and other adults in the use of phonic strategies (the sounds letters represent) so that they know how to help students in paired reading sessions. Implement a whole school approach to numeracy so that students are given every opportunity to apply and to improve their skills across other subjects.