Dean Trust Rose Bridge

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Dean Trust Rose Bridge Academy strive to live up to the school's motto of 'believe, achieve, succeed'.

Pupils are proud of their school. They are respectful towards each other and members of staff. Pupils eagerly welcome visitors to their school.

Pupils comment that they feel happy and safe when they are in school. Without hesitation, pupils told inspectors that they have a trusted adult to speak to if they have any worries or concerns. Teachers and pastoral staff know pupils and their families well.

Pupils value the support for their well-being that they receive from staff. Leaders deal with any incidents of bullying swiftly and appropriately.
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Leaders have high expectations of pupils' behaviour.

They ensure that rules and routines are adhered to consistently well by pupils and staff. As a result, there is a calm and orderly atmosphere in school.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), benefit from studying a wide range of subjects.

Leaders and teachers expect pupils to achieve highly. However, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should over time.

Pupils embrace taking on leadership responsibilities and developing their talents and interests.

They appreciate the ample opportunities they have to take an active role in decision-making in school. Pupils readily engage in a wide range of extra-curricular activities, such as trampolining, drama and library club.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and governors have an ambitious vision for the quality of education that they want pupils to receive.

To this end, they have taken judicious steps to improve the curriculum. For example, the proportion of pupils choosing to study the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects is increasing. Despite this, pupils' achievement in many subjects remains low.

In some subjects, leaders have thought carefully about the essential knowledge that they want pupils to learn. They have organised the curriculum well so that pupils can deepen their learning over time. As a result, in these subjects, pupils are learning increasingly well.

In other subjects, leaders' curriculum thinking is at an earlier stage. These subject leaders have thought about the broad topics they want pupils to learn. However, they have not sufficiently considered the key knowledge within these topics that they want pupils to retain.

In these subjects, pupils do not develop a rich body of subject knowledge. They are not as well prepared for the next stage of their education as they should be.Teachers have strong subject knowledge.

Where the curriculum is well designed, teachers use their expertise to select appropriate learning activities. However, this is not the case in all subjects. This is because some teachers are not as clear as they should be about what content to teach and when this should be taught.

Some teachers do not use assessment strategies as effectively as they should to check how well pupils have followed the curriculum. At times, some teachers introduce new concepts before pupils are ready. Added to this, some teachers do not address pupils' misconceptions or gaps in their knowledge quickly enough.

This hinders how well some pupils learn.

Leaders are committed to ensuring that all pupils read well. They have implemented a reading strategy that fosters reading for pleasure.

Across the school, pupils spoke enthusiastically about the books they are currently reading.

In key stage 3, leaders' systems for identifying and supporting pupils who find reading more difficult are beginning to show some impact. However, some older pupils do not read confidently and fluently.

This hampers their ability to fully access the wider curriculum. These pupils have not benefitted from the support in place for younger pupils.

Leaders identify pupils' additional needs quickly and accurately.

Leaders have ensured that staff are suitably trained to adapt their delivery of the curriculum well. Pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers. However, weaknesses in the curriculum mean that some of these pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

The positive culture that leaders have established means that pupils can learn without disruption. Leaders are also working tenaciously to ensure that pupils attend school regularly. While their efforts are improving the rates of attendance for some pupils, other pupils do not attend as regularly as they should.

These pupils miss out on important learning.

The programme for pupils' wider development is strong. This prepares pupils especially well for life in modern Britain.

For example, pupils spoke confidently about what constitutes a healthy relationship and about sexual consent. Pupils also engage in meaningful debate about topical issues. They are keen to promote equality and diversity, and they demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the protected characteristics.

Leaders, including governors and trustees, are passionate about improving opportunities for all pupils, irrespective of their background or ability. Governors and trustees are aspirational for the success of all pupils. This drives their relentless focus on challenging leaders to continue to improve the school.

Staff feel well supported. They value leaders' consideration of their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders provide effective and up-to-date safeguarding training for staff and governors. Leaders are knowledgeable about local and national safeguarding matters.

Staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities.

They know how to spot the signs that may suggest that a pupil may be at risk of harm. The safeguarding team works effectively with external agencies to ensure that pupils and their families get timely support when needed.

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe.

For example, they learn about the dangers associated with knife crime. They learn how to be safe online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, leaders' developments to the curriculum are at an earlier stage.

This means that teachers are unclear about what pupils should learn. As a result, pupils' learning is uneven. As leaders finalise their curriculum thinking, they should ensure that they clearly identify the essential knowledge that pupils should learn and when this should be taught.

• In subjects where curriculum developments are at an earlier stage, some teachers do not use assessment strategies well enough to identify and address pupils' misconceptions. Some pupils achieve less well in these subjects. As leaders finalise their curriculums, they should ensure that teachers are fully equipped to check that pupils' knowledge is secure before moving on to new learning.

• Some older pupils do not read as well as they should. This hinders how well they access the wider curriculum. Leaders should ensure that staff support pupils in key stage 4 to catch up quickly with their reading knowledge.

• Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough. This contributes considerably to the underachievement of some pupils. Leaders should ensure that they continue to support these pupils to increase their rates of attendance.