Hanson Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils feel happy and safe at Hanson School. However, they talk about crowded corridors and some pushing. They like the fact that there are staff in the corridors to help maintain order.

Most pupils behave well and have positive attitudes in lessons. However, a sizeable minority of pupils do not regularly follow the school rules. Of the pupils who inspectors talked to, most told us that bullying is not common.

Leaders are working hard to improve attendance, but a significant number of pupils still do not come to school often enough.Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not achieve as well a...s they should. They are falling behind other pupils in the country who have similar starting points.

Staff support and encourage pupils with SEND. However, not all teachers make use of the information they are given about the learning needs of these pupils. The Additionally Resourced Centre (ARC), which supports visual and hearing-impaired pupils, is a strength of the school.

Many pupils enjoy the wide range of sports available to them. An increasing number are taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award programme.

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

Since 2011, when the school first received an academy order, there has been involvement from three multi-academy trusts.

Since September 2019, the local authority has begun to take steps to improve the school. It is too soon to see the impact of this, particularly on pupils' behaviour and attendance. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should.

Pupils' achievement in English and humanities has been consistently low. Pupils' achievement in mathematics is in line with the national average.

Leaders are aware that pupils are not remembering important knowledge.

As a result, curriculum leaders are starting to plan the curriculum to make sure that pupils know and remember more. Leaders are changing the way learning is planned so that pupils use the knowledge they have already acquired to help them understand their work. However, this is more effective in some subjects than in others.

In mathematics and computer science, learning plans follow on from each other in a sensible way. This is not the case in all subjects. For example, in science, some topics are not structured in a way to help pupils build and remember knowledge.

Similarly, the limited curriculum time allocated to history and geography has led to some issues. Consequently, teachers only have time to cover some topics from the national curriculum in these two subjects in a superficial way.

Leaders are aware that attendance is low and too many pupils are frequently absent from school.

Despite their efforts, leaders have not been able to make any real improvement in overall attendance since the previous inspection. The situation in relation to exclusions from school is similar. When compared with similar schools across the country, the number of exclusions is high.

Too many pupils are excluded on more than one occasion. Leaders are aware that they have not won the hearts and minds of a sizeable minority of pupils. Leaders have recently launched the 'Outreach Programme', with the support of the local authority, to try to engage these pupils.

It is too early to see whether this project is having the desired impact.

Leaders are aware that the curriculum should make a strong contribution to pupils' personal development. The personal, social, health and economic education programme is well planned.

Pupils can remember important information from topics covered in these lessons. These include e-safety, bullying, drugs, self-esteem and knife crime. However, the time pupils spend with form tutors is less well used.

Careers education is an emerging strength. The majority of pupils go on to further education, employment or training when they leave school.

There has not been the stability and consistency of governance to support the school in moving forward.

This means that the school has not improved. Since his involvement with the school, the present headteacher has worked with four different governing bodies and five chairs of governors. The recently appointed chair of governors is very experienced in the role in other schools.

Governors are now clearer about the strengths and weaknesses of the school.

Overall, students do not make the progress that they should in the sixth form on A- level and applied courses. However, the learners who need to improve GCSE grades in English and mathematics, do make strong progress.

Teachers in subjects such as psychology and sociology are effective in planning the delivery of their subjects. This is not consistent across subjects. Leaders are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the sixth form.

They have made changes, but it is too early to see the real impact of these changes. Teachers and the sixth-form team provide effective support for learners, who particularly value the one-to-one subject sessions.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Lead safeguarding staff know what they are doing. The school's systems are set up to spot when pupils might be at risk. Staff are trained in safeguarding and know what to look out for.

When extra help is needed, safeguarding leaders get in touch with the right people in other organisations. For example, the school has strong links with the local authority's children's services and the police. Leaders make sure that pupils are well informed about risks to their safety.

The curriculum helps pupils to recognise when they might be vulnerable. The register that records checks on all adults in school is thorough and compliant with legal requirements. Pre-employment checks make sure that adults the school employs are suitable to work with children.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

There is insufficient time allocated in key stage 3 to allow pupils to cover the national curriculum subjects in depth. As a result, pupils are covering some aspects of the national curriculum in a superficial way. Leaders should identify exactly where subject content has been narrowed and take action to ensure that pupils study subject content in depth.

. Subject leaders are at different stages of curriculum planning and implementation. Consequently, there is variability in the extent to which the curriculum is coherently planned and ordered across subjects.

Leaders should enable subject leaders and teachers to construct a curriculum which is coherently planned and sequenced, so that pupils acquire sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning and employment across all curriculum areas. . Leaders have not used pupil premium funding effectively to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

Consequently, disadvantaged pupils have not achieved as well as their peers. Their attendance is not strong and they are more likely to be excluded. Leaders must ensure that the forthcoming pupil premium review happens and that they act promptly on the recommendations.

. A significant number of pupils do not attend school as they should. As a result, they are missing a sizeable proportion of their education and falling behind.

Leaders and governors should ensure that the focus on improving attendance is evaluated effectively and remains a priority. They should improve the attendance of all pupils and ensure that strategies are in place to improve the attendance of pupils who are regularly absent from school. .

Some pupils are excluded too often because of their behaviour. As a result, they are missing a significant part of their education and falling behind. Leaders should evaluate the effectiveness of the school's behaviour management approaches and take any necessary steps to reduce the number of pupils who are repeatedly internally or externally excluded.

. Teachers do not use the information provided about pupils with SEND to successfully meet the needs of these pupils. As a result, pupils with SEND have not made the progress they could have made or have incurred behaviour sanctions, which could have been avoided.

Leaders must check regularly that all teachers meet the needs of pupils with SEND. . Form tutors do not always make maximum use of the two hours per week allocated to form time.

This means that vital curriculum time is wasted. Leaders must ensure that this key part of the personal development curriculum is planned and implemented effectively and monitored rigorously. .

Leaders have not checked well enough which pupils are participating in which aspects of the school's extra-curricular offer. As a result, they do not have a clear picture of whether all groups of pupils are benefiting from activities that broaden the curriculum. Leaders need to check this regularly to ensure that all groups, including the disadvantaged and pupils with SEND, are benefiting from the offer.