Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The school is being rapidly transformed through the highly effective actions of leaders and the trust. The capacity of the trust to sustain improvements is obvious to see.

Leaders communicate a clear vision and moral purpose. Members of staff across the school are fully on board. Pupils are increasingly aspiring to reach the high standards expected of them.

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is improving quickly. The trust has successfully recruited many new teachers and is supporting them well. Teachers are held firmly to account.

Morale in the school has improved significantly since the sponsor took over the schoo...l in November 2016. Leaders are aware where teaching is not as effective as they expect. They are working quickly to address any remaining variation in the standard of teaching.

The curriculum is well designed to meet pupils' needs, interests and aspirations. There is good provision in place to address the many gaps in pupils' knowledge when they start at the school. Considerable effort is going into helping pupils secure good literacy and numeracy skills.

Most pupils make rapid gains, although a few need more support to improve their reading as soon as they join the school. Pupils' personal development is promoted well through a lively and wide-ranging curriculum. Opportunities for pupils to participate in extra-curricular activities have increased dramatically.

Together, these opportunities are preparing pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils feel safe. Leaders take appropriate actions to protect pupils at risk.

However, the quality of record keeping needs developing. Careers guidance is of good quality and helps almost all pupils secure a suitable place in further education, employment or training. Leaders have taken an uncompromising approach to the poor behaviour and entrenched apathy of some pupils.

They acknowledge that exclusions and other sanctions have been used extensively to improve the climate for learning. The use of such sanctions has reduced considerably this year, reflecting the positive learning environment that now exists in school. Nevertheless, too many pupils continue to miss valuable classroom time because they do not conform to the school's expectations for behaviour.

Although improving, overall attendance remains stubbornly below the national average. A minority of pupils remain uninterested in education and miss school regularly. The trust recognises this and is ploughing considerable financial resources into improving attendance.

Information about this school

Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth is much smaller than the average-sized secondary school. Most pupils are White British. A small proportion of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and few pupils speak English as an additional language.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium is well above the national average. The proportion of pupils with SEND is well above the national average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is above average.

Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth opened on 1 November 2016. It is sponsored by the Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT). The trust's mission statement is, 'Students first: raising standards, transforming lives'.

Responsibility for the school lies with the board of trustees. The board of trustees appoints an academy council to oversee some delegated responsibilities of governance at the academy. The school currently uses two alternative providers to educate three pupils on a part-time basis.

The alternative education providers used are The Skills Academy and Education Plus. The school has an additionally resourced provision for up to 30 pupils with medical and sensory needs. Currently, there are 24 pupils attending this provision.

These pupils are fully integrated into mainstream lessons. The executive principal of Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth is a national leader of education who provides support and expertise to academies within the trust. In addition, the chair of the academy council, who is also a trustee for OGAT, is a national leader of governance and provides support and expertise to academies within the trust.