Outwood Academy Brumby

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Outwood Academy Brumby is a school that puts the best interests of pupils at the heart of everything it does. The school has an unswerving commitment to providing pupils with a high-quality education, irrespective of their background or ability. Staff strive to remove the many barriers to learning that pupils face.

This includes a strong focus on improving pupils' rates of attendance.

Pupils are happy at school. They learn to take responsibility for their own behaviour.

They understand the impact of their actions on others. Most pupils get along well. They are polite and friendly.

The school has high expectations of pupils' conduct. This ensures that... pupils can learn successfully. Typically, pupils show positive attitudes to learning.

Pupils know that the school wants them to have the best possible start in life. An abundance of extra-curricular activities, such as sports and other developmental opportunities, are carefully woven into the school day. This ensures that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those who are disadvantaged, can access them equally well.

The school places equal weight on pupils' academic achievement. An increasing number of pupils benefit from an effective curriculum that fosters their aspirations and enables them to succeed.

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

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum that supports pupils to build a deep body of subject knowledge from Year 7 to Year 11.

The curriculum in place is effective. Across the school, many pupils learn increasingly well.

The school's relentless drive to increase attendance is improving the achievement of many pupils, including those who are disadvantaged.

However, the impact of the school's work is not borne out in the 2023 published data. This data does not reflect the quality of education that current pupils enjoy.

The school has recognised that empowering pupils with literacy is a priority.

Teachers carefully model appropriate subject-specific vocabulary. This helps pupils to build confidence and discuss their learning fluently. Teachers use their subject expertise skilfully to deepen pupils' understanding.

Pupils routinely draw on prior knowledge to apply what they know to more sophisticated ideas and concepts.

The school prioritises reading. Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy reading aloud.

They said that this is building their confidence and helping to prepare them for the future. In key stage 3, the school's strategies enable staff to pinpoint the precise deficits in pupils' reading knowledge. Bespoke support, including phonics, is used effectively.

This is helping younger pupils to read with increasing accuracy. However, some older pupils, including some who are disadvantaged, have not benefited from the same support as their younger peers. These pupils do not access the wider curriculum as well as they should because they find reading difficult.

When pupils are in school, they learn well. Teachers use assessment information systematically to shape future learning. The school has implemented clear processes to enable teachers to support those pupils who miss learning due to absence.

However, from time to time, some teachers do not identify or address gaps in these pupils' knowledge swiftly enough. This hinders how quickly these pupils catch up on any missed learning.

The school identifies the additional needs of pupils with SEND quickly and accurately.

Pupils with SEND access the same curriculum content as their peers. Most of these pupils build on their prior knowledge securely.

The school has developed an effective attendance strategy, working closely with parents and carers to reduce absence levels.

Whole-school attendance has increased sharply. Many pupils attend school more regularly than they did in the past. Despite this, some pupils remain absent from school too often.

These pupils miss important learning and all that the school has to offer.

The school has adapted its approaches to managing pupils' behaviour. This has included strengthening the pastoral team to support those pupils who find it more difficult to regulate their behaviour.

As a result, the number of suspensions is reducing. Around the school, pupils conduct themselves positively. They know the school rules and understand the behaviour policy well.

In lessons, staff deal swiftly with any low-level disruption.

Pupils experience a broad personal development offer that is carefully designed and delivered successfully through 'life' lessons. These lessons cover important aspects of pupils' development appropriate to their age.

For example, pupils learn about youth justice, diversity, charity and different faiths. Pupils receive comprehensive information about their next steps in education, employment or training. This helps pupils to make well-informed, aspirational choices about post-16 training and education.

Staff, including early career teachers, feel well supported in their roles. They appreciate the actions that the school has taken to ensure that their workload is manageable. Governors and trustees have high ambitions for the school.

They share the school's passion for all pupils to receive a positive educational experience.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should.

These pupils miss important learning and all that the school has to offer. The school should ensure that it continues to support these pupils and their families to further improve their rates of attendance over time. ? Some older pupils have gaps in their reading knowledge.

This hinders how well these pupils access the wider curriculum. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to identify and remedy the gaps in these pupils' reading knowledge quickly and effectively. ? Some pupils, including some who are disadvantaged, have gaps in their knowledge because of absence from school.

On occasion, some staff do not support pupils to address these gaps in knowledge swiftly enough. This prevents these pupils from building a rich body of subject knowledge across the curriculum. The school should ensure that staff implement the agreed approaches to addressing gaps in pupils' knowledge consistently well.