Outwood Academy Ripon

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Outwood Academy Ripon provides pupils with a strong academic curriculum alongside a breadth of wider opportunities that significantly enhance the education. These opportunities support pupils to develop academically, and as individuals, during their time at the school.

Most pupils at the school behave well.

Lessons are calm. Pupils focus on their learning well. Staff praise pupils regularly for their efforts and contributions.

Pupils learn to become mature and respectful members of the school community. The 'academy conduct and expectations' (ACE) programme helps pupils understand why it is important to make positive choices about their behaviour. A small min...ority of pupils do not meet the school's high expectations for behaviour consistently.

The school responds effectively in these cases. For example, by using the 'ACE redeem' programme to reinforce expectations.

The school provides pupils with a rich set of experiences beyond the curriculum.

The 'honours' programme provides a high-quality character education curriculum. Pupils work towards badges that reward them for demonstrating behaviours that the school wants to promote. For example, pupils earn rewards for volunteering or community service.

Many pupils benefit from opportunities such as the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. The school uses these opportunities to develop pupils' independence. Each aspect of the school's personal development offer helps pupils to be better prepared for adulthood.

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

Pupils at the school benefit from a high-quality education. They achieve well. Their detailed knowledge, and the qualifications that they achieve, prepare them well for their next steps in education, employment or training.

Pupils learn an ambitious curriculum. This is carefully sequenced so that pupils' knowledge builds over time. The school provides teachers with effective training.

This enables teachers to use the school's '5 pillars' teaching strategies well. Teachers break down new knowledge carefully. Pupils practise this new content before applying it in different contexts.

This helps pupils to develop a secure understanding of the subjects that they study.

Most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well. Since the previous inspection, the school has made improvements to the support that these pupils receive.

Some improvements need further time to embed. Leaders have trained teachers well in how to support pupils with SEND. They now receive detailed information about the needs of individual pupils.

However, in a minority of lessons, teachers do not use this information consistently well to make adaptations that would benefit pupils with SEND.

The school identifies pupils in the early stages of learning to read swiftly. It uses assessment information well to understand the barriers to each pupil reading fluently.

Knowledgeable staff provide these pupils with effective support that helps them to catch up.

Most pupils attend school regularly. Pupils' attendance is higher than other schools locally and nationally.

The school's effective work is leading to further increases in many pupils' attendance. However, some pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, miss lessons regularly. This can be due to sanctions for poor behaviour or other absence from school.

These pupils miss important learning and develop gaps in their knowledge.

Pupils have a detailed understanding of the school's 'Life' curriculum. Pupils spoke knowledgeably with inspectors about what they had learned in these lessons.

For example, when talking about democracy, some pupils explained the limitations of other systems. Other pupils were able to describe similarities and differences in the beliefs and customs of other religions. This understanding prepares pupils well to be positive members of the local community.

The school has taken steps to understand the views of parents and carers. A small number of families are not satisfied with some aspects of the school's work. The school has acted quickly to respond to many of these concerns.

The school, and trust, continue to make changes to ensure that all stakeholders work together to support pupils who attend the school.

Leaders, including those with responsibility for governance and the trust, know the school well. They have supported school leaders to manage recent staff absence and changes to staffing well.

They understand which areas of the school's work can be improved even further. They have taken actions, such as providing additional training, to make these improvements. Most staff appreciate the steps leaders take to reduce their workload.

They agree that the actions taken by leaders are improving the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a minority of lessons, the information that teachers receive about how to meet the needs of pupils with SEND is not used well.

In these lessons, the support for some pupils with SEND is not as effective as it could be. The school should ensure that teachers use the detailed information that they receive consistently well. ? Some disadvantaged pupils miss lessons too frequently.

This is because of sanctions for poor behaviour or other absence from school. These pupils miss important learning. The school should build on its current work to improve the attendance and behaviour of these pupils so that they consistently access the high-quality education that the school provides.