The Hathaway Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

The Hathaway Academy continues to be a good school.

The principal of this school is Fatima Rodrigues.

This school is part of Academy Transformation Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Sir Nick Weller, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Pat Beanland OBE.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel happy, safe and secure at school.

They respond well to the expectations set in the school's 'pride drives'. These include good manners and strong discipline.

Reflecting these attributes, pupils show pride in their work.

They are ...keen to do their best, but sometimes their work is too easy. This means that pupils do not always achieve as highly as they could.

Pupils benefit significantly from the school's character and resilience programme.

They develop skills and behaviours that prepare them to become responsible citizens. Pupils learn to lead healthy and safe lives. They also learn first aid so they can help others.

Pupils can adopt leadership roles where they take active responsibility for the learning and behaviour of their peers. This includes the role of head boy and girl, as prefects and also as apprentices who mentor younger pupils.A wide range of clubs are open to all pupils.

These include sports, music, drama and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). All pupils also have the opportunity to take part in drama, media, art and music productions. Local, national and international trips are available to all pupils and serve to enhance classroom learning.

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

The school has devised a curriculum with the ambition of 'making dreams a reality'. The curriculum is at least as broad as the national curriculum. Its intention is to develop pupils' global capital and promote aspirations.

To underpin these aspirations, the school prioritises pupils' reading skills. The school identifies weaker readers as soon as they join the school. These pupils then receive effective reading interventions to enable them to quickly access the full curriculum.

In lessons, teachers' subject expertise helps pupils build on their previous knowledge. Teachers carefully select relevant and meaningful content to engage pupils' interest. This helps make learning memorable.

Teachers regularly check pupils' progress in all subjects. However, this information is not always used effectively to plan tasks for pupils. Therefore, lessons can sometimes be too easy, as pupils spend too long working on similarly challenging tasks.

Pupils do not routinely practise more complex skills, for example applying a sophisticated range of conventions in writing. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could.The school accurately identifies pupils who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Leaders swiftly put the right support and extra help in place. Parents are fully involved in planning and reviewing this support. Staff ensure that lessons are carefully adapted to accommodate individual needs.

Pupils with SEND can access the same learning as their peers. Accordingly, they achieve well.

Pupils take pride in their attitudes to school.

They behave well, and many attend school regularly. The school closely monitors the attendance of pupils. It has a clear understanding of the reasons behind poor attendance for the few pupils missing too much time in school.

It is working effectively with families and external agencies to bring about improvements in attendance for these pupils.The school is proud of its celebration of diversity. Pupils participate in Black History Month and different festivals, such as Diwali.

Pupils also join in with international days celebrating tolerance and democracy. The school develops pupils' social awareness through encouraging them to work with local charities and to lead fundraising events.

The school enables all pupils to explore the world of work.

Pupils take part in national apprentice and careers weeks. They also visit universities and higher education colleges. As a result, pupils are well prepared for their next steps in education or employment.

Trust leaders hold the school to account effectively. They regularly check the standards and systems in place. Trust leaders provide a bespoke range of professional development for staff.

Staff appreciate the regard by leaders for their workload and well-being. As a result of this support, the school has established a stable team whose members feel valued and respected.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers sometimes do not use assessment effectively to establish what content pupils have mastered and when they are ready to move on to new learning. Some lessons are too easy for some pupils, because they repeat the same content for too long. Pupils do not always get the practice they need to develop higher-order skills.

As a result, some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, do not achieve as highly as they could. Leaders must ensure that teachers provide sufficient opportunities for all pupils to regularly practise and develop their higher-order skills.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2015.