Outwood Academy Normanby

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has raised its expectations of what pupils can achieve.

Supported by the trust, leaders have developed a broad and ambitious curriculum. The school also promotes pupils' personal development effectively. It has improved the way it prepares pupils for life in modern Britain and for their next steps in education.

However, despite high expectations, the school has struggled to establish a positive and respectful culture where all pupils thrive. While many pupils do meet the school's high expectations, a significant minority of pupils show a lack of respect for both adults and their peers. They show negative attitudes to the value of good conduct and good behav...iour.

The behaviour of these pupils contributes to several pupils not enjoying school.

The trust is supporting the school in addressing such behaviours. Low-level disruption in lessons is not tolerated and there have been recent signs of improvement in pupils' punctuality to lessons.

The school has reduced the frequency of bullying and discriminatory behaviour. It deals with such behaviour with appropriate rigour.

Pupils who attend regularly benefit from a well-taught curriculum.

However, many pupils do not attend school regularly enough. Some of these absences are from pupils who have been suspended from school owing to their poor behaviour. This results in too many pupils not achieving well.

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

The school is working with substantial support from the trust to establish a positive and respectful culture in which pupils can flourish. School leaders, fully supported by governors, trustees and leaders from the trust, are fully aware that the school is only part of the way through its improvement journey. The school joined the trust during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the school's work to address its improvement priorities has not had the intended impact. In part, this has been as a result of the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Staff, including trust leaders, are a visible presence in the school.

They model the behaviours they expect from pupils. The school provides individual pupils with the help they need to address their poor behaviour. This is making a difference.

Pupils' behaviour in lessons has improved and many pupils behave in a calm and orderly manner.

However, the behaviour around the school from a significant minority of pupils remains a concern. Leaders are aware that they still have much work to do to improve these pupils' behaviour at school and their wider attitudes towards education.

This work includes ensuring that staff address such behaviour with appropriate and consistent rigour. With the support of the trust, the school has the capacity to make the urgent improvement needed. For example, trust leaders are currently pursuing opportunities to work more closely with local services to break down many of the long-standing barriers that prevent some pupils from thriving at school.

In other areas of provision, there are early signs of more notable progress. The school has established a broad and ambitious curriculum. Subject leaders have identified the essential knowledge they want pupils to know.

The curriculum is well designed. It enables pupils to build their knowledge and skills in a logical manner. The school identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well.

Staff receive the training they require to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. In addition, pupils at an early stage of reading get the help they need to become confident and fluent readers.

Teachers have a secure subject knowledge.

They revisit what pupils have learned before and check pupils' understanding. This helps pupils to know and remember more. Pupils with good attendance, including pupils with SEND, are developing a coherent body of knowledge.

They show an ability to apply that knowledge to the tasks teachers set them. This is particularly true for younger pupils who are benefitting from the new curriculum.

However, persistent absence, and absence through frequent suspension from school, is high.

Several pupils spend a significant amount of time removed from lessons. This means that many pupils have gaps in their knowledge and are not achieving well, as shown by the school's latest key stage 4 published outcomes. Pupils who were most recently assessed in external examinations did not have the benefit of the new curriculum throughout their time at the school.

This also led to gaps in their knowledge.

The school has developed an age-appropriate personal development programme. Pupils learn about relationships as well as equality and diversity.

They understand the importance of physical and mental health. Pupils get the careers information and guidance they need to make well-informed decisions about their future. While the school provides a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and activities, attendance at these clubs and activities is low.

The school offers a limited range of educational visits. Pupils do not get enough opportunity to enrich their learning or gain new cultural experiences.

The school works hard to engage with parents and carers.

It seeks to work with them to remove the often considerable barriers to pupils' achievement. Staff value the support the school gives them in managing pupils' behaviour. The school prioritises staff workload and well-being.

Staff show a commitment to the school's work to improve pupils' behaviour and attitudes. Furthermore, they show a genuine commitment to the pupils at 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)

• A significant minority of pupils show a lack of respect for adults and other pupils. They have negative attitudes to school and do not see the value of good conduct and good behaviour. This results in persistent poor behaviour from these pupils which has a negative impact on the experiences of other pupils in the school.

The school should ensure that it improves the consistency with which staff implement the school's behaviour policy. More significantly, with support from the trust, it should ensure that it sustains a rigorous and central focus on improving the behaviour of those pupils who consistently fail to behave in an appropriate manner. ? Many pupils do not attend lessons regularly, owing to persistent absence, suspension from school and time spent removed from lessons within school.

This means that many pupils miss out on too much of their education, develop gaps in their knowledge and do not achieve well, not least in external examinations. The school should continue to reduce the time that many pupils spend out of lessons owing to their poor behaviour and/or persistent absence. ? The school does not provide pupils with sufficient opportunity to visit places of cultural interest.

This means that pupils' learning is not enriched as fully as it could be. It also means that pupils do not gain new experiences which could raise aspirations for what they can achieve. The school should ensure that it provides all pupils with a wide range of enrichment opportunities that are integrated meaningfully into the school curriculum.