Ofsted inadequate - now academy

[didireallysaythat]

DS2's school got an inadequate from Ofsted in 2017 and hence became a (church) academy. They've just had some kind of faith inspection which says lots of lovely things about a strong Christian ethos (I don't choose to send my kid to a CofE school - there's no Cho CE in my area) but makes absolutely no mention of any improvements in the areas where the school was completely failing.

An I right in thinking that Ofsted don't inspect academies so who is checking on the academic progress of the school? The SATS are not impressive and not getting better (I'm not too bothered about that - it's a small school) but I'd like to hope someone cares about reading, writing and maths.

Anyone know who I approach for info? The headteacher is delighted about the high God score but I couldn't care less!!!

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As far as I know academies are still inspected by Ofsted.

Of course Ofsted will inspect academy school.
So speak to Ofsted

www.gov.uk/guidance/selecting-new-schools-for-inspection

You can search for a school's report here https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk

Ofsted do inspect academies. If a school is deemed as inadequate and becomes an academy, it is, legally, deemed to be a new school, so the inspection regime is different from, say, a school which is rated as requires improvement but continues as a maintained school.

Lots of info here: www.gov.uk/guidance/inspecting-schools-guide-for-maintained-and-academy-schools

Church schools have a SIAMS inspection but this doesn’t judge the same things Ofsted does.

If the school was rated inadequate and hadn’t become an academy Ofsted would have been back to do regular monitoring visits. As it’s become (or more likely been ‘forced’ to become an academy with a sponsor) then the school becomes a new legal entity and so doesn’t officially have an Ofsted rating as it’s a ‘new’ school. If this is the case it’s likely to be inspected within I think about 2 years from when it became an academy. This theoretically gives it time to improve but depends on how good the academy sponsor is and / or how good the school improvement support is.

As a parent I would check if the school is a sponsored academy (is it part of a multi academy trust?) i’d then look at the other schools in the trust to see how well or badly they are doing (according to Ofsted which is a VERY rough guide) and then I’d be asking the headteacher about the school’s improvement priorities and what external support they’ve got in to help the school improve.

Good signs to look out for would be new senior leadership and / or governors, relatively stable staffing and low levels of supply or cover teachers. If there’s high staff turnover and / or lots of teacher vacancies I’d be concerned.

In terms of who to ask, you could try asking the MAT head office if it’s part of a MAT, but they probably won’t tell you a great deal. As a church school you could try asking the Diocesan education office but again they may not tell you a great deal. The best place to start would be with the headteacher, or if the school has something like a parent forum or parent partnership set up then that would be a good place to ask questions.

legally speaking when the school became an academy it closed down and ceased to exist and the old Ofsted rating applies to an entity that no longer exists.

like a Phoenix from the ashes a new school has been founded on the site which is brand new and had never been inspected by Ofsted. it will be inspected in a couple of years time but will be inspected from a blank slate without reference to the specific issues that the old school failed on as it is an entirely different school.

however if the issues manage to survive the upheaval you can bet Ofsted will find them again.

Siams is also based on progress and teaching. You can't get a good Siam grade without corresponding academic progress. Siams will have reviewed data, gaps, etc everything that Ofsted review. The grade descriptors have been changed and raised. They look at the whole child so results and provision must have improved.

@GovernorGal I think you have described the position perfectly. I guess we wait for Ofsted to inspect again - as the school has no rating at the moment they have no reason to inspect quickly. And yes they were forced into the academy, as were most of the other schools so they start from a low point but the academy is fairly new so none have a good report yet.

I guess we wait. ..

SIAMS is absolutely not looking at teaching and progress (except in RE fit some schools).

Siams inspections usually trigger Ofsted so in the next month or two they'll probably have Ofsted in.

Siams no longer trigger Ofsted and vice verse. They have a new framework.

They will look over data for maths and English gaps and question governors and SLT on academic provision. You can only get one grade different from your Ofsted grade due to the academic links. It hasn't been just an 'RE review for the last 6 years. Since Sept the grading and requirements have again risen with Outstanding being replaced by a higher requirement of Excellent which only @ 4% of schools are likely to reach. There were two years between our Ofsted and Siams and we were quizzed on a range of data, Send provision and gaps, pastoral support by both. Siams asked about mental health but Ofsted did not.

@cabbageking that's interesting to know. When I read the SIAMS report on the school website I only picked up how good we're doing with God, but maybe there's something of substance in between which I missed (I'm not a God person so struggle to value it). I'll re-read. I had heard that Ofsted are so stretched now that inspecting has become less frequent, even for inadequate schools who don't get forced into academies.

The question in strand 2 is

How effective is the school at meeting the academic needs of all pupils through the curriculum? How effective is the school in identifying and supporting those who are more vulnerable and who may have additional learning and personal needs?

This area refers to academic achievement and spiritual development, an exciting and relevant curriculum and to get a "good" grade this is part of the grade descriptor. ( copied and pasted)
Based on national assessments* available at the time of the inspection, progress information provided by the school, and considering context and recent cohorts, the school is at least close to national averages in progress statistics. This includes pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND) and the most able. As a priority, the school is enabling its vulnerable pupils, including those with learning difficulties, to flourish academically.

The Church of England has a full explanation of this type of inspection on their web site. That’s the best place to understand what it inspected.

Ofsted is completely different. They will inspect as is contained in their Inspection Framework. You will then understand the differences. One is God and one is overall education. Bedtime reading? Yes, ofsted will come calling at an academy.

Academies do not have governing bodies- the Trust is the legally responsible entity. You may have a local advisory committee but their powers will be limited under the Scheme of Delegation. These powers are more likely to be limited if the school converted under duress.

Look at the Academy’s overall progress on the compare school data gov U.K. site - the 2019 figures are out. Did the academy as a whole improve year on year? Did the school? Did it do better than the loca authority average?

I highly doubt a SIAMS inspection is much use under the new curriculum based OFSTED.

To be honest there is very little parental accountability under academies. My concern would be that as a small non church school taken over by a church academy, they might look to close you and merge into any neighbouring church schools. The Dioceses are very very anti closing church schools but can’t see them being too bothered about a non church school.

Our loca church academy is fairly crap - most schools that joined voluntarily have seen progress and OFSTED ratings decline.

Would you consider moving school?

High staff turnover not necessarily a bad thing. We had high staff turnover but we were getting rid of people who weren’t doing a good job.

I am a governor in an Academy and we still have quite a few powers under the Scheme of Delegation.

As others have said you will have had a SIAMs inspection and may be due an OFSTED soon. Our schools formed an Academy Trust just over 2 years ago so we are waiting for the call

Here’s the link to the tables:

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/

Your school will be there twice as it’s converted - last year’s progress will be on one of them.

Academies can have full governing bodies. My local Grammars are not part of any MATs for example. Primaries can be the same. Their governors have a full range of responsibilities.