Outwood Academy City Fields in Wakefield has achieved the Inclusive School Award for the third time.
Serving the Community
Outwood Academy City Fields is a secondary Academy serving the community of East Moor, Wakefield with over 770 students on role. The area is in the lowest 5% nationally for unemployment, crime, education, free school meals and pupil premium. The Academy was allocated a higher Published Admission Number (PAN) to 210 per year from 2022-23 with building ongoing to accommodate higher student numbers. There is a high level of Pupil Premium at 35% and SEND at 12% with 3% having EHCP.
Of these, the main additional needs of the SEND cohort is Speech, Language and Communication Needs at 37% which is recognised, and appropriate support is put in place. They report there is considerable pupil movement, within this is a larger than average group of students who are new to the English language and country which places the EAL cohort extremely high at over 49%, more than 4 times the national average. The Academy joined the Outwood Grange Academies Trust in 2018 and there has been ongoing progression, which was recognised by Ofsted in March 2022, as ‘good’. There have been several staff changes to the Senior Leadership Team which has resulted in continued overall progression and improvement.
Putting Students First
Following the collapse of Wakefield City Academies Trust (WCAT) in 2018, its lead academy, Wakefield City Academy, was re-brokered to Outwood Grange Academies Trust becoming Outwood Academy City Fields but retaining its URN and 2013 Ofsted outstanding designation. The Head appointed by WCAT in 2017 initially continued with Outwood and staffing was restructured leading to significant challenges in the initial year.
In February 2020, a new Principal was appointed. Ofsted reported that the Academy is ‘a school where leaders want the very best for pupils. Their motto of putting ‘students first’ is something that directs and guides leaders’ actions each day. Because leaders set such a strong example of their high ambitions for pupils, other staff mirror these aspirations.
This is evident from the progress data provided, with the Academy making positive progress with predictions for 2021-22 at +0.32. Ofsted stated, ‘the curriculum is organised in such a way as to encourage pupils to aim high and achieve highly.’ Ofsted recognise that ‘leaders have made reading a priority’ by introducing appropriate reading schemes to support the weakest readers, in particular EAL students. Furthermore, due to the percentage of languages spoken in City Fields Academy, the EBACC curriculum has been adapted to provide relevant languages available at GCSE, of French and Urdu. 25 languages are spoken at the Academy therefore exams are provided to support the students home language if appropriate.
Attendance was defined by Ofsted as ‘not good enough’ however leadership recognises that ‘Leaders are acting with tenacity to improve this situation, with some positive results in individual cases.’ Although current attendance figures are 89.98% which is currently above the national average due to the consistent approach by the Academy’s Educational Welfare Officer and Attendance Officer, though it is documented by Ofsted that ‘the school needs the support of the parents and carers.’ In addition, the Academy is proud that they had 100% attendance at all Year 11 exams.
Behaviour, for the majority of students is good however it is recognised that ‘leaders are working hard with this group of pupils to improve their behaviour’ Currently there have been 376 fixed term exclusions and 104 repeat fixed term exclusion, although Ofsted recognised that ‘there are signs that the use of exclusion and internal isolation is beginning to fall as a consequence of leaders’ actions’ and through a consistently applied Behaviour Policy and an emphasis of positive praise.’ The Academy uses several alternative provisions to support attendance and behaviour and to engage students with their education, as well as using the centralised resources through local Outwood Trust Academies.
Intervention and Appropriate Support
There are a small cluster of Outwood Trust Academies in the area. This has been used effectively to support the Academy to tailor intervention and appropriate support to vulnerable students due to the large skill set available, but also due to the consistent approach to behaviour and quality first teaching.
The Vice Principal described how the Academy has heavily invested in support for the students. The Inclusion Team covers three areas to support students’ individual needs with the Inclusion Area, the Bridge, and the Personal Learning Centre (PLC,) with substantial Teaching Assistant team, Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENDCo), SEND Officer and Inclusion Coordinator and who allow the SENDCo to further quality assure teaching and learning for students with additional needs.
Furthermore, the Academy has Learning Managers in role who are responsible for a year group, again to provide consistency to students and their parents. The Academy has employed an EAL Coordinator, who is making great strides in supporting the EAL students and cascading relevant information to staff to ensure positive outcomes.
The Inclusion Area supports the students with high needs and those with Education Health Care Plans through in class support and one-to-one intervention, also providing a safe area to provide support for students on an individual basis. The Inclusion Area has 3 intervention rooms to offer one-to-one and small group interventions specific to the student’s individual needs. Support is provided from Educational Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapy to cascade interventions to staff to enable provision, personalised to the individual, with evaluation regularly. There are no time limits to the support, which is evaluated according to the student’s individual requirements, offering a bespoke package of support.
Safe and Nurturing Space
The Bridge offers a safe and nurturing space to support more vulnerable and SEND students with their emotional well-being. There are no time limits to the resource as this is dependent on the student’s individual needs, as there are several resources to be accessed to support students to understand their needs, such as a trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) to provide support where required, anger management and access to iSpace to support students with mental health and counselling.
The Personal Learning Centre (PLC) supports students with more challenging behaviours and transitions students with low attendance, the Bridge and PLC investigates the underlying reasons for the student’s issues, providing a graduated response to the student’s individual needs with support from the Inclusion Officer, Bridge Manager and SEND Team. Support is provided on a one-to-one and small group basis to build positive relationships and trust, with online learning provided to access the curriculum. Staff described the Bridge and PLC as giving the students, ‘a chance to reset, reflect and de-escalate’ to support positive progress.
The Academy has already gained the Silver Carnegie Mental Health Award in 2020 and the Designated Mental Health Lead has started Mental Health training this academic year supported by the DFE grant for Mental Health training.
Extremely Welcoming
Outwood Academy City Fields were extremely welcoming and provided a wealth of evidence for the Inclusion Quality Mark Assessment and it was evident that inclusion is at the heart of the school and has an adaptable provision which support raising barriers to achievement. In addition, there are plans to build on parental engagement, which is increasing however still needs further research and support and work on a ‘through school model’ fostering a team effort to support the school and local community, as the Principal described an approach that was ‘not reactionary, but proactive to work more collaboratively with family groups.’
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
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