Ofsted Inspection Outcomes

Following the inspection of Outwood Academy Adwick on Tuesday 2 February 2016 and Wednesday 3 February 2016 the inspection team concluded that the Academy is Outstanding in every category including the sixth form. Highlights from the inspection report which can be found in full on the website are as follows:

• “Outwood Academy Adwick provides an outstanding quality of education. Standards are high and continue to rise for all pupils, including the disadvantaged.”

• “The quality of teaching is superb. Much is inspirational.”

• “Teachers are dedicated, caring and meticulous in ensuring that the needs of pupils are met.”

• “Pupils respond with outstanding behaviour. They are well mannered, mature and eager to do their very best in lessons.”

• “Pupils’ awareness of how to stay safe is outstanding. They say bullying is rare, and dealt with effectively by staff if it does occur.”

• “The quality of the 16 to 19 study programmes is outstanding. Apart from the high standards achieved by learners, there is a plethora of activities available which help them to develop excellent personal, social and employability skills.”

• “Leadership and management are exceptional. The school’s ‘students first’ motto is upheld by every member of staff. This strong ethos puts the interest of the pupil at the heart of every facet of school life.”

• “Members of the governing body, through their impressive dedication and local knowledge, offer a very high level of support and challenge to the school.”

• “The Principal leads by example, she knows the pupils well and is highly visible around the school. She expertly handles the day-to-day running of the school and provides high-quality strategic leadership to her senior team.”

• “The school owes most of its success to the structures, systems and support provided by the Outwood Grange Academies Trust under the inspirational leadership of its chief executive. Senior leaders are deployed very effectively to the most pressing needs of the organisation. Financial arrangements, human resource management and administrative functions are expertly handled by a core central team. Ultimately this means that pupils at this school receive the best possible education.”

• “Subject directors, working directly for the Trust, offer cutting-edge, up-to-date materials, advice, support and mentoring for teachers in the school. The high level of consistency across the trust enables subject directors to ensure that assessments are accurate and give consistent advice and support to all teachers.”

• “Teachers’ own passion for their subject in turn enthuses pupils. This means that pupils remain focused, on-task and enthralled in whatever they are learning. Consequently, their attitudes to learning and behaviour in class is excellent.”

• “The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils are proud of their school and appreciative of the caring adults who go out of their way to ensure that pupils’ welfare is given top priority. As one pupil put it: ‘They really, truly care about us.’”

• “In lessons, pupils concentrate hard, work to the best of their ability and contribute willingly to discussions and debates. This is because they have a real will to do well and are fully on board with the school’s ethos that a good education is likely to open doors for them when they leave school.”

• “Around the school at lunchtime and breaktime, pupils talk respectfully to each other and to staff. No bad language was heard by inspectors and pupils wear their uniform with pride. The site is neat, tidy and litter-free.”

• “In English, there is a real focus on getting the basics right.”

• “In mathematics, pupils quickly become fluent in the essential skills of calculating. They come to know their times tables very quickly if they did not know them when they started in Year 7. Rather than focusing only on memorising general rules about mathematics, they gain a thorough and deep understanding of how numbers relate to each other. Moreover, the many opportunities they have to put mathematics into real situations bring the subject alive and help them to enjoy the subject immensely and do well in examinations.”

• “Life in the sixth form at the school goes beyond providing academic excellence. It is an experience which truly prepares them for life as a young adult, whether that be at university, in further training or in the world of work. Overseas visits, a range of opportunities to engage in voluntary work, public speaking, and supporting younger pupils with their work are not additions to the curriculum but very much part of the diet of the sixth-form learner. Consequently, they become self-assured, confident people when they leave.”

• “The quality of independent advice and guidance is excellent.”

E-Safety

Learning about staying safe online is very important. At Outwood Academy Adwick we make sure our students are aware of the risks to safety that are online and what to do to stay safe.

We are committed to improving E-Safety not only in school but at home as well.

Visit our E-Safety page: click here

Effective revision with GCSEpod

GCSEPod provides podcasts which you can watch online or download to play later on your iPods, iPhones, Blackberry and Android devices and tablets. All podcasts are enhanced with text and images and are designed to support students in the classroom, with their homework and during exam time.

So many students at Outwood Academy Adwick already have mobile technology in their pockets and we hope to harness this existing technology to engage all students with their studies in an innovative way. GCSEPod has already been proven to have a significant impact on A*-C performance and we aim to make it an integral part of learning for every GCSE student studying at the academy. Podcasts are organised into subjects and you can further tailor your searches to forthcoming examinations.

Students can follow the link to GCSEPod at the bottom of this webpage. They will be taken to a registration page where they can logon using the drop down boxes.