Not enough improvement at Tipton academy, say inspectors

The Ace Academy has been in special measures for almost a year.

Inspectors reported some improvements during a recent visit but said problems still remain around teaching and pupil performance.

However, behaviour of pupils has improved at the Alexandra Road school where concerns over bullying and the safety of youngsters were previously flagged up. The school has struggled since converting to an academy two years ago.

In its report, the education regulator said leaders and managers were 'not taking effective action towards the removal of special measures'.

Year 11 pupils are continuing to struggle, with exam results for 2015 'below the floor standard'. Only about a third of pupils achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, with maths a particular area of concern.

The report said the drop in performance in maths had not been anticipated by academy leaders as predictions provided by maths teachers were 'grossly inaccurate'. However, pupils made better progress in English.

The academy has undergone an overhaul of staff, with around 10 new teachers starting since the summer. Ofsted said the size of the re-shuffle meant teaching standards have not yet improved to a good standard.

The report said: "Not enough teaching is good enough to make up for past inadequacies in teaching. Teaching in mathematics continues to be weak overall but especially for pupils in Year 10 where work set is often too easy for pupils, who spend far too long on repetitive tasks that will achieve very few marks in an examination. Pupils in all year groups are unable to develop a deeper understanding of topics and are moved on to new topics too quickly before they have fully grasped work."

Although Ofsted witnessed some disruption during lessons, it said behaviour of pupils had improved on the whole. Pupils told inspectors they feel safe which represents a change in the views of some pupils from 12 months ago when some younger children were said to feel unsafe.

Academy chair of governors, Professor Sir Geoff Hampton, said: "As the new chair of governors I am delighted to note the many positive comments within this report.

"Clearly there are areas for further development but it provides an excellent platform for the academy to meet its aspiration of becoming a centre of excellence which the local community can feel justifiably proud of."