the ce academyfluencycontent2-schoolwebsite.netdna-ssl.com/file...introduction 2 013-14 was a very...

The CE Academy

Page

Introduction __________________________________________ 4

GCSE Examination Analysis 2014 _________________________ 6

Attendance Analysis 2014 _______________________________ 8

Pupil Premium Allocated Spending _______________________ 10

English______________________________________________ 18

Maths ______________________________________________ 20

Science _____________________________________________ 24

Art and Design _______________________________________ 26

Expressive Arts _______________________________________ 28

Design Technology ____________________________________ 30

Child Development ___________________________________ 32

ICT _________________________________________________ 34

PACC _______________________________________________ 36

History _____________________________________________ 38

Geography __________________________________________ 40

Vocational Provision __________________________________ 41

Cross Curricular ______________________________________ 44

Looked After Children _________________________________ 46

Destinations and Reintegration __________________________ 47

Moving On 2014 ______________________________________ 50

Artwork is taken from a piece of Year 11 GCSE coursework

List of contents

Introduction

2 013-14 was a very busy year for The CE Academy.

Referrals continue to rise. In 2011-2012 the total number of pupils in the

year was 263, in 2012-13 it rose to 315 and 2013–14 it increased again to 342. The

pupil figure for the CE Academy was taken from the 2011-12 figures. By July last

year we had a waiting list for Key Stage 3 pupils needing places in Northampton.

Despite talking to the Commissioning Officer with regard to the LA helping us to find

larger premises to meet the need, they have chosen to ask for tenders to provide

alternative placements to The CE Academy.

The Local Authority offered us an alternative building for the Forest Gate Campus.

They wanted to sell the site for housing development. The agreement was that the

LA would spend up to a million pounds on refurbishing the old Maplefields School.

As the existing Forest Gate building was in a very poor state of repair, it provided a

higher quality building and some time before the CE Academy Trust would need to

spend money on the site. The area is less attractive but on balance accepting the

offer appeared to be the best way forward. Following a number of difficulties the

new building was handed over in March 2014. There are still problems associated

with the building work; there are days when all the toilets become blocked, but

hopefully we are near resolution on this matter.

The other major building project is the conversion work on the Fairlawn site. Having

made a number of people redundant and no longer needing the space, the LA

offered us the rest of the Fairlawn building. Supported by the Wellingborough

Headteachers we successfully applied for an Academies Capital Maintenance Grant

from the EFA. This has enabled us to set up a Key Stage 3 provision and workshops

for hair, beauty, music technology and design technology. We hope to add a

commercial kitchen and café enabling young people to gain catering qualifications

and workplace experience. The quad area will be used to grow vegetables for the

kitchen whilst also providing an opportunity for land based practical learning

activity.

A problem with the quality of work from the roofing contractors resulted in significant

flood damage during the summer. Problems with the floor in the DT workshop have

delayed the fitting of machinery. However, despite these setbacks we hope to be open

to Key Stage 3 pupils from November 2014.

We have made representation to DfE to increase our numbers.

We were also chosen by the Local Authority to be the subject of a Safeguarding Audit.

This took place on Wednesday 14th May 2014. We were complemented on our

procedures and told there is much we could teach mainstream schools. The few

recommendations, including updating our Policy document in line with Government

advice released the week before the audit and linking the separate policies, have been

addressed

From March onwards we were awaiting the Ofsted call. It eventually came on the 7th

July! On the 9th July we were for the second time, judged ‘Outstanding’! A significant

amount of hard work went in to preparing the evidence. On the two days of the

inspection, staff, pupils and governors showed Ofsted the quality of ‘Team CE’!

Introduction

2014 GCSE Exam Analysis

IntroductionIntroduction

Both staff and young people at the CE Academy work on the premise that all GCSE

examination passes are valuable and help to improve life chances and provide future

chances in life for young people. Therefore we have a policy of entering all G/U grade

borderline candidates for GCSE examinations. The only circumstances where a young

person is not entered for an examination is when they have missed a large percentage

of the course, failed to complete controlled assessments or are not timetabled for a

subject.

Young people at the CE Academy have achieved grades from A grade to G grade across

a wide variety of GCSE subjects and vocational Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications. Where

the potential exits pupils achieve at a high level, illustrated with one pupil achieving 1A

4B’s and a 1C grade alongside a vocational Level 2 qualification.

Comparison with previous yearsComparison with previous years

Performance of the percentages of pupils achieving differing numbers of GCSE

examination passes has remained fairly stable over the past few years. With results in

2014 are similar to 2012 and 2013. Higher percentages have achieved three and four

passes and a lower percentage achieved seven and eight passes.

2014 GCSE Exam Analysis

These figures are based on GCSE examination passes coupled with passes at Level 1 and

Level 2 on vocational qualifications. Fewer pupils achieving seven or eight passes can be

largely attributed to the greater number of vocational programmes being offered at Key

Stage 4.

Comparison with National ResultsComparison with National Results

On a national level we draw comparisons with National data from hospitals schools and

PRU’s accessed from Government Statistics (2012/13).

Once again it is apparent that pupils at the CE Academy outperform other pupils at

hospital schools and PRU’s when drawing comparisons at a National level. Examples of

this include 44% of pupils achieving 5 A*-G grade (or equivalent) including English and

mathematics and 36% achieving at least 1 A*-C grade, both significantly in excess of

National figures.

Future developments and challengesFuture developments and challenges

The main areas where we are continually striving to improve are to increase both the

percentage of pupils gaining at least 5 GCSE examination passes and the percentage of

GCSE examination passes at grade C and above.

Having Expressive Arts GCSE is now available in all CE campuses has increased the

number of GCSE’s on offer to all pupils. As all Yr. 10 pupils have a solid grounding in this

subject we hope to see further improvements in entries and grades this year. We are

also expanding our workshop provision which will increase the availability of GCSE

Design Technology. In addition to this all curriculum groups have now established their

own marking and feedback policy targeted at improving pupil progress.

Attendance Analysis 2014

The CE Academy The CE Academy has a significant challenge in improving school attendance and the

number of pupils who are designated persistently absent from school.

We are aware that a large percentage of our pupils have been persistently absent from

their mainstream schools. Therefore attendance is always discussed at the initial

meeting with parents, and monitored closely by both key tutors and campus

secretaries.

One of the Deputy Head Teachers’ is responsible for pupil attendance, we have

conducted staff training, updated our policies and procedures and employed an

attendance officer.

We have analysed the attendance rates of all those pupils permanently excluded from

school both prior to joining The CE Academy and during their time with The CE

Academy.

Once again high percentages (75%) of pupils referred to The CE Academy were

designated as persistently absent from school. Through both strong partnerships with

parents and other agencies, and the robust implementation of our attendance

procedures we have seen a significant fall in persistent absence rates.

We have also analysed the percentage of pupils who improve upon their attendance

whilst at The CE Academy, using mainstream school attendance as a baseline.

This pie-chart illustrates that 90% of pupils maintain or improve their attendance during

their time at The CE Academy with only 10% seeing a decrease in their attendance.

Comparison with mainstream school attendanceComparison with mainstream school attendance

We also analyse average attendance rates of pupils at their mainstream schools, once

again drawing comparisons with average attendance at The CE Academy. The average

attendance of pupils referred to The CE Academy is 69%.

Here it is once again evident that on average pupils at both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4

significantly improve their attendance at the CE Academy.

Overall attendanceOverall attendance

We have also analysed our overall attendance since we converted to an AP Academy.

Overall this time we have seen a gradual increase in our average attendance.

In 2013-14 the average attendance of pupils improved from 69% at their mainstream

schools to an average of 87% at The CE Academy. For pupils in receipt of pupil premium

average attendance improved from 65% in mainstream schools to an average of 86% at

The CE Academy.

Attendance Analysis 2014

Pupil Premium Allocated Spending: 2014-2015


The pupil premium was introduced in April 2011 and is allocated to schools to work

with pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six

years (known as “Ever 6FSM), Looked After Children and services children. For AP

Academies and PRU’s pupil premium funding is calculated based on the January census.

Due to the ever changing school roll this funding is not linked to specific pupils as many

complete Year 11 and others join our roll after this date.

Schools and Academies have the freedom to choose how they will allocate this

spending but are held accountable through the Ofsted inspection framework, and the

reports that they have to publish online which explain their spending choices and

measure the impact of their spending.

When making decisions upon where how to allocate this funding we continue to refer

to the research conducted by the Sutton Trust. This is whilst ensuring that we consider

what methods would work for our pupils in our Academy.

In 2013-2014 The CE Academy has predicted Pupil Premium funding of £95,850. In total

we received £112,148. With the additional funding we increased spending on several

existing projects to cater for individual needs of pupils.

In 2014-2015 we predict Pupil Premium funding will increase slightly to £116,584.

However we have an increased number of pupils on roll in relation to last academic

year. When allocating this spending last academic year The CE Academy Senior

Leadership Team (following consultation with the Governing Body) decided to continue

with and expand upon successful existing projects and implement some new initiatives.

(Updated for actual spend)

These are identified below.


Initiative Cost Identified Sutton Trust Approach

Aim

Jam in the Hood Project in partnership with Groundworks Northants and Northants Police

£1375

Behaviour Interventions + 4 months

Seek to improve attainment by reducing challenging behaviour including aggression and violence.

Collaborative Learning + 5 months

Develop young people’s understanding of social responsibility.

Social and Emotional Learning + 4 months

Improve young people’s collaboration and teamwork skills.

Curriculum leaders to implement and standardise an approach to feedback

Professional Development (Delivering outstanding lessons)

£5000

Feedback + 8 months

To develop a standardised method of feedback and self-assessment (two stars and a wish) capable of producing an improvement in students’ learning.

£3000

Feedback to be clear, specific, and accurate providing guidance on how to improve.

Improve the quality of teaching and learning.

Group and Individual Anger Management/ self-esteem counselling

£2475 Behaviour Interventions + 5 months

Provide targeted interventions for specific young people to reduce their aggression, violence, bullying and general anti-social activities.


Evaluating these new initiativesEvaluating these new initiatives

Our key new spending project was directed at ensuring the quality of our teaching and

learning remained outstanding and that a whole school system for feedback and self/

peer assessment was introduced.

Our recent Ofsted report (July 2014) supports the success of this strategy:

“Typically, teaching is outstanding at both key stages, including in English and mathematics.

The teaching over time is outstanding.”

“Excellent marking often takes place on the spot and students are given clear guidance on what

they need to improve.”

The “Jam in the Hood” partnership with the Police had successes in engaging very hard

to reach young people and has had a positive impact on one particular pupil who made

significant steps in taking on social responsibility and modifying their aggressive

behaviour. This year we are developing a partnership with Northamptonshire Police by

developing a service level agreement between Northamptonshire Police and

The CE Academy.

Our Anger Management interventions were difficult to measure. Where pupils’ engaged

they spoke positively about their experiences, however some were reluctant to take

part in an “Anger Management Programme”

With behaviour interventions being key to success at The CE Academy we have decided

to use Pupil Premium Funding to fund whole staff training that will facilitate a whole

school approach and common language to be used when working with pupils.

This will allow all staff to deliver this programme with pupils either individually or in

small groups.

We will also continue to spend the Pupil Premium Funding on the areas outlined below

that have proved to be successful in recent years.


Initiative Aim

Curriculum leaders to drive forward our marking and feedback policy.

To ensure all staff are using CE Academy marking and feedback policy.

Allowing pupils to benefit from quality feedback to enhance their learning. To drive improvements in the quality of teaching and learning.

Partnership working with Northamptonshire Police. “Jam in the Hood”

Develop pupils’ understanding of social responsibility. Seek to reduce challenging behaviour including aggression and violence.

Funding places on outdoor residential visits to Govilon in Wales

For groups of pupils to spend three days at an outdoor adventure learning centre in Wales, focusing on social development and teamwork. We ensure this residential includes a high degree of collaborative learning with a high level of physical and sometimes emotional challenge. There is also time allocated for practical problem solving activities and reflection and thinking (metacognition)

School uniform and equipment for vocational courses

By providing all the necessary equipment and clothing this has allowed all pupils to take up a place on vocational courses

Adventure Ways

The impact of Govilon led the CE Academy to source outdoor adventure based activities for pupils within Northamptonshire. We have formed a partnership with a company called “Adventure Ways” who shares our philosophy on collaborative learning and giving the opportunity for reflection and problem solving.

Equine Learning Programme

Offering group and 1:1 behaviour interventions (many of the pupils who benefit from this are LAC or have a SEN) The focus is on re-engagement and specific behaviour interventions aimed at reducing aggression, violence, aggression and substance abuse.

Ruth Miskin Literacy scheme and staff training

To improve targeted literacy support for all pupils at The CE Academy. The initial focus will be on KS3 with the programme to be rolled out to KS4 next academic year. The key aim is to improve reading ages and remove barriers to learning.

Fermyn Woods Arts Project –KS4 Workshops

This involves pupils working alongside professional artists in an outdoor environment. This not only allows pupils to have new and challenging experiences but has led to pupils having their work displayed in local galleries and improved exam outcomes.

Northants Fire Service The fire service's Action Reaction Consequence programme is linked to the Wider Key Skill of Improving own Learning and Performance. Progression is available to the Young Fire Fighters course.

One to one tutoring

Some of our young people find it difficult to access their learning in the presence of their peers. This has enabled many learners to catch up with their peers and experience success giving them the confidence to re-engage in a classroom environment.


Impact of Pupil Premium spending on pupil outcomesImpact of Pupil Premium spending on pupil outcomes

When measuring the impact of pupil premium spending we have analysed a number of

performance indicators for pupils at The CE Academy in relation to the performance of

disadvantaged pupils (Ever 6 FSM and Looked After Children). These include attainment,

attendance, destinations and pupils’ wider development.

AttainmentAttainment

To monitor the impact of pupil premium we analyse our GCSE results, in comparison

with national data; and then look at our results for all pupils in comparison with those in

receipt of pupil premium. Nationally 16.2% of pupils in Alternative Provision (2012/13)

achieved 5+ A*-G grades (including English and Maths).

At The CE Academy 44% of pupils achieved 5+ A*-G grades (including English and

Maths) with 40.4% of pupil premium pupils achieving this same benchmark. Also 36%

achieved 1 A*-G grade with 32.7% of pupil premium pupils achieving this landmark.

Both results for pupil premium pupils are above the national average for pupils in

Hospital Schools and PRU’s.

The Ruth Miskin Programme has had a positive impact on reading ages for all KS3

pupils. Over a six month period average reading ages increased from 10.03 years to

10.93 years. For Pupil premium pupils’ average reading ages increased from 9.92 years

to 10.81 years.

Our recent Ofsted report (July 2014) supports the high achievement of pupils’ in

relation to pupils in similar settings and the notion that disadvantaged pupils are

making rapid academic progress.

“Students make outstanding progress in English and mathematics because the

teaching of these subjects is excellent”

“Key Stage 4 students make outstanding progress in English and mathematics.

From the time they enter the academy until when they leave at the end of Year 11,

their rate of progress is faster than what is typical for students over such periods

of time.”

“Almost all students at Key Stage 3 make rapid progress in reading, writing and

mathematics.”

”Pupil premium students make the same outstanding progress in English and

mathematics as their peers. Some make even faster progress than their peers in

mathematics”



AttendanceAttendance

Another indicator of the success of our pupil premium interventions is pupil attendance.

Attendance analysis shows that 90% of pupils improve their attendance in relation to

their mainstream schools. Over the past two years overall attendance rates have

increased from 85% to 87% and in 2013/14 average attendance improved from 69% at

mainstream school to 87% at The CE Academy.

In 2013-2014 for pupils in receipt of pupil premium average attendance improved from

65% in mainstream schools to 86% at The CE Academy.

DestinationsDestinations

We also use Year 11 destinations data to show the impact this work is having. The most recent Government data shows that the NEET rate for 16-18 year olds is 7.6%, with approximately 50% of Alternative Provision leavers finding a sustainable destination on leaving.

In both 2013 (92%) and 2014 (94%) of leavers had a clear destination upon leaving The CE Academy. This included college placements, apprenticeships, Princes Trust and Youth Training.

For pupils in receipt of pupil premium 92% had a planned destination 5% were NEET and 3% were not available to the labour market (at home with baby).

Wider developmentWider development

In an attempt to identify the wider impact pupil premium funding has for our pupils we ask our Yr.11 parents and pupils’ to complete our moving on questionnaire to help evaluate our strengths and weaknesses. This year 96% pupils’ who completed the questionnaire said that they now felt more confident than when they started at The CE Academy. Identifying the best things that The CE Academy had done for them as improved confidence; help to achieve GCSEs; improved achievement in lesson; support through hard times; college applications; improvement as a person; and provided opportunity.

This is referenced as a positive in our Ofsted report (July 2014):

“Personalised and flexible approaches are used to help students lacking in confidence because of their learning experiences before entering this school.”

In order to record the individual impact of pupil premium funding we have produced several detailed case studies showing the impact that pupil premium funding has had for specific pupils.


English


The English curriculum group works closely together across all The CE Academy sites and with

the tutors in ILP. Beyond the GCSEs, our stated aim is to re-engage young people with a love of

language and literature, to enable them to engage with the world by improving all aspects of

their communication and to promote the enjoyment of reading.

Key Stage 3Key Stage 3

At Key Stage 3 we work closely with the literacy and Ruth Miskin programmes but we aim to

differentiate ourselves so that we do not create a link in the minds of the young people

between low self-esteem and the pleasure of reading. We hope that all Key Stage 3 students

will read a full novel whilst in our care and that we promote the philosophy that a love of books

and literature is for all ages, abilities and social groups. We base the curriculum on project

based learning, incorporating comprehension skills as well as creative and imaginative writing.


Key Stage 4 English is dominated by the GCSE. This follows the OCR English Syllabus J350. The

GCSE requires five pieces of written coursework – one on a Shakespeare play, one on a novel

and a third on the study of poetry. This is then followed by two pieces of imaginative writing

that are drawn from student’s experiences of the literature. Although Speaking and Listening is

still marked and moderated, it no longer counts towards the final GCSE grade. This is something

that we consider a major loss – not only because our students tend to do well on these tasks

but also because we place a high value on teaching our young people to be able to

communicate with world around them in a manner that is to their greatest advantage. The

GCSE is completed by a two hour written examination, which tests both the comprehension and

the composition skills of the young people.

Exam Entries and ResultsExam Entries and Results

In 2013 we saw our entry level drop to a disappointing low. This was addressed in the

departmental development plan and I am pleased to say that we entered a number higher than

2013’s level by over 25%. This is a big step and was the fourth largest English entry in the last

10 years. We are proud of the entry level in particular given that English has a large coursework

requirement; that teaching Shakespeare or a novel takes about six to eight weeks each and that

the vast majority of students have a negative view of the subject when they first enter our

classrooms.

English

This year’s GCSE results were down on previous years, however, although this exactly mirrors a

national trend. Sadly, we managed only one grade in the A-C bracket – a grade B, although only

students were predicted a grade in this area. On a more positive note, there were no

unclassified students and no-one received a grade G. The vast majority were in grade E (nearly

50%). This can perhaps be explained by the removal of Speaking and Listening from the final

grade and an emphasis on more rigorous examinations – indeed, the exam’s average mark

(39.53) was the lowest it had ever been.

ChallengesChallenges

The challenges facing us are directly outlined in the paragraph above. Speaking and Listening is

never coming back and the examination is to get tougher and tougher in the coming years.

Next year is the final year of coursework and a student’s entire English grade will be based on

their performance in the final exam. As a direct result of this, we need to find new ways for

students to measure progress and reflect on what they have learnt – ways that will enable them

to comprehend fully what they need to do to improve, how they are shaping up for the exam

and also, giving them the language to communicate this to staff, parents and carers. Progress in

English is not as easily quantifiable as it is in maths or science, so we hope to trial a number of

methods during the year to find out which method or combination of methods works best with

our young people.

Developments Within The CurriculumDevelopments Within The Curriculum

As a group we are developing new ways for students to record and measure their progress; we

are looking at new ways to plan lessons and have had peer training and ideas sharing in ways to

plan schemes of work. We circulate articles and websites in order to try to improve practice and

look at the ways that other curriculum areas and other schools do the things that we would like

to do. We have introduced Progress Maps and a uniform marking system as examples of

initiatives that will guide students through the curriculum when the signposts of coursework are

removed.

Future PlansFuture Plans

Our current Year 10s and all students below will sit the new look GCSE and so all of our future

plans are bent towards that end. We need to improve the use of mainstream baseline

information and we need to plan for a future without levels that allows us to record and

manage student progress through the GCSE in plain and concrete terms. Our ultimate aim is for

any student to be able to say in clear English what they are capable of and how they can

improve – this, balanced with our on-going mission to make literature and English lessons a

place where young people feel cherished, challenged and excited.

Mathematics


The mathematics curriculum group is committed to improving all young people’s understanding

and participation in the subject. We also promote the importance of the subject to society and

the economic benefits to their individual futures.

The subject is taught to Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 across eight campus sites based around the

county, with a further Key Stage 3 campus opening this academic year. This includes three Key

Stage 3 sites, two sites for school age mothers and four sites for Key Stage 4 (to include one

mixed gender site and three single sex sites).

The curriculum is delivered by eight members of staff including four subject specialists and four

multi discipline teachers this coming academic year.


At Key Stage 3 young people follow the requirements of the national curriculum. The scheme of

work is designed to work with groups of varying ages and ability. We focus on two key areas: to

teach core skills that young people should have the opportunity to study at each level, and to

address essential areas that are missing from their education.

Key aims are:

To re-engage disaffected pupils.

Identify and address areas of need crucial to progress within the subject.

Maintain and extend existing knowledge to enable identified pupils to be reintegrated to

mainstream.

Promote a sense of value and enjoyment in the subject.

Identify pupils of higher attainment and encourage a desire to achieve at the highest

level.

The curriculum allows the young people the opportunity to develop core numeracy skills, the

ability to investigate mathematical concepts, problem solving, logical thinking and application of

knowledge to the world around them.

In the 2013-14 academic year we delivered a new scheme of work designed to accommodate

pupils who spend longer than one year in our provisions. The scheme addresses the needs of

pupils who may arrive in year 7 or later and stay with us for a significant portion of their

secondary education. It sets out clear objectives for each year group and facilitates entry for the

GCSE course in year 10 or early examination where deemed appropriate on an individual basis.

CE

Mathematics


At Key Stage 4, young people follow the OCR J567 Syllabus B GCSE course. This is a terminal,

exam only course available at foundation and higher tiers. All young people study the subject in

years 10 and 11 with the expectation of being entered for accreditation by the end of year 11.

We do identify some young people for entry in year 10 using the following criteria:

The potential to achieve a minimum of a grade C that will potentially provide the stimulus

to study the subject to a higher level.

Concerns that circumstances may place them in an increasingly vulnerable position

outside of education that will prevent engagement in year 11.

Pupils who need practical experience of the exam system to allow them to more

effectively assess their own ability and potential.

It is our belief that entry in year 10 is still appropriate for some students, despite the changes in

exam results recording instituted by the Government. Any entries at this stage will be made on

an individual basis, according to these starting considerations.

Exam EntriesExam Entries

The mathematics curriculum consistently enters the majority of young people for accreditation

at GCSE level. In the academic year 2013–2014 over 90% of all year 11 students were entered.

Despite a number of withdrawals on the day, the curriculum achieved a significantly higher level

of success than all other curriculum areas. A small number of students were not entered for a

number of reasons that were deemed to be in the interest of the young person, or at their

request. The majority of non-entries resulted from students failing to attend one or both

terminal exams.

Key points are:

8% of students entered achieved a grade A – C. Whilst this represents a fall on last year, it

must be taken into account the increased number of students entered.

There was an increase in passes at grades G and F, reflecting the distribution of student

ability and numbers of entry.

For ten young people, it represented the only GCSE qualification they achieved, and for a

further six students, one of two GCSE’s gained.

Eight year 9/10 students achieved success at foundation level and intend to continue

studies at a higher level currently.

Of the five students who achieved an ungraded score, two have been appealed. The

remaining three students only sat one paper but it was felt there was a chance they

would pass. Decisions of this nature need to be reviewed for the following year.

Mathematics


Mathematics is a subject that has often presented many of our young people with significant

challenges in mainstream. This can be apparent in a variety of ways including:

Lack of confidence and self-esteem in the classroom caused by repeated past failures

leading to a refusal to engage.

Large amounts of missing education from poor attendance or withdrawal from the

subject which can feed into the above.

A deep dislike of the subject because of confrontation with previous teachers which they

transfer to new teachers.

Additionally, many of our young people may currently be experiencing issues outside of school

that place them in vulnerable circumstances. This results in education and learning taking a

secondary or even lower role in their lives. Some young people have long periods of interrupted

education before joining us. We have a constantly changing group of young people, with new

students joining throughout the year. Practical necessities also dictate that the majority of

lessons are of mixed age and ability and subject to constant change. We also experience a

reluctance to engage that has been promoted by the parents.

There is an unusual but often repeated issue with a small number of young people who are

adamant they do not need the subject. This is because their parents did not achieve

academically or value it. They are working and have encouraged their child in the belief that

there will be a job for them when they leave school without qualifications. This view point is

often reinforced by the young person having access to part time work with a parent that

provides them with a limited income. This reinforces the belief that this is the way forward for

their future and presents a concrete but false reality.

In addition to these challenges, the curriculum is facing a period of change resulting from the

Government’s desire to increase the uptake in the subject at 16-19. Key challenges facing the

curriculum over the next two years are:

Increasing participation in the terminal exams for all students to allow them successful entry to

higher education where continued study of the subject will be mandatory.

Promotion of the importance of achieving a minimum of a grade C.

Integration of the new grading system from 1–9 and identification of the new minimum

requirement under this system.

Delivery of a new scheme of work that will have significantly increased content and difficulty at

foundation level and more challenging terminal exams.

Many of these changes are likely to disadvantage the majority of our students and are

diametrically opposed to some students and parents beliefs and experiences.

Mathematics

Developments within the curriculumDevelopments within the curriculum

This is the second year the curriculum has had a subject leader. During this year, the following

have been introduced across all campuses:

More self-awareness and self-assessment by pupils of their progress.

A unified system of recording work and assessment of progress by teachers.

Use of online resources to support pupils within the classroom and at home with parents.

Complete reviews of schemes of work to bring them into alignment across the key stages.

In a recent inspection, Ofsted acknowledged that student’s attainment is typically below

national average in the subject. They observed that Key Stage 3 students make rapid progress

and Key Stage 4 students make outstanding progress. They also observed that teaching in the

subject is typically outstanding.


Increase participation in the terminal exams to over 90% of year 11.

Increase the aspirations of students to achieve a minimum of a grade C.

Promote the importance of the subject for 16–19 education and employment.

Integrate changes to the curriculum for the Key Stage 3 scheme of work by the end of the

year (for examinations in 2017).

Integrate changes to the Key Stage 4 scheme of work by the following year.

Effectively use online resources to support students across all key stages.

Continue to develop effective self-assessment.

Identify students who appear likely to not attend terminal exams and work with parents/

staff/other agencies to overcome this outcome.

Science


The science curriculum group is committed to improving students’ understanding and enjoyment of science. All students study science at Key Stages 3 and 4, unless attendance at college or other curriculum arrangements preclude them from doing so. The subject is taught by specialist staff.

We believe that the study of science enables the development of scientific literacy, can provide the pathway to many career opportunities and equally important, has the potential to develop enquiring minds - something we hope will be of use to our young people throughout their lives.


At Key Stage 3 young people follow the Heinemann ‘Catalyst’ scheme which allows students to develop an understanding of the following key areas:

Scientific thinking

Applications and implications of science

Cultural understanding

Collaboration

The curriculum enables the development of practical enquiry skills, an understanding of evidence, and opportunities for communication through both written work and discussion. The study of science in real life settings (locally, nationally and globally) is also catered for. We hope that the study of science will encourage young people to question their world and to look for explanations.

The scheme of work allows for a variety of learning styles: experimentation, discussion, and research.


At Key Stage 4 young people follow the OCR Gateway Science B Specification. This is available at both foundation and higher levels. Should students sit the examination in year 10, they may be offered the opportunity to take a second GCSE qualification (Additional Science) in year 11. The curriculum is broad and balanced and, at the same time, it enables us to structure its delivery to accommodate individuals’ interests and needs.

The controlled assessment component makes up 25% of the final grade. In addition, there are two exam papers which make up the remaining 75%.


A higher percentage of Year 11s were entered for GCSE science. This was a 4.7% increase overall compared to last year. However the gender balance had shifted considerably. Our overall entry numbers were similar to English , but considerably lower than maths.

The new specification (now in its second year for us with regard to certification) is much more demanding in its requirements - increased content, greater depth of understanding needed, and changed nature of the controlled assessment. All of these factors present us with

problems regarding entry numbers. Some of the young people who joined us later in the school year, and who had had a chequered history in science at mainstream, were unable to complete the course in the way in which they would have been able to with the previous specification.

The percentage of passes at grade C fell from 5.2% to 2.2%. However, this is not statistically

Science

significant, as the raw numbers were different by only one student. There was a small percentage fall in students gaining grade D (13.2% to 12.5%) but a larger percentage fall in those gaining grade G (18.4% to 12.5%). This meant that our results clustered around grades E and F.

There were marked gender differences with regard to entry for the GSCE. A higher percentage of girls were entered for the exam. This is something we do need to address over the next year. Because only one student gained a grade C, it does not make sense to analyse the results statistically for the ‘grade C and above’ category. 100% of girls and 95.8% of boys gained grade G or above (one boy was ungraded).

Of the 48 Year 11 students we entered, 25 were in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding. There were no statistically significant differences in attainment between the two groups.


Many young people who join us have negative feelings about science as a subject. This can often be because it gave them many opportunities for off task behaviour when they were in mainstream education. In some cases this may have resulted in their exclusion from science lessons. In addition our young people have often experienced long periods of interrupted education, and they join us at unpredictable times during the school year. This means our teaching groups, whilst small, consist of pupils across years 10 and 11 at Key Stage 4, and across years 7, 8 and 9 at Key Stage 3. Teaching groups can also be subject to frequent changes.


The curriculum group reviewed its schemes of work, at both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, and these have been rewritten. We now have a more coherent and coordinated programme for the delivery of the science curriculum across both Key Stages.

Linked to the above was our production of assessment sheets (‘RAG’ sheets) for the science GCSE course. This enables us to keep track of students’ progress, and for students to use these sheets as a form of self-assessment.

We have looked to develop students’ literacy this year. Word walls were produced and distributed to all campuses. Each campus has a copy of ‘William’s Words in Science’. In addition staff focused on the increasing literacy demands of the science curriculum within their lessons.


This year we will be focusing on the coming changes to the National Curriculum at Key Stage 4. The content criteria for science were published by the DfE in April 2014; exam boards are currently writing specifications for these. It is to be taught for the first time from September 2016 for first examination in summer 2018. The changes are far reaching for us, as single science will no longer exist as a GCSE subject. Students will only be able to take double or triple science. We shall be looking at the exam boards’ specifications as they emerge and also considering whether IGCSE might be a feasible option for the future.

We intend to consolidate the Key Stage 3 teaching materials, scheme of work and subject content, particularly with regard to these providing a firm foundation for the incoming new Key Stage 4 specifications.

Art and Design

Introduction

The art and design and textiles curriculum group is committed to improving young

peoples’ understanding, knowledge and skills. All young people have the opportunity to

study art and design at Key Stage 3 and 4 across all campuses unless attending college

or other curriculum opportunities. Two campuses offer textiles as an additional art

specialism. We see art as an important means to helping young people gain confidence,

self–esteem and understanding that the process of creating art can be beneficial in

improving their attitude towards learning.

Key Stage 3

At Key Stage 3 young people follow schemes of work linked to the national curriculum

for art and design. A two year programme enables young people to develop skills and

understanding. The programme allows them to develop vocabulary and techniques and

to be able to give a considered evaluation of their own and others work.

Each year there are six project titles which are linked to artists, craftspeople or

designers that young people are encouraged to investigate.

Key Stage 4

At Key Stage 4 young people follow a programme of study following OCR specifications.

The theme ‘Environment’ offers all the young people an extremely broad range of

subject matter to investigate, research and record. This contributes to them producing

coursework which is engaging, vibrant and refined.

Most young people at Key Stage 4 work towards taking Art and Design GCSE. The

Fairlawn campus offers Textiles as an additional GCSE subject.

Fermyn Woods Contemporary Arts Workshop

Key Stage 3 young people have had the opportunity to attend the arts workshop again

this year. Two different groups have gone to the woods on Tuesday and Thursdays and

spent the day working with an artist. James Steventon, Fermyn Woods’ Education

Officer, has this year provided us with a wide and diverse group of artists and the young

people have worked to improve their skills in drawing, modelling and carving. 16 young

people have been awarded an Arts Award Discoverers Certificate.

Key Stage 4 young people had the opportunity to attend a two week arts workshop to

work with two local artists. Working with the artists helped the young people improve

the standard of their work and was used as part of their GCSE coursework.

Once again, the art teachers enjoyed a weekend of art workshops, although bitterly

cold outside we stoked up the log burner, toasted our toes and indulged ourselves in

producing art work, all benefitting from learning new techniques and art skills from the

resident artists.

Art and Design

Exam Entries and Results

This year 35 young people were entered for OCR GCSE Art and Design and 9 young

people were entered for OCR GCSE Textiles.

Achievements:

Grades achieved in Art and Design

7 young people achieved A – C grades

28 young people achieved D - G grades

2 young people – U

Grades achieved in Textiles

1 young person achieved A – C

8 young people achieved D – G

Challenges

Many young people attend art lessons feeling negative and lacking in confidence

generally because of previous experience in their former school. Often they would be

excluded from art lessons because of behaviour issues and a feeling that they don’t

have the necessary skills to do art. In Key Stage 4 young people joining at different

stages in the academic year makes it difficult to encourage interest and enthusiasm for

art. Teachers work hard to find a level that young people feel comfortable and

confident with.

Developments within the curriculum

The teaching staff within the art department have met to discuss how they can support

young people who begin to attend our campuses at different stages of the academic

year. Identifying teaching methods to improve their skills and confidence and in doing

so improve their predicted grades. It was decided that it would be better to find the

level they are comfortable with and contact their former school for their art folders.

Key Stage 3 will continue to work to improve young people’s skills, ideas and

confidence. The Fermyn Woods Arts Workshop will continue to support the young

people’s learning in an exciting and positive way.

Key Stage 4 young people will again attend a two week arts workshop.

Future plans

It is hoped this year that all young people will have the opportunity to visit museums and galleries.

Teaching staff are going to share their skills by offering to do twilight courses so that they can all continue to improve the skills they have and share ideas.

Teaching staff will have the opportunity to attend the Fermyn Woods Arts Workshop with new artists provided by James Steventon.

Expressive Arts


GCSE Expressive Arts is now firmly embedded in The CE Academy curriculum at all Key Stage 4 campus sites and is delivered by a variety of staff with different subject specialisms.

The beauty of this subject is that it extends pupils’ understanding of different art forms and encourages them to explore relationships between each of them, whilst allowing pupils to develop their creative and imaginative skills.

“Candidates were producing a wide range of creative work and it is evident that the centre has a strong understanding of the course and its ethos.” Stuart Race, OCR moderator 2014

It encourages independent learning and decision making and introduces pupils to a wide range of media. At The CE Academy it is particularly successful as it enables pupils to work to their strengths and allows opportunities for them to develop their own skills and interests. It is also a great subject to introduce different cultures and arts practitioners perhaps unfamiliar to pupils.


At Key Stage 4 pupils follow the OCR GCSE Expressive Arts specification. This is made up of three mandatory units.

Working in response to the study of artworks by practitioners. Working in response to a stimulus. Working in response to a commission in a community context. The first two units are controlled assessments and comprise 60% of the final grade. The final unit is a practical exam. Throughout the specification pupils must explore and apply the work of practitioners and develop final realisations for each unit in at least three art forms. They can choose from the following:

Art and Design Music Drama Dance Music


For many years the number of entries for GCSE Expressive Arts has been significantly lower than the amount of entries for GCSE Art and Design. This year, however it was clear that the status for expressive arts has risen as we had a record number of 47 entries which was favourable to art and design. This was a target that had been set on our development plan and will continue to appear on this year’s development plan.

All pupils who were entered achieved a GCSE in Expressive Arts with 21% gaining A-C grades. This is lower than last year and will be addressed in our development plan. However we did see a higher number of pupils gaining a grade D and fewer pupils gaining grades E-G.

Other specific achievements included:

One pupil achieved a grade A and three pupils achieved a grade B. Three year 10 pupils were entered this year and achieved one grade B and two grade C’s. A pupil who had previously gained a GCSE in Expressive Arts in year 10 sat it again in year

11 and achieved a higher grade. Positive written feedback from the moderator. “Your work was a pleasure to moderate. Thank you very much”. Stuart Race, OCR moderator 2014 No adjustment of marks.


Many young people join us without having any experience of expressive arts and what it means so it is essential that the subject is introduced to them in an exciting and imaginative way. Many pupils wrongly assume if they do not like art as a subject that this will also apply to expressive arts. We feel it is important that we make a clear distinction. Where possible we endeavour to teach expressive arts in a classroom other than the art room.


The use of stop-motion animation in pupil’s work was strengthened by workshops held in campus sites by Barry Skillen from the Manchester based company ‘Animation Nation’. Intermission Theatre, a London based theatre group visited Key Stage 4 sites and performed Verona Road, a modern-day interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. This clearly helped our young people gain a better understanding of the play for their English GCSE but also introduced expressive arts pupils to drama and live theatre. Pupils at the Overleys Campus were involved in a lullaby workshop, which was run by a local organisation called Park Street Music. The end result was a group collaboration where the girls produced a finished lullaby that they could play to their babies as well as using it for their expressive arts work.

Marking of pupil work has become more consistent where all staff are now following the ‘two stars and a wish’ scheme.

Regular curriculum group meetings have proved very useful where during the autumn term the focus was on standardisation and exam planning. An exam planning sheet for pupils was developed and used by all which could certainly contribute to pupils gaining better marks in the practical exam. It was also muted last year that moving the exam forward so that it took place before the Easter break may be of benefit for pupils. This worked well as pupils were able to draw on their positive exam experience when returning to complete their final realisations.

Expressive Arts enables young people to work with a range of media. Within The CE Academy we have a variety of different and exciting digital resources that are utilised in expressive arts. The staff team were able to provide training for each other on various software packages including Crazy Talk, Audacity and Photoshop, which benefitted our pupils as the use of a variety of software was evident in pupil’s final realisations. The ICT team were also involved with introducing pupils to the range of software we have at the Academy thus enabling some to come to expressive arts lessons with already acquired skills.


We continue to aim for an increased number of entries and to further our success in achieving an even higher number of grade A-C passes. A focus will be on moving pupils from a grade D to at least a C. All staff now have a memory stick to enable them to collate all their resources with a view for them to be transferred on to a dedicated expressive arts hard drive that can be used and shared among staff. This will certainly be a useful resource for new members of staff or staff new to the subject. It was evident that there was some exciting work being done with the pupils at the Academy. All individual schemes of work will be uploaded onto the Academy intranet.

We also will be updating our equipment and are in the process of ordering new cameras and video cameras and Apple Mac computers for all campus sites which will be dedicated to expressive arts.

Expressive Arts

Design Technology


The Design and Technology (DT) curriculum group is committed to improving our

students’ understanding of good design and of the role that technology plays in

everyday life. DT is timetabled at both Key Stage 4 (Cromwell and London Road) and

Key Stage 3 (Chiltern and William Knibb). A further workshop is planned to service

Fairlawn and Spring Gardens. It is taught by four members of staff. We see the study of

DT as not just the nurturing of practical ability, but as a subject which equips students

with skills that employers value. Of equal importance is the way in which the subject

promotes independent research, evaluation and risk taking, all of which will be useful

throughout their lives.


At Key Stage 3, the curriculum allows young people to design and construct a range of

products that incorporate processes and materials to equip students with the know-

ledge and skills they will need for their transition to the GCSE syllabus in Key Stage 4.

The scheme of work provides opportunity for individual enquiry and scope for students

to communicate their design ideas using traditional graphical media and also through

the utilisation of CAD and CAM technologies. Modern materials are explored and the

concept of quality is investigated through the honing of existing skills and the

development of fresh ideas and competencies.

The scheme of work allows for a variety of learning styles: experimentation, discussion and research.


At Key Stage 4 young people follow the AQA 4576 short course or the AQA 4560 full

course specification (student exam choices are governed by their start date at the

Academy). If students sit the examination in year 10 they may be offered the

opportunity to re-take the qualification the following year, depending on the previous

GCSE grade attained. The curriculum is broad and balanced and, at the same time, it

enables us to structure its delivery to accommodate individual interests and needs.

The Design and Technology AQA 4576 short course qualification is comprised of one 20

hour controlled assessment module that carries 60% of the final marks. The remaining

40% of the marks for the final grade are contained in a 1 hour final written examination

paper.

The Design and Technology AQA 4560 full course qualification is comprised of one 45

hour controlled assessment module that carries 60% of the final marks. The remaining

40% of the marks for the final grade are contained in a 2 hour final written examination

paper.

Students learn about sustainable design, research methods, work of famous designers, manufacturing processes, tools and their uses and methods of fixing.


This is the first year that our students have been entered for this AQA qualification.

There has been a gradual increase in the percentage of student entries in DT over the

last three years, however, they have fallen this year largely due to the reduction in

taught lessons.

The statement below will be amended when exam data is available

The quantity of student entries was something that we addressed in our development

plan with some success; our percentage, but this year, the GCSE grades were s, we will

continue to address this matter in the coming year.


Many young people who join us have negative feelings about DT as a subject. This can

be because it gave them many opportunities for off task behaviour when they were in

mainstream education which in some cases may have resulted in their exclusion from

DT lessons. In addition our young people have often experienced long periods of

interrupted education and join us at unpredictable times during the school year. This

means our teaching groups, whilst small, consist of pupils across years 10 and 11 at Key

Stage 4 and years 7, 8 and 9 at Key Stage 3 and can be subject to frequent changes.


The curriculum group continues to strive to improve the quality of practical projects by

the introduction of starter activities which feature smart and modern materials. Student

technical vocabularies have been a concern and work has been actioned to incorporate

key words into workshops and into lessons. Student self-evaluation of projects using

two stars and a wish has now become an integral part of lessons and has helped to

document student progress and achievement. Additional staff training has been agreed

to improve the integration of CAD CAM and 3D modelling into lessons and to improve

the quality of student products.


Changes made to the National Curriculum Design and Technology programme of study

have prompted the curriculum group to revise the Key Stage 3 scheme of work to

incorporate programmable digital electronics and opportunities for student led design

and making activities. This year’s student cohort will be the first to access this revised

Key Stage 3 curriculum.

Design Technology

The CE Academy

Child Development


C hild Development is presently taught at both of the school age mother sites, one being

Overleys in Northampton, the other Oaklands in Corby. All of the students study child

development unless they attend other college courses, in which case specific relevant topics

are covered in PACC sessions.

This academic year it is also on timetable at our Key Stage 4 provision in Corby.

If a student from another campus expresses a keen interest in this subject where possible they

are also offered the opportunity to study and gain a GCSE in this subject.

Child Development is a fundamental subject to our students in preparing them for the

expectations and changes that occur during pregnancy and parenthood.

Students follow the OCR GCSE Home Economics: Child Development. The subject focuses on the

growth and development of children from conception to the age of five. Areas covered include :

Family and parenting

Preparation for pregnancy and birth

Physical development

Nutrition and health

Intellectual, social and emotional development

Community support

Controlled assessment and exam preparation

The scheme of work allows for a variety of learning styles, independent learning, group work,

discussion and research.

The OCR Child Development course for GCSE consists of controlled assessments and a final

examination.

Unit BO11: Three short tasksUnit BO11: Three short tasks

Candidates submit 3 short tasks chosen from a list of tasks provided by OCR. Each of the 3 tasks

should focus on different practical skills and knowledge. 60 marks (20 marks per task)/30 % of

the total GCSE marks. This unit is internally assessed and externally moderated. These tasks will

assess the following skills: planning, practical work, evaluation, investigation.

The CE Academy

Unit BO12: Child study taskUnit BO12: Child study task

Candidates submit one individual task chosen from a list of themes provided by OCR. 60

marks/30% of the total GCSE marks. This unit is internally assessed and externally moderated.

This task will assess the following skills: research, selecting and justifying choices, planning,

practical work, evaluation.

Unit BO13: The examinationUnit BO13: The examination

The examination is a 1 hour 30 minute written paper which consists of five compulsory

questions, including short answers, picture stimulus, data response, structured and free-

response formats. Questions will cover all areas of the specification content. 80 marks/40% of

the total GCSE marks. It is externally assessed.

Exam entries and resultsExam entries and results

In 2014 seven pupils sat the Child Development examination. There was a 100% pass rate with

three out of seven achieving in excess of a C grade. One male pupil achieved a C grade and plans

to pursue a career in this field.


As Child Development is just taught by one member of staff that can be challenging because

they are solely responsible for the subject. The pupils also face a variety of challenges in

achieving a GCSE in Child Development. For some the subject is something that they have not

studied before. The subject contains a high percentage of assessment by controlled

assessments, consisting of 3 short tasks and a child study task. Due to the nature of the

provision, students may join us throughout the year increasing the pressure to complete

controlled assessments by the specific dead line. Students may also require time off from school

to give birth to their baby and adjust to motherhood.

Development in the curriculumDevelopment in the curriculum

The curriculum will develop by continuing to extend existing classroom and revision resources

as well as applying new materials relevant to the core subject. Staff have attended OCR training

to improve knowledge of the assessment process. A new marking and feedback policy (two

stars and a wish) has also led to improvements in the quality of teaching and learning.

Future plansFuture plans

Continue to make the subject interesting and appealing to students. To increase the varieties of

resources, work sheets, revision aids and library contents. To offer a variety of learning aids to

appeal to different learning styles. This will include using the virtual babies as a teaching tool

within the classroom. There is also an ambition and to expand Child Development as an option

to pupils on other campus sites.

Child Development

ICT

Introduction Introduction

T he CE Academy continues to deliver ICT as a component of both the Key Stage 3

and Key Stage 4 curriculum both as a discrete subject and as a cross curricular tool

throughout other subject areas. Pupils are taught how to use a variety of software

packages and to understand and consider the use of ICT in business and in society.

Young people join us with vastly different skills and abilities in ICT and we aim to

support their development further to enhance their learning in other areas of the

curriculum.


At Key Stage 3 the curriculum is skills based. Teaching the skills needed to aid success in

other subject areas. We have developed a new scheme of work around the

requirements of the new national curriculum and the skills that will benefit pupils

across the curriculum. This includes power point, movie making, animation,

programming, ICT in society and coding skills.


At Key Stage 4 there is a focus on pupils achieving nationally recognised City and Guilds

ICT qualifications. The examination course promotes self-assessment of work, accuracy

and attention to detail. These examination passes have been instrumental in enabling

young people to access further education courses. In 2014/15 we have begun

developing a scheme of work at Key Stage 4 to specifically target skills required in

Expressive Arts to support the controlled assessment projects and examinations. This

will include music production, movie making software, game maker and developing

animations.


In 2014 there has been a decline in examination entries and passes. The School Aged

Mothers campus’ produced 24 examination passes, with several girls obtaining 3 or 4

examination passes. These included a range of subjects including text production skills,

word processing, spreadsheets and databases. There was a significant fall in exam

passes at Key Stage 4, although largely attributed to staff absence making

improvements is a key focus for 2014/15.


A major challenge is the differing experience of ICT young people have had at their

mainstream school. Some young people have not engaged with ICT previously, others

have good knowledge of ICT packages but require more structure to their use of

software to maximise their potential. The national changes to the computing curriculum

and an increased focus on computer science represent further challenges both for

pupils and staff. Several staff are not specialist teachers so they have the challenge of

developing their own skills in this part o the curriculum.

Developments in the curriculumDevelopments in the curriculum

At Key Stage 3 we have a new scheme of work including coding ad programming. At

Key Stage 4 we are continuing to develop schemes of work to specifically target skills

requires in other subject areas. This has been enhanced by offering training from

colleagues who teach Expressive Arts or who have knowledge of certain aspects of the

new ICT curriculum. Along with other curriculum areas the ICT group has developed a

new marking and feedback policy (two bites and a boot up) aimed at standardising and

improving feedback to have a positive impact on teaching and learning.


We intend to continue to teach our skills based curriculum aiming for all pupils to

achieve at least one ICT qualification at Key Stage 4. However the ICT curriculum group

will continue to conduct research to identify qualifications that employer’s value.

E-safety and cyber bullying is now embedded in our PACC curriculum and taught as

discrete lessons at both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

ICT

PACC


PACC is a valued and important component of The CE Academy curriculum designed to reflect

and enhance the academy’s Ethos which includes: equal rights for all, encouraging self

respect, everybody has the right to fail and all pupils have the right to be involved in decisions

that affect them.

The scheme of work accommodates for a variety of learning styles and the different attitudes

and values that are held by all young people. The curriculum enables and encourages the

development of practical and personal skills, and provides opportunities for communication

through a variety of different medium including written work, pictures, drama and discussion.

PACC is an acronym that incorporates PSHE, Citizenship and working with and in the

community. Most students from mainstream would recognise it as PSHE but the change in

name allows us to build something unique to The CE Academy and so by-pass any negative

experiences and memories that the students may have experienced in mainstream PSHE

sessions.

The whole of Wednesday mornings have been given over to PACC in order to highlight its

importance.

Careers promotes self-development - understanding themselves including influences; career

exploration both in learning and work and career management to make and adjust plans to

manage change and transition.

Citizenship provides knowledge and understanding about becoming informed citizens,

developing skills of enquiry and communication and skills of participation and responsible

action towards others in the community.


PACC (or PSHE) has been down-graded in the new National Curriculum. It is now “advised but

not compulsory”. This will not in any way alter our commitment to PSHE but it could give us

greater flexibility in choosing what we teach and tailoring our PACC curriculum to the needs of

the young people.

Time constraints have prevented the standardisation of the hard drives this year. In place of

this, Campus Coordinators are to be encouraged to share good resources and lesson ideas with

each other, therefore updating their own hard drives throughout the year.

An initial fear of ours when we created the hard drives was that staff would stop developing

ideas and lessons, and would rely solely on the hard drive for their resources. I am pleased to

say that the opposite is true – staff have relied on the hard drive for tried and trusted resources

but there has been a flood of new initiatives over the course of this year, with staff thinking that

the hard drive is a place that their work will be stored and linked in with other resources to

enhance schemes of work.

Due to changes in staff numbers during the course of the year, PACC was moved in a number of

campus sites to other times in the week, especially Friday afternoon. This offered up a number

of interesting results. In one campus, Cromwell, it was thought that PACC suffered from

following on from GCSE lessons and attendance began to suffer through the term; PACC seemed

to work best when given its own discrete pedestal on a Wednesday morning.


Some of the key topics covered include: human rights, crime and the law, challenging racism

and discrimination, legal rights and the law, economy, business and enterprise, rights and

responsibilities, media and the news, Europe, global issues, charity, animal welfare, personal

hygiene, first aid, disabilities, smoking and drugs, sex and relationships, diversity and migration,

bullying, peer pressure, recycling and the environment.


There are no formal exams or qualifications gained in PACC however progress is monitored by

feedback and the improved skills and attitudes displayed by the young people.


Many young people who join us have had negative experiences. They may come from

backgrounds where there are antisocial values and where positive attitudes towards others are

not necessarily reinforced. Some of the topics can be of a sensitive nature and young people

are given the option to discreetly remove themselves if they feel uncomfortable in the sessions.


The curriculum group continues to develop its use of resources and build relationships with

external agencies to support students and provide talks in house and visits off site. Each

campus has a nominated local charity and young people are given the opportunity to raise

money and awareness for both these and the nominated CE Academy Charity each year.


The Key Stage 3 PACC scheme of work is constantly under review to reflect changes in society

and trends of the young people. We are currently compiling a database of electronic resources

to complement the physical resources currently available in the campus sites.

The best PACC sessions have once again been outside visitors to the campus. Although these

can be hit and miss, when they work, they work extremely well. A centralised source list of

these visitors, their phone numbers and some notes from staff would help these resources to

enjoy better use.

PACC

History


The history curriculum group is committed to improving students’ understanding and enjoyment of history. Many young people study history at Key Stages 3 and 4 across The CE Academy unless attendance at college or other curriculum arrangements preclude them from doing so. It is taught by 4 members of staff. We see the study of history as essential for our students’ development in terms of study skills and awareness of the wider world. In addition we feel it is a gateway to many career opportunities.


At Key Stage 3 young people follow the SHP Development of Britain course which allows students to develop an understanding of the following key areas:

Skills in historical enquiry Applications and implications of history Cultural understanding Evaluative skills

The curriculum enables the development of practical enquiry skills, an understanding of evidence and opportunities for communication through both written work, ICT based work and discussion. The study of history in real life settings (locally, nationally and globally) is also catered for. We hope the study of history will encourage young people to question their world and find explanations.

The scheme of work allows for a variety of learning styles; visual, intrapersonal, social, aural, verbal, kinaesthetic and logical.


At Key Stage 4 young people follow the AQA History B Short course specification. Should students sit the examination in year 10 they may be offered the opportunity reattempt the course in year 11. The curriculum is broad and balanced and, at the same time, it enables us to structure its delivery to accommodate individual interests and needs.

The controlled assessment comprises 50% of the final grade. In addition there is an exam papers which make up the other marks.


For many years our entries for History GCSE have compared favourably with other humanities subjects. The percentage of young people entered in 2011 was lower. This was something we addressed in our development plan with some success and our percentage entries did increase.

This year History achieved 12 GCSE passes including a B and a C grade. Other specific achievements include increasing the number of exam entries in line with stated SEF intentions.


Many young people who join us have negative feelings about history as a subject. It is often one of, if not the first subject, to be removed from their timetables during the build-up to their being permanently excluded. This can often be because of the challenging nature of the subject and the literacy content involved. This is something that is being addressed directly in the department’s lesson planning and differentiation and indirectly by The CE Academy’s literacy strategy and work with Ruth Miskin materials.

In addition our young people have often experienced long periods of interrupted education and join us at unpredictable times during the school year. This means our teaching groups, whilst small, consist of pupils across years 10 and 11 at Key Stage 4 and years 7, 8 and 9 at Key Stage 3 and can be subject to frequent changes.

Developments in the curriculum Developments in the curriculum

The curriculum group continues to access and develop its use of online resources, media and ICT based resources. The BBC History Timeline as an ICT tool is a central theme to our programme of study at Key Stage 3. The roles of software packages such as Crazy Talk, Serif Movie, Photoshop and the MS Office suite are as consistent as they are essential.


Summer 2013 was the last time we were able to use the predecessor to our current choice of course and exam provider, AQA. Our first cohort for this new course will be entered summer 2015. The history curriculum group has identified the tasks needed to be undertaken to fully prepare students for this and working groups are looking at different aspects of this.

Tasks for these groups include:

Adapting to a new process of controlled assessment Adapting our Cold War programme of study to allow for the absence of source

evaluation in favour of content driven materials.

There is also a Key Stage3 working group to review the curriculum for years 7 to 9.

History

Geography


Geography is delivered within The CE Academy at Key Stage 3 and 4. Last year it was delivered in three of the Key Stage 4 campuses and at William Knibb at Key Stage 3.

Geography at both Key Stage 3 and 4 is linked to other curriculum areas such as English and science.


At Key Stage 3, geography was taught at William Knibb. The subject aims to develop the students’ understanding of their local area and how this interlinks nationally, with the rest of the European Union and the rest of the world. The programme of study includes physical and human aspects which takes account of current issues such as flooding, industry and sustainability.


At Key Stage 4, geography was delivered in 2013-2014 at Cromwell, Forest Gate and London Road campus sites. The students followed the OCR short course. The course is assessed by a final examination which makes up 50% of the final grade. The remaining 50% is teacher assessed through one enquiry which is fieldwork based. This is a change from previous years where two controlled assessments were required.


In 2014 seven students were entered for the GCSE at foundation level. There was very little difference between pupil performance in the enquiry and in the exam. All students entered achieved a grade at GCSE.


Many of the young people who sat the GCSE had no previous experience of geography so were studying the subject for the first time. Geographical knowledge and understanding of subject specific vocabulary are consequently limited. Staffing issues also impacted on entries and exam preparation in both the Forest Gate and London Road sites.


Staff have recently reviewed the range of courses offered by other exam boards but at present the short course offered by OCR remains as the best option. Staff will continue to review the courses on offer.


The growth of vocational provision continues to enrich the experiences of the

young people at The CE Academy. Many young people who join us have negative

feelings about their education but by giving them an option/choice to attend and

experience a vocational area can inspire them to achieve. A large proportion of our

young people engage well with practical activities, this can then provide them with that

positive experience and achievement that enhances their confidence in other areas of

the curriculum.

Between September 2013 and July 2014, in addition to GCSE’s, The CE Academy

continued to offer vocational courses to our Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 young people

using the following external provisions within Northamptonshire as listed below:

Vocational Provision

Tresham Institute

Motor Vehicle

Moulton College

Plumbing

Food Preparation and Cooking

Northampton College

Vehicle Maintenance – Body

Vehicle Maintenance - Mechanics

Caring for Children

Centurion Training

Motor Vehicle

ProgressAbility

Fishing

Photography

Personal Development

Employability skills

Youth Works

Bike Maintenance

Music Technology

Photography

Groundwork – The Green Patch

Gardening and Horticulture


Fire Service

ARC Scheme

Aston Training

Hairdressing

Adventureways

Personal Development – Outdoor Activities

Fermyn Woods

Art Workshops

Seeds of Change

Equine

Landbased Studies


Employability skills

CAVE

Basic Construction

Pinnacle Climbing Centre

Indoor Climbing and Personal Development

Vocational Provision

The provisions that we offer vary from mainstream colleges to private training

organisations and offer a variety of qualifications from Entry Level 3 (Key Stage 3 pupils)

up to Level 2 (Key Stage 4), in addition to non-qualification and personal development

qualifications. The CE Academy also offers in-house workshops in Music, Art and Design

Technology.

Our young people attend provisions as individuals, infill with other schools and/or in

groups from The CE Academy. We offer support to our young people whilst attending

provisions which assists them to keep on task and engage with the subject area.


All Key Stage 3 timetables include academic study in one of our campus buildings

and enrichment activities at either external provisions or in house workshops.

These include:

The Key Stage 3 courses were felt to be ideal for this age group and resulted in good

attainment and achievement. The young people that were capable and willing were

given the opportunity of gaining EL3/Level 1 units of qualifications.


At Key Stage 4 we offer Level 1 and/or Level 2 unit led qualifications which enable our

young people to achieve greater success. Due to the fact that most Level 2

qualifications require full attendance over a 2 year period, these can be difficult for our

young people to achieve, as they are referred to us throughout the year. Where a

young person can attend a 2 year course then a Level 2 course will be sourced

accordingly. In 2014 a large proportion of our young people achieved at least one

vocational qualification. In Year 10 25 young people completed one or more courses

and in Year 11 30 young people completed one or more courses.

Design Technology

Hairdressing

Art

Music

Motor Vehicle

Photography

Personal Development - Fishing

Personal Development – Outdoor Activities

Personal Development – Equine/Landbased

Gardening and Horticulture

Music Technology

Climbing and Personal Development

Bike Maintenance and Bikeability Training

Fermyn Woods arts Project

Vocational Provision Page 43 Vocational Provision


Achievement for Key Stage 4 has continued to improve this year with the majority of

our young people who attend for a full year achieving Level 1 Awards and Certificates in

Equine and/or Land Based Studies, Fishing, Motor Vehicle, Construction, Hairdressing

and Caring for Children. For those that did not manage to achieve a full Award or

Certificate achieved units at Level 1. Key Stage 3 achievement also improved with the

majority achieving some units at EL3 or Level 1 and also AQA units.


The changes to school transport continued to be an issue this year with a high

percentage of our young people struggling to access vocational opportunities, often

having to catch one or more bus to a provision taking as long as 2 hours in some cases.

Despite this having some negative impact on punctuality and attendance achievement

has continued to improve. One of the most significant barriers to our young people’s

learning whilst working towards a Level 1 and/or Level 2 qualification can be low levels

of literacy. Due to this the majority of the courses we offered were unit led which

allowed our young people to achieve part of a qualification where the full award was

not achievable. Additionally as most of our young people join us throughout the school

year this can prevent them achieving a full Level 1 or 2 Award or Certificate.


We continue to keep up to date with the changes in the vocational areas and offer

qualifications that have a natural progression in a given subject area and are relevant to

employers. We have also increased our in house workshops throughout the county and

now offer workshops in Northampton and Kettering. We work on the premise that any

qualifications gained should be useful to our young people in the real world. For this

reason we continue to work with our partners to ensure that qualifications on offer to

our young people are recognised by both employers and further education providers.


Our partnership with Seeds of Change Equine Learning continues to evolve. We

continue to offer Key Stage 3 pupils a full day at The Acorn Centre where the curriculum

includes literacy and numeracy tasks, land based studies and equine learning which has

proved to be successful. We are also in the process of refurbishing and equipping

workshop provision in Wellingborough that will provide vocational opportunities in

another part of the county. This will include a hairdressing salon, beauty therapy salon,

two design technology workshops, a professional kitchen to offer catering and a sound

proofed music room.

Cross Curricular

B ritain is a multicultural society and has a rich heritage of cultural and ethnic

diversity. In order to promote and celebrate this and to increase pupil awareness,

The CE Academy run a two day cross curricular event at the end of the summer term

each year. At KS4 this is an arts based programme which has a different cultural theme

each year, which enables the young people to learn about cultural diversity. This can

help them to live and work together in diverse communities, both in this country and

the wider world. Arts activities are important vehicles in promoting community

cohesion and ‘one off’ programmes are an effective way to motivate and energise

young people to interact in new ways.

The timetables are collapsed in all campuses and a programme of activities is delivered

both by CE staff and visiting practitioners. We invite many practitioners both local and

from further afield into the campuses to work with the young people teaching them

new skills and allowing them to experience a vast and varied array of activities. All work

produced during the two days is displayed to provide pupils with a positive and happy

memory of school for their return after the long summer holiday.


This year our theme at KS4 was Australia. Staff dressed up in outdoor adventure style

outfits mimicking the reality TV show based in Australia, ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of

Here’. Each campus had a variety of displays including large scale animals , flags and

Aboriginal art and history. When pupils arrived on the first day of cross curricular it

definitely gave them the wow factor!

Activities included silk painting, a Photoshop workshop, raft building and even a bush

tucker trial! Pupils enjoyed cooking a range of Australian dishes using kangaroo and

ostrich meat., which was a great opportunity to try new food and flavours.

We were lucky enough to have an organisation called Tropical Inc vist each KS4

campus ,who brought in a wide range of exotic creatures that the pupils were able to

handle. Animals included a kookaburra, tarantula and snake.

All work produced by pupils will contribute to their GCSE art/Expressive Arts

coursework.


At KS3 pupils explored the topic of ‘Myths and Monsters’ during their two day cross

curricular programme which covered many areas of the curriculum. Pupils had the

opportunity to design and make a 3D mask and learnt some Photoshop techniques by

creating monsters at CE. Pupils developed their literacy skills whilst looking at two

classic stories; Dracula and Frankenstein. Numeracy skills were challenged when

tackling mazes and other problem solving activities. Within science and geography

pupils focussed on different habitats and origins linked to various mythological

creatures.


Cross curricular at CE is organised by two campus coordinators and an assistant head.

This year, information about the programmes were filtered back to staff as a whole staff

group during a training day. It did not seem that as much visual work was produced this

year in comparison to art displays from previous years which as a result will not feature

in coursework. This is not to say that pupils did not learn or enjoy themselves though

which is evident in the many photographs that are in each campus.


We will be developing a new theme for our 2015 cross curricular programme. We will

continue to offer a menu of exciting activities and will be inviting practitioners in to

share their expertise and knowledge with our young people.

Our aims for the coming year are:

to provide existing young people, who will be returning to The CE Academy the following academic year, with a positive and happy lasting memory of school for their return in the autumn;

to enable KS4 pupils to produce coursework for GCSE;

to promote community cohesion;

to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of local and national communities;

to promote good relationships and mutual understanding within different communities;

to promote an understanding of cultural diversity and to widen pupil understanding of different cultures, lifestyles and beliefs;

to allow young people the opportunity to meet and work with visitors from a diverse range of ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds;

to promote common values and help pupils to value differences and challenge prejudice and stereotyping.

Cross Curricular

Looked After Children


In June 2014 the number of Looked After Children on roll with CE Academy was 16 which as in

previous years exceeded the national average (according to government statistics children in

need form about 2% of the total population aged up to 18 with approximately a quarter of

these being Looked After).

Breakdown:Breakdown:

Of these:

11 of the young people were male, 5 were female

2 were being tutored individually

1 was being tutored out of county

3 were dual-registered with a mainstream school

2 young people in year 11 were placed in secure training centres


In the 2014 GCSEs four year 11 students who were also in care sat GCSEs at The CE Academy;

one of these young people was placed out of county prior to her GCSEs so was only able to

complete the Expressive Arts GCSE. Of those who sat GCSEs at The CE Academy:


Many looked after children have experienced interrupted education which impacts on their

progress. This year we have seen an increase in the number who have been accommodated out

of county which has further impacted on their progress.


New guidelines for completing Personal Education Plans (PEPs) have come into place this

academic year; this is likely to require further training for staff particularly as accessing pupil

premium funding will be directly linked to these PEPs.

Number achieving at least 1 GCSE A*-C 0

Number achieving at least 1 GCSE A*-G 3

Number achieving at 5 or more GCSEs A*-C 0

Number achieving at 5 or more GCSEs A*-G 0

Year group Number of young people

7 0

8 0

9 5

10 5

11 6

Destinations 2012Destinations 2012--1414

A key focus of the work we do at The CE academy involves ensuring that where ever possible

our Yr. 11 leavers have secured a pathway for the following academic year, at times securing

more than one place on a course so that a choice is still possible. At KS3 we continue to focus on

supporting pupils’ to return to mainstream school.

The most recent national Government data shows that the NEET rate for 16-18 year olds is

7.6%, with 71% of pupils from Hospital Schools and PRU’s having a planned destination with

only 50% finding a sustainable destination. Once again we have been successful in ensuring

pathways for our Year 11 leavers.

Our records show that 94% of young people were engaged in a full time commitment once they

had left The CE Academy. This included full time college, Youth Training and Princes Trust

courses. Of those without a full time course 3% were NEET and 3% were not available to the

labour market (at home with baby). This has been a slight improvement in comparison with

2012-2013.

For pupils in receipt of pupil premium 92% had a planned destination 5% were NEET and 3%

were not available to the labour market (at home with baby).

Destinations and Reintegration


Reintegration’s’ 2012Reintegration’s’ 2012--20142014

The CE Academy has always had the philosophy that where possible pupils should have the opportunity to return to a mainstream school. This is always a finely balanced decision that must consider the wishes of our pupils and parents but takes into account the impact that another disruption to / change of school may have if the transition is not successful.

As an AP Academy The CE Academy now has the opportunity to work in partnership with mainstream schools and offer dual registration for their pupils both as a short term intervention strategy and with some KS4 pupils as an alternative to permanent exclusion. In 2012-13 we saw a total of 38 pupils re-integrated to other schools. These fell into 3

categories. 45% of pupils arrived with a Statement of Educational Need and where then

re-integrated to a combination of specialist provision and mainstream schools. A further

18% returned to school after gaining a Statement of Educational Needs whilst at The CE

Academy. The remaining 37% where permanently excluded pupils successfully

reintegrated back into mainstream schools.

In 2013-14 this picture has changed. With the flexibility that academy status has offered

The CE Academy and Northamptonshire schools there has been an increase in

partnership working. This year we have seen 36 pupils reintegrated to other schools.

These fall onto 4 categories. 44% are permanently excluded pupils successfully

reintegrated back into mainstream schools with a further 36% being dual registered

pupils who made a successful return to their mainstream school following a period of

dual registration with The CE Academy. Of the remaining pupils 17% arrived with a

Statement of Educational Need and where then re-integrated to a combination of

specialist provision and mainstream schools and 3% returned to school after gaining a

Statement of Educational Needs whilst at The CE Academy.

This illustrates how reintegration work has evolved since Complementary Education

has converted to an AP Academy. A large percentage of reintegration’s are now

pupils returning to their mainstream school (not an option for schools or pupils prior

to conversion). Once again this shows the rapid progress that some pupils have made

both academically and socially allowing them to successfully return to mainstream

education.


Moving On 2014

Moving On Moving On

Y ear 11 students and their parents/carers were questioned about their experience

of The CE Academy after completing their GCSE examinations.

The students’ questionnaire again highlighted that our students enjoy smaller class size,

teachers that are both interested and supportive of them, a varied curriculum, and the

relationships that they develop between themselves and Academy staff.

There has been slight improvement in students believing that they have good

attendance and attitude towards work. The majority of students believe they meet their

targets most of the time or better.

There has been a slight improvement in the number of students being aware of their

behaviour targets alongside more students believing that phone calls, letters home and

reviews change their behaviours.

There has been a large improvement to 96% of pupils unconcerned with bullying across

the campuses.

84% of students said that reviews were an opportunity to have their say as well giving

them a boost. A 10% improvement has been observed on students believing that their

reviews affected change in their attitude and behaviour. Work still needs to be done on

increasing the effectiveness of reviews in the remaining students’ eyes.

The majority of teenage mothers agreed that help with parenting skills was useful. All

mothers stated the nursery provision was helpful.

Over 80% of students believed they were given sufficient information about drugs,

alcohol and sex. Citizenship and Healthy Eating both showed a 5% decline. However, all

these areas need highlighting as increased numbers of students were unsure if they had

been given enough information on them. Both Citizenship and Healthy Eating requires

the most attention since

12% to 20% of students questioned were unsure.

Most students (90%) felt more prepared for life after The CE Academy, an improvement

of 10% on 2013. 97% of students questioned had a college or work based learning

placement for this September. The majority of students found their Connexions workers

helpful in supporting and advising them through the application process; however an

increased percentage (10%) said that Connexions had been no help or they didn’t know

who their worker was.

Activities that students enjoyed most at The CE Academy included: cooking; physical

education; Govilon (residential trip to Wales); cross curricula week; Adventure Ways;

Seeds of Change (equine learning); fishing; art subjects including textiles; construction

courses and the fire course (ARC).

96% of the Year 11 leavers said they now felt more confident than when they started

The CE Academy. They said that the best things the Academy had done for them

included: improved confidence; help to achieve GCSEs; achievement in lessons;

supported through hard times; college application; improvement as a person and given

opportunity.

Students’ suggestions for improving the The CE Academy include: better lunches; a

larger school, more staff; smaller class sizes; lessons by year group; sixth form; more

trips and stricter teachers. The issue of size of campus was mainly highlighted by

Fairlawn pupils.

The parents’ questionnaire illustrates the good relationships that we strive to make

between parents and carers. The vast majority parents/carers felt they were involved in

their child’s education through good communication from key tutor telephone calls,

reviews and termly reports. They also responded that The CE Academy promotes good

values as well as believing their child is well cared for and enjoys attending the

Academy. In many of the questions the response had shifted from “disagree” to “don’t

know”.

Moving On 2014

The CE Academy Annual Report 2013-14

the ce academyfluencycontent2-schoolwebsite.netdna-ssl.com/file...introduction 2 013-14 was a very...

Documents