It doesn't get any worse for a school than Ofsted judging it `inadequate' on all four measurements of its scale. Now Oasis Academy MediaCityUK is facing special measures after a damning report by Ofsted which ruled it `inadequate' on `Achievement of Pupils', `Quality of Teaching'; `Behaviour and Safety of Pupils', and `Leadership and Management'.
Perhaps most damning for parents was the inadequacy of the school to keep their children safe, as well as the poor teaching and shocking management.
Ofsted found that "Behaviour in lessons and around the school has deteriorated since the last inspection and the academy's work to keep students safe and secure is inadequate".
Inspectors explained that "the perceived frequency of bullying still remains an area of concern for youngsters at the school", while students acknowledged that bullying, name-calling, racist abuse and homophobic bullying occurred. The students "expressed mixed views about whether it was always dealt with suitably quickly by adults in the school".
The report adds: "Inspectors expressed concerns about students' safety when some students were sent out of lessons and their whereabouts were not always known" and found that while the school had a comprehensive child protection policy it "does not name the designated responsible adult or council member, incident logs record the event but not how and if the incident was resolved".
Ofsted also found that student achievement was poor across most subjects at GCSE and that very few students attained the highest grades because they were "rarely provided with the challenge necessary to attain these higher grades".…
The inspectors explained that high staff turnover was a barrier to good learning with the quality of teaching poor at the school. Pupils' work wasn't even being marked properly… "In too many classes, work in books remains unmarked or is marked inaccurately" the report states.
Meanwhile, Ofsted showed no confidence the current management at the school to run the Academy better… "Their ability to bring about the required improvement is weak" the report states, adding that "Leaders and managers are not held to account sufficiently for the achievement of students and the performance of teachers".
Oasis MediaCityUK Academy was supposed to be a flagship high school with an iconic building at the gates to MediaCityUK. Instead it has been beset by controversy since before it even opened.
Back in 2008, Oasis, a hyper Christian organisation, took over the old non-faith state run Hope High School and turned it into a private academy over which Salford Council had little or no control (see previous Salford Star article – click here).
The Salford Star quoted Oasis founder, Steve Chalke on the `non-faith' school... "It begins in Hope and soon…we will end up with a church which is also a school…a school that is also a church…The good news of Jesus is good news spiritually, emotionally …educationally, which is why we're opening the school…" (see here).
After Hope's name was changed to Oasis Academy MediaCityUK, and while it was still on the site of the old Hope High on Eccles Old Road, there was a riot by pupils who discovered that over a dozen of their teachers were being made redundant half way through the school year (see previous Salford Star article – click here). This was followed by a teachers' strike, where both staff and trade unions warned of the dire consequences ahead…
One of the teachers, John Bartlett, said at the time: "Initially I thought Oasis was forward looking, and the word they use a lot, `inclusive'. But over the last 15 months I've changed my feelings on that. It's been very prohibitive and narrow minded, which is a great pity because we had the opportunity here…
"There was a really strong committed staff who went the extra yard with the kids we work with here – challenging students from challenging backgrounds, and we managed to win over them and their parents, and we were all united" he added "It's been eroded and broken away over the last couple of years, and I think it's a great shame."
Adam Worsley, another teacher who left, explained "Part of the reason why the school had success was because the teachers were experienced in dealing with Salford children who can be quite difficult – they know how to teach them and how to get the best out of them. Now that's completely gone."
And Joe Langley, of NASUWT the Teacher's Union said that the machinations at Oasis Academy MediaCityUK would "wreck the place" (see previous Salford Star article – click here).
Meanwhile, Patrick Ottley-O'Connor, the head teacher at the centre of the controversial sackings, left the school in strange circumstances half way through the first term of the 2013 academic year (see here). His replacement, Patrick Rice, also left the school before the end of this academic year.
Something is deeply wrong at the school, summed up by Judith Elderkin, Salford National Union of Teachers Assistant Secretary, who told the Salford Star last year…
"The arrival of this Academy has been problematic since Salford Council helped to create an additional secondary school that wasn't needed, and it has not been able to attract enough pupils to make it viable as it is now on a site that is not surrounded by a large population. It has been a struggle since the mass redundancies in 2011."
Incredibly, Oasis Community Learning - one of a number of companies run under the Oasis umbrella – has 42 educational institutions for all ages in this country, yet it doesn't seem to be accountable at all.
The half empty Salford school has almost fifty per cent of its pupils on free school meals, for which last year it was awarded a £233,430 `pupil premium' to help students from less well off backgrounds.
"The school receives significant amounts of money through pupil premium funding" states the Ofsted report "Expenditure is recorded but there is no clear evidence that this is being spent effectively, since many of these students continue to underachieve."
Oasis MediaCityUK Academy has responded to the shocking Ofsted report by appointing yet another new head teacher, Fiona O'Sullivan, who was Associate Principal at Oasis Academy Oldham. The latest Ofsted report from that school was less than glowing - `requires improvement'…
To read the full Ofsted report - click here
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