Outwood Grange Academies Trust

Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) is a multi-academy trust (MAT) that operates thirty-two schools with academy status (twenty-two secondary and ten primary) across northern England and the East Midlands.[1] It is an exempt charity, regulated by the Department for Education.[2]

Outwood Grange Academies Trust
Motto"Students First"
FoundedApril 19, 2009 (2009-04-19)
TypeMulti-academy Trust
FocusEducation
Location
Coordinates53.70895°N 1.51292°W / 53.70895; -1.51292
Key people
Martyn Oliver, CEO
Katy Bradford, COO
Websiteoutwood.com
UID 4118

The trust was founded in 2009, led by Sir Michael Wilkins who was principal of the trust's namesake, Outwood Grange Academy.[3][4] Its current CEO is Martyn Oliver,[4] who previously served as a principal of schools within the trust.[5]

The trust operates using an "80:20" principle, where about 80% of how its schools operate is standardised and 20% is open to local innovation.[6]

Windfall

In 2015, the Conservative Education Minister, Nicky Morgan, announced she was giving five multi-academy trusts, including Outwood Grange Academies Trust, a million pounds each for “improving performance for pupils in some of the most challenging and disadvantaged areas of the country”. The money was awarded to raise standards in deprived areas in South Yorkshire, Bradford, Greater Manchester, Northumberland and Tees Valley. The Northern Powerhouse minister said, James Wharton said, " 'experience, leadership, and the chains’ strong track record of success' will mean northern school children can now fulfil their potential." It was pointed out at the time that Sir Michael Wilkins had been previously criticised for taking £500,000 consultancy fees over and above his salary; then a financial audit by Wakefield Council reportedly uncovered an “excessive rewards culture” with lavish spending on foreign trips.[7]

Academic performance

In July 2016, a report by the Education Policy Institute found that at the secondary level "Outwood Grange is the best large academy group (10 schools or more)".[8] In the multi-academy trust league tables released January 2017, the trust was ranked in the top 5 nationally for secondary progress, and also for both primary writing and maths progress.[9]

Discipline

The academy trust operates a zero tolerance discipline policy with children internally isolated or excluded and sent home for any minor breach of the uniform code as well as serious offences. In September 2018 the Guardian published an article[10] criticising the use of isolation booths as a form of punishment within schools, describing them as a form of internal exclusion (where exclusion is a policy by which pupils are forbidden from attending school for a period of time as a punishment).

A report from the Department for Education, highlighted in the Guardian article in August 2018 revealing that 45 English schools had excluded over 20% of their pupils in the last academic year. Outwood Grange was stated to run 9 of them, with Outwood Academy Ormesby in Middlesbrough topping the list by excluding 41% of pupils in the last academic year. Notes were drawn in the earlier article to the risk of disabled pupils with challenging behaviour being overly at risk of exclusion. The trusts' policy for “consequence rooms”, as isolation booths were called, stated pupils must not "tap, chew, swing on their chairs, shout out, sigh, or [engage in] any other unacceptable or disruptive behaviour" and a spokesperson stated "The trust employs all reasonable adjustments for students with special needs within their behaviour policy". However the banned activities include many self-stimulatory behaviours used by people on the Autism Spectrum to cope when under stress, and would be considered reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.[11]

A parent of a child who was subjected to this treatment for 35 school days, has taken a Yorkshire school to court to challenge the legitimacy of “consequence rooms”, lawyers have applied for a judicial review. The issues to be judged are to be loss of education, the lack of a review procedure, the lack of monitoring by Department of Education who is now responsible as academies are free of Local Authority oversight. The trust has failed to promote the pupil’s welfare and did so in an “irrational” manner. The trust failed to have regard to the Equality Act 2010, as pupils with special educational needs or poor mental health are being placed in isolation against their best interests. The trust has failed to comply with article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights.[12] The school trust responded saying "other of their schools were outstanding".[13]

In September 2019, the Trust launched a new behaviour policy. Schools Week reported that the new policy included "more praise, a further safeguard to pick up – and provide support for – those pupils stuck on the “merry go round” of sanctions, and more teaching for pupils about how to behave."[14] Ofsted noted that this resulted in much-improved behaviour and, consequently, a significant reduction in the need to use exclusions."[15]

In 2019 former teachers at Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth reported a practice of intimidating and humiliating assemblies, which the trust denied; other teachers reported that these assemblies were trust policy and took place at other schools in the trust.[16]

On 1 May 2019, the trust announced its intention that pupils will have to repeat a year, and be separated from their peer group, if their behaviour is deemed inadequate. The trust insists this is their legal right, no extra support is being provided for the students in spite of a warning that this type of zero tolerance creates child mental health problems, and violence against teachers.[17]

Academies

Primary
  • Outwood Junior Academy Brumby, Scunthorpe
  • Outwood Primary Academy Bell Lane, Pontefract
  • Outwood Primary Academy Darfield, Barnsley
  • Outwood Primary Academy Greystone, Ripon
  • Outwood Primary Academy Kirkhamgate, Wakefield
  • Outwood Primary Academy Ledger Lane, Wakefield
  • Outwood Primary Academy Littleworth Grange, Barnsley
  • Outwood Primary Academy Lofthouse Gate, Wakefield- (English Hub January 2020)
  • Outwood Primary Academy Newstead Green, Wakefield
  • Outwood Primary Academy Park Hill, Wakefield

Secondary

In February 2017 the trust applied to open a new free school for pupils ages 11 to 18 in central Middlesbrough. The proposed school, Outwood Academy James Cook, would open to new year 7 pupils upon completion in 2019.[18]

In October 2018 the trust announced plans to open a new free school in central Middlesbrough with capacity for 900 pupils, ages 11 to 16. The proposed school, Outwood Academy Middlehaven, would open to new year 7 pupils upon completion in September 2021.[19] The Department for Education announced the Trust's application had been successful, and the proposed school was renamed Outwood Academy Riverside.[20]

References
  1. "Outwood Grange Academies Trust". get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Department for Education. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  2. "Regulation of schools and academies with exempt charity status". gov.uk. Department for Education. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  3. "About Us". Outwood Grange Academies Trust. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  4. "OUTWOOD GRANGE ACADEMIES TRUST". Companies House. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  5. "Boss of two Scunthorpe academies set to take charge of 16 others across the country". Scunthorpe Telegraph. Local World. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  6. "'A MAT gains power only if an academy loses it – but it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game'". Tes. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  7. Dickens, John (2 November 2015). "What do we know about the five academy chains set for £5m windfall to improve northern schools?". Schools Week. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  8. Jon Andrews (July 2016). School performance in multi-academy trusts and local authorities – 2015 (PDF) (Report). Education Policy Institute. ISBN 978-1-909274-33-4.
  9. George, Martin (19 January 2017). "League tables rank the best and worst performing academy trusts". TES. TES Global. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  10. Use of isolation booths in schools criticised as 'barbaric' punishment. The Guardian (Report). September 2018.
  11. Perraudin, Frances; McIntyre, Niamh (31 August 2018). "Dozens of secondary schools exclude at least 20% of pupils". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  12. Staufenberg, Jess (11 December 2018). "Outwood Grange Academies Trust faces legal challenge over isolation booths". Schools Week. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  13. Perraudin, Frances (11 December 2018). "Pupil brings legal action against school's isolation policy". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  14. "OGAT explains his new behaviour policy". Schools Week. 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  15. enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk, Ofsted Communications Team (2019-07-09). "Find an inspection report and registered childcare". reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2018-09-13. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  16. Perraudin, Frances (16 March 2019). "Academy trust accused of using assemblies to intimidate students". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  17. Perraudin, Frances (2 May 2019). "We'll make badly behaved pupils repeat a year, say academies". The Guardian.
  18. Cain, James (17 February 2017). "New school and sixth form proposed for Middlesbrough". gazettelive. Trinity Mirror North East. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  19. Robson, Dave (14 October 2018). "New 900-place school proposed for central Middlesbrough". gazettelive. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  20. "Wave 13 free school applications". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
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