Shireland Biomedical Utc

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 November 2023

Pupils, staff and parents agree that there have been improvements in Shireland Biomedical University Technical College (UTC) since it transferred to a trust. Pupils in key stage 3 are happy and appreciate that behaviour routines are now well embedded, which means that the UTC is calm and orderly. Leaders have worked effectively to ensure that the UTC's physical organisation works well for all pupils, including opportunities for outdoor play and physical education. In the sixth form, students state that they are benefiting from the closer links with Birmingham City University, especially those which embed the UTC's biomedical mission. Leaders have high expectations for pupils' achievement. However, there remains variability across the curriculum as to how well these expectations are realised. In the sixth form, there are more consistently high standards, whereas in Years 7 and 8 there remains inconsistency in some areas of the curriculum. The personal development curriculum remains underdeveloped too, including the range of opportunities offered to pupils as well as the uptake.

What the school should improve

• Some teachers do not have sufficient pedagogical content knowledge to deliver the curriculum, often because they have just started at the UTC. This means they do not teach some subjects in the cross-curricular 'literacy4life' curriculum as leaders intend. Leaders need to ensure that all teachers have sufficient training on pedagogical content knowledge to be able to deliver the 'literacy4life' curriculum effectively across all subjects.
• Some learning activities are not adapted sufficiently for pupils' prior understanding. This often includes pupils with SEND. This means that some pupils struggle to engage with tasks set, and others find them too easy. Leaders need to ensure that all teachers have training to adapt their teaching to take into account pupils' prior understanding, including pupils with SEND.
• Leaders do not consistently check how effectively improvements have been embedded in their areas of responsibility. As a result, trust leaders often have to support leaders in the UTC to ensure there is consistent application of agreed policies. Trust leaders need to ensure that leaders at all levels know how to monitor the impact of their work, so that there is increased consistency in all aspects of the UTC.
• The UTC's work on pupils' personal development is at an early stage. This means there are inconsistencies in the delivery of the agreed curriculum, and leaders are not clear on the uptake of the limited range of extra-curricular opportunities. The UTC needs to ensure that its plans for pupils' personal development are implemented consistently.
• Leaders have yet to implement their plans to support pupils with weaker reading skills. This means that some pupils are having difficulties in accessing the curriculum. Leaders should accelerate the support for weaker readers, to ensure that all pupils can read fluently to enable them to access the curriculum appropriately.

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