Sidmouth College

Age group 11–19 Inspection date(s) 1–2 February 2012 Inspection number 378719 Sidmouth College Inspection report

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Unique reference number 113503 Local authority Devon Inspection number 378719 Inspection dates 1–2 February 2012 Lead inspector Karl Sampson HMI

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Comprehensive School category Community Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 852 Of which, number on roll in the sixth form 122 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gary Neal Principal Jeremy Roberts Date of previous school inspection 19–20 May 2009 School address Primley Road Sidmouth Devon EX10 9LG Telephone number 01395 514823 Fax number 01395 578073 Email address enquiries@sidmouthcollege.devon.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and

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other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Svetlana Bajic-Raymond Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors carried out observations of two full lessons, and 32 part lessons taught by 34 teachers. Eight of the lessons were jointly observed by a member of the school’s leadership team. One inspector undertook a learning walk which comprised a number of short visits to lessons to look at provision for lower ability students and those with special educational needs. Discussions were held with senior and middle leaders, staff, governors and different groups of students. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at the school’s self-evaluation and planning documents, external evaluations of the school’s work, policy documents and students’ work. They analysed 199 questionnaires sent in by parents and carers, questionnaires completed by a sample of students from each year group and 41 completed by staff.

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Information about the school

Sidmouth College is smaller than most secondary schools. Most students are of White British heritage and almost all speak English as their first language. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is half that found nationally. The proportion of students supported by school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is almost double the national average. The school holds technology specialist status and is also designated as having a specialist rural dimension. The school holds the Investors in Careers award and is also in receipt of the Healthy Schools Plus award. The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which sets minimum expectations for attainment and progress. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a good and improving school. The principal and his team have been successful in establishing a culture and ethos that is increasingly one of high expectation and aspiration through striving for excellence.  Students achieve well, making good progress at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 to secure good academic outcomes, regardless of ability, starting point or special educational needs.  Behaviour is good, attitudes to learning are positive and pupils exhibit confidence and respect for others, as evidenced by good relationships throughout the school. Pupils say that they feel very safe and their parents and carers agree.  Leaders and managers are bringing about sustained improvement in many aspects of the school's work. There is a strong sense of teamwork and collaboration among staff and a commitment to improving achievement for all.  Teaching is good overall and inspectors observed some examples of

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Key findings

outstanding practice. Greater consistency in the practice of individual teachers over time and a stronger overall quality are required to move good teaching and learning towards outstanding.  Leaders have successfully focused on raising the quality of teaching. Targeted professional development, the introduction of a programme to improve literacy skills across the curriculum and the development of classroom practice through the ‘trios’ coaching programme are being used well to drive further improvements in teaching.  The sixth form is satisfactory but is improving quickly and securely thanks to excellent leadership and management by a relatively new sixth form leader. The implementation of a rigorous programme of monitoring and evaluation to match that found in the main school is successfully reducing the variation that remains across subjects, especially with regard to students’ attaining the highest grades.

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Key findings

 The college ensures that there is good provision to support students’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. It provides an increasingly personalised curriculum with breadth and balance so that students are able to achieve in ways appropriate to their individual strengths and interests. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment further in the sixth form by:  eliminating the variability in achievement between sixth form subjects so that all students are consistently challenged and supported to reach the highest grades.  Strengthen the overall quality of teaching and, at an individual teacher level, achieve greater consistency of good or outstanding practice by:  moving more of the good teaching to outstanding and eradicating the small amount of weaker teaching  ensuring that the quality of all lessons matches the best in the college through effective dissemination of exemplary teaching to help others to understand how to improve their own practice  ensuring that teachers are equally effective in checking the progress of all learners during lessons and therefore able to reshape learning activities to meet individual needs, provide high levels of challenge and secure consistently good or better progress  ensuring consistency in the use of day-to-day assessment so that all pupils

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

know exactly what they need to do to improve their work through high quality subject-specific verbal and written feedback.

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Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers are generally pleased with the progress made by their children. Inspection evidence, including from lesson observations, current assessment information and the school’s accurate appraisals of teaching, show that the large majority of students make good progress against their starting points. They generally apply skills well to a range of activities and their literacy skills are being enhanced by the college’s work to embed common approaches to develop better quality written and verbal communication. Students collaborate willingly during lessons and use new technologies effectively. Learning is strongest where teachers use their acute knowledge of students’ individual strengths and weaknesses to deftly target provision to meet individual needs and maximise progress. However, college leaders know that sometimes learning activities are not sufficiently fine-tuned in lessons to ensure that

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Achievement of pupils

progress is consistently good or better for all groups of students.

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Achievement of pupils

In 2010, there was a significant rise in students’ attainment. While this improvement stalled somewhat in 2011, attainment was still significantly above average for key measures and in a number of GCSE subjects. The standards seen in lessons and students’ books and the school’s latest analysis of current performance indicate that progress is once again accelerating and the overall trend of improvement is set to continue. Disabled students and those with special educational needs make similar Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

progress to their peers because of the high quality individual and personalised support programmes which are put in place. Students known to be eligible for free school meals consistently make better progress than that of their peers nationally.

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Achievement of pupils

Well-considered changes to leadership and management arrangements have resulted in efficient and detailed monitoring of progress and attainment for different groups which has led to more appropriately tailored support for students. Weaker performance in the core science GCSE last year has been tackled robustly and achievement is rising again. Despite above average attainment, overall analysis of progress for boys shows that in the past two years they have been significantly outperformed by girls. A sharp focus on improving literacy skills, the quality of teaching and a more sophisticated approach to tracking performance have helped to quickly close the gap in achievement. As a result, boys’ progress is accelerating and the gap between boys’ and girls’ achievement is predicted to be in line with that found nationally.

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Achievement of pupils

Improvements in achievement by the end of Key Stage 4 have not yet been fully matched in the sixth form. Some variation remains across subjects and, while students make satisfactory progress overall and some make good progress, the proportion attaining the best grades is not yet high enough, given students’ starting points. Systems for monitoring the performance of students and subjects have been significantly strengthened and good teaching is now being matched by better use of assessment information. As a result, students are increasingly making good progress, although it is too early for the impact of these improvements to be seen fully in public examinations.

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Quality of teaching

The strengths of teaching outweigh any relative weaknesses. Students and their parents/carers rightly express confidence in the quality of teaching overall but recognise that there is still some variation in quality at individual teacher level. The large majority of lessons observed were good or better. Positive relationships and behaviour feature in most classes and help to establish an atmosphere conducive to learning. The most effective teachers know exactly where students are in their learning, understand when they are ready to take the next steps and convey clearly how this can best be achieved. They are skilled in tailoring activities that stretch and challenge all learners regardless of their starting point so that their progress is consistently good or better. Learning of all pupils, especially boys, was optimised when teachers successfully integrated the development of literacy and communication skills into their planning. Students’ learning and progress were

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Quality of teaching

palpable when they were able to use key vocabulary to articulate ideas fluently and then apply them confidently to produce high quality extended writing.

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Quality of teaching

Lessons are typically well planned and students’ learning is usually well managed through engaging activities and questioning that deepens understanding and extends thinking. A Year 13 Religious Education lesson made judicious use of probing questions and engaging activities to layer learning so that all students were able to Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Quality of teaching

fully explore the concept of emotivism. Consequently, the quality of responses and confident use of subject-specific terminology by students as they drew on previous learning to reflect upon values and beliefs was excellent. A GCSE English lesson made use of a range of assessment activities and high quality dialogue to support students in preparation for their controlled assessment. Students made good use of the college’s common approach towards creating high quality writing. The teacher engaged students in the identification and exemplification of features that characterise A*/A work. As a result, the teacher was able to empower students to identify, exemplify and then apply the key features that characterise A*/A work. However, these skills are not yet apparent in all teaching. Elsewhere good practice prevails, although inspectors observed satisfactory learning more frequently than that which was outstanding. College leaders recognise the need to continue the

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Quality of teaching

process of strengthening teaching quality as the next significant step on the journey to excellence.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Teaching is typically good, and as a consequence students’ behaviour and attitudes make a strong contribution to learning. In the most engaging lessons, behaviour was outstanding. Students are courteous and respectful towards each other and adults, which contributes to a safe and well-ordered environment. They are punctual to school and in arriving at lessons. Students have a good awareness of the different forms of bullying and report that incidents of bullying are infrequent but when it does occur, then it is dealt with speedily and effectively by staff. Most parents, carers and students agree that standards of behaviour and the quality of teaching are good. A minority of parents and carers who returned the questionnaires, and some students who spoke to inspectors, said that there are occasions when learning in lessons can be disrupted by others. The team investigated this in great depth with staff and

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

students. Where students’ behaviour was less than good in lessons, it was clearly linked to learning activities that failed to sufficiently challenge learners and fully engage their interest. This disinterest can manifest itself in some low-level off-task behaviour by a small number of students. However, most students reported good behaviour over time. A scrutiny of behavioural records confirmed this.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

An analysis of the school’s behaviour tracking data indicates that exclusions and incidents of poor behaviour are steadily reducing year on year. They also confirm the increasing effectiveness of the school’s support and reintegration for the small number of students who exhibit more challenging behaviour. The work of the student development department and the creation of more appropriate curriculum pathways have been central to this improvement. These are valuable aspects of provision and students say how much they appreciate that they are known well as individuals and that their different needs are catered for. Attendance has improved to be just above the national average, and is rising.

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Leadership and management

The principal and the senior leadership team have created a shared vision for Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

improvement among most staff and the governing body. Ambition is articulated through high expectations and a mission to enable every student to succeed. Equality of opportunity sits at the heart of the college’s work and manifests itself in the good achievement of students in the main school and a sixth form that is now well placed to maintain its upward trajectory. A broad and balanced curriculum with a good range of enrichment and extra-curricular activities deepens and broadens students’ experience and makes a good contribution to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The college has continued to build upon the strengths identified in the previous inspection and these strengths have been complemented by key appointments to the leadership and management of English, mathematics and the sixth form. The actions of the governing body make a worthy contribution to continuing improvement and add to the good capacity to improve further. Their

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Leadership and management

developing expertise in evaluating the performance of subjects, key phases and groups of students in relation to national expectations is utilised well to challenge and rectify any underperformance.

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Leadership and management

College leaders at all levels have a detailed, accurate and realistic understanding of the college’s strengths and areas for development. Strong support from senior leaders and access to a good range of professional development opportunities have enabled most middle leaders to sharpen improvement planning and drive up the quality of teaching. Assessment information is used stringently to set challenging targets, comprehensively track students’ progress and devise successful programmes of intervention which address any potential underachievement. The establishment of cross-subject coaching ‘trios’ and the excellent work of the vice-principal and the teaching and learning group has created an environment where training and discussion about learning are highly valued by all staff. Although there is not yet a consistent picture in every lesson, the information is being used to help all staff identify where to intervene to provide additional support and where new teaching

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Leadership and management

strategies need to be developed to improve learning. Consequently, the quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection and achievement has risen.

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Leadership and management

Safeguarding arrangements are good. The school takes the protection of its pupils very seriously and effective procedures and training are in place to keep pupils safe. The curriculum makes a good contribution to students’ achievement and enjoyment of school life. It engages students in learning and supports them effectively to take the next steps in their education, training or employment.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Sidmouth College, Sidmouth EX10 9LG

Thank you for the warm welcome you gave to the inspection team when we visited your college recently. Particular thanks to those of you who gave up your time to speak with us and those of you who completed the questionnaire. We judged the college to be good. It has worked really hard since the previous inspection to improve your achievement. Good leadership and management are bringing about sustained improvements in many aspects of the college’s work. Mr Roberts and his team set high standards and they are well supported by the other staff and governors. They are all determined that you should have the opportunity to succeed, and their work enables you to achieve well.

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Inspection of Sidmouth College, Sidmouth EX10 9LG

The college’s ethos and culture of high expectation and aspiration provide you with a good platform for learning and help you to prepare successfully for life beyond school. You told us you feel safe and your behaviour in and around the college is good. It is underpinned by good relationships throughout the school as shown by your positive attitudes to learning in lessons. You make good academic progress over your time at the school and enjoy your education because overall you are well taught. You appreciate the good range of enrichment and extra-curricular opportunities available to you. The curriculum plays a good role in your spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, which complements your good academic and personal development.

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Inspection of Sidmouth College, Sidmouth EX10 9LG

We have asked Mr Roberts and his team to continue raising attainment and ensure that teaching continues to improve by:  raising achievement and the quality of provision across all subjects in the sixth form so that these are in line with the rest of the school  enabling teachers to share their best ideas across all subjects and learn from each other so that all teaching is consistently good or better  ensuring that teachers consistently give you high quality feedback in lessons and on your work to stretch and challenge your thinking and better meet your individual learning needs so that you know how to improve in each subject.

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Inspection of Sidmouth College, Sidmouth EX10 9LG

You can certainly help your teachers by responding to their comments and using the feedback that they give, so you improve your learning and the quality of your work.

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Inspection of Sidmouth College, Sidmouth EX10 9LG

Karl Sampson Her Majesty’s Inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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