King Edward VI School

Age group 11–18 Inspection date(s) 23–24 February 2012 Inspection number 380887 King Edward VI School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 124408 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 380887 Inspection dates 23–24 February 2012 Lead inspector Deborah James

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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 Secondary School category Community Age range of pupils 11–18 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1430 Of which, number on roll in the sixth form 354 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Michael Maybury Headteacher Kevin Maycock Date of previous school inspection 22 November 2006 School address Upper St John Street Lichfield WS14 9EE Telephone number 01543 255714 Fax number 01543 418118 Email address office@kingedwardvi-lichfield.staffs.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

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed 59 lessons, including 10 joint observations with members of the school’s senior team. In addition, inspectors visited a number of lessons accompanied by the headteacher to identify best practice in teaching. Meetings were held with students, senior leaders and other staff and members of the governing body. 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 tracking of students’ progress, school improvement plans, school self-evaluation documentation and records of attendance and behaviour. They reviewed responses to questionnaires from 336 parents and carers, 150 students and 64 staff.

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Information about the school

This is a larger than average-sized secondary school. It serves a large area that extends from the south and east of Lichfield to the northern boundaries of Birmingham. The majority of students are White British. The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs is below average. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is also below average. The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectation for attainment and progress. The school is a specialist school for science and languages. The school has gained Investors in People, Eco Status (Silver), Dyslexia Friendly Status and the International Schools Award. 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 satisfactory school that provides a supportive and welcoming environment for its students. Students enjoy coming to school and benefit from positive relationships with staff. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is actively promoted within an enriched curriculum and by the ethos of the school. The school is not good because students do not consistently make good progress from their starting points.  Attainment is above average on entry to the school and remains above average at the end of Year 11. Students’ achievement is satisfactory because the quality of teaching is not yet consistently good enough to ensure all students make good or better progress. Nonetheless, the sixth form is good. Students make good progress from their high starting points and respond well to teaching strategies that allow for the development of independent learning.  Teaching is satisfactory. Much good teaching was seen during the inspection,

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Key findings

with teachers using their strong subject knowledge to engage and motivate students. However, where teaching was less effective it was not sufficiently matched to students’ individual needs. Marking is inconsistent across the school, with too little guidance for students on how to improve their work.  Most students behave well, are courteous and polite and attend regularly. Whist the great majority of parents and carers and students agree that King Edward VI is a safe and orderly school, a significant minority raised concerns about low level disruption in some lessons. Inspectors agree that, on occasions, particularly where teaching has not been effective in engaging students’ interest, misbehaviour can interrupt learning.  School leaders have a broadly accurate view of strengths and weaknesses and are committed to raising the achievement of all students. However there is variation in the quality of teaching and assessment between and within subject

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Key findings

areas that is reflected in the uneven progress made by students.  Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection. 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?

 Develop the capacity of leaders in taking greater responsibility for driving improvement by:  increasing the rigour of departmental systems for monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching and students’ progress and ensuring any necessary intervention takes place quickly  developing the school’s existing self-review model to share the good practice of the most effective middle leaders so that all department leadership is of a consistently high standard.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen teaching to ensure all students make good progress from their starting points by:  ensuring that all students receive regular feedback on their work through good quality marking so that they know how to improve on their current performance  making sure that teachers use a range of strategies to check student progress during the lesson and reshape learning activities as necessary  ensuring teachers provide challenging activities matched to students’ different needs.

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Achievement of pupils

Students are particularly successful at GCSE, attaining results that are above the national average. The proportion of students gaining five or more A* to C grades has been well above average for the last three years. In general, students in the sixth form achieve above expectations at AS and A level because teaching is well-targeted on developing students’ independent learning skills.

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Achievement of pupils

Inspection evidence and data over time indicate that students make satisfactory progress. In lessons they are keen to learn and when offered suitably challenging activities they engage enthusiastically, supporting one another and working well independently. For example, in a Year 7 music lesson students were challenged to use an increasing number of technical elements to produce a group performance. Some groups of students, in particular, middle-ability students and disabled students and those who have special educational needs, made less progress than other groups in 2011. The school has introduced a number of strategies to improve the achievement of these groups, including changes to the curriculum, more targeted use of teaching assistants and more rigorous monitoring of students’ performance against their targets with appropriate interventions for those falling behind. These actions have been effective in reducing the gap between these students and other

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Achievement of pupils

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

groups in the current Year 11 and these students now make satisfactory progress. The great majority of parents believe that their children are making good progress but inspectors judge students’ progress overall to be satisfactory. The parent of a Key Stage 3 student commented that ‘My child has been given a phenomenal amount of help and support from the learning support team and is thriving academically now.’

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Achievement of pupils

Development of students’ literacy and numeracy skills is supported in a number of curriculum areas, for example, in a mathematics lesson key terminology was very explicitly shared with students. However, currently there is no school-wide policy to guide further development in this area.

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Quality of teaching

Responses from parents and carers and students were very positive and a very large majority believe that teaching is good. Teaching is judged to be satisfactory because, over time, students make satisfactory and not good progress when compared to all students nationally. Senior leaders have clear evidence that the quality of teaching is improving but it is not yet consistent across the school. In all lessons observed by inspectors there were good relationships between teachers and students. Lessons contributed well to the development of students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development with students demonstrating good cooperative skills, respect for each other and reflective responses. Good subject knowledge informs lesson planning but the range of activities undertaken by students is not always matched to their individual needs. Technology is used well to expand or illustrate teaching points. The

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Quality of teaching

most skilful teachers listen well and use effective questioning to check and extend individual students’ learning. Good progress is seen when teaching is placed in contexts that the students find motivating and exciting. For example, a Year 8 lower- ability English class were enthused by Shakespeare in a very well-constructed task that required them to write to an agony aunt about Shylock’s problems.

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Quality of teaching

The most rapid and secure learning occurs when expectations are clear and students engage in challenging tasks that enable them to think independently. This feature was particularly noticeable in sixth form lessons. For example, in a Year 13 sociology lesson students were required to draw on prior learning to compare and contrast theories of criminal behaviour. A sixth form parent commented, ‘She is challenged in all her chosen subjects and as a result her enthusiasm has grown for school’.

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Quality of teaching

In satisfactory lessons teachers often dominate learning time, limiting opportunities for students to practise and develop new skills. Teachers miss opportunities to reshape the learning in lessons to address weaknesses in understanding. The quality of marking and feedback is inconsistent with a significant amount of marking that is brief and infrequent. The most effective marking gives students clear written information about what they have achieved and how they can improve .

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Quality of teaching

The use of learning targets has improved since the last inspection. Students have a 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

secure knowledge of their target grades and the level at which they are currently working. Regular termly tracking identifies students at risk of underperforming. However, students are not always sure of the actions they need to take to reach the next level of attainment.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

During the inspection the vast majority of students behaved well in lessons and around the school. However, parent and carer surveys and discussions with students indicated that, on occasions, the poor behaviour of a few students can disrupt learning, especially when teaching does not engage or motivate them. The school has strong evidence that behaviour is improving, including a considerable year-on- year fall in the number of fixed-term exclusions required to address unacceptable behaviour. Students who repeatedly cause low-level disruption in lessons spend time in Gazebo House, an on-site behaviour-support provision, where experienced staff help students in changing their behaviour.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The vast majority of students know the difference between right and wrong and are tolerant of each other and respect differences. Instances of bullying are infrequent and are carefully logged by the school, with details of actions taken to deal with the bullying. In 2010-11, the recorded incidents included name-calling and homophobic bullying. Most parents, carers and students express confidence in the school’s systems for dealing with such events.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance is well above the national average for all groups of students and continues to improve as a result of effective interventions with students and their parents.

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Leadership and management

The governing body, headteacher and senior team lead effectively, with a clear and ambitious vision for the school’s future success. Members of the governing body know the school very well and work closely with senior leaders in monitoring outcomes. A well-established system of departmental reviews, including lesson observations, work scrutiny and feedback from students, is at the heart of school self-evaluation. These reviews provide senior leaders with evidence of current performance, although at times evaluation of the quality of teaching has been over- generous. The effectiveness of reviews varies. While some are of good quality and are sufficiently rigorous to highlight in detail the steps required to improve departmental performance, this is not always the case.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is good. It has undergone significant change over the last few years to better meet the needs of all students. At Key Stage 4, the focus has been on increasing the range of academic and vocational courses to motivate and engage students. Vocational courses are offered to suit all abilities; many are delivered in 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

partnership with other schools and colleges in the area. More appropriate pathways have been put in place for disabled students and those who have special educational needs. Parents and carers raised a number of concerns about the support for disabled students and those who have special educational needs and inspectors carefully reviewed the provision for these students. The school has developed programmes of additional literacy and numeracy support which, along with improved monitoring, is leading to better progress for these students. The school has been keen to increase the impact of its language specialist focus. As a result, students now access a wider range of language qualifications. A particularly strong feature of the curriculum is its programme of enrichment and enhancement activities that take place through ‘Challenge Days’. Whole year groups participate in activities that add to students’ enjoyment, increase their understanding of the school’s specialist areas

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Leadership and management

and promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Parents particularly welcome the broader enrichment opportunities provided by the school. One commented, ‘The range of activities in sport and music has given my child a wealth of opportunities for self-discovery.’

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Leadership and management

The curriculum in the sixth form provides a good range of courses, partly in collaboration with other local schools. Opportunities for applied and vocational courses have increased, although the great majority of students still follow A level courses.

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Leadership and management

All requirements for the safeguarding of students were in place at the time of the inspection. The school has thorough systems for assessing risk and ensuring the health and safety of students and staff. Leaders effectively monitor the performance of all groups of students to ensure the school meets its responsibilities in promoting equality and tackling discrimination. Success in improving attendance, behaviour, achievement in core subject areas and the curriculum are indicative of the school’s capacity for further improvement.

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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 King Edward VI School, Lichfield, WS14 9EE

Thank you for the friendly welcome you gave us when we inspected your school recently. We enjoyed being in your lessons, talking to you and reading your responses to the questionnaires.

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Inspection of King Edward VI School, Lichfield, WS14 9EE

We decided that King Edward VI School is a satisfactory school with a good sixth form. The majority of you reach high standards in external examinations and make the progress expected of you. You told us you enjoy coming to school and your attendance is high. You benefit from positive relationships with staff. Like you, we believe much teaching at King Edward VI is good but overall we judged teaching to be satisfactory because the quality of teaching varies considerably and is not yet supporting you to make consistently good progress.

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Inspection of King Edward VI School, Lichfield, WS14 9EE

We found that your school is a safe and orderly place where most students behave well and are courteous and polite. However, we agree with you that, on occasions, low-level disruptive behaviour can interrupt learning.

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Inspection of King Edward VI School, Lichfield, WS14 9EE

We have asked your teachers to make some changes to the way they teach and to share good practice more. We want them to make sure that you always make good progress by:

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Inspection of King Edward VI School, Lichfield, WS14 9EE

 providing you with learning activities that are closely matched to your ability  checking your learning during the lesson  marking your work in greater detail and giving you clear suggestions about how to improve.

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Inspection of King Edward VI School, Lichfield, WS14 9EE

You all can help by continuing to work hard, attend regularly and behave well. Thank you again for helping us with the inspection of your school. We wish you every success in the future.

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Inspection of King Edward VI School, Lichfield, WS14 9EE

Deborah James Lead 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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