Gravesend Grammar School

Age group 11−18 Inspection date(s) 16–17 May 2012 Inspection number 397465 Gravesend Grammar School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 137099 Local authority N/A Inspection number 397465 Inspection dates 16−17 May 2012 Lead inspector Patricia Metham 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 Academy converter School category Non-maintained Age range of pupils 11−18 Gender of pupils Boys Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1068 Of which, number on roll in the sixth form 280 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Graham Ralph Headteacher Geoff Wybar Date of previous school inspection 6−7 July 2007 School address Church Walk Gravesend Kent DA12 2PR Telephone number 01474 331893 Fax number 01474 331894 Email address enquiries@gravesendgrammar.eu 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 visited 31 lessons, observed 31 different teachers, and held meetings with the chair of the governing body, staff and students. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line Parent View survey in planning the inspection. They evaluated students’ achievement over three years and reviewed schemes of work, policies, the school’s self-evaluation and development plan and minutes of governing body meetings. They considered 470 responses to the questionnaire sent to parents and carers, 217 responses to the students’ questionnaire and 57 responses from staff.

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Information about the school

Gravesend Grammar is a slightly larger than average, academically selective boys’ school, with a relatively small intake of girls amongst students who join for their sixth form studies. In August 2011, the school converted to academy status. It is a Language College, has specialist status for mathematics and computing and is a Leadership School for the National College of School Leadership. The school exceeds the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

Just over one in four students belongs to a minority ethnic group; the largest group is of Indian heritage. About one in every ten in the school, a little below the national average, has English as an additional language. Many others are bilingual and do not speak English at home. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is small, but increasing, and the proportion currently on the school action plus programme or with a statement of special educational needs is very small.

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Information about the school

Gravesend Grammar extends its sixth form provision through collaboration with other local secondary schools and with Kent University. It has an active outreach programme in six primary schools. 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 steadily improving school under the purposeful and persuasive leadership of the headteacher and senior leaders. Examples of outstanding practice are conspicuous in all areas. However, as senior leaders recognise, the school is not yet outstanding overall because teaching, while mostly good or better, does not ensure that students’ ability to express their ideas in writing is as well developed as their mathematical skills. Accurate evaluation of strengths and of development priorities and the positive impact of recent strategies show strong capacity for further improvement.

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Key findings

 The sixth form is also good and steadily improving. Students’ needs are understood and carefully supported; evidence of underachievement leads to prompt intervention. Sixth formers make a positive contribution to the school.

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Key findings

 Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is rooted in the curriculum, linked to equality of respect and opportunity and actively promoted through a fine network of care and guidance. Students are keen to achieve and justifiably confident that their teachers will guide them to good results. They are courteous and cooperative and, in most lessons, attentive and responsive.

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Key findings

 Students’ attainment on entry is above average. Results in most subjects at the end of Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form are high, reflecting good progress overall. Achievement is especially impressive in mathematics. There are no significant differences in overall achievement by different groups.

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Key findings

 Monitoring of teaching and learning is systematic and effective. Most teaching is now good or better. Regular reviews of students’ progress shape school planning and set priorities for the professional development of staff. Outstanding practitioners mentor and coach less consistently effective teachers.

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Key findings

 Safeguarding procedures are thorough and staff well trained. A confident sense of community is shared by staff, students and parents and carers. 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?

 Ensure that high expectations and consistently good or better teaching enhance students’ ability to communicate complex arguments and shades of meaning in their writing.

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Achievement of pupils

Overall attainment at the end of Key Stage 4 is high and progress overall is good. Almost all students gain five or more A* to C GCSE grades, including English and mathematics. Progress in English across Key Stage 3 has been slow but accelerates in Key Stage 4. Students are able to identify aspects of their work which have improved and explain how this has been achieved. Results in English improved in 2011, with those for whom English is an additional language outperforming other students. Attainment in mathematics is outstanding; in 2011 nearly three quarters of entrants gained A* or A at GCSE. Disabled students and those with special learning difficulties progress at a similar rate to their school contemporaries and significantly better than similar students nationally. Inspectors observed excellent progress in science. In a Year 10 class, for example, students worked with enthusiasm and skill on tests to

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Achievement of pupils

determine the link between exercise and blood properties; they asked constructive questions and shared ideas productively.

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Achievement of pupils

Students’ writing in a range of subjects and across all key stages, however, does not consistently communicate the level of thinking and expression heard in their contributions to discussion. This has an impact on the proportion of the highest grades achieved in subjects that require extended writing that is sophisticated and fluent.

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Achievement of pupils

In the sixth form, attainment is high in most subjects but recent results indicate weakness in a small number of subjects. The school’s response has been well directed, with closely monitored interventions to support students at risk of underachievement and to ensure that the most able are fully challenged. Assessment of coursework has become more rigorous and accurate, giving a secure picture now of good progress. Changes to the timing and supervision of students’ extended project work are ensuring that those with the commitment and capacity to do well continue with this option and submit work of a high quality.

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Achievement of pupils

Of the unusually large proportion of parents and carers responding to the questionnaire, almost all expressed well-justified confidence in their child’s progress.

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Quality of teaching

Key Stage 4 students identify their rapport with staff as a key strength, and sixth formers speak of teaching that is ‘tailored to individual needs’. Inspection evidence 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

supports the school’s assessment that most but not yet all teaching is good or better. Strengths include: enthusiastically communicated subject knowledge; effective use of assessment to reinforce learning; the ability to capture students’ interest and build their confidence; well-integrated support for students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; encouragement of group work and peer- and self-assessment; confident use of varied resources; and the matching of activities to individual abilities and learning styles. In a Year 7 history class, for example, the challenge for students to mark on a world map places where conflicts occurred over the past 1000 years prompted lively debate and drew on wide-ranging prior knowledge. Practical strategies, such as approaches to questioning and the use of prompt sheets to support disabled students and those with special educational needs, are included in lesson

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Quality of teaching

plans and are well implemented. When appropriate, students have one-to-one support both in and out of classes.

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Quality of teaching

In the relatively small number of less effective lessons there is: modest challenge for the most able; limited opportunity for students to show initiative and be independent learners; and inappropriate timing of activities, which leads to loss of focus among younger students.

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Quality of teaching

Parents and carers echo inspection findings. They share students’ appreciation of teaching overall, but a few comment on variations in its quality and impact. Most feedback is very positive, as the following illustrates. ‘The teachers, from the headteacher onwards, provide an excellent learning environment for our son, through their hard work, professional skills and engagement with him.’

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Students are emphatic that they feel safe. They are aware of the different forms of bullying and describe bullying as ‘very rare’. They are confident that problems will be dealt with quickly and efficiently, mainly by the student support team. Attendance by students in Key Stages 3 and 4 is above average, especially by those with English as an additional language. Rates are lower in the sixth form.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Students value the school’s strength as a cohesive community. ‘It’s a shared feeling of acceptance for everyone.’ Those in Key Stage 4 feel they benefit from single-sex education. ‘It focuses your learning.’ On the other hand, as they observed, the presence of girls in the sixth form is seen as a good thing for all concerned. About a quarter of those who completed the student questionnaire judged that behaviour is not always good, both in lessons and around the school. About one in five of the parents and carers expressed concern about distracting behaviour in lessons, but almost all were emphatic that behaviour overall is good. Inspection evidence shows that on the few occasions when teaching is less effective and the pace of lessons is slow, and tasks lack clarity or interest, younger students lose concentration and become distracted and distracting. This low-level disruption is never hostile and

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

subsides as soon as the learning becomes more engaging.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Students in all key stages are friendly, courteous and helpful, keen to make 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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Behaviour and safety of pupils

and happy to support each other’s learning. They welcome opportunities to take on responsibility. Sixth formers act as prefects, run sports activities for Key Stage 3, participate in the Gravesham Youth Council and work with primary school children.

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Leadership and management

A clear and ambitious vision set by governors and the headteacher for the school’s future as an outstanding resource for able boys from the surrounding community is shared at all levels. The school’s well-managed conversion to academy status was driven by governors’ conviction that it was ‘the only opportunity to consolidate what we have and to reach out to other schools…We’re very big into collaboration’. The governing body provides both strong support and rigorous challenge for the school. Financial management is disciplined and constructive.

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Leadership and management

Home-school collaboration is well established, as responses from parents and carers demonstrate. ‘I feel my understanding of learning has evolved, for example through induction and the Year 8 languages’ evening.’ ‘Any concerns I have shared with the school have been dealt with immediately, with a high level of professionalism and sensitivity.’ Almost all agreed that the school helps them to support their children’s learning, responds to their concerns and keeps them well informed. This makes an important contribution to the school’s success in raising aspirations and driving up attainment. Students’ safety and well-being are carefully protected, with staff training, health and safety issues and risk assessments regularly updated. Equality of respect and opportunity are promoted in practical ways as well as through the school’s ethos.

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Leadership and management

The key targets set for teachers are to teach consistently well and to drive improvement in students’ attainment and progress. Friday afternoons are dedicated to in-service training, which, as a head of school commented, ‘makes professional development an integral part of the school’. Subject leaders are accountable for the quality of teaching and learning in their departments. The majority of teaching is now good or better. Led by the three heads of school, each responsible for a key stage, evaluation of students’ attainment and progress is systematic and rigorous. Underachievement is quickly identified and well-targeted action taken, such as small- group teaching to strengthen literacy in Key Stage 3 and mentoring for individual students in Key Stage 4.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is broad and balanced. Students in Key Stage 4 and the sixth form appreciate their range of options, including opportunities to study courses off-site. A particular strength in Key Stage 3 is the creative arts programme (CREX), which encourages students to be inventive, try out new skills and collaborate imaginatively on mixed-media projects. There is a lively extra-curricular programme of clubs and activities, particularly in sport and the performing arts. Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well promoted through curriculum topics, visiting practitioners, trips to places of historical and cultural interest, and opportunities to experience other cultures and to undertake community service locally and abroad.

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Leadership and management

This view from a parent encapsulates the responses of many. ‘The school treats the 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

students with a respect and maturity that allow them to develop into fine young men, who can contribute constructively to society and make a difference to others less able.’

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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

Floor standards the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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 Gravesend Grammar School, Gravesend DA12 2PR

My colleagues and I greatly appreciated the friendliness and openness with which you showed us your work and answered our questions during our recent inspection. I am pleased to have this opportunity to tell you what we found.

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Inspection of Gravesend Grammar School, Gravesend DA12 2PR

Yours is a good school, which is well led and managed so that it is improving steadily in all it does. We were pleased to know that you feel safe at school and that you and your families are confident that you are well supported. You are justifiably proud of your school’s results, especially in mathematics, and are right to give much of the credit to your teachers. You are keen to do well and they are committed to helping you fulfil your potential, which they have the knowledge and skills to do successfully. Most teaching is good or better. Occasionally, when a lesson does not keep you fully engaged – because the pace is slow or the teacher’s explanations are long – some of you become restless, which makes it difficult for anyone to learn well. We know that your achievement in some subjects would be even better if you communicated your thoughts and feelings as effectively in your writing as you do in discussion. We agree

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Inspection of Gravesend Grammar School, Gravesend DA12 2PR

with you that the curriculum meets your needs and extra-curricular events and activities provide you with an impressive range of opportunities.

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Inspection of Gravesend Grammar School, Gravesend DA12 2PR

To enhance your achievement and that of future students, we have asked your headteacher to ensure that:

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Inspection of Gravesend Grammar School, Gravesend DA12 2PR

 the ways in which you express complex ideas and shades of meaning in your writing are developed more effectively.

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Inspection of Gravesend Grammar School, Gravesend DA12 2PR

Your can help by having high aspirations and continuing to work hard. The qualifications you achieve will equip you well for the next stage in your education or training.

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Inspection of Gravesend Grammar School, Gravesend DA12 2PR

Patricia Metham 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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