Maidenhill School

Maidenhill School Kings Road, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, GL10 2HA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 In recent years not enough students have made the progress in English and mathematics of which they are capable.  Students leave the school with results in a range of subjects that are below the national average.  Students do not make good progress in developing their spelling, grammar and punctuation skills throughout the school.  In lessons that require improvement, students sometimes repeat work or are set tasks that are too easy for them.  Teachers do not always expect high quality presentation of students’ written work, or insist that work is completed.  Marking does not always tell students what they need to do to improve their work.  The curriculum has not allowed students to achieve well in many subjects in the past, and does not provide enough opportunities for students to learn about cultures other than their own.  Senior leaders and the Governing Body cannot easily track in which subjects students make

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

the most progress across the school.  Teachers are not held fully to account for the results that their students achieve.

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The school has the following strengths

 Students behave well in lessons and around the school. They are keen to learnand readily take an active part in lessons.  Students with special educational needs within the specialist resource unit make good progress.  As a result of the school’s actions, students’ attendance has increased.  School leaders are aware of where the school needs to improve and have started to address these areas. School leaders have focused on improving the quality of teaching that students receive and there are signs that students are now making the progress expected of them in some lessons as a result.  Students have a good awareness of how they keep themselves safe in a variety of situations.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 30 lessons, of which 5 were joint observations with the headteacher or senior leaders. In addition, inspectors made several other short visits to lessons.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation relating to student achievement, quality of teaching, attendance and behaviour records, and safeguarding.  Discussions were held with the Chair of the Governing Body and two other governors, a representative from the local authority, senior and middle leaders.  A range of student work was looked at closely, and informal and formal discussions were held with students from across the school. Inspectors took account of 28 responses from parents on the on-line questionnaire for parents (Parent View).

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Inspection team

Clare Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Jaqueline Goodall Additional Inspector Joseph Skivington Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average-sized secondary school, where most students are from white British background.  The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding) is lower than the national average.  The proportion of students who are disabled or have special educational needs and who are supported by school action is lower than that found nationally. The proportion of students who are supported by school action plus or by statements is higher than that found nationally.  The school has specialist provision for up to 10 students with needs relating to communication and autism. These students are either taught within the specialist unit, or in lessons alongside their peers with the support of teaching assistants.  A very few students in years 10 and 11 attend alternative provision at a local college for a day a week.  The school meets the current floor standards for student achievement (the minimum standards

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Information about this school

expected by the government).  There have been significant changes to the senior leadership team with both the headteacher and the deputy headteacher recently appointed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that teaching is consistently good across the school by:  ensuring all teachers use information about what students have learned before to set work that challenges all students to learn more quickly in lessons  making sure that all teachers give feedback in lessons and ensure consistently high quality marking of students’ work, so that all students know exactly what they need to do in order to improve  ensuring that all teachers have consistently high expectations of spelling, grammar and punctuation skills across the curriculum.  Raise the proportion of students making the progress expected of them, or better, in English and mathematics by:  making sure that senior leaders routinely use information about how well students are making progress in English and mathematics in each year group to identify where there is a need for support or extra challenge for individual students, and provide effective

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

and timely additional help.  Ensure that senior leaders and the Governing Body develop performance management strategies to increase the accountability of teachers for students’ achievement in their classes  Develop the curriculum to meet the needs of all students enabling them to improve their achievement, and to further develop their understanding of cultures other than their own.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The majority of students do not always make the progress in their learning of English and mathematics of which they are capable, and although this is getting better, especially in mathematics, students do not currently make the progress expected of them in comparison to national figures.  Students leave the school with results of 5 GCSE grades, including English and mathematics, that are below the national average, although the proportions of students achieving this are improving year on year. Students’ attainment in other subjects is improving, although this is not yet at national averages for most subjects.  The progress that students make in developing their reading, writing and communication skills is inconsistent across the school. Students in Key Stage 3 make better progress than students in Key Stage 4 due to carefully planned additional support for specific students. For example, a tutor has been appointed from September 2012 to provide structured and intensive support for

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

students in year 9 who have been identified as having low literacy skills. Although this is a recent development, these students have made good progress in improving their reading skills this term.  Disabled students and those with special educational needs make progress within the main school that is expected of them. The school’s specialist resource base provides good, highly personalised support for its students. This includes individual support and encouragement from teaching assistants when these students are in lessons within their year group. They also benefit from additional small group or individual tuition as needed to develop a range of skills, including literacy numeracy and social skills. Consequently, students in the specialist resource base make good progress during their time at the school.  The attainment of students known to be eligible for additional funding from the pupil premium is

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

below that of other students in the school, and the average point scores (APS) at the end of Key Stage 4 are lower than those of students who are not eligible for the pupil premium. However the school uses the pupil premium carefully to support eligible students, for example through individual support, reducing class sizes, and extra specialist help. As a result, the gap in attainment between these students and that of others in the school is reducing.  In most lessons, students now develop their skills, knowledge and understanding well. They enjoy their learning and are keen to participate in a range of activities.  This year, some students have been identified by the school as being ready to sit GCSE mathematics in November. This allows for students to have an opportunity to improve their grade is it is lower than expected.  A very few Key Stage 4 students attend a local college for a day a week. The school carefully

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

monitors the progress that these students make and they do well.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although much of the teaching in the school is now good, and some is outstanding, this is a recent improvement. Teaching has not been consistently good enough over time to lead to good progress overall for students. There are still some areas which require improvement.  Where teaching requires improvement, teachers do not plan learning activities that take into account what the students have learned before, which leads to some students repeating work, or having tasks that do not challenge them to think hard about what they are learning. Teachers’ expectations of what the students can achieve within a lesson are too low.  There are inconsistencies in what teachers expect from students’ written work. Some students’ written work is left unfinished and poorly presented, and teachers do not check to see if students have responded to their comments. Where marking is clearly linked to students’ learning and makes sure the students know exactly what to do in order to improve, students

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

respond by producing high quality written work all the time.  Teachers generally encourage the use of correct spelling, punctuation and grammar, but this is inconsistent across the school, with students in Key Stage 3 benefiting from more support in this area.  In those lessons observed where teaching is good or better, teachers have high expectations of how much students of all abilities can learn within a lesson, and question students closely to establish exactly how much students have understood about their learning. Teachers use information about the prior learning of their students to make sure that work is set to challenge their understanding and ensure that they learn quickly. Students are encouraged to reflect on how much they have learned and to identify where they need to improve.  Support such as individual tuition and carefully selected courses for disabled students and those with special educational needs, is effective in promoting the learning of these students especially

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

for those students within the specialist resource base.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students are polite and show respect to each other and to adults, and their behaviour around the school is sensitive to the needs of others.  Students are keen to learn, and willingly take an active part in lessons, where they enjoy a variety of activities including working in small groups or independently. They listen to others’ viewpoints and offer sensible responses to each other’s contributions.  During the inspection, students were keen to point out that they feel behaviour in the school has improved a great deal over recent years. They attribute this to the clear and consistent use of the behaviour policy applied by teaching staff, and to the pastoral support they receive from the school.  Students feel safe in school and have a clear understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, including using the internet.  They have a clear awareness of what would constitute bullying, including prejudice-based

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

bullying. Students feel that bullying incidents are rare and are dealt with swiftly and effectively by the school.  Attendance has been below average but is now improving due to a range of successful strategies implemented by the school to encourage and highlight the importance of good attendance.  The views of parents and students gathered during the inspection support this positive view of the behaviour and safety of the students at this school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 New initiatives have not had sufficient time to have full effect on students’ achievement. However, school leaders are fully aware of the strengths and areas to improve within the school, and the recently appointed headteacher and deputy headteacher have identified clear priorities for school development.  One of these areas has been to improve the quality of teaching. A clear plan of regular lesson observations by senior and subject leaders, detailed feedback and tracking of how aspects of teaching are improving within lessons is beginning to show improvements in the quality of teaching.  The school collates a great deal of data about the progress that students make in all subjects. Although some departments and teachers use this data to plan lessons that enable students to make progress, school leaders cannot easily look at an overview of where students make the most or least progress.  Some carefully selected students have been identified by the school as being ready to sit GCSE

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The leadership and management requires improvement

mathematics in November this year to allow students to have an opportunity to improve their grade if it is lower than expected.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Students do not make consistently good progress developing their literacy skills across the school. The school is aware of this and is developing strategies to improve literacy, and this is beginning to have an impact with students in Key Stage 3.  The management of teachers’ performance includes the setting of targets that are linked to students’ achievement, but these do not specify what is expected in terms of proportions of students making good or better progress each year.  The curriculum has not in the past led to students achieving well in a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. Although it leads to the strong development of students’ spiritual, social and moral awareness, it does not provide enough opportunities for students to learn about cultures other than their own. The curriculum is being reviewed by the school to ensure that students follow courses and sit examinations that are appropriate to their needs

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The leadership and management requires improvement

throughout their time at the school.  The local authority provides effective support for identified areas, for example, with financial management to reduce a deficit budget. The school is part of a scheme run by the local authority to improve the provision for disabled students and those with special educational needs, and subject leaders are invited to groups to share good practice and for support with subject leaders from other schools within the local authority.  The governance of the school:  The governing body ask pertinent questions about the data they receive regarding the progress that students make in a range of subjects, but do not have a detailed overview of the progress students make in different years groups and subjects and the reason behind this. They have an understanding of how performance management is used across the school, but are aware that targets set for teachers in terms of the impact their teaching has on students’

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The leadership and management requires improvement

progress are not yet challenging enough. Governors are passionate and committed to the range of improvements the school is making, and prioritise discussion about student achievement within their meetings. They regularly update their skills and knowledge. They have a clear financial awareness, and spend the pupil premium wisely for example on extra staffing and resources so that the achievement of targeted students is improving.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 115775 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 405603

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Secondary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 11-16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 494 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Eric Dawson Headteacher Pam Wilson Date of previous school inspection 11-12 May 2011 Telephone number 01453 822469 Fax number 01453 825615 Email address office@maidenhill.gloucs.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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 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

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School details

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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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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