Holcombe Grammar School

Chatham Grammar School for Boys Maidstone Road, Holcombe, Chatham, ME4 6JB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Inadequate 4

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.  Leadership and management are inadequate because achievement, especially in English, and the quality of teaching have not improved quickly enough since the previous inspection.  Students’ achievement is not consistently good. Leaders and governors do not check the progress of different groups of students accurately, particularly those eligible for support through the pupil premium and those entering early for examinations at GCSE, AS and A level.  Leaders in charge of subjects are not held responsible for improving the quality and consistency of teaching or the progress students make, so differences in performance are not tackled effectively.  Teaching requires improvement because weak and inadequate teaching has not been eradicated. Teachers do not consistently plan lessons that challenge students and extend their thinking or give students detailed verbal and written feedback on how to improve their

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

work.  The sixth form requires improvement because students’ progress is too variable across subjects.  Behaviour in lessons has declined from the time of the previous inspection. Students lose interest and motivation when teaching is not good enough so their learning is disrupted.

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The school has the following strengths:

 Students with special educational needs make good progress because of the well-targeted support they receive.  Students’ behaviour around the school is good. Students from different backgrounds get on well and respect each other.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 34 lessons, of which seven were jointly observed with senior leaders and leaders in charge of subjects. Inspectors observed leaders in charge of subjects reporting back to teachers on the quality of teaching and learning. Visits were made to a further five lessons accompanied by a manager to assess the quality of learning for students with special educational needs.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and senior leaders, leaders in charge of subjects, the Chair of the Governing Body and another governor, and five groups of students.  Inspectors took account of the three responses to the staff questionnaire and 114 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) received by the end of the inspection.  The inspection team observed the academy’s work, scrutinised the academy’s data about students’ achievement, examined records relating to behaviour, attendance and exclusions, and

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Information about this inspection

looked at documents used by leaders and governors to monitor and evaluate the academy’s work.

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Inspection team

Anne Wellham, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Noureddin Khassal Additional Inspector Veronica Young Additional Inspector Jacqueline Jones Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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Full report

 Inspectors strongly recommend that the academy should not seek to appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Information about this school

 Chatham Grammar School for Boys became an academy in April 2011. Its specialist subjects are science and mathematics.  It is an average-sized secondary school with a large, mixed sixth form. About half of the sixth form is made up of students who join at the end of Year 11 from other schools in the area. Girls make up a third of the sixth form.  The proportion of students for whom the school receives the pupil premium is much lower than the national average. This is additional government funding for students in the care of the local authority, those with a parent or carer in the armed forces, and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  Almost all students are of White British heritage. The proportion of students from minority ethnic groups is in line with the national average with the largest proportions being from Black African and Indian heritage. The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is

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Information about this school

lower than average.  The proportions of students supported at school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs are well below average. The main identified needs are autistic spectrum disorder and specific learning difficulties, particularly dyslexia.  The academy does not provide education or training for students away from school.  The academy meets the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.  There have been no significant changes in leadership since the previous inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching by :  making sure that teachers use information about students’ different levels of abilities and needs to plan lessons that challenge all students and extend their thinking  providing frequent and detailed verbal and written feedback that helps students to check and improve their work  getting students involved in challenging, varied and exciting activities in all lessons so that they remain interested and behave consistently well.  Improve achievement so that students make good or better progress across all subjects and at all levels, especially in English and in the sixth form, by:  identifying different groups of students clearly so that all leaders, managers and teachers understand and use the same information to check students’ progress, especially those eligible for pupil premium support and those entering early for GCSE and AS and A-level examinations  making sure that all teachers understand what good and outstanding achievement

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

means for high-ability students so that their progress can be checked thoroughly and accurately  checking and analysing students’ progress in each class, across each subject and across the whole academy and comparing it to the evaluations of the quality and consistency of teaching and learning.  Rapidly improve the effectiveness of leadership and management and governance by:  taking urgent action to eradicate weak and inadequate teaching  developing the skills of senior leaders and governors so that they can check accurately whether the actions they are taking to raise achievement and improve the quality of teaching and learning are having enough impact  making sure that all leaders in charge of subjects know how to check the quality and consistency of teaching and how to improve it if it is not good enough  ensuring that the governing body takes part in, and responds to, an external review of

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

governance to identify what support and training governors need.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement is not good because students are not making the progress they are capable of in all subjects. The proportion of students who gain five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including English and mathematics is well above the national average. However, when compared with students with the same high ability nationally they achieve scores in English, languages and humanities that are well below average. They achieve scores in mathematics that are in line with students of the same ability and scores that are slightly above in science.  Students’ achievement in English has not improved quickly enough since the previous inspection. In 2012 a lower proportion of students achieved the highest grades of A* and A at GCSE than nationally and over a third of students did not make enough progress from their starting points. The academy predicts that progress in English will improve for students taking GCSE English this

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

year, at the end of their three-year course, as a result of additional teaching and intensive revision. However, students in other year groups are not making enough progress because weak and inadequate teaching in the department has not been tackled effectively.  In contrast, in mathematics and science, a higher proportion of students achieve the highest grades of A* and A than nationally and more than half made more than expected progress. This is because there is more good teaching in these subjects and more students receive good quality feedback.  Students develop and apply skills in mathematics which prepare them well for the next stage in their education, training or employment. In contrast, students’ skills in reading and writing do not develop quickly enough from the high levels they achieve before entering the school.  Achievement in the sixth form requires improvement because it is not consistently good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

Students enter the sixth form with attainment just below average and achieve results that are just below average. There is no difference in the achievement of boys and girls or of those students who join from other schools. Leaders are aware that there are considerable differences in the progress students make but they are not taking effective action to close the gaps between subjects.  In 2012, Year 11 students known to be eligible for free school meals and who were supported by additional funding from the pupil premium achieved similar results in examinations at GCSE and made the same progress as other students in the school. The attainment of these students in English was in line with that of other students in the school and in mathematics was equivalent to one quarter of one GCSE grade lower.  Senior leaders and teachers in charge of subjects do not have a clear picture of how well students are learning, including those eligible for support through pupil premium funding, those

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language. As a result, the academy’s approach to the promotion of equality of opportunity requires improvement.  Disabled students and those who have special educational needs, especially those with autistic spectrum disorder, make good progress from their starting points as a result of well-managed and targeted support. Strong leadership in this aspect of the school’s work ensures that the progress of these students is tracked and analysed rigorously.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There is too much variation in the quality of teaching across the academy; it ranges from outstanding to inadequate. This is because leaders and teachers in charge of subjects have not made sure that there is consistently good teaching for all students. The quality of learning and the quality of feedback students receive depends too much on the individual qualities of the teacher. Some students perceive that they are ‘lucky’ if the teaching they receive is good or outstanding and they would like their work to be marked by some teachers more frequently.  Teachers do not use detailed information about the needs of different groups of students, including the varying needs of students within the same higher ability range , to plan lessons that challenge students to extend and justify their thinking. As a result, in lessons where teaching is repetitive or the tasks are set at too low a level, students get bored. This slows their progress,

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

they begin to lose motivation in that subject and some begin to misbehave.  In contrast, Year 7 students made outstanding progress in a science lesson because they were fully involved in investigating different types of cells in the body. The task was skilfully managed by the teacher through effective and challenging questioning which extended students’ knowledge and understanding while developing key skills of note-taking and summarising and presenting information.  Recent training on literacy has increased teachers’ understanding of the expertise they need in order to develop students’ skills in line with their abilities. However, not all teachers are improving their teaching of literacy quickly enough because too much attention is paid to pointing out basic errors in punctuation, spelling and grammar, repeatedly over several weeks. Not all teachers provide students with clear advice on how to tackle these basic errors quickly

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

enough so that they can move on to develop more advanced skills.  Inconsistent and irregular marking was an area of concern identified at the time of the previous inspection. Leaders have not tackled this effectively. Not all teachers follow their guidance and some leaders of subjects are not doing enough to tackle poor or infrequent marking. In several of the lessons observed by inspectors, students’ work was marked infrequently or with comments focused on correcting presentation rather than specific advice on how to improve students’ knowledge and understanding of the subject.  Some examples of excellent marking were seen from individual teachers. It identified clearly and precisely for students what went well and set clear targets for improvement. In some lessons, teachers marked work regularly but feedback was less effective because students were set the same targets over several weeks and were unable to make good progress in improving their

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

 Behaviour is not good, as it was at the previous inspection, because there is a stark contrast between the attitudes students display inside and outside of lessons. Students are polite and well mannered and treat each other and adults with respect as they move around the school. This is not always carried through to lessons where their attitudes to learning are a direct response to the quality of teaching. Students in all year groups, including the sixth form, report that their learning is disrupted in some lessons by low-level disruption.  Attendance is above average; very few students stay away from school for long periods and the proportion excluded from school for short periods is well below average. Students want to learn and are proud of their achievements. However, the potential for behaviour to be good or outstanding is being held back because teaching and achievement are not good enough for

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

attitudes to learning to be consistently positive.  Students feel safe in the school and have a good awareness of the different forms of bullying, including cyber bullying and name calling. Nearly all the parents and carers who responded to Parent View stated that their child feels safe and is happy at the academy.  Students joining the sixth form from other schools, including girls, settle quickly and are made to feel welcome. Students respect each other’s beliefs and cultures and the academy’s international links are used well to broaden and deepen students’ awareness.  Students report that they value the clubs and activities that take place outside lessons, particularly in sports, art and music. Sixth form students have the opportunity to study a range of extra courses which provide them with additional skills for the next stage of their education, training or employment.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The headteacher, senior leaders and governors understand that improvement needs to be rapid. However, key issues identified at the previous inspection that are holding the academy back from becoming a good school have not been tackled effectively.  School improvement planning is not sharp enough because it does not show how the outcomes of the actions leaders are taking to tackle weaknesses are going to be monitored and reviewed. Actions are not specific or set against measures of success so it is difficult to show how they will have an impact on students’ achievement or on improving the quality and consistency of teaching.  Leaders do not have an accurate view of the academy’s strengths and weaknesses. Their judgements about the quality of teaching are over-generous because teachers’ performance is not checked thoroughly by senior managers and teachers in charge of subjects. New ways of observing lessons, tracking students’ progress and checking the quality of teachers’ marking

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The leadership and management are inadequate

have been introduced but they are not being used consistently. When weaknesses in performance are identified, urgent and decisive actions are not taken to hold leaders and teachers to account.  Leaders and managers do not have a clear understanding of the progress of different groups. They do not check the achievement of students who enter subjects early at GCSE or for examinations courses in the sixth form. They are not questioning if early entries to examinations are beneficial and how successful students are if they then retake them later.  Some students achieve outstanding results but the academy does not evaluate whether the way subjects are organised provides equality of opportunity for all.  Leaders check the performance of teachers and make sure that they all have a target linked to students’ achievement. However, when decisions about teachers’ pay and progression are made they are based on an over-generous evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning and not

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The leadership and management are inadequate

linked precisely to the rates of progress made by students.  Extra money that the academy receives to support the achievement of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium is not used specifically to provide activities and resources to improve their learning. These students may benefit from some of the whole-school initiatives that the money is spent on but the impact on their achievement is not tracked or evaluated by leaders. As a result the academy is not promoting equality of opportunity well enough for these students.  The academy meets all government requirements in relation to the safeguarding of students and safer recruitment. Suitable opportunities are provided for students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. As a result, students gain an awareness and respect for others and respond positively to a range of sporting, artistic and cultural activities.  The impact of the local authority’s support and challenge in helping the school to improve since

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The leadership and management are inadequate

becoming an academy has been minimal. This is because the academy has chosen to buy in advisory support and services from elsewhere. The headteacher continues to attend and benefit from meetings of local headteachers that were set up by the local authority. The external challenge previously provided by the local authority has not been replaced by a rigorous process to check the quality of school improvement. Consequently, the academy is not held to account sufficiently for weaknesses in its performance.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The governance of the school:  The governing body brings a range of knowledge and expertise to the academy. Governors are committed to driving improvement and are skilful at asking challenging questions of leaders. They have demanded explanations from leaders to show how achievement and teaching are being improved, how staff performance is managed and teachers rewarded, and the impact of additional funding, such as the pupil premium. Despite this, they are not effective enough because they have been much too reliant on senior leaders for information and are too easily satisfied with poor quality responses not backed up by evidence of improvement.  Governors fulfil their statutory responsibilities well, including for safeguarding. However, their careful and thorough focus on procedures and processes uses up valuable time and distracts them from taking decisive action to improve aspects of the academy’s performance.

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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 136594 Local authority Medway Inspection number 422247

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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 Academy converter School category Non-maintained Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Boys Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 928

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form

Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ray Harris Headteacher David Marshall Date of previous school inspection 23–24 February 2012 Telephone number 01634830083 Fax number 01634 826230 Email address office@cgsb.co.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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form

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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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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form

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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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

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