Manor High School

Manor High School Copse Close, Oadby, Leicester, LE24FU

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Students achieve well in this school. Their progress is good.  Attainment in English and mathematics significantly exceeds national averages. This success is also seen in science, geography and physical education.  Teachers develop good relationships with their students, who work hard as they strive for excellence.  Behaviour is good and students are courteous to others. Students adopt very positive attitudes towards learning.  Students feel safe and leaders provide good care and support for them. Bullying is dealt with effectively.  The headteacher works with senior leaders to provide a clear direction for the school. Leaders have improved teaching and learning and have drawn up plans to tackle areas which still need attention.  Most subject leaders closely monitor the work of their teams to ensure that students achieve their best.  Governors challenge leaders effectively. They have a good understanding of their role,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

especially in monitoring the success of the students, and they manage finances well.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always set work that is sufficiently challenging.  Feedback to students to help them achieve their very best is not always given or followed up by some teachers.  Some subject leaders do not yet rigorously check to make sure that teaching is always of the highest standard.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 33 lessons, 12 of which were jointly observed with senior leaders. In addition, they made a number of shorter visits to lessons, tutorial sessions and assemblies.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, other leaders and managers, and groups of staff.  Members of the inspection team held meetings with four groups of students, representing all age groups in the school. Discussions also took place with students informally.  A meeting was held with the Chair and other members of the Governing Body. Conversations were also held with two primary school headteachers who have been working closely with the school.  The inspection team observed the school’s work and scrutinised documents, including the school’s own evaluation of how well it is doing, the school improvement plan and statistical information about students’ achievement, attendance and exclusions.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors took account of the 52 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 25 responses to the staff questionnaires. Additional comments were received from parents, and consideration was given to the views expressed by students and their families in response to the school’s own surveys.

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Inspection team

Rob Ridout, Lead inspector Additional Inspector David Hughes Additional Inspector Jackie Pentlow Additional Inspector Gwen Onyon Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is an average-sized middle-deemed-secondary school.  The proportion of students from minority ethnic groups is well above the national average. Almost three quarters of the students are from Asian backgrounds, and half are from Indian backgrounds. Around half of the students speak English as an additional language, although few are at an early stage of learning English.  The proportion of students eligible for the pupil premium is well below average. This additional funding supports students who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportions of disabled students and those who have special educational needs supported by school action, and by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs, are well below average.  No students study away from the school site.  The school meets the government’s current floor targets, which are the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for students’ attainment and progress.  The headteacher commenced work at the school in August 2012. The school has recently appointed several new subject leaders.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and accelerate students’ progress by:  ensuring that teachers provide activities that help students of all abilities to make rapid progress, especially in art, history and religious education  giving students regular, clear guidance on what to do next in their learning to help them make rapid and sustained progress  ensuring that all subject leaders regularly check that teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility are of the highest quality and inspire students to do even better.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students’ attainment on entry to the school is around the national average. They make good progress and achieve well by the time they leave.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students in Year 6 make good progress in their studies. This is because of the good work done in partnership with the primary schools. Good planning supports the successful transition of students into the school. The curriculum is designed to link with prior learning, and work done with Year 5 teachers is continued with Year 6 teachers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Literacy is promoted well across the school. Reading is encouraged and literacy skills are developed in many subjects. Year 7 ‘catch-up’ funding is used to support weak readers and help them to improve their reading skills so that they are able to keep up with their classmates in lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Standards are rising in English and mathematics. The proportion of students making and exceeding expected progress is high when compared with national figures. More-able students achieve well in mathematics, but less so in English. Less-able students are more successful in English. Teachers provide individualised, tailored programmes to support these students to secure faster progress for both these groups in both subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment and achievement are improving in other subjects including geography, science, modern foreign languages and the technologies. Standards in art, history and religious education are only just starting to rise but they are benefiting from the good work of the newly appointed team leaders.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled students and those who have special educational needs make good progress. This is because teaching is closely matched to their particular needs and teaching assistants provide high quality support. Students who have sight difficulties have materials specially prepared and presented for them to enable them to learn well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students from Indian and other ethnic backgrounds achieve well compared to all students nationally. The one- to-one support for those that join the school after the start of Year 6 means that they develop good levels in reading and writing that enable them to achieve as well as their peers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students supported by pupil premium funding are monitored very closely. Much is done to cater for their individual needs and, as a consequence, they are now making the same progress as their peers. There is no gap in their attainment when compared to that of their classmates.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is typically good and some is outstanding. Learning is most effective in lessons where there is a sense of urgency, and teachers show high expectations and push students to achieve their best.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Inspectors saw good learning when teachers asked students probing questions to test and develop their understanding, making them explain their reasons and asking other students to comment or develop their answers further. Learning was further helped when teachers followed up their written comments to check that students had corrected their work.  Students are clear about their target grades and most know what they need to do to achieve them. Many want to exceed them and said that they worked hardest for the teachers who respected and worked hard for them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Students make rapid progress where teachers made good use of data on what they know and can do to plan demanding activities. This was especially true in the lessons seen which included a high level of challenge or support for those that needed it, particularly for more-able students and those eligible for the pupil premium. Not all teachers use the information they have on students’ attainment and progress to set work at the right level of difficulty.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Students make most rapid progress where they receive regular feedback on work and clear guidance about what to do next, and the teacher checks that they act on the advice given and have understood the changes they have made. Students’ workbooks showed some variation in the helpfulness of feedback given by some teachers between and within teaching teams.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of students is good. This is the case in lessons, when students move around the school and during breaks and lunchtimes. Students get on well together and are keen to do well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students are welcoming, helpful, polite and well mannered. They behave well and exhibit a mature and positive attitude towards learning. They fully respect the adults who work at the school and relate well to both teachers and their assistants.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students’ perceptions, gained through interviews with inspectors and the online parental survey, strongly suggest that the almost consistently good behaviour observed by inspectors is typical on a day-to-day basis.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Exclusions for unacceptable behaviour are low, reflecting the view that behaviour is good on a daily basis.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students’ attitudes in class are very positive. In classes, they contribute to the largely positive atmosphere that promotes good learning. Very rarely, some students are restless in class when they become bored.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep students safe and secure is good. It meets national safeguarding requirements well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school does not tolerate discrimination in any form. Students are aware of the different forms of bullying, including cyber- and homophobic bullying, and say that if any occurs it is dealt with effectively by staff. Where incidents do take place, the school follows agreed, recognisable procedures correctly but is always exploring ways in which to improve these even further.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The very large majority of students, parents and teachers see this as a safe place to learn where students are valued and treated as individuals and cared for well. Good nurture and support are provided, particularly for the vulnerable students. Students say that they enjoy the opportunities given to them at the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is improving strongly as a result of the efforts of staff. It is well above average and persistent absence has fallen rapidly.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and governors are ambitious and have high expectations for what the students can achieve. Together have the ability to improve the school. Under the new headteacher, there is a sharper focus on students’ progress, and teachers’ expectations of what students can achieve have risen and are now more challenging.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have an accurate awareness of the school’s strengths and weaknesses; the way ahead is identified clearly and all staff embrace the school’s ambition to strive for excellence in all things.

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The leadership and management are good

 Responses to the staff questionnaire were positive, indicating confidence in the leadership and the direction in which it is taking the school. Changes to the school’s leadership are believed to have strengthened the team, but it is still too early to see the full impact of their work. New leaders responsible for art, history and geography have begun to raise the standards of teaching but the full impact on students’ achievement is yet to be seen.

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The leadership and management are good

 Subject and other leaders are becoming more effective in providing good support and development for their teams. They recognise their accountability to senior leaders, but value the greater communication and support they receive. However, not all ensure that marking is done or that feedback is given to students to the same high standards seen in the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teaching is led and managed well. Leaders use good systems for managing the performance of teachers. Checks on the quality of teaching are effective and are leading to teachers being set challenging targets that relate to their work and the progress of the students they teach. Pay progression is directly related to them securing the agreed targets.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has tackled poor teaching by providing teachers with support to help them improve their practice or by using the capability process successfully where appropriate. Such actions have led to significantly improved teaching in the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders are committed to improving teachers’ skills through suitable training. The sharing of expertise and ideas has been very effective in raising the quality of the school’s work. Teachers in the school now use data better to cater for the different ability groups and this has made a significant contribution to the rising levels of achievement, especially in English and mathematics. The work done with primary partner schools has improved the experience for students in making the transition to the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Checks on students’ progress are now more frequent and rigorous. Staff are increasingly effective in identifying how well students are doing, providing support for those who need it and securing better achievement for all.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum promotes equality of opportunity because it is designed to cater for the needs and interests of students. Literacy and numeracy teaching has been enhanced, with additional time built into the week for students to improve their skills in these areas. The tutorial system promotes students’ spiritual, moral and social development well. Students very much appreciate the wide range of additional activities offered to them on a weekly basis.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors provide good support and challenge for senior leaders. They are knowledgeable about educational issues and have a breadth of skills and experience, including financial expertise. The governors have a good understanding of the school and its current priorities. They have a realistic and accurate picture of what the quality of teaching is like in the school. Governors are familiar with the national benchmarks for school achievement and have a good understanding of how well all groups of pupils are achieving in the school. This information is used by the governing body to inform what the next steps should be to plan further improvements in the school’s work. Governors have supported the headteacher in operating the new performance management procedures that link staff pay with students’ achievement. They have a good awareness of how the pupil premium funding is being spent on ensuring

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The leadership and management are good

that any gaps in attainment are minimal.

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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 137120 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 443322

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Middle deemed secondary School category Converter Academy Age range of pupils 10–14 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 892 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gill Townsend Headteacher Liam Powell Date of previous school inspection 28–29 June 2012 Telephone number 0116 271 4941 Fax number 0116 272 0277 Email address admin@manorhigh.leics.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 and 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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