Bedale High School

Bedale High School Fitzalan Road, Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 2EQ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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

 Despite an improving picture, teaching is not yet consistently good over time. It does not yet promote enough good progress for some groups of students.  A minority of boys, disadvantaged students, and students with special educational needs underachieve, especially in mathematics.  A minority of teachers do not check carefully students’ progress in lessons. Some marking of some students’ work is irregular, and does not encourage high enough expectations about what they produce.  While students’ attitudes to their learning are increasingly positive, a minority does not yet show enough determination and keenness, when challenged to improve their work in some subjects.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher and associate headteacher exude high expectations and have established an environment in which teaching and learning can flourish.  Standards in English have improved since the previous inspection. The proportions of all groups of students making expected, and more than expected progress, are now above national averages.  Key leaders and managers are ambitious for more success on the part of all students.  Governors now provide the necessary challenge to hold the school’s leaders to account, and show the capacity to drive further the improvements required.  The vast majority of students attend regularly, and behave well in lessons and around the school. They feel safe in school and willingly take on responsibilities, involving themselves in a range of activities, both in school and in the local community.  Students with high functioning autism are well provided for, and make good progress.

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The school has the following strengths

 The vast majority of parents are positive about the school’s work. They particularly value the information they receive about their children’s progress.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 33 different lessons, of which three were joint observations with the school’s senior leaders.  Students’ work was sampled in lessons, and inspectors talked with students about their achievements, to gain evidence about the quality of teaching and students’ progress over time.  Inspectors also reviewed a range of documents, including the school’s own data on current students’ progress, planning and monitoring documentation, minutes of governing body meetings, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents pertaining to safeguarding.  Meetings were held with students, governors, and school staff, including those with management responsibilities. A discussion also took place with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors evaluated the 75 responses of parents to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View), as well as responses from parents to the school’s own questionnaires. Inspectors also took account of the views

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Information about this inspection

of 55 members of the school’s staff through the inspection questionnaires returned.

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Inspection team

Andrew Swallow, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average sized secondary school. The number of students on roll has declined since the previous inspection, reflecting the fall in the local population.  Most students are of White British heritage and very few speak English as a foreign language.  The proportion of disadvantaged students (those for whom the pupil premium funding provides support), is well below the national average.  The proportion of students supported through school action are below those found nationally, as are the proportion supported through school action plus, or with a statement of special educational needs.  A small minority of students are educated for part of the week on a local farm where they pursue a land- based agricultural qualification. None are entered early for GCSE examinations.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress.

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Information about this school

 The school has specialist provision for students with a diagnosis of high functioning autism.  The school receives support from the local authority and King James School, Knaresborough.  Since the previous, inspection there have been many staff changes, including the appointment of a new headteacher and associate headteacher, new leaders, managers and governors, and a new Chair of the Governing Body.

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Information about this school

What does the school need to do to improve further?

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Information about this school

 Continue to improve the quality of teaching, and a minority of students’ attitudes to their learning, by:  ensuring all teachers have high expectations of what all students can achieve, and provide sufficient opportunities for students to deepen their understanding  ensuring that all teachers systematically check students’ understanding in lessons and adapt work so that more students learn well  ensuring that all teachers provide regular feedback to students about how they can improve their work, and insisting that they respond accordingly.

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Information about this school

 Raise students’ attainment and accelerate their progress further, especially for a minority of boys, disadvantaged students and those with special educational needs, and particularly in mathematics, by:  ensuring activities are sufficiently interesting, and appropriately matched to the needs of all groups of students  insisting on high levels of commitment and perseverance from all groups, in all lessons  providing more frequent opportunities for students to solve problems set in every day contexts, particularly in mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 The new headteacher is ambitious for all students and has raised the aspirations of staff and students. He is ably supported by the recently appointed associate headteacher. Both exude high expectations and commitment to drive the school forward.  Senior leaders share the headteacher’s and associate headteacher’s plans for the future, and know what needs to be done to improve teaching further. They are determined to improve students’ life chances. They are promoting a ‘can do’ culture in the school in which all students feel valued.  Since the previous inspection, the roles of subject leaders have been transformed. Although some are relatively new to post, all are committed to raising students’ achievement and improving provision faster. They are now directly involved in checking the quality and impact of teaching on students’ learning and progress. Ineffective teaching is being tackled vigorously, and students’ work, and their views about

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The leadership and management are good

lessons, are sampled regularly. As a result, students’ achievement is rising quickly, especially across Years 7 to 9.  The school has an accurate view of how well it is doing. Leaders know that they have yet to ensure that teaching is consistently good, and having enough impact on the achievement of specific groups of students by the end of Year 11. As such, the school improvement plan is focused on addressing aspects of teaching that still require improvement, as well as ensuring that more students make better-than-expected progress, and attain the highest GCSE grades.  The local authority provides well-conceived support to check the school’s judgments about its work, and ensure that these judgements are accurate at every level.  Staff demonstrate high levels of respect for students and colleagues, and ensure safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements.  The performance management of staff is appropriately challenging. Targets for individual teachers indicate

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The leadership and management are good

increasingly high expectations that are set for students’ achievements, as well as for their own practice. Professional development opportunities are varied, and matched closely to identified training needs. Training increasingly draws on the expertise of staff within the school, as well as those from other schools, and national organisations. It has particularly enhanced the work of subject leaders, who now show greater confidence in holding other staff to account. The headteacher collects robust information about the quality of teaching, and its impact on students’ learning, in order to make the right decisions about teachers’ movement up the salary scale.  The school knows students well, and increasingly removes barriers to learning. As a result, most now have an equal opportunity to succeed. Nonetheless, overall margins between the performance of some disadvantaged students and their peers, are not closing quickly enough in all subjects.

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The leadership and management are good

 Students with high functioning autism are thoroughly integrated into school life, although there remains scope to raise further the achievement of a minority of students with special educational needs, and the general performance of a small minority of boys.  The school’s curriculum meets students’ needs increasingly well. Arrangements to support the move from primary to secondary school, especially for those whose literacy and numeracy skills are not well developed, are effective. Assemblies, general studies lessons and alternative curriculum days, prepare students well for life in modern Britain. They promote sensitively the importance of freedom for all individuals, the significance of mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Careers education and advice is particularly effective, and the number of students each year who do not continue in education, employment or training, when they leave school, is very low.

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The leadership and management are good

 The wide range of sporting, musical and performing events, and extra-curricular activities, make strong contributions to students’ personal development. Visits to Auschwitz, Paris and Iceland, as well as the HMS Heroes club, Duke of Edinburgh scheme, and charity work to fund a classroom in the Mettupalayam community in Southern India , all enrich students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. These aspects of the school’s work underpin a constant intolerance of any discrimination should it arise.  Parents are supportive of the school. A high proportion indicates they would readily recommend the school to other families.  The governance of the school:  Since the previous inspection, the governing body has been re-constituted and a new Chair of the Governing Body appointed. Governors are now regular visitors to the school, and show a clear insight into the quality of teaching, learning, and achievements of all students. Minutes of governing body

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The leadership and management are good

meetings indicate that governors are increasingly confident in challenging the senior leaders.  Governors have perceptive discussions about the value of spending decisions, in particular the allocation of the pupil premium, and Year 7 ‘catch-up’ funding. For example, they have authorised small group teaching and additional time for adults to enhance students’ reading, spelling and mathematical skills.  Governors receive detailed information about the salaries of all staff and any decisions about teachers’ applications for promotion. As a result, governors have a good understanding of the effectiveness of the management of teachers’ performance throughout the school. They have particularly high expectations of the performance of the headteacher and associate headteacher.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of students is good.  They take pride in wearing the school uniform and ‘house hoodies’ and make an effort to keep the school clean, tidy and free from litter. During break and lunchtimes they socialise in an orderly manner, showing positive regard for one another.  In many lessons, students show a desire to participate, and complete a great deal of work. The endeavours of many staff are paying off in promoting students’ expectations of themselves. There remains scope to encourage a minority of students to show more commitment and determination, when challenged to improve their work, in some subjects.  The school’s work to keep students’ safe and secure is good.  Students say how much all adults go out of their way to support them. They are particularly positive about the roles they are afforded in leading house and school activities, as school councillors and as mentors to younger students, emphasising the extent to which they are encouraged to look out for one another, and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

become good citizens.  Parents say how well the school looks after their children, and that they are happy to attend regularly. Attendance is now above average, persistent absence much reduced, and the number of students excluded from school, or removed from lessons, is falling rapidly.  The school’s mission statement ‘to provide an inclusive, caring and challenging learning environment’ is embodied in the strengthening relationships between adults and students, and between students and their peers. For these reasons, there is little bullying of any kind. Students are confident that adults will always be at hand to help, should they experience difficulties.  General studies lessons, daily tutor group experiences, and visitors from local authority services and external agencies, all contribute towards students’ good understanding of the different types of bullying, including homophobic and cyber-bullying, and how to keep safe.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of the teaching is improving securely and inadequate practice has been tackled robustly and therefore eradicated. Nonetheless, some teaching still requires improvement overall and, as a result, teaching is not yet consistently strong enough to ensure enough students make good or better progress over time, particularly in mathematics.  Not all teaching provides all groups of students with work that gets the best out of them. On occasions, teaching in some lessons does not motivate a minority of students, mainly boys, to think sufficiently about what they are learning, and how they can do even better.  Some teachers do not check students’ learning and progress with sufficient precision, missing opportunities to adapt activities to meet learners’ changing needs, and moving some on before they are ready. This is particularly the case for a minority of students with special educational needs.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teachers’ marking is variable. While some provide regular and detailed comments on students’ work, others do not mark carefully enough. Consequently, not all students know what to do next to improve. On occasions, some teachers’ expectations of students’ responses to the comments that they make, are not high enough. As a result, a few students do not develop sufficient resilience and desire to challenge themselves in order to improve their initial contributions.  Teaching assistants are generally well deployed and provide good quality care and guidance for the majority of students with special educational needs. Many students say how much they appreciate their support, especially those with high functioning autism.  Relationships between students and adults in almost all classes are positive. This encourages students’ good personal and social development.  Many teachers inject real enjoyment into learning, manage students’ behaviour well, and challenge their

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

thinking. For example, in a Year 11 geography lesson, students thoroughly enjoyed developing a case study on wild fires, eagerly exchanging views on a series of pictures, and linking ideas to previous learning. Similarly, in a Year 9 English lesson, a group of lower attaining students concentrated well to sequence correctly the key events in Act 1 Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The vast majority showed a keenness to consider how this scene had been presented differently over time, responding positively to the enthusiasm and challenge provided by the adults.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s GCSE results in 2013, and provisional results for 2014, were above the national average for five or more GCSE A* to C grades, including English and mathematics. These outcomes represent expected progress, given students’ generally above average starting points. As a consequence, students’ achievement, taken as a whole, requires improvement.  Boys’ overall performance in 2014 showed that a minority had underachieved in some subjects, including mathematics. Provisional figures indicate that the gap between the overall achievement of boys and girls has begun to narrow.  A minority of students with special educational needs also continues to underperform in some subjects, particularly where work is not matched well enough to meet their needs. However, students with high functioning autism achieve well. This is because they are suitably challenged by the planned activities, and supporting adults are well deployed.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Attainment and progress in mathematics by the end of Year 11 have varied since the previous inspection. In 2014, the proportion of boys making expected progress dipped, and a minority of students with special educational needs also underperformed. The achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers widened again, after having closed the previous year. As a consequence, the attainment of disadvantaged students remains approximately half a GCSE grade lower than non-disadvantaged students in the school, and around two-thirds of a GCSE grade lower than seen nationally. School leaders are very aware of this and are taking effective action to improve mathematics teaching further by making sure that all teachers respond to students’ changing needs.  Attainment and progress in English have improved since the previous inspection. The proportions of all groups of students making expected, and more than expected progress, are now above national

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

expectations. Disadvantaged students make particularly good progress, attaining GCSE outcomes in line with non-disadvantaged students in school and nationally.  Many students achieve well in a number of subjects, especially geography, food technology, textiles, physical education and vocational subjects. The small numbers attending off-site provision and following land-based qualifications, also achieve well.  Inspection evidence shows that rising numbers of students in Years 7 to 9 achieve well in lessons and in their work. Many develop increasing confidence in speaking and listening skills, read fluently, and write enthusiastically for different audiences, in different contexts. Students’ mathematical skills are also used increasingly well, to measure, record and chart information.  In general, the most able students now achieve well. More attain the highest GCSE grades in an increasing number of subjects, than at the time of the previous inspection, and increasingly in line with the national

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

picture.  Good support is made available for students at risk of falling behind. For example, Year 7 ‘catch up’ funding has been used to provide more one-to-one specialist teaching in English and mathematics, and to enhance students’ confidence through bespoke mentoring. It has also supported the purchase of new resources to boost students’ reading and numeracy skills. As a result, the attainment of students involved in these initiatives has increased at a fast pace.  The very few students from minority ethnic backgrounds, and whose first language is not English, are well provided for and make good progress.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 121670 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 431646

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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 Community Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 649 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gerry Price Headteacher Michael Jolley Date of previous school inspection 19 September 2012 Telephone number 01677 422419 Fax number 01677 425488 Email address admin@bedalehighschool.org.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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