Gartree High School

Gartree High School Oadby Ridge Way, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 5TQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Gartree is a highly effective school. When pupils leave at the end of Year 9, they are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their education.  Outstanding achievement is the result of the school’s high expectations, outstanding teaching, excellent support and pupils’ wholly positive attitudes to learning.  The headteacher provides excellent leadership and is extremely well supported by other leaders. They strive very effectively to improve the pupils’ education.  Pupils achieve outstandingly well and reach standards that are well above those expected for their age.  Lessons are challenging and interesting. All groups of pupils make rapid progress because teachers ensure that work is carefully matched to the pupils' learning needs. On some occasions the greater level of challenge provided in lessons for higher-attaining pupils is not introduced soon enough.  Leaders know exactly what has to be done to

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

maintain the school’s many strengths and improve the very few areas that are not yet outstanding.  Excellent systems for improving the quality of teaching and achievement are well established.  Behaviour is excellent. Improvements since the last inspection ensure that pupils demonstrate exemplary attitudes to their work.  The school makes sure its systems for keeping pupils safe meet national requirements and are effective. Pupils feel very safe. They say that help is readily available if needed.  The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is very strong. There is a wealth of cultural and sporting activities on offer, and the strong curriculum helps foster their understanding of the wider world.  Governors are highly effective. They have a very clear idea of how well the school is doing, but continue to challenge leaders to improve teaching and achievement further.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in 33 lessons, of which four were jointly observed with the headteacher or another senior leader. Inspectors observed the pupils’ behaviour in lessons, around the school and on the playground. Pupils' workbooks and folders were also scrutinised.  Discussions were held with pupils and members of staff, including senior leaders, subject leaders and the leader responsible for special educational needs. Inspectors also met with the Chair of the Governing Body and two other governors.  Inspectors looked at: the minutes of meetings of the governing body; school improvement plans; self- evaluation; and records of the school’s checks on teaching and pupils’ progress. Arrangements for keeping pupils safe across the school were also reviewed.  The views of parents were taken into account by looking at responses to the most recent school questionnaire and the 42 responses to the online survey, Parent View.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors also considered the views of staff views by analysing the responses to a questionnaire completed by 68 staff and through discussions held with staff during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Ian Jones, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized secondary school but is larger than a typical middle school.  Gartree High School converted to become an academy on 1 June 2012.  Pupils attend the school from a wide area in and beyond the town of Oadby. It is heavily over-subscribed.  About half of the pupils are from White British backgrounds. A quarter of pupils are of Indian heritage, with the remaining pupils coming from a wide range of ethnic groups.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported through the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority) is below the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

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Information about this school

 The school uses Alchemy Education to make alternative provision off the school site for a very small number of pupils.  The school includes specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs. The Hearing Impaired Unit (HIU) provides specialised support for pupils from within the school and from other schools in the area. Currently five pupils attend the unit.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Provide work with greater challenge for high-attaining pupils at an earlier stage in lessons so that all pupils do outstandingly well.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher provides exceptional leadership. With the highly effective support of other senior leaders, she has maintained the highest standards and strengthened the quality of teaching and pupils' behaviour.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Subject and other middle leaders provide excellent leadership, checking on the work of colleagues and planning for improvement. Should results in any subject dip, they take action immediately, analysing feedback from monitoring and making effective changes to ensure improvement. A middle leader who recently joined the school has already had a significant impact and has had excellent support from senior colleagues.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Robust systems of monitoring and support ensure excellence in achievement, behaviour and pastoral care. Self-evaluation procedures are highly accurate and lead to very effective plans for change and development. For example, improvements to mathematics teaching for younger pupils have led to a further rise in achievement between 2013 and 2014.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders are vigilant in the way they check the quality of teaching, taking highly effective action to raise teaching quality. Help for staff is personalised to their individual needs. Teachers do not receive pay rises unless these are warranted by the good or better progress of the pupils they teach. Teachers appreciate the opportunities they are given to sharpen their skills. They show commitment through very effectively implementing strategies, for example to ensure excellent behaviour in lessons.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school liaises very closely with Alchemy Education to check the progress and behaviour of students who attend this provision. A senior leader maintains personal contact with parents over the use of this organisation.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Relationships between adults and pupils are excellent throughout the school. Staff are quick to tackle any discrimination, and the school promotes equal opportunities very effectively. For example, pupil premium funds are used very well to support the specific needs of individuals. Additional support in lessons is highly effective in ensuring that these pupils make the same high rate of progress as their peers. Leaders use primary sport funding effectively to promote additional coaching for pupils in Year 6.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Pupils are extremely well prepared for life in modern Britain. A wide programme of personal education offers pupils excellent opportunities to reflect on moral dilemmas and fundamental British values, and pupils demonstrate appropriate attitudes as a result. Assemblies are of high quality and often based on topical matters; as a result, pupils reflect thoughtfully for example on recent acts of terrorism reported in the media.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders ensure that lessons contribute to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. In recent work depicting indigenous Australian art, pupils were able to reflect on their work and on the spiritual importance of what the art conveyed. Across all subjects pupils have opportunities to think deeply about the significance of the topics they are studying.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is strongly supportive of the school and carries out its duties very effectively. Its structure is aligned to the school’s development plan so that governors are linked to the key areas which are helping the school improve. Governors are well aware of how well pupils achieve, their attendance and behaviour, and about the strengths and areas for development in teaching. They have oversight of the performance management of teachers, including the headteacher and, on the rare occasions when staff fail to meet their targets, their pay rises are withheld. Governors question leaders closely, especially about financial matters and the impact of teaching on achievement. They know how pupil premium and primary sport funding has been spent and the improvements brought about in achievement, behaviour and attendance. They are proud of the school and strongly committed to its

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The leadership and management are outstanding

further improvement. The governing body ensures that all safeguarding requirements are met.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. The school has worked very effectively since the previous inspection to ensure that pupils are fully engaged in their lessons. Pupils say that behaviour has improved and that any incidents of low-level disruption are extremely rare. They clearly understand the procedures to encourage high standards of behaviour, and those who spoke to inspectors were extremely positive about how well the system works.

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Behaviour

 Pupils concentrate exceptionally well in lessons and are keen to contribute their own ideas and opinions. They demonstrate mature attitudes to learning, and are respectful of the opinions of others, even when they differ from their own. They are well aware of the next steps in their learning, and consistently strive to achieve their best. Teachers and teaching assistants agree that behaviour is exceptionally good.

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Behaviour

 Pupils also conduct themselves very well between lessons. They are clear about the rules, for example for movement time between lessons. They queue in an orderly fashion and are polite to each other. Pupils who spoke to inspectors were courteous and enthusiastic about their school.

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Behaviour

 Any pupils who present challenging behaviour are given strong support to improve. The number of exclusions from the school has dropped markedly this year. Attendance has also improved this year and is above average.

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Behaviour

 Parents and carers are very happy with behaviour in the school. In the school’s own questionnaire, more than four fifths of parents felt pupils were well behaved. In the much smaller response to the online questionnaire, only a few parents and carers disagreed.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. They and their parents and carers strongly agree that the school keeps them safe.

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Safety

 Pupils know about how to keep themselves safe, especially when on social media or using the internet in other ways. They are very aware of risk and know about safe practices, for example when using equipment in scientific experiments.

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Safety

 Pupils are well informed about different kinds of bullying, including cyber-bullying, and know who to go to for help if there is a problem. They say that bullying is very unusual, but well dealt with if it does occur.

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Safety

 Records show that any bullying is exceptionally rare. Pupils say how behaviour has improved further since the previous inspection.

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Safety

 School staff excellently care for a small number of pupils with potentially challenging circumstances, ensuring they get all the assistance they need to play a full part in school life.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have very high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Lessons are frequently very stimulating and especially designed to appeal to pupils' interests. There is no tolerance of bad or inappropriate behaviour. Teachers know their pupils very well and relationships are strong. This leads to lessons in which pupils work very well and learn quickly.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers’ subject knowledge is secure. Lessons are carefully tailored to meet the abilities of pupils. As a result, there are high levels of engagement and pupils make rapid progress across all subjects and year groups. However, the high level of challenge provided for the most-able pupils is not introduced quickly enough in some lessons to ensure outstanding progress.   Teachers make good use of resources to stimulate pupils and maintain their engagement. For example in a geography lesson, pupils in Year 7 worked in small groups and used hand-held computers to help collate their responses to the implications of the school being flooded. The lesson was well supported through the use of realistic media reporting, while the pupils were offered additional support with clues provided in envelopes. The pupils rose magnificently to the task and all were able to complete the challenge without resorting to opening their envelopes. All pupils maintained a sharp focus on their work throughout the

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers ask questions very skilfully to check and deepen pupils’ understanding. When they find that understanding is incomplete, they adjust the work to ensure that progress does not slow.   The use of different tasks for different groups of pupils ensures that all are working at a level that is appropriate to them. If any pupils fall behind, they are given extra support to help them catch up. When they make more progress than others, they are given tasks which challenge them further, so that they continue to make rapid progress.   There is a strong focus on writing in the school. Any pupils who arrive with abilities below expected levels are given very effective support which enables them to catch up quickly. The explicit teaching of literacy in subjects across the curriculum enables pupils to make rapid progress.   The teaching of mathematics is very effective. Pupils make excellent progress and achieve very well.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

Opportunities to apply mathematical skills are built into other subject lessons so that learning in this area is consolidated.   Teachers mark work regularly and give pupils useful guidance about how to improve. In a very small minority of cases, the quality of marking is not strong enough to provide clear information to pupils so they are clear what to do next.

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is outstanding

 Pupils enter the school at the start of Year 6 with broadly typical attainment for their age, although standards in writing are often weaker than in reading and mathematics. They make good progress in Year 6, so that at the end of that year attainment is at least average in mathematics and reading and above average in writing. In Key Stage 3 their progress accelerates at an exceptional rate. By the time pupils leave the school at the end of Year 9 they reach standards that are significantly above age-related expectations.

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is outstanding

 Achievement is outstanding for all pupil groups, including those from minority ethnic backgrounds.

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is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve outstandingly well. Pupils who need specific help, such as with reading, spelling or mathematics, receive it as soon as they arrive in the school. They have individual plans showing exactly what they need to improve to catch up, and make very rapid progress as a result of the support given.

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is outstanding

 The most-able pupils often make excellent progress and a very high proportion achieve standards well above those expected for their age. Their attainment is closely tracked from the time they enter the school. They are challenged by the provision of more demanding work in class that has been specifically designed for them, although sometimes the challenge is not introduced quickly enough.

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is outstanding

 Disadvantaged pupils make the same outstanding progress as other pupils at the school. When these pupils enter the school they are well behind their classmates. At the end of Year 6, their attainment is between a year and two years behind other pupils in reading, writing and mathematics and between a year and four terms behind other pupils nationally. Highly effective strategies, including small group work for pupils who find learning difficult and tailored support for individuals in the classroom, enable disadvantaged pupils to make faster progress and to catch up on their peers. By the time pupils leave the school, gaps between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others pupils have narrowed to two terms.  Excellent one-to-one provision for pupils attending the HIU supports learning very effectively and enables pupils to excel. Additional support in lessons is also highly effective, ensuring that these pupils make rapid

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is outstanding

 The development of pupils’ literacy skills is particularly successful, resulting in accomplished written work across the school. Pupils benefit from the high profile given to reading, and teachers promote reading whenever the opportunity arises.

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is outstanding

 Pupils’ progress in subjects other than English and mathematics is also outstanding. Pupils excel in a broad range of subjects, including art, design and technology, music and physical education, and the standards reached are consistently well above those expected for their age.

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is outstanding

 Pupils relish the many opportunities offered to develop their skills and broaden their interests. The curriculum helps stimulate interest through a wide range of visits to enhance learning. The many additional sporting and musical opportunities are well received.

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is outstanding

 Attainment data from the local authority indicates that Gartree pupils excel at Key Stage 4 in the schools to which they transfer.

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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 138155 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 449449

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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 Middle deemed secondary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 10–14 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 774 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Donna Parmar Headteacher Sonia Singleton Date of previous school inspection 20 June 2012 Telephone number 0116 2717421 Fax number 0116 2720148 Email address admin@gartree.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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