Up Holland High School

Up Holland High School Sandbrook Road, Orrell, Wigan, Lancashire, WN5 7AL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher, senior leaders and governors have high expectations and are determined that the school will continue its recent, rapid improvement.  Effective action is taken where any aspect of the education provided is not good enough. Leaders use data and other information effectively to identify any weaker areas.  The training provided to help teachers develop their skills is effective.  Governors know the school well. They provide good support and effective challenge to senior leaders.  Teaching has improved and leads to students making good progress.  Increases in achievement mean that students currently in the school are achieving well.  The achievement of the most able is increasing.  Gaps between the progress and attainment of disadvantaged students and others are decreasing. These gaps are very small for students in Key Stage 3.  Students are and feel safe in school.  Students support each other through their good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

behaviour and attitudes to learning. The school is harmonious and friendly.  Students with disabilities are properly included in the school. The school is committed to equality for all.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not enough teaching leads to students making outstanding progress. Teachers sometimes miss opportunities to challenge students to think deeply as they learn.  Achievement in mathematics has still not reached the highest possible levels. Too few students make progress at rates which exceed that seen nationally.  Expectations for overall achievement in different subjects are sometimes not high enough. The targets set for overall achievement in subjects are on occasions lower than students’ current achievement.  Middle leadership varies in its impact and effectiveness.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 30 lessons taught by 30 teachers. They also attended an assembly and two registration periods. They examined samples of students’ work and students’ exercise books in lessons.  The conduct of students was observed throughout the school day, including at break and lunchtime.  Inspectors met with senior leaders, middle leaders, teachers and teaching assistants. They met formally with 23 students in four groups and talked informally with others in lessons and around the school.  Documents were examined including the school’s judgements on how well it is doing, its improvement plan, safeguarding records, information about the work of the governing body and data relating to students’ achievement, attendance and behaviour.  Meetings were held with a group of four governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative of the local authority.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors reviewed the 63 responses to Ofsted’s on-line questionnaire (Parent View) together with the results of a survey recently completed by parents of Year 9 students. Questionnaire returns from 31 members of staff were also examined.

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Inspection team

David Selby, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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Information about this school

 This school is smaller than the average sized secondary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged students, those who are supported by the pupil premium funding is below the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding to support those students known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of students who are disabled or have special educational needs is well below average.  The proportion of students from minority ethnic heritages is well below average.  Several students in Years 9, 10 and 11 have programmes for their learning which include off-site provision, full-time or part-time, with six local organisations. These are: The Acorn Centre, West Lancashire Training and Learning Centre, Instant Training and Development, LearnFit Academy, Bootle and The Deanery CE High School.  The school works with other local secondary schools in The West Lancashire Partnership to support

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Information about this school

improvement in the school and across the partnership.  The school meets the government’s current floor standard which is the minimum expectation for students’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 11.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of teaching which leads to outstanding learning by:  continuing to develop and share the existing effective practice in the school  ensuring that all teachers challenge students to think as deeply as possible and so extend their learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the recent rapid improvement in mathematics continues and leads to a higher proportion of students making more than the expected rates of progress seen nationally.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further raise expectations by ensuring that targets for overall achievement in subjects always reflect the increases in students’ own targets which follow successful learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the impact of middle leadership by ensuring that all middle leaders are as effective as the most effective in the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders have shown commitment and determination in their drive to improve the school for the benefit of students. This has been successful with rapid improvement in teaching and achievement since the previous full inspection. Members of staff strongly support senior leaders.  Attitudes within the school are characterised by tolerance and mutual respect. Inspectors saw these very clearly in the way students respect each other and include those who use wheelchairs. All students are valued as individuals. Fair and equal approaches underpin the school’s values.  The school’s view of its own performance is thorough and accurate. It leads to carefully planned actions. Leaders undertake systematic review using data on students’ performance and other information. If any less effective aspects are found, action is taken to improve them. For example, recent Year 11 mock examination results have been reviewed not only to determine which students may need additional

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The leadership and management are good

support but also to identify if teachers need to adjust their teaching approaches. This has led to joint working with a local school to improve attainment in physical education.  The school has appointed a quality assurance manager to help ensure that information on students’ achievement and the quality of teaching is precise. Teachers check the accuracy of their marking by working with teachers from other schools and, for some subjects, including mathematics, in partnership with local authority officers. The school has encouraged teachers to become markers for external GCSE examinations. This gives them experience to ensure further that tests in school are marked to national standards.  Improved subject leadership has led to improved teaching and increased achievement in many subjects. This is particularly apparent in mathematics where a combination of new schemes of work, detailed work scrutiny and carefully targeted support and challenge to teachers has led to improvement in students’

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The leadership and management are good

learning. However, there is variability in the impact of middle leadership across all subjects. The work of middle leaders with pastoral responsibilities is effective.  The curriculum allows students to be successful. It includes a broad range of subjects leading to GCSE and other qualifications. It gives students opportunities to prepare themselves for life in modern Britain, for example in a visit to parliament by Year 9 students planned to take place later this year.  Careers education is routinely provided by form tutors and enhanced by special events so that students receive a wide view of the options available. Training about careers will be offered to tutors in the summer term.  A small number of older students benefit from off-site provision designed to meet their particular needs. This provision is systematically monitored by senior leaders to ensure that the students included are safe

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The leadership and management are good

and learn well, including in English and mathematics.  The local authority has recently reduced the amount of support it gives to the school as its confidence in the school’s effectiveness has grown. A local authority officer is still contributing to development in mathematics.  The responses to Parent View indicate that the parents who responded are generally happy with the education and care provided by the school.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding students are robust. They meet statutory requirements.  The governance of the school:  Governance is effective. Governors’ support and challenge to school leaders have ensured that the recent improvement in the school has remained on track.  Governors take part in appropriate training in order to develop their skills. They take a long-term view, for example in planning who will take on key roles within the governing body as they become vacant.

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors fully understand their responsibilities. For example, they play a full part in ensuring that the school’s system for rewarding effective teachers works well. Together with the headteacher, they determine which teachers merit annual pay awards. They have a good knowledge about the quality of teaching through link work with school leaders, the sharing of data on the school’s performance, and presentations and their questions in meetings about the school’s work. It is intended that governors will work more closely with the junior leadership team of students to know even more about the school from the students’ point of view.  Governors have a good understanding of the use of funding in school. They take a long-term view which allows any potential difficulties to be anticipated. They hold school leaders to account for the impact of additional funding, including the pupil premium, and know that it is used effectively.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students is good.  Students work hard and their behaviour supports each other’s learning. An inspector saw this in a Year 7 physical education lesson where students were highly co-operative and where the support of one student for another led to raised self-esteem and rapid progress.  Staff relate well with students who, in turn, show respect for their teachers. The school is happy and harmonious.  Students are polite and friendly. They are pleased to talk about their experience and show pride in the improvement in the school. One Year 8 student sought out the inspection team to tell inspectors what the school’s motto ‘Quo Vadis’ means to him.  Students look after the building well. There is almost no litter and students understand and accept that all may be asked to pick up a piece of litter after breaks.  Students’ good behaviour is supported by the clear system of rewards and sanctions. This system was

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Behaviour

introduced in the last school year along with a new house system. Students say that both have helped them to behave well. Information on students’ behaviour is carefully tracked and students in need of support identified. The data indicate that behaviour is getting even better. For example, the low rates of fixed-term exclusion have fallen further.  Overall attendance is around the national average. While persistent absence increased last year, leaders take firm but supportive action with students and their families to ensure absence is reduced.  Students move around the school calmly but purposefully. They are punctual to lessons.  The students who spoke with inspectors said that bullying was very rare. They were fully confident that, if it should happen, it would be dealt with by staff. They are aware of different types of bullying and have recently completed work on cyber bullying and other aspects of internet safety.

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Behaviour

 Inspectors heard no examples of inappropriate or disrespectful language being used. A senior leader explained how parts of the programme for personal, social and health education mean that students learn about why homophobia is wrong.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  No incidents or situations that could indicate that students are unsafe were seen by inspectors in lessons or around the school. Students are taught to manage risk effectively in practical activities in science and technology.  The systems for ensuring students are safe are thorough. Risk assessments of potentially hazardous activities and for off-site visits are in place. These are based on models provided by the local authority.  Students say they feel safe in school and the questionnaire responses received from parents agree.  All members of staff are given the information and training they need to ensure they know what is expected of them in keeping students safe.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The improvement in teaching since the previous full inspection means that current achievement is good. This reflects the impact of effective teaching over time. Some teaching leads to outstanding learning. No inadequate practice was seen by inspectors.  The improvement in teaching has followed a well-designed programme of training and other development activities. All teachers work together in small groups to develop their own practice as part of the school’s commitment to build teachers’ effectiveness and so ensure that improvement is sustained.  Teachers’ expectations of students are high and these are increased further as students’ targets are adjusted if they meet their previous targets. These higher expectations are not always transferred into increased targets for subject areas.  Teachers skilfully develop students’ knowledge and understanding. An inspector saw the teacher of a successful Year 8 mathematics lesson leading students in a discussion of difficult ideas about cumulative

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The quality of teaching is good

frequency tables. Students were keen to share their thoughts and, therefore, developed their understanding. Some teachers, however, miss opportunities to ensure the students learn as much as possible because they do not challenge students to think deeply enough.  The school has well-developed systems to support students’ wider literacy skills. All students spend some time each week reading in registration time, classrooms have displays of relevant key words and students in Key Stage 3 have a literacy lesson, in addition to their English lessons, each week. Such a lesson for a Year 7 class was seen to lead to rapid learning where a teacher with skills in a number of subjects brought these together to help students improve their punctuation.  The development of students’ mathematical skill outside their mathematics lessons is less advanced although wall displays, for example, of mathematical questions related to Albert Camus in the modern

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The quality of teaching is good

foreign languages department challenge students to think about numeracy in different contexts.  Students’ oral skills are good. Teachers encourage students to participate in lessons and students are willing to do this and so support others’ learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Students enter the school with attainment which is generally above and on occasions well above the national average. The standards reached by students leaving the school around the time of the previous inspection fell. They have now risen and far better reflect students’ starting points with a well-above average proportion of students gaining five or more good GCSE grades including English and mathematics in 2014. The school’s own data, confirmed by inspection activity, provide convincing evidence that Year 11 will do even better in 2015. School leaders ensure that all internal achievement data are carefully validated against national standards.  The achievement of most able students is increasing. The proportion of students gaining the highest grades at GCSE has risen, including those gaining three or more A* and A grades. Students in many GCSE subjects gain well above the nationally expected proportion of grades at C or above.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 There is convincing evidence that the progress of students currently in Year 11 is much more rapid than it was for Year 11 in 2014. Outcomes are already exceeding those achieved last year. This confirms the significant improvement since the most recently published results for Year 11 students in 2014.  Inspectors’ observation of teaching and learning confirm that students are making good progress and that this is sometimes even faster. This rapid progress arising from lessons is further confirmed by the developing knowledge and understanding seen in students’ books.  The rates of progress of Year 11 students in English and mathematics rose in 2014 and school data indicate that they are continuing to increase. The proportion of students making expected progress and exceeding expected progress in English was above national expectations in 2014. Progress was slower in mathematics and well below the national figures. Improved teaching in mathematics means that learning

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The achievement of pupils is good

is now better. The evidence currently available indicates that students are on track to match the proportion making expected progress nationally. While the proportion of students making more than expected progress in mathematics is already much higher than in 2014, it is still lagging behind English.  The rates of progress of students in other years of the school have also risen across their different subjects. Students in Year 10 are now at higher levels than the current Year 11 were when they were at the same stage. Students in Key Stage 3 are closing the gaps towards their demanding targets for achievement.  Gaps between the achievement of disadvantaged students and others are closing. While, on average, disadvantaged students achieved about one and a half GCSE grades lower than other students in the school in English and mathematics in 2014, the current data show that these gaps have narrowed to just

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The achievement of pupils is good

below one GCSE grade. When the attainment of disadvantaged students is compared to non- disadvantaged students across the country in 2014, the gap in English was already smaller at just over half a GCSE grade. In mathematics, the national and in-school gaps were similar. The gaps between disadvantaged students and others in the school in Year 10 and Key Stage 3 are much smaller.  Many students in Year 10 in 2013 took their mathematics GCSE then. These students then went on to complete Year 11 in 2014 with their results contributing to latest nationally published data. The results they attained were too low, both overall and for those with the potential to reach the highest grades. All students are now entered for GCSE in mathematics in Year 11, giving more time for their mathematical understanding to develop properly.  Students with special educational needs are well supported and make progress in line with others in the

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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 119751 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 451514

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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 636 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rob Foster Headteacher Kathryn Barton Date of previous school inspection 2 October 2013 Telephone number 01695 625191 Fax number 01695 633379 Email address office@upholland.lancs.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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