Matravers School

Inspection dates 05–06 February 2015 and 14 April 2015

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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 Sixth form provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher’s outstanding leadership is driving forward the work of this rapidly improving school.  Senior leaders and governors have worked well together as a team to secure rapid improvements in the quality of teaching and the standards achieved by students.  Teaching is consistently at least good, including in English and mathematics, and in the sixth form.  The outstanding curriculum, including in the sixth form, is matched to students’ needs exceptionally well leading to the rapid improvements in attendance, behaviour and achievement.  The school is very inclusive and students talk about feeling part of a family. This helps them to mix well and be supportive of each other.  Information about students’ progress is used well by subject and progress leaders to quickly identify where students need additional help or support. Consequently, students are now achieving well in a broad range of subjects.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Students who are disabled and those with special educational needs make outstanding progress.  Students behave consistently well in lessons. They are keen to learn and want to meet the challenging targets set for their achievement.  Around the school and at social times students interact well with each other. They are very polite and courteous and their pride in their school is evidenced by the lack of litter and the new uniform.  Students are kept safe. They are taught well about the consequences of the different kinds of risk and therefore know how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet.  Opportunities for students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are rich and underpinned by an exceptional programme of extra-curricular activities. This aspect of the school’s work is outstanding.  Leadership of the sixth form is now strong and students make at least good progress to achieve

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The gap between the achievement of disadvantaged students and their peers is narrowing rapidly, but is not yet closed.  The most able students are not challenged enough in some lessons.  Students do not consistently use the advice provided by their teachers to improve or extend their work.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 27 lessons, 20 of these lessons were joint observations with members of the senior leadership team. Inspectors also conducted a range of shorter visits to lessons to observe how students of all abilities are supported to engage in learning and the way in which additional adults are deployed.  Inspectors looked at students’ written work to evaluate the development of students’ writing and the way in which they use their teachers’ marking and feedback to improve their work.  Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders, teachers, representatives of the Governing Body and groups of students. A telephone conversation was also held with the school improvement partner.  Inspectors took account of the 32 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), the school’s own surveys of parents’ views, six emails from parents and one letter from a parent.  Inspectors took account of the 58 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors scrutinised attendance records and documentation relating to the use of fixed term exclusions.  Inspectors took account of the school’s work to support students with special educational needs, including specific interventions detailed in plans to support individual students.  Inspectors looked at documentation relating to other aspects of the school’s work including the school’s self-evaluation and development plan (route map), analysis of the most recent examination results, information about the progress and achievement of students currently in the school, records of bullying, racist incidents, behaviour, the work of governors and safeguarding.  Very occasionally, Ofsted will delay publication of a report to ensure full consideration of concerns identified during the quality assurance process. Very rarely the process identifies additional information which will cause Ofsted to conclude that the inspection is incomplete. This happened at Matravers School.

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Information about this inspection

As a result, Ofsted took action to complete the inspection. A further unannounced visit to the school by two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors gathered additional information to secure the evidence base. The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and other senior and key middle leaders, held a telephone conversation with the Chair of the Governing Body and observed lessons, looking at students’ work and talking to them about it. They visited all of the school’s centres used to provide support or a specialised curriculum for particular students. They evaluated the school’s data on, for example, achievement, attendance and exclusions, and looked at the school’s logs of any incidents related to bullying or students’ safety. In such cases, the inspection report is not published until Ofsted is satisfied that the inspection is secure.

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Inspection team

Caroline Dearden, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Matravers School is an average-sized secondary school with a sixth form.  The current headteacher has been in post since September 2013. He is the fourth headteacher in the past two years. Several new appointments have been made at senior level.  Restructuring of support staff and academic structures took place in the previous academic year. This enabled the school to address the legacy deficit budget. The school is now financially stable.  Following the last inspection, the governing body was reconstituted and a new Chair appointed.  The majority of students are from White British backgrounds. Approximately one in twelve students come from minority ethnic backgrounds. A very small number speak English as an additional language.  Approximately one fifth of the students are disabled or have special educational needs, including those with a statement of special educational needs. This is above the national average.

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Information about this school

 About one quarter of the students are eligible for the pupil premium. This is additional funding for those who are looked after and those known to be eligible for free school meals. This is slightly below the national average.  The on-site ‘Upgrade Centre’ is used to provide additional help and support for any student who is identified as underachieving.  An on-site centre, known as ‘The Link’, is used to provide a flexible curriculum and targeted support for some students.  A very small number of students attend off-site provision for all or some of their time at ‘On Track’, Wiltshire College in Trowbridge or on work experience placements.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for students’ attainment and progress by the end of Key Stage 4.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the rate at which students, including those who are most able, make progress and eliminate the gap between the achievement of disadvantaged students and their peers by ensuring that:  students routinely and consistently use the good advice provided in teachers’ marking and feedback to improve or extend their work  all teachers provide work that is hard enough to challenge students to achieve their best.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher’s outstanding leadership is driving forward the very rapid improvements in the school. He has provided a clear framework for improvement that is now fully understood and applied by all senior leaders and underpins everything the school now does. A range of highly effective strategies have already improved the quality of teaching and raised students’ achievement. The headteacher has coached senior leaders well and their work with middle leaders ensures that information about students’ progress is used well to improve their achievement. They form a powerful leadership team.  Recently developed systems for monitoring the quality of teaching have greatly strengthened the way in which leaders hold teachers to account for the achievement of students and this is now good and rapidly improving outcomes for students.  Performance management is now robust and teachers’ professional development is very closely linked to

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The leadership and management are good

skills which need developing or improving. Senior and subject leaders accurately identify those teachers who need support or training so that they improve and/or enhance their skills. Leaders take appropriate action with those either unwilling or unable to improve.  The pupil premium is used effectively to narrow the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. All teachers know which students are eligible for the pupil premium and track their progress well, providing additional support when necessary.  Subject and progress leaders (year group leaders) use information about students’ progress well to identify where students are underachieving and to ensure that additional help or support outside the classroom is provided whenever necessary.  The school’s outstanding curriculum, including in the sixth form, is matched extremely well to the needs of individual and groups of students. It underpins improvements in students’ attendance, attitudes to school

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The leadership and management are good

and achievement. Matching and adapting the curriculum to meet an individual student’s needs is a key strategy for tackling potential underachievement.  The curriculum is based around a number of routes with adaptations to meet the needs of individual students. It prepares students very well for their next steps. Leaders also make excellent use of outside agencies, such as the Army, to run public services courses on-site.  The range of subjects provides opportunities for students to achieve success in both academic and vocational qualifications and prepares them well for life in modern Britain. However, school leaders recognise that more students could be encouraged to study modern foreign languages at GCSE level.  Until recently, students who found mainstream education challenging attended alternative provision off- site. This provision did not allow them to make good progress. The curriculum has been completely

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The leadership and management are good

overhauled to provide all students with a curriculum matched well to their needs.  The on-site ‘Upgrade Centre’ is used well to provide short bursts of intensive support for any students who have ‘blockages to their learning’, including some of those who are the most able. It is staffed by specialist and additional teachers. A small number of students spend longer periods, of up to six weeks, in the centre. The achievement of all students who spend time in the centre improves. In some cases, improvements in punctuality, attendance or behaviour are secured first to enable the students to make better progress in their learning.  Those students who enter the school at the start of Year 7 with low achievement in reading, writing and/or mathematics spend time in the centre to improve their skills. This makes sure that they are ready to move to their classes as quickly as possible. The Year 7 catch-up funding is used well for this.

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The leadership and management are good

 ‘The Link’ is the on-site provision for any students whose learning needs are not fully met by the main curriculum routes. This includes some at risk of being excluded and some returning following a short period of exclusion. The amount of time students spend in the centre varies according to need. Many are integrated back into the main curriculum quickly while others spend much of their time in the centre. Students who spend time in the centre have much improved attendance and achieve well.  In Year 10, some students are guided to spend some of their time on a course leading to a Princes Trust qualification to allow for an even more ‘personalised’ approach to the curriculum. This enables them to develop key personal and social skills in a coordinated way. They have a range of options that include community work and, for example, a course in motor vehicle technology. These students make at least

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The leadership and management are good

good progress.  The outstanding provision for disabled students and those with special educational needs meets their needs exceptionally well. These students are supported extremely well in the specialist resource centre and in lessons. In the centre, staff know the students particularly well and are able to provide learning activities that challenge and interest the students. The subjects they are taught, and the way in which they are taught, is individualised for each student and based on their unique needs.  Students on all curriculum routes have sufficient time allocated to English, mathematics and science.  Overall attendance has improved and is now similar to the national average for secondary schools. It is high for students in the lower years. Students’ attendance is monitored very carefully. Detailed records are kept of the reasons why students are away from school and this is helping the school to tackle the

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The leadership and management are good

variation in absence between the different year groups.  The attendance, behaviour and achievement of students who spend all or some of their time off-site are very carefully monitored.  Careers guidance and support for students to make appropriate post-16, and post-18/19, choices is effective and has contributed to improvements in achievement. Consequently, the number of students who leave school and are not in further education, employment or training is reducing.  Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. The opportunities provided are rich and varied and contribute strongly to the promotion of equal opportunity. Students benefit from working together and enjoying experiences outside the classroom through the excellent range of extra- curricular activities. These experiences ensure that they are tolerant of difference and disapproving of discrimination.  The school is proactive in involving and supporting members of the local community. Strong links have

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The leadership and management are good

been established with the local army barracks. This is helping to improve the learning experiences in lessons and opportunities for students to see different career paths, such as being a doctor, first-hand. In return, the school has joined the HMS (Her Majesty's Schools) Heroes project. Members of HMS Heroes are ambassadors and young advocates for service families. Acting as pen-pals, students are able to make friends with children from service families and will be able to welcome them to Westbury when they arrive.  Student leadership is developing and students are becoming influential in decisions made about their school. A recent consultation on changes to the school uniform was instigated by students.  The school works effectively with the local authority and has benefited from support to improve the way in which school leaders and governors work together as a team. The local authority support has helped

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The leadership and management are good

school leaders to drive forward the work of the school and to secure improvements in the quality of teaching and standards achieved by students.  A small minority of parents do not recognise the rapid improvements made by the school. Consequently, leaders are undertaking work to help them engage positively with the school.  The school meets the current statutory requirements for safeguarding.  The governance of the school:  Following the last inspection, the governing body underwent an external review of its performance and effectiveness. The recommendations have been implemented in full and the governing body now provides good strategic direction for the school. The new Chair provides very strong leadership. All governors have completed a skills audit and new members of the governing body are recruited according to the skills they are able to offer. Consequently, governors accurately monitor the work of

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The leadership and management are good

the school and to hold senior leaders to account well. Governor training has strengthened the way in which governors scrutinise the information provided to them about the progress of students and the quality of teaching. They are able to benchmark the school against the national and local context. They are also robust in exercising their role in the arrangements for teachers’ pay progression. Governors understand how and why the Year 7 catch-up and pupil premium funding is allocated and evaluate the impact, for example, on narrowing gaps between the achievement of disadvantaged students and their peers. Good use of financial expertise has helped to support school leaders to address rapidly the legacy deficit budget through staff restructuring so that funding is available to provide the rich curriculum the school now offers. Governors have received appropriate training in child protection and safe

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Students have good attitudes towards learning and are punctual to lessons. They appreciate the time taken by teachers to plan lessons and to provide additional help and support outside school hours. Attendance at after-school revision sessions is high.  The atmosphere around the school and at social times is calm and orderly. Students are very polite and courteous, including to adults and visitors. The absence of litter and the way in which students are keen to adopt the new school uniform are testimony to their pride in their school.  During break and lunchtimes students follow the school rule of not using mobile phones. As a consequence, they spend time talking with each other and developing their social skills. The school ensures that students who want to catch up with their work, or who want to be indoors can do so. In addition, specific spaces and staff are provided in these non-lesson times that create a nurturing

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Behaviour

environment for students when they need it.  School leaders have recently strengthened the behaviour policy. Students are unanimous in their view that behaviour has significantly improved since the appointment of the headteacher. They understand the reasons for sanctions and believe that the clarity of the new policy has improved relationships between teachers and students.  Exclusion rates are reducing, but remain above average for secondary schools as a result of the senior leaders’ insistence on strict adherence to the school’s high expectations. Information provided by the school demonstrated a clear rationale for the use of exclusions in all cases. Students who have previously been excluded all understood the reason for the sanction and none have reoffended. They are integrated back into school extremely well through the use of the ‘personalised’ approach to the curriculum and the support from pastoral leaders.

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Behaviour

 The recorded incidents of bullying have increased over the last year. However, this reflects the tightening of procedures to address bullying and to take all incidents seriously. Students say that bullying of any kind is now rare. They know who to go to if they need help or support and are confident that staff have the skills necessary to resolve problems quickly and efficiently.  The very small number of students who are educated off-site for all or part of their time attend and behave well because they benefit from a curriculum tailored to their individual needs.  Attendance overall has improved and is now in line with national averages. This is due to the strengths of the curriculum in meeting individual needs well and the highly focused support for any students that need it. The impact can be seen particularly in the very good attendance of students in the lower year groups and the much improved attendance of, for example, those who attend The Link centre.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  Arrangements for safeguarding students, including pre-employment checks when new staff are recruited and child protection training for all staff are rigorous and very tightly implemented. Records are meticulously updated and rigorous risk assessments are carried out for all off-site trips and activities.  Effective action is taken to keep students safe when at school and there have been significant improvements to site security. Students welcome the new gates and fencing around the school and feel that this helps them to feel safe when at school. Staff make sure that they know where students are at all times.  The vast majority of parents and school staff believe that the school’s arrangements for keeping students safe are at least good.  Students are taught well about how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations, including use of the

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Safety

internet. For example, in a Year 9 ICT lesson students devised their own safety protocols after studying real life examples of young people who had met with harm following use of social media.  The high quality of relationships and the staff’s shared knowledge of the students ensure that emotional, social and behaviour support for students and pastoral guidance are significant strengths of the school. Staff and students reciprocally treat each other with dignity and respect.  The various specialist centres in the school are used extremely well to provide a ‘safe haven’ and place of security for students that need this before school and during break and lunch times. The breakfast and lunch clubs have been extremely successful in improving the punctuality, attendance and self-confidence of many vulnerable students. In these centres, students are supported well by specialist staff and by pastoral leaders.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching across the curriculum, including in the sixth form, has improved rapidly. The majority is at least good and some is outstanding.  Leaders set challenging targets for students’ achievement across the school so that teachers have high expectations of all students.  Teachers use information about students’ progress and achievement to plan and teach lessons that mostly lead to at least good progress. They usefully prepare seating plans for each class that provide information about each student and an up-to-date evaluation of their progress. Staff use these to identify students in need of additional help or support. They target well those who are at risk of falling behind. Teachers carefully check the progress of students who are disabled and those with special educational needs to make sure that they understand what they have to do and that they are working well. However, the work

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The quality of teaching is good

set for the most able students occasionally is not hard enough and this can slow their progress.  Teachers have strong subject knowledge and this helps them to plan lessons to engage and motivate students. For example, in a Year 8 science lesson on energy transfer, students’ awe and wonder was skilfully captured to extend and embed their understanding.  Teachers effectively use questions to test and check students’ understanding. However, teachers do not always ensure that student responses to questions are as detailed as they could be.  Appropriate homework is routinely set across the curriculum. Work in students’ books shows that they are good at completing this work and using it to help them make progress.  There are many opportunities for the teaching of literacy, reading and mathematics across the curriculum and this helps students to develop the skills common to many subjects and therefore to perform well in

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The quality of teaching is good

examinations.  Teachers’ marking and feedback has improved significantly and is now at least good. There are many examples of highly effective and personalised advice being provided by teachers in their written comments. However, some students do not routinely respond to this advice and consequently it is not consistently used to improve or extend their work.  Learning support assistants make a good contribution to students’ learning in many lessons. They mostly have the skills and subject expertise necessary to answer students’ questions and to address misconceptions. They are often skilful in encouraging independence rather than providing answers.

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is good

 The achievement of students is improving rapidly, including in the sixth form.  Students enter the school with levels of prior attainment well below national averages. They make at least good progress and in 2014 the proportion achieving five or more GCSE grades at A* to C including English and mathematics was similar to the national average.  Information provided by the school indicates that students currently on roll are achieving well in a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. Students achieve very well in humanities and science . The achievement of students in the current Year 11 is higher than at this time last year for the outgoing year group. The reliability and accuracy of all school achievement data is checked rigorously.  In 2014, the proportion of students making expected progress in English, and the proportion making more progress than this, compared favourably with the national figures. In mathematics, the proportion making

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is good

expected progress and that making more than progress were higher than the national figures. Information provided by the school shows the gap between English and mathematics to be closing with high numbers of students currently making at least expected progress in both subjects.  The most able students in the school achieve better than similar students nationally in English and mathematics.  In 2014, disadvantaged students attained almost two grades lower in English and one and a half grades lower in mathematics at GCSE than their peers. When compared with similar students nationally these students attained just over two grades lower in English and one and three quarter grades lower in mathematics. However, one third of these students followed courses that were not accredited as part of their full-time alternative provision at a local college. Current school leaders made provision for these students to sit GCSE examinations in English and mathematics and all achieved grades D to F in both

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is good

subjects. All but a very small number of students in Years 10 and 11 now spend all of their time in the school.  The pupil premium is now being used much more effectively for students currently in the school. Information provided by the school shows that the achievement of those students who are not disadvantaged is improving rapidly. However, the achievement of disadvantaged students is improving even more rapidly so that the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers is narrowing rapidly, with a significant reduction in the gap when compared to students nationally.  Students who spend time in one of the school’s support centres make very good progress because they enjoy the range of courses available to them and because they are supported well. The personalised curriculum is highly effective and provides excellent opportunities for students to achieve well in a range of subjects that prepare them well for their next steps.

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is good

 The very small number of students attending off-site alternative provision make good progress because the curriculum is tailored to meet their individual needs well.  The Year 7 catch-up fund has been used well to help students with weak literacy skills to improve their reading. This helps them to access the curriculum and participate in lessons, especially as students are expected to read widely and often across the curriculum.  Students with disabilities and those with special educational needs benefit from a range of support and interventions which are adjusted extremely effectively to meet their specific needs. These students make outstanding progress from their starting points. Students’ progress and achievements are carefully assessed by all staff who work with them. These staff and the area leaders judiciously monitor the impact of their work. This information is used to adjust teaching and the work given to the students, maximising

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is good

students’ desire to learn and enabling them to achieve their best.  There is no difference between the achievement of students from minority ethnic heritages and their peers. The small numbers of students who speak English as an additional language also make good progress.  Students are not entered early for their GCSE examinations.

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The sixth form provision is good

 The sixth form is good because students make at least good progress from low starting points to achieve well in a range of subjects. Achievement in vocational subjects is outstanding. Staff have high aspirations for students who are keen to work hard, learn well and be successful.  The outstanding sixth form curriculum is constantly reviewed to ensure that it meets students’ needs very well. Recent changes have strengthened a curriculum that was already good to make it outstanding so that the achievement of current students is on track to be even better than for last year. Students benefit from a curriculum that includes both academic and vocational courses that means that their post-16 education is well suited to their abilities, skills and aspirations and prepares them well for their next steps.  Retention within each year is strong because of the curriculum and range of activities for students to

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The sixth form provision is good

develop their all-round personal skills and meet their interests.  The leadership and management of the sixth form have recently been strengthened and are now strong. Standards are improving rapidly and students now make at least good progress. Recruitment to the sixth form has increased.  Behaviour and safety are good and sixth form students show positive attitudes to their learning. They make best use of their on-site independent study time to prepare for lessons. Students in the sixth form act as positive role models for younger students. Attendance in the sixth form is high.  Teaching in the sixth form is consistently at least good. Teachers’ strong subject knowledge ensures that students are well supported to explore subjects in depth. This helps students to cement their understanding and to be able to accurately answer examination questions.

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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 126510 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 449035

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 11-18 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 939 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 189 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Guy Davies Headteacher Simon Riding Date of previous school inspection 19–20 February 2013 Telephone number 01373822666 Fax number 1373824283 Email address info@matravers.wilts.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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