Sir John Gleed School

Sir John Gleed School Neville Avenue, Spalding, PE11 2EJ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Special Measures 4 This inspection: Inadequate 4 Leadership and management Requires Improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires Improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires Improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Sixth form provision Requires Improvement 3

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that has serious weaknesses.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have yet to ensure that that all students make progress in all subjects.  School leaders do not make sufficient use of information about students’ attainment and progress to enable them to help all students achieve well.  Subject and other leadership requires further development. There is too much variability in achievement across subjects; science is a particular concern.  Teachers’ expectations are too low, especially of the most able students. Not all teachers make effective use of assessment information to plan lessons that ensure all students make the progress they should.  In some subjects teachers’ marking does not help students to improve their work.  School improvement planning is not as effective as it could be. It does not include measureable success criteria to ensure rapid improvement.  Disadvantaged students do not achieve as well as other students. Leaders do not analyse the effectiveness of the funding used to support these

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

students.  Senior leaders and governors have not paid enough attention to the management of the sixth form. As a result leaders do not have a clear overview of the strengths and weaknesses of this aspect of the school.

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The school has the following strengths

 This is an improving school.  Since the last inspection, leaders have focused on improving behaviour and safety and their work has had significant impact. The schools is now calm, students behave well and they are safe.  Governors are skilled and are beginning to hold school leaders to account.  Those students on vocational courses achieve well, as a result of effective teaching.  Leaders have brought about recent improvements in teaching and leadership. This includes training teachers as coaches, to support the work of others.  The CfBT Schools Trust has developed appropriate support structures to ensure that the school leadership has the capacity to drive improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 40 lessons; 16 were jointly observed with members of the leadership team.  Inspectors scrutinised students’ work in mathematics, English and science.  Inspectors observed students’ behaviour around the school. Inspectors also visited form rooms and an assembly.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and executive headteacher; senior, subject and other leaders; the head of post-16; and the Chair and two other members of the Governing Body. The lead inspector also spoke to the Education Director of the CfBT Schools Trust.  Inspectors spoke with four groups of students, formally and then informally, in lessons and around the school.  Inspectors took account of the 90 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors took account of the 19 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View.  Inspectors reviewed a variety of documents, including: the school’s self-evaluation summary, the school

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Information about this inspection

improvement plan, minutes of governing body meetings, anonymised performance management documents, records and referrals made to external agencies, and records on attendance and behaviour. Inspectors looked at the school’s analysis of the 2014 examination results and the predicted results for those students currently in Years 9, 10, 11, and post-16.

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Inspection team

Jayne Ashman, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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Information about this school

 Sir John Gleed School converted to become an academy on 1 January 2013 and is part of the CfBT Schools Trust.  The school is a much larger than average-sized secondary school.  The majority of students are from White British backgrounds. Around a quarter of students are of Eastern European heritage and speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged students supported through pupil premium funding is slightly below average. The pupil premium is additional government funding provided for students who are known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs is below average.  The Hayden Centre provides for a small number of students at risk of being permanently excluded.  One student attends alternative provision which is provided by Lincolnshire local authority’s Solutions 4

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Information about this school

programme.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students’ achievement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching rapidly, so that all groups of students, especially the disadvantaged, higher ability and those who speak English as an additional language, make the progress they should, by ensuring that all teachers:  use assessment information more effectively to plan work that is suitable for different students’ needs  address the variability of students’ achievement across different subjects, particularly the underperformance in science  mark work consistently well across all subjects so that students have regular advice about how to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of the curriculum and the quality of teaching in science so that students cease to underperform in this subject.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management swiftly at all levels by:  ensuring that improvement planning is sharply focused and allows for effective monitoring  ensuring there is clarity about setting appropriate targets for students and making sure that the data used to track students’ progress is easily understood and identifies trends in their performance  training all subject leaders to carry out their role effectively so that they can be as good as the best in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The executive headteacher has made a significant impact on helping the school’s leaders to improve behaviour and to develop leadership systems to move the school forward.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders have not paid sufficient attention to the leadership of the sixth form. The current leaders have not had adequate support to effectively carry out their roles. As a result, systems are not in place to monitor certain aspects of the provision, such as the proportion of students that continue beyond Year 12.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 School leaders do not make effective use of information about students’ progress. Systems for checking students’ progress are in place and there is a wealth of data and information. However, leaders do not analyse this information as precisely as they need to.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school improvement plan lacks detail and is not appropriately focused. There are insufficient measureable success criteria and a lack of clarity about the milestones for when key actions should take place.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 School leaders do not analyse the effectiveness of the funding used to support pupil premium students. It is used on a wide range of initiatives, including specific support in English and mathematics. In 2014, too many of these students did not make sufficient progress, particularly higher ability students eligible for the funding.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The head of school and executive headteacher have used performance management well to help improve the quality of teaching and improve the accountability of senior leaders.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders have not ensured that students in the sixth form have access to enough extra-curricular activities, or opportunities to learn about other faiths and cultures, in order to best prepare them for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 There have been new appointments to the senior leadership team. Roles have been clearly defined and the lines of accountability more clearly drawn. There is a need to revise these roles further to align more closely with the school’s development priorities.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Subject leaders are using a more systematic approach to monitor standards. This is particularly the case in English and mathematics. The good practice in these subjects, particularly the tracking of students’ progress, is not shared widely enough.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 In the academic year 2013/14, the large number of temporary teachers adversely affected the progress and achievement of some students. Leaders have ensured that staffing is becoming more stable.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has trained teachers to be coaches, to help them to support the work of others and improve the quality of teaching. A number of other actions have been taken to improve the quality of teaching. For example, staff in the physical education department are using tablet computers to video their own practice, to help identify how they can improve their work.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Since the last inspection, the governing body has been transformed. There is a new Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative from CfBT Schools Trust has become a member. The size of the governing body has been reduced, which has improved its effectiveness.  Governors are aware that previous systems for performance management had not been used effectively to determine pay progressions. They have worked with leaders to successfully rectify this.  Governors understand the priorities of the school and the challenges it faces. Regular meetings take place with subject leaders. These meetings provide a good opportunity for governors to challenge leaders and be kept informed of students’ progress.  The schools’ arrangements for safeguarding meet statutory requirements.  There is an appropriate delegation of responsibility between CfBT Schools Trust and the governing

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of students has improved but still requires improvement. When teaching engages the students, they behave well, follow instructions and enjoy learning. However, there are too many lessons where teaching is mundane and students are bored.

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Behaviour

 Senior leaders are a presence around the school and students move around in a sensible manner as a result.

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Behaviour

 The strategies used to improve attendance are making a positive impact. Student absence is reducing and more students, including those known to be eligible for free school meals, are coming to school regularly.

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Behaviour

 The Hayden Centre provides effective support for students unable to access a full timetable of lessons and for those who are at risk of exclusion. These students are involved in a range of activities, including taking responsibility for the care of Buff Orpington chickens. This job is valued by the students, who are successfully being integrated back into school.

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Behaviour

 The alternative provision, Solutions 4, has had a positive impact on the attendance and academic progress of students supported in this way.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. School policies meet statutory requirements and are up to date and easily understood. Students say that they feel safe. They are well prepared to look after themselves in the modern world.

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Safety

 The number of bullying incidents has reduced. Students are aware of different forms of bullying, including homophobic and cyber-bullying. They are confident that staff will deal with such incidents. Discriminatory language is rare and any incidents are dealt with appropriately.

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Safety

 Members of staff and students are clear about the procedures to follow should any concerns arise about any aspect of safety.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although the quality of teaching has improved recently, particularly in English, teachers’ expectations of students are still too low.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers, do not always make enough use of the information about students to devise lessons and activities that challenge and excite them.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ planning is detailed but does not always take into account the range of abilities within the class and the precise activities required to ensure that all students, including the most able, make the progress they should.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ use of questioning is inconsistent and does not challenge the thinking of many students. Too often, questions are too easy and don’t require students to think hard. Worksheets and simple comprehension activities are over-used in science.  Teachers’ marking of students’ work is inconsistent. In the best examples seen, students receive useful feedback that has then helped to move their learning on. However, there are examples in some books where the marking is confusing for students. In science, inspectors found some books that had not been marked for over two months.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In some lessons, students are keen to share opinions and do their best. In an English lesson, seen during the inspection, students assembled paper chains to physically link characters and key themes and quotations. This led to lively discussion and the confident tackling of a challenging written task that followed.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of students’ support for literacy across different subjects is inconsistent, particularly in meeting the needs of students whose first language is not English.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Students are set regular homework, and this is checked and marked by teachers. Evidence, from the school’s own information on parents’ views, suggests that parents are happier than last year with the quality of homework given.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers do not support students who are at an early stage of learning English well enough.

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inadequate

 The school does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students’ achievement.

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inadequate

 Students join the school with attainment that is well below average. Those completing GCSEs in 2014 did poorly. There are signs that recent improvements in teaching are making a difference, and next year’s results are likely to be improved. However, attainment remains too low. Standards in English and mathematics are well below national figures. Consequently, achievement is inadequate.

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inadequate

 In 2014, at the end of Year 11, those students eligible for the pupil premium were a grade behind others in both English and mathematics. Their overall progress and the standards they reached were well below other students nationally.

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inadequate

 The most-able students are not reaching the standards they could. Expectations for these students remain too low.

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inadequate

 In 2014, students who speak English as an additional language made less progress in English and mathematics than similar students nationally.

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inadequate

 Disabled students and those who have special educational needs do not achieve the standards they should.

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inadequate

 There is too much variability in the achievement of students across subjects. In 2014, students did better in art and design, food technology and physical education than in science, history and geography. Students’ achievement in science continues to be a particular concern.

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inadequate

 Students on vocational courses achieve well, as a result of effective teaching.

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inadequate

 The school does not enter students early for GCSE.

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requires improvement

 The study programme offered by the school operates in conjunction with another local school. However, this partnership will end in 2016.

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requires improvement

 School leaders do not sufficiently monitor or analyse information about post-16 students. As a result, the head of sixth form does not have a strategic overview of students’ achievement.

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requires improvement

 Achievement of sixth form students is variable. The progress of students taking vocational courses is generally good. In 2014, it was above average in the BTEC national diploma in childcare skills. However, the progress made by students studying academic courses in 2014 was below expectations.

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requires improvement

 There are appropriate routes of study available for students of different abilities. The vocational options available to students are comprehensive. However, the academic courses available to students are more limited in range.

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requires improvement

 All students who have not secured a C grade or above in English and mathematics are directed to continue GCSE study in these subjects. Around one in three re-took these courses in 2014 and achieved a C grade. Students were more successful in English than mathematics.

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requires improvement

 The vocational routes, in particular, ensure that students are well prepared for the next stage in their education, training or employment. All students who pursue post-16 studies experience the world of work as part of their studies.

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requires improvement

 Sixth form leaders know their students well on an individual basis and students appreciate the support they receive from all members of staff. Retention rates are in line with the national average.

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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 139168 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 455843

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Secondary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 11–19 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1447 Of which, number on roll in sixth form 220 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Rich Head of Academy Will Scott Date of previous school inspection 24 April 2013 Telephone number 01775 722484 Fax number N/A Email address enquiries@gleed.lincs.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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