The Long Eaton School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Neil Calvert Headteacher The Long Eaton School Thoresby Road Long Eaton Nottinghamshire NG10 3NP

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Short inspection of The Long Eaton School

Following my visit to the school on 8 December 2015 with Simon Hollingsworth HMI, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in April 2012.

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Short inspection of The Long Eaton School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are committed to continuous development and have been successful in bringing about demonstrable improvements to the school. Staff, pupils and parents show a high degree of confidence in your aims and ambition. Central to the school’s ethos and mission are the ‘4 Cs’: challenge, cooperation, care and consistency. These are values that permeate all that the school says and does. There is a sense of high ambition across the school; pupils regardless of their background or disadvantage are encouraged to achieve their best. Consequently, outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and others are improving year on year. The pupils who are supported by the school’s enhanced provision for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder make good progress. The school’s very inclusive and caring culture means that pupils with disabilities and special educational needs are

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Short inspection of The Long Eaton School

Teachers work hard to engender a good work ethic among pupils. Lessons are mostly characterised by a calm, purposeful, working atmosphere. Since the last inspection, the quality of teaching has improved. Pupils enjoy well-planned lessons. Leaders have acted upon the recommendations from the last inspection well. There is a well-thought-out programme of training and development provided for teachers. Curriculum leaders know and understand their departments well. Leaders of all the key subjects have improved the pupils’ outcomes in their subject area year on year. The sixth form is becoming more popular and successful. More learners than ever are achieving higher grades and going on to top universities. The leader of the sixth form is passionate about improving outcomes as well as learners’ social, emotional and moral development.

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Short inspection of The Long Eaton School

You and your leadership team act swiftly to tackle underperformance. You draw upon expert advice to support the school’s improvement work. Subject leaders are encouraged to learn from best practice in other schools. You require curriculum leaders to set high standards in their departments and to be forensic in their analysis of their subject areas’ strengths and weaknesses. They rise to this challenge well. Your team carries out deep analyses of the causes of underachievement, which draw on the latest educational theories and first-hand evidence. An example of this is the school’s latest research into the underperformance of higher ability pupils and those supported by pupil premium funding. The school’s work to improve behaviour and attendance by developing parental engagement and the relationship with external agencies is making a difference. You have a good track record of improvement and have demonstrated

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Short inspection of The Long Eaton School

your capacity to make a difference to the educational outcomes for all pupils.

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Short inspection of The Long Eaton School

While pupils’ outcomes in most subject areas are improving, they are not improving quickly enough in modern foreign languages. You are putting in place a number of strategies to ensure that pupils make the progress they should. Governors are not always clear about the impact of the school’s work to improve behaviour and attendance, especially for particular groups. While they keep a close eye on how government funding such as the pupil premium is spent, they are not always clear that the way it is spent is providing the best value for money. You acknowledge that leaders should present information about the school’s work to governors in such a way as to help them support, challenge and hold leaders to account more effectively.

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Short inspection of The Long Eaton School

The school takes safeguarding matters very seriously. Preventative measures are in place and staff are very clear about their responsibilities. Leaders, including the designated safeguarding lead, are highly trained. All staff have completed a Level 1 safeguarding course and have undertaken awareness training to protect young people from being drawn into extremism. Referrals to the local authority are made in a timely manner and records are kept meticulously. Safeguarding leaders are tenacious in following up concerns and work well with external agencies. Pupils feel safe in the school. They receive appropriate pastoral education and guidance to help them stay safe. This includes how to keep safe online, drug and alcohol awareness, and issues around self-harming. The school has an open culture towards debate and discussion, especially about controversial current affairs. This culture and approach contribute well to the prevention of radicalisation and

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Inspection findings

 You have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Your plans to address any weaknesses draw on previous successful strategies. You have developed an effective leadership team.  Governors are knowledgeable about school improvement. They take a proactive role in holding leaders to account for the pupils’ achievement. Governors hold ‘self-evaluation and risk’ meetings half termly, during which curriculum leaders are asked to present a detailed self-evaluation report on their pupils’ progress. Governors challenge leaders well, although they could improve this aspect of their work even more if leaders were to present a clearer analysis of their work to improve pupils’ outcomes, behaviour and attendance.  The quality of teaching is improving across a range of subjects. Consistency in terms of expectations and the quality of teachers’ feedback to pupils is also improving across subjects and within departments too.

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Inspection findings

 The school’s work to improve the outcomes of the most-able pupils is effective. The progress of this group of pupils last year and their progress currently show a marked improvement compared with that in previous years. Leaders keep the progress of this group high on teachers’ priorities by monitoring pupils’ progress rigorously and devising bespoke intervention strategies.  Pupils’ progress in mathematics continues to be above national averages from all starting points at Key Stage 4. Their progress in English is now close to the national average and improving rapidly from different starting points. Humanities subjects are achieving positive outcomes for pupils, especially this year. Pupils do well in history at Key Stages 4 and 5. Pupils’ progress in science is improving; projected outcomes for 2016 are much improved compared with previous years. Progress in both Spanish and French is rather more variable. Strategies to

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Inspection findings

accelerate progress are already making a difference, especially in the lower years.  You have an unrelenting stance on your desire to eradicate inequalities. Consequently, teachers’ focus on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and boys is prioritised. ‘Challenge’ meetings are held regularly at which teachers monitor the progress of all pupils, including key underachieving groups. Intervention strategies are agreed and planned. This has proved effective in addressing underachievement early.  The pastoral team has devised a number of innovative tactics to raise achievement and motivate boys. One such strategy is the ‘achievement league’ in Year 11, which involves a progress competition between teams of boys. Pupils told inspectors that they found the approach both motivating and effective: ‘it inspires us to work,’ said one pupil. A trip to the Rolls Royce factory was equally inspiring.  Leaders of special educational needs are effective. They have a secure grasp of

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Inspection findings

the new code of practice and apply its principles to the identification and support for pupils with special educational needs and pupils with disabilities well. Consequently, these pupils make the progress they should.  Teachers are committed to raising the aspirations of pupils. Targets for pupils’ achievement are ambitious. Visits to universities from Year 7 and wide-ranging work-experience placements in the sixth form illustrate the school’s high ambition for pupils. Sixth-form learners act as good role models in the main school by helping younger pupils as part of their voluntary work. One pupil commented, ‘they want us to do the best we can to go to university’.  The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced. Pupils in Key Stage 4 praise the range of subject options available for them to study. There is a wide range of extracurricular clubs available for pupils, to which there is good attendance.

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Inspection findings

Pupils value these opportunities and show a high degree of engagement with school life.  Pupils conduct themselves in an orderly and respectful manner. Incidents of poor behaviour and exclusion are reducing. Previous high levels of absence and persistent absence (more than 15%) are showing signs of rapid improvement. Work with parents and the work of attendance officers are making a difference.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the systems to analyse and demonstrate the impact of the school’s work to raise achievement of disadvantaged pupils, and the work to improve behaviour and attendance, are improved. These analyses should be shared with the governing body on a regular basis, to enable governors to challenge leaders more rigorously  strategies to improve pupils’ outcomes in modern foreign languages are monitored and effective.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Regional Schools Commissioner and the Director of Children’s Services for Derbyshire County Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, representatives of the governing body, the sixth-form leader, curriculum team leaders for key subjects, the special educational needs coordinator, and other senior leaders. Inspectors visited 17 parts of lessons across the main school and the sixth form, including an assembly. Some observations of teaching were jointly undertaken with senior leaders. Inspectors also observed pupils’ behaviour around the school, at break- and lunchtimes and during lessons. Inspectors spoke with two groups of pupils. Inspectors considered the views of 43 parents posted on Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. Pupils’ workbooks were scrutinised. Inspectors considered a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, pupil performance information, and safeguarding records and policies.

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