Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

Moira Green Headteacher Darlington School of Maths and Science Eggleston View Darlington County Durham DL3 9SH

p.1

of Maths and Science

Following my visit to your school on 22 April 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

p.1

of Maths and Science

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2015. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

p.1

of Maths and Science

Senior leaders and trust directors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

p.1

Evidence

During the visit, I met with you, senior and middle leaders and a range of staff to discuss the actions taken to improve the school since the last inspection. I discussed improvement activities with the executive headteacher and the director of the academy trust. I undertook learning walks with you where I also looked at work in books and folders. I also met a group of pupils to discuss their learning and any changes they had identified since the last inspection. I examined the school improvement plan as well as other documents, including self-evaluation documents, assessment information on current progress and safeguarding documents.

p.1

Context

The acting headteacher at the time of the last inspection has returned to her original school. A new headteacher was appointed on 1 February 2016 to lead the school until the end of the academic year. An assistant headteacher has been seconded from another school in the trust to lead developments in personal, social and health education. The head of science resigned at Easter 2016.

p.2

Main findings

The school has undergone a period of considerable change and some turbulence since the last inspection with changes of leadership and governance. These have resulted in delays to the improvement process and raised questions about aspects of the school’s capacity to improve further. However, since the arrival of the new headteacher in February, there has been a rapid acceleration in the actions taken to strengthen leadership and improve the quality of teaching.

p.2

Main findings

The headteacher has taken direct and practical action to develop the skills, knowledge and awareness of leaders and teachers so that they can more purposefully meet improvement priorities. Data systems have been clarified so that all staff have a clear awareness of pupils’ prior attainment and the outcomes they will need to achieve to secure good rates of progress. Pupils’ targets have been raised to instil further ambition and challenge, particularly for the most-able. Staff have been made clearly aware of their duty to make the progress of pupils who have special educational needs or disability a key focus in their lesson planning.

p.2

Main findings

The headteacher has brought in external consultants to work with teachers to review the quality of their teaching and demonstrate in clear ways what extra challenge looks like in the classroom. The headteacher has directly modelled new approaches herself in mathematics lessons and teachers are beginning to incorporate these into their planning. Pupils described how this challenge in mathematics is being reflected in increasing pace, higher targets and a new focus on relating mathematical concepts to real-life situations. These developments remain at an early stage and considerable support and training will be needed to secure sustained impact.

p.2

Main findings

Actions have been taken to increase the ability of middle leaders to hold their teams to account. Previously flawed monitoring procedures have been fortified with lesson observations and work scrutinies that are now linked to pupils’ progress in order to develop a more rounded understanding of the quality of teaching. Middle leaders welcome this opportunity to develop a more reliable oversight of the performance of teachers in their departments and there is evidence of more challenging discussions that are supporting a stronger focus on pupils’ progress. Senior leaders are working with the headteacher and middle leaders to enhance their monitoring of teaching although they still need to do so with greater consistency and rigour. A working party has recently produced a school assessment policy, reflecting a commitment from staff to lead their own improvements and not rely solely on external partners. There are emerging signs of impact with staff beginning to use

p.2

Main findings

the policy to provide more meaningful feedback to support pupils’ progress. By actively involving staff in the improvement journey, the headteacher has raised morale and secured commitment, something further exemplified by the extensive revision sessions provided in holidays and on Saturday mornings. Both staff and pupils described how the headteacher has established a highly visible presence in classrooms and corridors, participating in change alongside the wider school community and articulating the rationale for these changes to parents at a parents’ forum meeting.

p.3

Main findings

As well as balancing the urgent actions needed to improve outcomes for Year 11, leaders have also built longer term capacity by reviewing the curriculum for Year 7. The headteacher has made staff aware that this able year group requires further challenge and this has resulted in measures such as increasing the number of pupils in top sets in English and mathematics groups to raise aspiration.

p.3

Main findings

Leaders are also taking action to improve the personal development of pupils. A recently appointed assistant headteacher is revising the personal, social, health and economic education programme in consultation with local authority specialists. New content is being supported by better structures, with pupils now taught in year groups, enabling more age-appropriate programmes to be followed. Once again, these changes are at an early stage of development and will require thorough monitoring, review and support to be fully implemented.

p.3

Main findings

In the two years prior to inspection, the academy trust had not provided the challenge and support to effectively hold the school to account. Ineffective practices went unchallenged and the long-term impact of policies such as excessive early entry went unchecked. Since September 2015, the executive headteacher and the director of the trust have become much more actively involved and are working to effect change at an operational and strategic level. Their appointment of a new headteacher has rapidly accelerated change in a short period of time. The executive headteacher and headteacher meet on a weekly basis to review progress and plan weekly improvement activities. A recently appointed chair of the local governing body is bringing improved expertise and scrutiny to governance. However, uncertainties remain over long-term structures and support arrangements and it is important that these are resolved as soon as possible so that the emerging signs of

p.3

External support

The school has recruited an acting headteacher with a proven record in school improvement and she has begun to rapidly address areas for improvement. External consultants have worked with subject teams in English and mathematics to strengthen teaching and learning and the quality of assessment. Specialists from the local authority have provided guidance that has informed improvements to the school’s personal, social, health and economic education programme. Senior leaders and subject specialists from trust schools have provided additional support on leadership and teaching and learning.

p.3

External support

I am copying this letter to the executive board, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Darlington. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.4