The Chalfonts Independent Grammar School

Newland College Newland Park, Gorelands Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire HP8 4AD

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Senior leaders, supported by the proprietor have ensured that all independent school standards are met. Leaders know the school’s strengths and weaknesses.  However, information is not always used sufficiently to plan lessons and check pupil progress or trends especially in mathematics. School performance is not benchmarked to other schools or national data.  Pupils’ safety and welfare are given the highest priority. Their physical and emotional well-being is developed well through the curriculum and carefully considered strategies ensure that pupils’ needs are understood and met.  The curriculum is broad and balanced to develop pupils’ academic and social skills. There is an extensive range of extra-curricular and enrichment activities on offer. These make a strong contribution to pupils’ ability to take personal responsibility and work together  Parents are very supportive of the school. All who responded to the online questionnaire said

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

that they would recommend the school. All parents agreed that children are safe, looked after and behave well. The inspector agrees.  Arrangements for safeguarding are effective and meet statutory requirements. All staff have received recent, relevant training and there is a robust focus on safety and safeguarding which permeates the whole school.  Teaching, learning and assessment are good. Senior leaders have improved the quality of teaching and assessment so that they match the individual needs of pupils more precisely.  Staff have high expectations and know how to support pupils’ different learning needs. Strong subject knowledge and supportive relationships help pupils make good progress. Presentation of work in books needed improving.  Pupils join the school with attainment which is above average. Progress is strong in English, science, art, music and humanities.  Pupils receiving additional support make similar

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

progress to their peers. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of education and have high aspirations for their future.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent Schools Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, especially in mathematics, to raise pupils’ progress by: – ensuring that teaching is consistently good or better across all subjects and that existing good and outstanding practice is shared across the school – making better use of available information to plan activities that support and challenge all pupils in all subjects – ensuring that pupils’ presentation skills are encouraged and supported across the school in all subjects.  Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that available information is used to identify pupil achievement using similar schools and national benchmarks to check progress and trends over time.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Leaders and managers are passionate about the school and have ensured that all the requirements of the Independent Schools Standards are met. They provide support and advice to improve practice where necessary. There is a detailed system of performance management with teachers pay closely linked to their performance. Staff morale is high and the quality of teaching is good because it is regularly checked.  The school has an ethos of collaborative working among staff, purposeful relationships with pupils and an attractive learning environment inside and outside. The welfare and safety of pupils are given the highest priority. Pupils confirm that they feel safe. The school’s complaints policy is made available via the website and documentation sets out clear timescales and procedures.  However, available information is not always used sufficiently to identify progress or trends or to look at the performance of different groups. Leaders do robustly not compare

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

the outcomes achieved by this school with similar outcomes in other schools or nationally. Consequently, they cannot accurately benchmark the school’s successes and confirm that outcomes are good enough.  The curriculum is broad and balanced. It is carefully planned to develop pupils’ social skills as well as their academic skills through sessions covering reducing stress and teen anxiety, forming respectful and harmonious relationships and discussions about e-safety.  The school has an extensive extra-curricular and enrichment programme including a range of sporting activities as well as clubs for chess, languages, drama, public speaking and survival skills. These pursuits make a strong contribution to pupils’ ability to work together and take responsibility for their safety  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is developed well across the curriculum and over time through multi-faith assemblies, school competitions and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

celebrations of Diwali and the Chinese New Year. British values are promoted through the citizenship programme, which includes topics such as laws and justice, youth crime, self- image and gender equality.  Pupils learn about the democratic process through the highly-anticipated school parliament elections. They develop their social skills on trips to art galleries, museums and theatres as well as residential trips to Salisbury Cathedral, Iceland and Florence. Pupils learn to respect one another and understand the importance of equality so that discrimination of any kind is vigorously challenged.  Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and many comment favourably about how well pupils improve their self-confidence and self-esteem. One parent said, ‘Newland College and its teaching staff have an amazing ability to instil the desire to learn in the children they teach’ and another commented about her daughter, saying: ‘Since

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

joining Newlands she is a transformed little girl, so happy, gaining in confidence and she has developed a real push to succeed and do things well.’  The school has applied to change its age range to include 17- to 18-year-olds and has already begun the process of planning for a sixth form following the International Baccalaureate programme. Appropriate schemes of work are written and leaders are actively considering staffing implications, including the training of staff already in place. An increase in size is not problematic since the school buildings will adequately accommodate the additional capacity suggested.

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Governance

 After a brief period of uncertainly, the school is now owned and operated by Alpha Schools, who manage 12 other independent schools across the Buckinghamshire area. The school is well supported by the proprietor, who knows its day-to-day strengths and what needs to be done to improve further.  The proprietor has an accurate view of the quality of teaching in the school and is working hard to establish protocols and procedures to improve the school further. He is supportive of the headteacher’s leadership and intends to continue to be actively involved in the school during this transition phase.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The school complies with all the elements of the independent school standards regarding the safety of pupils, including publishing an up-to-date safeguarding policy, which is available on the website. The policy is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that the school meets the statutory requirements. The school works well with parents and others to ensure that pupils are supported and safe.  The designated safeguarding lead and a deputy are trained to the appropriate levels. All staff have received up-to-date training and have been informed of the latest guidance and requirements. Statutory safeguarding requirements are scrupulously followed through and the protection of pupils is a major priority. Risk assessments are thorough and robust.  All the required arrangements for staff vetting and checking are in place and meticulously followed through. There is a strong safeguarding culture promoted by all. Staff know the

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Safeguarding

procedures to follow in the event of any concerns raised by a pupil or a member of staff. There are sufficient staff trained in first aid and the school clinic meets all requirements.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment are good. Teaching is characterised by strong subject knowledge, which is used well to plan mostly challenging lessons that enable pupils to make good or better progress. Very strong and supportive relationships are founded on a deep understanding of the pupils’ individual needs and interests.  Higher-attaining pupils are challenged in most lessons with opportunities to pursue the subject in greater depth. Questioning is used well to probe these pupils’ understanding of the work, leading to high-quality discussions where views are considered and challenged. Expectations are high, and pupils requiring additional support or those who speak English as an additional language are identified and perceptively supported. Small class sizes ensure that all pupils are well known to staff and receive bespoke support.  Occasionally teaching is not so good, the pace of learning is relatively slow and the work

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

lacks challenge so that pupils are not sufficiently motivated. When this happens, planning does not take account of available information to support and challenge pupils. This was especially true in mathematics, where some of the work seen was a repeat of what had been done before. The school accepts that presentation skills in some books need further improvement.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The school has very high aspirations for all its pupils. Staff ensure that pupils receive high levels of care and support. Their physical and emotional well-being is developed through the curriculum and carefully developed strategies to ensure that individual needs are understood and addressed.  Staff and pupils work well together and this contributes to pupils becoming aware of what they need to do to become successful learners. Pupils say that staff at this school have really helped them to learn and to persevere. They say that they feel supported and valued.  The curriculum has been carefully planned to support each pupil’s personal development. Extra-curricular activities and residential trips support the development of pupils’ social skills and the positive relationships between them and their teachers.  Parents are very positive about the ways in which the school has helped their children. All

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Personal development and welfare

parents who responded to the online questionnaire agreed that their children are safe, well cared for and supported.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils understand what constitutes good behaviour and the consequences of poor behaviour. In most lessons, pupils display positive attitudes to their learning, listen carefully to the teacher and engage with the work. Staff do not always promote and encourage good presentation.  Pupils are treated with dignity and respect. They are extremely enthusiastic and complimentary about the school. They understand about bullying, and say that this is very rare and dealt with quickly by staff. Outside areas are well managed and pupils play well together.  Attendance and punctuality are very good, but attendance information is not always analysed to identify patterns and trends.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils join the school with attainment which is above average and, because the majority of pupils make good or better progress, outcomes are good overall. Progress is particularly strong in English, science, art, music and humanities but less evident in mathematics.  Staff are effective in promoting equality of opportunity and they are aware of the needs of individual pupils in the school. Effective teaching and carefully focused support are securing improvements in pupils’ performance, especially higher-attaining pupils, who make good progress because they are challenged to think more deeply about their work.  Pupils from different ethnic groups, as well as those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress. There are no pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, but those receiving additional support make progress which is similar to that of their peers.  Pupils’ basic skills in numeracy and literacy are well supported in a range of subjects. For

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Outcomes for pupils Good

example, pupils’ mathematical skills are suitably reinforced in science and humanities. Pupils speak confidently, write accurately and read regularly, although their presentation skills require further support and encouragement. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education and have high aspirations for their future.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Email address j.fenton@newlandcollege.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Newland College is a small mixed 11 to 16 independent school in Chalfont St Giles. The school was originally owned by SKOLA but is now run by Alpha Schools.  The school opened in September 2015. This is the first independent inspection of the school.  The school meets all requirements for the publication of specified information on its website.  At the time of the inspection there were 31 pupils from a range of different ethnic groups. The school roll is increasing.  There are pupils with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities although the school identifies a number of pupils who are receiving additional support for a range of issues covering learning and health.  There school does not make use of any alternative provision.  The school is a candidate school for the Middle Years Programme, which is part of the International Baccalaureate. The Middle Years Programme includes eight discrete

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Information about this school

academic areas: English, mathematics, science, languages, humanities, arts, technology and physical education. The school does not have any specific religious affiliation.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection comprised observations of pupils’ learning in nine lessons or parts of lessons, including three joint observations with senior staff. Work in pupils’ books was reviewed, including work in English, mathematics and science.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, registrar and proprietor as well as some other staff with management responsibilities. The inspector held meetings with pupils from all year groups and spoke informally to pupils inside and outside of lessons.  The inspector looked at the school’s website and a range of school documentation, including the school’s improvement plans, safeguarding documentation and risk assessments. He also looked at the school’s single central record and the attendance and behaviour records.  The views of 21 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were considered, along with further written comments provided by parents. The inspector

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Information about this inspection

also considered 10 questionnaires completed by members of staff.  The school is subject to a material change and the Department for Education has asked that this is considered as part of the inspection. The school has applied to change its age range to include 17- to 18-year-olds and they wish to increase the school capacity from 116 pupils to 126 pupils.

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Inspection team

Paul Metcalf, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

Parent View 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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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