Jack Hunt School

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

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Pamela Kilbey Headteacher Jack Hunt School Ledbury Road Peterborough Cambridgeshire PE3 9PN

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Short inspection of Jack Hunt School

Following my visit to the school on 17 January 2017 with Christine Mayle, Ofsted inspector, 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 May 2013.

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Short inspection of Jack Hunt School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your clear vision, astute leadership and relentless pursuit of improvement have ensured that the points raised at the time of the last inspection have been built upon, and strengthened further. The school is now securely good.

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Short inspection of Jack Hunt School

Behaviour is good. The school is a calm, purposeful and friendly place to be. Pupils feel safe, stimulated and valued. You, your senior leaders, staff and governors promote the school’s strong ethos of ‘being different, belonging together’ well. Pupils from a diverse range of social and cultural backgrounds work together in harmony, engage fully in the wide range of opportunities provided for them, and achieve well.

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Short inspection of Jack Hunt School

Your school is inclusive. More than half of your pupils join the school without English as their first language. Some have newly arrived in the country; some join at times other than the start of the year, or have missed long periods of schooling. You meet the challenge by removing the barriers this presents so that pupils integrate fully and make good progress. Your staff go out of their way to ensure that these pupils are welcomed, settle quickly and engage fully in school life.

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Short inspection of Jack Hunt School

Pupils are proud of their school. They talked enthusiastically with inspectors about its friendliness, and the wide range of enrichment activities provided for them. Year 11 pupils value highly the weekly revision clubs and the additional learning sessions on Saturday mornings to help them achieve their GCSE target grades. Community links are strong. Your ‘beyond the school gates policy’ ensures that pupils understand the high expectations of them, in and out of school. Established partnerships with the eight primary schools in your community learning trust and with local businesses promote pupils’ successful transition into Year 7. Physical education and sport are used particularly well to foster these good relations and ensure that pupils are suitably prepared for their secondary education.

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Short inspection of Jack Hunt School

You and your governors have rightly identified that to become outstanding, further work needs to be done to ensure that all pupils, particularly those deemed to be disadvantaged, achieve as well as they can in mathematics. You have already started this work. Maths mastery has been adopted in Year 7; newly appointed staff are beginning to make the teaching of mathematics much more consistent. Spending of the pupil premium has been reallocated to enable more pupils to benefit from it. More time is needed for these initiatives to have a full impact on improving outcomes for pupils.

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Short inspection of Jack Hunt School

Your child protection team ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Detailed safeguarding records are maintained. The single central record is kept up to date and all necessary checks are made when appointing new staff. Vulnerable pupils and those at risk are routinely monitored. Partnerships with local agencies are well established.

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Inspection findings

 Teaching is good. Most teachers are well prepared, have high expectations of pupils and manage behaviour effectively. Staff training has led to improved use of questioning and pupil discussion to encourage pupils to engage actively in their learning. A range of techniques, including peer assessment, note-making on desks and reinforcement of technical language, aid pupils’ learning. Thorough use of assessment information enables staff to pinpoint those who need additional support to prevent them from underachieving. Pupils are expected to attend additional revision classes to ensure that they meet the expectations of them.  From their low starting points, most pupils make good progress in a wide range of subjects. Over the last three years, progress measures indicate that the overall progress made by pupils in Year 11 has remained significantly above average. Progress in English is exceptionally strong. Progress in mathematics is less

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Inspection findings

pronounced, mainly due to changes in staffing and course requirements. This is now stabilising, enabling staff to work together to develop common approaches to raising achievement.  In science, pupils studying the three sciences make very good progress and attain well. The proportion of the most able pupils attaining A* and A grades in chemistry and physics were above average. Results in other science courses dipped in 2016 due to a change in the courses followed by less-able pupils.  Differences between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school and nationally have narrowed significantly since the last inspection. However, the rapid increase in the proportions of pupils meeting and exceeding expectations in English are not matched in mathematics. The school’s strategies to raise achievement are focused mainly on disadvantaged pupils in Year 11 and do not extend fully throughout key stage 4. New arrangements to monitor the

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Inspection findings

attendance of disadvantaged pupils is encouraging more of them to attend regularly.  A recently appointed coordinator of special educational needs is leading improvements to the identification of pupils’ needs and the quality of learning and support they need. Procedures to monitor their progress and welfare are becoming much more systematic. Pupils with physical disabilities and hearing impairment receive good support to enable them to integrate fully and enjoy school.  In the sixth form, the school serves its local community well. Leaders acknowledge the challenge of raising the achievement of pupils of different abilities and from diverse backgrounds. Staff quickly raise their aspirations and set high expectations for them. Overall achievement is rising, but it varies widely across subjects. Pupils feel valued, well supported. The vast majority go on to further training or university.  A wealth of clubs, activities, school trips and volunteering to help others enriches

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Inspection findings

pupils’ lives and broadens their understanding of the wider world. Sport, music and the arts are popular with pupils. Elite athletes are given financial support to enable them to compete at national events. The school’s well-established links with schools and a university in China provide regular opportunities for pupils to visit and host other pupils.

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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 strategies introduced to raise achievement in mathematics, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, are routinely monitored to check that progress accelerates and outcomes achieved by pupils in mathematics match those achieved in English.

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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 Peterborough. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, we met with you, your senior leaders, the chair and three other members of the governing body, your school improvement partner, and two groups of pupils. Together with senior leaders we observed a small sample of lessons to see pupils at work. We reviewed school documents about self-evaluation and development planning, safeguarding including the single central record, and attendance and behaviour records. We also considered the responses from parents and staff.

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Information about the inspection

The following aspects were discussed in detail:

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Information about the inspection

 the actions taken since the last inspection to improve teaching  leaders’ actions to raise the achievement, attendance and behaviour of disadvantaged pupils  the quality of provision and support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities  the quality of provision and leadership of the sixth form  what leaders do to give pupils a broad, rich education.

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