Chiltern Edge Community School

Chiltern Edge Community School Reades Lane, Sonning Common, Reading, Berkshire RG4 9LN

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have not acted effectively to secure a high quality of education. Pupils, especially boys, do not achieve the standards they are capable of.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. Learning in lessons does not challenge pupils sufficiently. Teachers do not check pupils’ understanding closely or use it to inform next steps in learning.  Pupils’ work is often incomplete and poorly presented. Pupils do not know what they need to do to improve their work and make more rapid progress.  Middle leaders do not track pupils’ progress rigorously enough. They fail to hold teachers to account for the progress of pupils in their classes.  Leaders do not tackle pupils’ use of derogatory language, particularly towards those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Pupil premium funding is not used effectively to support disadvantaged pupils. These pupils make inadequate progress in English,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

mathematics and science.  Leaders do not make regular checks on the quality of teaching. Their self-evaluation is weak and improvement activities are not focused sufficiently well to raise standards quickly.  Standards in reading are too low. Pupils do not read well or widely enough. This restricts their access to the wider curriculum.  Governors do not challenge leaders effectively. They are too accepting of the information they receive about the school’s performance.  Leaders at all levels are not held to account for the impact of their work. They do not check to see what difference their actions make.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Safeguarding is effective. Leaders have developed robust systems for identifying and acting on child protection concerns.  Recent work to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is having a positive impact.  The quality of teaching in 3D design, dance, physical education and geography is consistently better than in other subject areas. Pupils achieve well in these subjects.  Pupils conduct themselves well around the school and during breaktimes. Most are respectful towards each other.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, by: – ensuring that improvement plans have clear targets and success criteria, so that governors and leaders can evaluate school effectiveness more accurately – ensuring that governors challenge school leaders, particularly on the performance of pupils – monitoring pupils’ progress closely and using what is learned to inform next steps – making sure that the school’s behaviour management system is consistently used to monitor and deal with derogatory language, so that bullying is eliminated and pupils feel safe – ensuring that leaders and governors routinely evaluate pupil premium expenditure so that it is focused on activities that rapidly improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils – strengthening subject leadership in English, mathematics and science – further improving the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning and raise achievement, particularly in English, mathematics and science, by: – ensuring that teachers have high expectations of all pupils, including boys – making sure that teachers plan tasks that match pupils’ starting points sharply, including pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities – helping pupils to develop a love of reading that supports their access to and engagement with the wider curriculum – ensuring that disadvantaged pupils make good progress in English and mathematics – making sure that teachers use assessment information to identify and support pupils who are at risk of falling behind. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Since the previous inspection, leaders have not done enough to improve the quality of teaching. Pupils do not make the progress they are capable of and do not achieve the standards expected for their age.  Senior leaders and subject leaders do not check regularly the progress that pupils make in lessons. This means that leaders’ evaluation of the quality of teaching is overly generous. Lower- and middle-attaining pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are not making enough progress in English, mathematics and science.  Leaders have correctly identified some of the priorities for improvement in the school. However, they have been too slow to implement their plans. Leaders have not evaluated the impact of their actions on pupils’ learning and progress. As a result, too many pupils make insufficient progress in English, mathematics and science subjects.  Leaders’ work to improve pupils’ literacy is limited. Leaders’ recent plans and actions

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

for the additional catch-up funding are not yet making a difference to pupils’ progress.  Leaders do not analyse information effectively about pupils’ progress over time. As a result, they are not adjusting their actions to fill the gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Consequently, boys’ and disadvantaged pupils’ progress often goes unchecked for long periods of time.  Leaders’ plans to improve the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not followed by all teachers. As a result, these vulnerable pupils make less rapid progress than their peers in many subjects.  Leaders have begun to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils. However, work to improve the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils is ineffective. Furthermore, governors do not have the information they need to challenge leaders appropriately on the impact of additional funding.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Historically, leaders have struggled to recruit strong subject specialists in English, mathematics and science. This has led to a number of temporary appointments which have affected continuity of learning. As a result, pupils’ progress in these subjects is too slow.  Leaders have not received the support they need from the local authority. Although officers acknowledge the weaknesses in teaching and pupils’ outcomes, standards have continued to decline. The local authority has acted too slowly.  Leaders responsible for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities support some pupils well. Pupils told inspectors that teaching assistants help them to understand and improve their work in some lessons. However, leaders do not monitor the impact of special educational needs funding and the difference it makes to pupils’ progress to ensure its consistent impact.  Leaders have recently revised the curriculum offer at key stage 4 so that it is broad and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

balanced. There is a range of different GCSE and vocational courses available for pupils to study. Pupils are also offered a host of extra-curricular opportunities including sport, dance and music clubs. Such activities support pupils’ wider development well.  Since September, school subject leaders in English and mathematics have been working with local secondary school subject leaders to improve the provision for pupils at each key stage. Although at an early stage, this work is helping to develop the curriculum and strengthen leadership.  Heads of house and pastoral staff support pupils’ welfare appropriately. They monitor attendance carefully and keep adequate records about behaviour incidents. Their work is helping pupils to build positive relationships with staff. The attendance of vulnerable pupils is also improving steadily.

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Governance of the school

 Governors do not have a clear enough picture of standards and progress in the school and have accepted the information provided by leaders too readily. Consequently, governors do not sufficiently challenge school leaders and do not hold them to account for the standards that pupils achieve.  Governors are not monitoring the school’s use of additional funding closely enough. For example, although they were disappointed with the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in 2016, they remain unaware how additional funding is supporting pupils in 2017.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Clear and appropriate measures are in place to ensure that leaders check the suitability of staff and keep careful records. School leaders are trained in safer recruitment procedures. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities with respect to keeping pupils safe. They receive regular training to ensure that their knowledge and understanding are up to date.  Pupils say they feel safe at school and know who to talk to should they have any concerns. The majority of parents said their child was safe and well looked after at school.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 The quality of teaching and learning is inadequate. Pupils, including the disadvantaged, boys, and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, do not make the progress expected. The quality of teaching has significantly declined since the previous inspection.  Teachers do not use the school’s assessment information effectively to plan lessons. This means that learning activities are often too easy and do not match pupils’ starting points. As a result, pupils lose interest and their work is often poorly presented and unfinished.  Feedback to pupils from their teachers is not consistent with the school policy and often does not add value to pupils’ subject knowledge and understanding. This means that pupils are not clear about how to improve their work.  In mathematics, pupils, particularly those of lower or middle ability, are not suitably challenged across key stage 3. Pupils lack confidence in applying their mathematical

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

skills and as a result, their understanding of basic concepts such as simple algebra is not secure.  The teaching of reading is weak. Pupils do not read widely or regularly. A small group of pupils with low literacy levels in Years 7 and 8 follow a reading scheme. Teachers have not yet evaluated how effective this scheme is at helping this group to read.  Teachers’ expectations of pupils, especially boys, are too low. Teachers do not check frequently or effectively to see how well pupils learn in their lessons. As a result, learning time is lost because teachers do not adapt their lessons to ensure that pupils make good progress.  There have been many changes to the school timetable to try and accommodate changes in staffing. This means that some new staff are not always clear where pupils are in their learning or how to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  The teaching of English across key stage 3 is highly variable and many pupils do not

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

make sufficient progress. As a result of support from a local secondary school, more pupils are accessing classic texts and writing persuasively. Extra groups to support pupils who have low literacy levels and who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are beginning to make a difference. Pupils in these groups told inspectors that they make stronger progress because staff expect more of them.  Teaching is effective in geography, 3D design, physical education and dance. Teachers have high expectations of their pupils and plan exciting lessons to ensure that pupils surpass their targets. Strong teaching in these subjects means that pupils respond well to challenges and consequently pupils make more rapid progress.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Pupils recognise what constitutes bullying. However, there are too many incidents where pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are exposed to derogatory language. These incidents are not being addressed quickly enough by staff and this is affecting the self-esteem of this vulnerable group of pupils.  Pupils understand that using homophobic language is wrong and leaders have recently introduced a new process to eliminate this in school. However, this system is yet to be embedded and some pupils regularly use inappropriate, homophobic language.  In assemblies, and through the tutor programme, pupils reflect on spiritual, moral, social and cultural diversity, and how to strengthen their own personal resilience and social skills. This is helping them to gain a better understanding of differences.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities use their support room ‘CSD’ regularly. This area provides a safe place for pupils to prepare for the school day and talk to staff if they need support. Pupils who use this area regularly value this resource.  Staff know pupils well as individuals, and prioritise their welfare. Parents recognise that pastoral care is a strength of the school. Most pupils are respectful towards one another and value others’ views and opinions.  Pupils appreciate the impartial careers advice and guidance they receive. The school’s links with local colleges and apprenticeships have ensured that Year 10 and 11 pupils have identified their next steps. More pupils are securing their college courses or apprenticeships earlier and consequently are better prepared for the next stage of their career development.  Pupils in Year 11 appreciate the extra revision sessions that teachers arrange for them

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Personal development and welfare

at the end of the school day. They say this has given them more confidence as they approach their GCSE examinations.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Poor behaviour in class often occurs in lessons where there have been many changes in staffing and pupils are dissatisfied by the quality of teaching. These incidents are not always recorded on the school’s behaviour management system. As a result, they are not dealt with consistently effectively.  In most lessons, pupils listen to others and wait patiently for support. However, in less engaging lessons some pupils do not use their lesson time to improve their knowledge and understanding. This is not picked up quickly enough by some teachers.  Overall attendance has improved and is now just below the national average. Leaders’ work to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is having a positive impact. More pupils are coming to school regularly.  Most pupils behave well around the school site. They integrate well and are respectful

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Pupils do not achieve as well as they should by the time they leave school. Too often, pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, make poor progress from their starting points.  In 2016, pupils completing Year 11, including the disadvantaged, made less progress in English and mathematics than others nationally with similar starting points. Boys made slower progress than girls in English, mathematics, science and languages.  Current pupils are not making sufficient progress in English, mathematics and science. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils and boys. In many cases, pupils’ work is poorly presented and/or unfinished and they do not take account of their teachers’ feedback in order to improve their knowledge and understanding.  School information indicates that boys in Year 10 and 11 continue to make less progress than girls in English. Pupils’ work seen during the inspection supports this

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

view. Although leaders recognise this, work to raise standards for boys is not making a difference.  Pupils are not given enough encouragement to read widely. Although leaders are beginning to address pupils’ low literacy levels through a reading programme it is too early to assess the impact of this initiative. Standards in reading across the school are too low.  At key stage 3, some pupils’ work in English, mathematics and science is too easy for their ability and lacks appropriate challenge. As a result, pupils are not achieving their potential in these subjects.  Leaders have identified a group of Year 11 pupils who need to catch up. Teachers are drawing on externally moderated examination question analysis to help pupils identify which areas they need to improve. However, leaders are unclear as to what difference this is making to pupils’ achievements.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address office@chilternedge.oxon.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection September 2012

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Information about this school

 The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  The school is smaller than the average-sized comprehensive school.  The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below the national average.  The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan and/or statement of special educational needs is above the national average.  The majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 37 lessons to observe learning across a range of subjects and year groups. Twenty of these lessons were visited jointly with the school’s leadership team.  Inspectors visited four tutor groups.  Inspectors met with pupils from all year groups in meetings, in lessons and informally around the school. They also listened to a group of Year 7 and 8 pupils read.  Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ written work across a range of abilities, subjects and year groups.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders and middle leaders. They also met with representatives of the governing body.  Inspectors considered the school’s policies, including those for safeguarding, behaviour, attendance, pupil premium and special educational needs. They reviewed the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan. They also looked at records relating to current pupils’ progress and attendance, as well as behaviour and exclusion logs.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors reviewed 75 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and 44 responses from parents on Ofsted’s free-text service. They also took account of the responses from staff to the online questionnaire and the school’s pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Caroline Walshe, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Gerard Strong 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

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

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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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