The Greneway School

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

p.1

Mrs Laura Rawlings Headteacher The Greneway School Garden Walk Royston Hertfordshire SG8 7JF

p.1

Short inspection of The Greneway School

Following my visit to the school on 26 April 2017 with Janet Lewis, 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 October 2013.

p.1

Short inspection of The Greneway School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. There is a strong sense of teamwork throughout the school which can be summed up by the following teacher comment: ‘Pupils and staff are working together to get it right.’ Parents and staff are very positive about your leadership. One parent captured the views of many by writing, ‘Great school that provides a safe and exciting space to learn and develop.’ Another stated, ‘An amazing school with a wonderful head and fantastic teachers.’

p.1

Short inspection of The Greneway School

Pupils have very positive attitudes towards their learning and enjoy coming to school. Pupils learn in a well-ordered, caring environment where they are supported to achieve their best. Pupils’ achievements and successes are publicly celebrated throughout the school. Pupils are confident and articulate. Walking around the school, my colleague and I saw lots of ‘happy faces’ who were keen to share their positive views with us. Pupils say that they feel listened to and enjoy the opportunities they have to contribute to the development of the school through forums such as the school council. They are proud to take on positions of responsibility such as house captains, sports leaders and active listeners.

p.1

Short inspection of The Greneway School

Leaders, including governors, have high aspirations for all pupils. This vision is shared by staff. You are well supported by a strong leadership team and together you have successfully tackled the areas for improvement from the previous inspection. You place a strong emphasis on developing high-quality teaching and learning. Staff appreciate the training opportunities provided and they benefit from collaborative working with other schools in the trust. Developments since the previous inspection are having a positive impact on improving teaching and pupils’ outcomes. You have introduced ‘CRISP’ (challenge, resilience, independence, self-management and positive response to feedback). Pupils explained how ‘CRISP’ has helped them to challenge themselves with their work and become more confident learners. Computer technology is being used effectively by teachers to provide feedback and to set learning challenges.

p.1

Short inspection of The Greneway School

Pupils follow an engaging curriculum which makes good provision for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through a range of enrichment activities such as clubs, trips and visits. Pupils’ personal, social, health and economic education is well catered for including through focused days. Pupils talked enthusiastically about a recent drug awareness day.

p.2

Short inspection of The Greneway School

You are very well supported by a strong governing body. Governors know the strengths and weaknesses of the school and use this knowledge to provide an appropriate level of challenge and support.

p.2

Short inspection of The Greneway School

You, your staff and governors give high priority to safeguarding. You ensure that the appropriate pre-employment checks are carried out on staff, governors and volunteers. All staff, including governors, are appropriately trained in the latest safeguarding guidance, including the government’s ‘Prevent’ duty. Staff are vigilant and know the signs that may indicate a pupil is at risk and follow the school’s appropriate policies and procedures. Records are detailed and of high quality.

p.2

Short inspection of The Greneway School

Pupils say they feel safe in school because they are well supervised in the playground, can talk to adults and because bullying is rare. Pupils have a very good understanding of e- safety and the different types of bullying. They value the opportunities they have to learn about keeping safe in a variety of situations out of school. Pupils know they can refer to the website for further information about keeping safe online. Staff all agree that pupils are safe and well cared for in school.

p.2

Short inspection of The Greneway School

Governors are tenacious in ensuring that safeguarding procedures are effective. They carry out annual audits of safeguarding practices and procedures, update policies, check training records and the pre-employment checks of staff and talk to staff, pupils and parents.

p.2

Inspection findings

 To ascertain that the school remained good I agreed the following key lines of enquiry with you: – the progress of key stage 2 pupils in writing and mathematics, especially middle-ability and most-able pupils – the progress of key stage 3 pupils across a range of subjects – pupils’ behaviour – the effectiveness of the school’s system to track pupils’ progress.  You have identified writing and mathematics in key stage 2 as a key priority for the school. End of key stage 2 results in 2016 indicated that progress for both the most-able and middle-ability pupils was below average. Work in the books of current pupils indicates that leaders’ actions are having a positive impact on the quality of writing across both key stages. There is evidence of improvement in the quality of pupils’ written work since the start of the year, especially for middle-ability pupils. Work shows that pupils write with increased fluency, use a variety of genres and complete extended

p.2

Inspection findings

pieces of work. Pupils also have good opportunities to develop their writing across other subjects including design technology and science.  In mathematics, teachers effectively question pupils to gauge their understanding and pick up misconceptions. Staff ensure that pupils understand and use mathematical terms correctly. Pupils use their reasoning skills to solve problems. Work is set at the appropriate level, especially for lower- and middle-ability pupils. In some lessons the most able are given additional challenges to ensure that they achieve their potential, but this is not yet consistent across key stages.  Middle-ability pupils are being suitably challenged and are making good progress in mathematics and English. However, the most able pupils are not always adequately stretched. This is because work is not always sufficiently demanding to fully develop pupils’ depth of understanding and knowledge.

p.3

Inspection findings

 Additional funding is used effectively to provide individual or small-group teaching for Year 7 pupils who did not attain the expected standard in English and mathematics at the end of key stage 2. Teaching is targeted to meet the pupils’ particular areas of weakness so they quickly catch up. Progress in reading is especially rapid and the pupils who read to inspectors were confident and fluent readers. They read at home and in school. Pupils speak highly of the work of the librarian as she helps them select books that will interest them.  Pupils in key stage 3 are making good progress across a range of subjects. Specialist provision in science, art and design technology results in good progress for most pupils in these subjects. Pupils achieve well in physical education as resources allow pupils to play a variety of sports and teachers’ expectations are high.  There is some inconsistency in the standards of work in humanities. This is because, too

p.3

Inspection findings

often, work does not promote the essential skills, specific knowledge and deeper understanding in these subjects.  Behaviour was judged to be outstanding at the last inspection. However, there has been an increase in the number of pupils who have received fixed-term exclusions. I wanted to find out if standards of behaviour were declining.  The school has a number of pupils with additional needs who find it difficult to manage their behaviour. They are well supported but on occasions incidents occur that result in exclusions. I am satisfied that exclusions are being used appropriately. The number of incidents of unacceptable behaviour and bullying are minimal. Pupils said behaviour in the school is good, teachers apply the behaviour policy consistently and fairly, that lessons are very rarely disrupted and their learning is not affected. Inspectors found that there has been no decline in pupil behaviour since the previous inspection.

p.3

Inspection findings

 You have a robust system of assessing pupils’ skills in reading, writing and mathematics on entry to the school and measuring their progress when they leave in Year 8. Teachers are able to identify accurately the areas where pupils require extra support. As a result of well-targeted support pupils quickly catch up. However, we agreed that the systems used need further development to measure progress with greater precision. There is also a need to make reporting clearer so all parents fully understand their child’s progress.

p.4

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.4

Next steps for the school

 teachers provide the most able pupils with tasks that are sufficiently demanding in mathematics and writing  the humanities curriculum provides the opportunity for pupils to deepen their subject knowledge and skills  they further develop the tracking systems and methods of reporting pupils’ progress.

p.4

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

p.4

Information about the inspection

Inspectors met with you and your leadership team at the start of the day to discuss improvements since the previous inspection, your evaluation of the school’s effectiveness and the key areas we would focus on during the inspection. Inspectors met with leaders, two groups of pupils and six members of the governing body. I conducted a telephone call with a representative from the local authority. Inspectors, accompanied by you and the deputy headteacher, visited all classes to look at the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Inspectors and senior leaders jointly looked at a selection of pupils’ books to judge pupils’ progress over time in a range of subjects. Inspectors analysed a wide range of documentation, including pupil-progress information, attendance and behaviour information and safeguarding policies and procedures. Inspectors considered the views of 232 parents who replied to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including the 79 free-text

p.4

Information about the inspection

responses and two letters from parents. Inspectors also considered the 172 responses to the pupil questionnaire and the views of 41 staff who completed questionnaires. VI

p.4