Graham School

Graham School Woodlands Drive, Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO12 6QW

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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 Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Persistent low-level disruption by a significant minority of pupils limits the progress of pupils. Many pupils and parents are dissatisfied with the negative impact of poor behaviour on learning.  Leaders have not established the clear and consistent expectations and procedures necessary to minimise the incidence of low- level disruption.  The following have a seriously negative impact on the continuity and quality of teaching and learning: the high absence rate of teachers, difficulties in recruitment, the frequent use of temporary staff and the high incidence of classes taught by more than one teacher.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent and has had insufficient impact on improving the progress of pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils.  Leaders and governors have been ineffective in ensuring that vulnerable pupils on reduced timetables are safe. Leaders have also not carried out proper vetting checks to ensure

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

that vulnerable pupils on work experience are safe.  The leadership and governance of the use of pupil premium funding has been ineffective. The progress and attendance of disadvantaged pupils has declined over recent years. In 2016, the progress made by disadvantaged pupils at GCSE was among the lowest nationally.  Overall rates of progress from key stage 2 to GCSE have remained low and have not improved. In 2016, low- and middle-ability pupils made inadequate progress.  Attendance is low and has declined over recent years.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The quality of subject leadership has improved and is beginning to increase pupils’ progress in some subjects and year groups.  Pupils make good progress in some classes. Teaching and learning is stronger in English and mathematics.  Staff value their professional development, which has strengthened some aspects of teaching and learning  Leaders have used performance management appropriately and have dealt effectively with some weak teaching and leadership.

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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 safeguarding by: – carrying out the necessary risk assessments and child protection checks of work experience placements for vulnerable pupils – monitoring closely the whereabouts of any pupils on reduced timetables and making sure that vulnerable pupils are safe while in the care of the school – limiting use of reduced timetables for vulnerable pupils – making sure that methods for reporting and recording emerging safeguarding concerns are clear and well understood by all staff – making sure that the management of information about safeguarding concerns and case files enables key staff to identify promptly emerging patterns of behaviour and to review accurately the history of a case.  Promote high standards of behaviour and reduce the incidence of low-level disruption in classes by: – establishing clear expectations and procedures for behaviour – ensuring that all staff implement these consistently.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the consistency and quality of teaching, learning and assessment by: – ensuring that all subject leaders are equally effective in managing the curriculum and the quality of teaching and assessment – reducing the use of temporary teachers and improving the management of temporary teachers to ensure continuity and quality of learning – ensuring that weaker teachers have the skills and support to enable them to manage behaviour more securely – raising teachers’ expectations of what low- and middle-ability pupils can achieve – improving the presentation of, and pride in, pupils’ work.  Improve the progress and attendance of disadvantaged pupils by implementing targeted strategies that result in measurable improvements by disadvantaged pupils.  Increase attendance and reduce persistent absence, especially by disadvantaged pupils and by pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

External reviews of governance and of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how these aspects of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have not taken effective steps to improve behaviour and to ensure a consistent approach to discipline. The lack of engagement of a significant minority of pupils continues to disrupt learning.  Weaknesses in the management of behaviour across the school continue to limit the effectiveness of teaching and the continuity of learning.  Leaders have not taken effective action to increase attendance and reduce persistent absence, especially by disadvantaged pupils.  The alternative and part-time curriculum for a group of vulnerable pupils from Year 8 to Year 11 does not safeguard pupils’ welfare and does not ensure their well-being and progress.  Leaders have not been able to recruit and retain staff effectively. The school has had difficulty in recruiting senior leaders and geography teachers. Staff absence is high due to vacancies, long-term sickness, illness and maternity leave. This has resulted in the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

frequent use of temporary staff, which has led to discontinuity in learning for many pupils.  The high number of classes taught by more than one teacher contributes to repetition of work and inconsistencies in teaching and learning.  The support for newly qualified staff diminished following the absence of a senior member of staff and newly qualified staff have lacked support for managing behaviour.  Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed because behaviour is inadequate.  Leaders have introduced a wide range of professional development initiatives and staff are positive about their value. However, leaders are unclear about which initiatives are having an impact on teaching, learning and behaviour.  Subject leadership has improved but remains inconsistent and has not had sufficient impact on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Leaders have strengthened teaching, learning and assessment in English and mathematics. The new leader in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

science has a promising approach to tackling the weaknesses in science.  Leaders have taken appropriate action to deal with underperformance by teachers and leaders. Senior leaders have managed progression to higher pay appropriately and staff have only received pay awards when they have provided evidence of impact on pupils’ learning.  The management of pupil premium funding has had inadequate impact on disadvantaged pupils’ progress and attendance. The Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up funding, combined with some pupil premium funding, is being used effectively to provide additional support for pupils who enter school with weak basic skills in English and mathematics.  The introduction of the three-year key stage 4 curriculum has improved the motivation of pupils in Year 9. A more effectively planned curriculum in English and mathematics has strengthened teaching in these subjects. The science curriculum has been revised

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

to tackle the weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment, but it is too early to see the impact. Extra-curricular opportunities to visit foreign countries and to go to the theatre promote pupils’ social and cultural development.  The system of mixed-age tutor groups lacks a clear rationale and has had limited benefit because year groups are split between sites and Year 11 has a separate programme. The life skills programme is of inconsistent quality in promoting personal, social and health education and for equipping pupils for life in modern Britain. Careers information, advice and guidance is well organised and supported effectively by one-to- one interviews with a careers officer. Leaders have correctly identified the need for greater involvement by employers.  Leaders use special educational needs funding appropriately to plan, support and monitor the learning and development of pupils who have special educational needs

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

and/or disabilities.  The local authority has provided appropriate monitoring and support for senior and subject leaders. This has contributed to improvements in aspects of teaching and subject leadership. However, local authority support has not been sufficient to bring about rapid enough improvement. Other schools have provided some useful subject support. There has been a lack of formal leadership support from leaders in other schools.

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Governance of the school

 Governors’ inadequate scrutiny of the action taken to meet safeguarding requirements has not identified risks to pupils and weaknesses in the school’s procedures.  Governors’ oversight of pupil premium funding has not ensured effective progress, attendance or behaviour by disadvantaged pupils.  Governors were surprised and disappointed by the weak outcomes in 2016. They currently have a realistic understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They regularly hold senior and middle leaders to account and have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in subject leadership.  The split site has resulted in many classes being taught by more than one teacher, which hampers teaching and learning. Governors have worked effectively with the local authority to ensure that the school moves onto one site.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  Leaders and governors have not adequately ensured the safety of all pupils, particularly more vulnerable pupils. Safeguarding policies and procedures do not effectively ensure the safety of pupils in school and at school-commissioned alternative provision.  At the time of the inspection a few pupils were attending work experience at placements that leaders and inclusion managers had not vetted to ensure that appropriate child protection checks had been carried out.  A relatively large number of pupils in Year 8 to Year 11 are on reduced timetables in the on-site ‘Turnaround’ provision and at off-site alternative providers. They spend up to half their school time at home. Leaders and managers of inclusion do not have adequate mechanisms for checking where these pupils are and that they are safe.  Not all staff are secure in their understanding of how to report safeguarding concerns.

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Safeguarding

The referral and reporting system is not well organised and overviews of case file chronologies have not been compiled. As a result, procedures do not enable staff to connect different pieces of information promptly, to share information efficiently or to identify quickly concerns in an emerging pattern of events.  Records of safeguarding training are not sufficiently robust to ensure that leaders follow up staff who miss training. Managers had not properly identified those who had not completed training since September 2016.  During the inspection, leaders responded quickly to the issues raised and they are putting procedures in place to rectify the weaknesses in the safeguarding arrangements.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Teaching is inadequate because pupils have made inadequate progress overall and learning continues to be limited by persistent low-level disruption. In too many lessons, a few pupils interrupt learning with off-task behaviour. Pupils and parents complained strongly about the negative impact of disruptive behaviour on learning.  The use and management of temporary teachers has disrupted and slowed learning over time and pupils have often had to repeat work they have already done. In some cases, work does not build on previous learning and is a one-off exercise.  Many pupils are frustrated in their learning, as they are not able to make as much progress as they would like. Pupils and parents complained strongly about the negative impact of temporary teachers on learning and progress.  Teaching and assessment have not met the learning needs of disadvantaged pupils. As a result, disadvantaged pupils of all abilities have made inadequate progress. In this

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

school year, the teachers are using seating plans and they have started to identify disadvantaged pupils explicitly in their planning. The school has early evidence of some improvement in the progress of disadvantaged pupils in English and mathematics.  In some lessons, teachers’ lack of challenge and pupils’ lack of engagement leads to disaffection and disruption and learning time is wasted.  Assessment practices vary across subjects and the use of assessment is inconsistent within and between subjects.  Teachers’ expectations are inconsistent and expectations of pupils of low and middle ability are not high enough. Some teaching lacks a precise focus on the skills that pupils are expected to develop and so pupils lack focus on learning and engage in off- task behaviour.  In English and mathematics, stronger subject leadership and better teaching and assessment have begun to improve the learning and progress made by pupils.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

However, inconsistencies remain. Additional teaching for the weakest readers in Year 7 and the reading clubs where pupils help each other read are promoting reading well.  Some well-planned and expertly delivered teaching demonstrated strong subject knowledge and effective questioning. Teachers’ learning objectives were clear and their constructive feedback informed pupils well on how they were making progress. In these lessons, pupils were attentive, behaved well, enjoyed the lesson and made good progress.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Staff have not ensured that pupils at alternative provision and on work experience are safe. Staff have not carried out the necessary risk assessment and child protection vetting checks of businesses where the school has placed vulnerable pupils on work experience.  Staff managing inclusion have not ensured that they know where vulnerable pupils are when they are on reduced timetables. Procedures for ensuring that these pupils are safe when they are not at school during the school day are inadequate.  The incidence of bullying and racist or homophobic behaviour is relatively low. However, some more vulnerable pupils do feel unsafe on occasions when behaviour is poor. Pupils generally say they feel safe in school and are confident that adults will support them should the need arise.  Careers education and guidance, including one-to one interviews with a careers

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Personal development and welfare

adviser, help pupils to make informed choices about the next stage of education, training and employment.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is inadequate.  A sizeable minority of pupils misbehave in lessons regularly, which reduces pupils’ time and opportunity for learning. Most pupils behave well and many are concerned about the effects of low-level disruption on their learning and progress.  In discussion, and in response to the Ofsted online surveys, a high proportion of pupils and parents were dissatisfied about the impact of poor behaviour on learning.  A small but significant minority of pupils display obstinate and uncooperative attitudes and they do not comply with teachers’ reasonable requests to moderate their behaviour. This year, a core group of pupils in each year group have received repeated visits by leaders to support teachers in lessons where these pupils have misbehaved.  Staff are not applying the behaviour management procedures consistently and pupils do not regard the procedures as effective.

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Behaviour

 A reduction in fixed-term exclusions in 2016 has been followed by an increase this school year. The number of permanent exclusions is also higher.  The visible presence of staff at break and lunchtime ensures that pupils generally move around the school in an orderly and calm fashion. Occasionally, behaviour around the school is rowdy. A significant number of pupils have been in trouble for smoking.  Attendance is low. It has declined over the last four years and is lower in the current year than the previous school year. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils and of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has also declined. Persistent absence is also higher this year. One in five are absent for half a day a week.  Punctuality to school and to lessons has improved but a few pupils continue to delay getting to lessons.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Persistently disruptive behaviour by pupils, discontinuity of learning caused by the frequent use of temporary staff, the high incidence of classes taught by more than one teacher and the inconsistent quality of teaching limit pupils’ progress and attainment. These have greatest impact on the learning of lower- and middle-ability pupils . In 2016, pupils with low or middle attainment at key stage 2 made poor progress and underachieved at GCSE.  In 2015 and 2016, the school did not meet the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress. Due to persistent underperformance from 2014 to 2017, the government has identified the school as a coasting school.  The 2016 GCSE results showed no improvement in the overall weak progress made by pupils over recent years. Consequently, pupils have not been adequately prepared for the next stage of their education and training.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 The progress made by disadvantaged pupils, from key stage 2 to GCSE, has steadily declined. In 2016, the progress made by disadvantaged pupils, who make up two fifths of the school population, was among the lowest nationally. The progress of the most able, middle-ability and low-ability disadvantaged pupils was equally poor. The use of pupil premium funding has been ineffective.  Weak progress in 2016 was due to weaknesses in the leadership of some subjects, deficiencies in teaching and inaccurate use of assessment. GCSE attainment in science has declined over three years. Low-attaining pupils gained poor results in English because of a decision to enter them for the higher-tier exam that was too hard. Changes to subject leadership are beginning to show improving outcomes in a few areas, for example in physical education.  In 2016, the most able pupils made better progress in English and mathematics than in

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

other subjects. This reflects the better quality of teaching in these subjects for these pupils.  School measures indicate that pupils on the Year 7 catch-up programme have made positive gains in their English and mathematical skills.  Leaders are forecasting a small improvement by the current Year 11 and a greater improvement by the current Year 10 in English and mathematics. The lack of clarity nationally about the new GCSE grades and boundaries means that predictions for this year are unreliable.  Teachers and teaching assistants support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities appropriately. Clear strategies and measurable targets support lessons effectively and as a result, many of these pupils are making sound progress. However, low attendance limits the progress of some.  The school lacks clear information about the progress of pupils in alternative provision.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1050

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3–4 November 2015

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Information about this school

 The school is an above average-sized secondary school.  The school is on two sites. The number of pupils on roll has reduced and governors and the local authority have decided to move the school to a single site in June 2017.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is above average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average.  The school is an enhanced mainstream school for specific learning difficulties. It provides specialist one-to-one teaching and professional development for staff, mainly for local primary schools. This provision does not currently support any pupils at Graham School.  The school has an on-site inclusion unit called Turnaround.  The school uses the following alternative providers: YH Training Services and Futureworks.  In 2016, the school did not meet the government’s floor standards, which are the

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Information about this school

minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school meets the Department for Education’s definition of a coasting school based on key stage 4 academic performance results in 2014, 2015 and 2016.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in lessons. Inspectors carried out some observations jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and talked to them about their learning and their experiences at school.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, teachers, support staff, members of the governing body, a representative of the local authority and groups of pupils. An inspector visited an alternative provider.  Inspectors checked the school website and evaluated a wide range of school documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, information about pupils’ progress, and behaviour, attendance and safeguarding records.  The inspection took account of 55 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and 13 written responses (12 online and one letter). Inspectors also took account of 48 responses from pupils to the Ofsted online

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Inspection team

Bernard Campbell, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Michael Maddison 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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