All Saints' Church of England School, Weymouth

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

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Brian Boyes Acting Headteacher All Saints’ Church of England School, Weymouth Sunnyside Road Wyke Regis Weymouth Dorset DT4 9BJ

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School, Weymouth

Following my visit with Malcolm Davison, Ofsted Inspector, and Dorian Lewis, Ofsted Inspector, to your school on 9–10 January 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have been taken since the school’s previous monitoring inspection.

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School, Weymouth

The inspection was the second monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in May 2018 The full list of the areas for improvement that were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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School, Weymouth

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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School, Weymouth

Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

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School, Weymouth

The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers before the next monitoring inspection.

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School, Weymouth

I am copying this letter to the chair of the executive board, the director of education for the Diocese of Salisbury, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Dorset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

 Urgently address shortcomings in safeguarding by ensuring that: – vulnerable pupils, especially those on part-time timetables, are closely monitored and kept safe – pupils are safe from poor behaviour – the single central record is complete and up to date.  Improve leadership and management by: – securing long-term leadership capacity within the school – ensuring that leaders have an accurate and reliable evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses – improving governance so that senior leaders are held to account and supported appropriately – improving the leadership of teaching so that there are clear expectations of teachers and they are held to account for the quality of their teaching – raising expectations of middle leadership so that middle leaders can improve the quality of teaching in their subjects – ensuring that assessment systems and practice are fit for purpose.  Improve teaching, learning and assessment and hence outcomes by:

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took

– raising expectations of what pupils can achieve – ensuring that assessment is reliable and gives teachers a good understanding of what pupils know, understand and can do – ensuring that teachers match planned teaching activities to the needs of pupils, particularly pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities and the most able pupils – raising standards of literacy across all subjects – ensuring that pupils know how to improve their work.  Improve personal development, behaviour and welfare by: – improving behaviour around the school site – eliminating low-level disruption in lessons – raising attendance to at least match the national average – reducing persistent absence, particularly of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, so it is in line with the national average.

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the executive headteacher, the acting headteacher, members of the interim executive board (IEB), senior and middle leaders and groups of pupils. They spoke by telephone to the principal adviser for Dorset local authority and to leaders of alternative provision. The lead inspector attended a meeting of the Team Around the School on the second morning.

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Evidence

Inspectors conducted joint visits to lessons with senior leaders to observe pupils’ learning and behaviour.

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Evidence

Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including self-evaluation, updated action plans, assessment and attendance information. Inspectors checked information about safety and safeguarding, including the attendance and progress of pupils at alternative provision.

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Context

There have been no changes to staffing since the last monitoring inspection. The school’s conversion to a sponsored academy is yet to take place. Four academy sponsors have expressed an interest and the initial due diligence has taken place.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The executive headteacher and acting headteacher have ensured that pupils are safe. They have worked determinedly on the areas that were unsafe at the last visit. Staff are on duty at the start and end of the day to ensure that pupils are safe. Gates are locked once pupils are in school for registration. Site staff accompany any vehicles that arrive during the day.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has checked rigorously the alternative provision used by the school. The school uses centres that are legal and registered with Ofsted. The SENCo has removed any pupils from illegal settings. There are daily attendance checks and half-termly reviews which the SENCo attends. Centre staff confirmed that relationships are strong. Most pupils are making progress in their areas of need. The local authority has not provided sufficient support to some of the most complex pupils.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

School leaders are using appropriate forms to highlight to the local authority when pupils are missing from education. There are secure systems for monitoring these situations. The acting headteacher has, when possible, extended the expected deadline given to the school to make sure pupils moving to neighbouring regions are in a new school. The interim school leaders commissioned a specialist in safeguarding to undertake a review. The designated safeguarding lead has started follow-up actions. Administrative staff have undertaken all the necessary checks on staff recruitment. More staff have received training on safer recruitment and attend interviews for new personnel.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The school remains a calm and orderly setting with pupils behaving well in their learning times.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The long-term capacity for leadership is still not secure. The executive headteacher and acting headteacher are in temporary roles, as are the assistant headteachers. These leaders provide the driving force for improvement. The substantive senior leaders are not as effective in their leadership roles because they are not providing the level of accountability or sense of urgency needed. However, the interim leaders have retained an accurate understanding of strengths and weaknesses and continue their work to improve relevant areas well.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The IEB has been more proactive in safeguarding and school improvement since the last inspection. Executive board members provide effective links with staff in charge of safeguarding, teaching and learning, finance, and attendance on a regular basis.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Middle leaders are more involved in the leadership of the school. They feel empowered to take on initiatives and are grateful for the roles given to them. Most are receiving training to ensure that teaching is consistent and of a high standard.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

There has been less improvement in this area because the interim leaders have focused on safeguarding. There is a teaching and learning policy in place that allows leaders to hold teachers to account for improving pupils’ progress over time. Leaders have refined the appraisal process; now, targets reflect teachers’ responsibilities to improve pupils’ achievement and expectations. There have been some whole-school teaching initiatives. However, the impact of these are variable. Too many teachers’ expectations are still too low. Leaders are starting to monitor teaching more regularly, but it is too soon to see any measurable impact.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The acting headteacher has engaged with pupils to determine what aspects of teaching and learning are most effective for them. Pupils expressed appreciation about this. Many spoke of their increased desire to learn.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Most teachers are not planning learning to meet the needs of the disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or the most able yet. The SENCo has a strong team of teaching assistants who are doing some effective work. Teachers need further training to manage the strategies required for pupils with SEND.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Some teachers’ low expectations stem from a misconception about the prior attainment of pupils regarding literacy. The acting headteacher is working hard to re-educate staff who hold these myths. Pupils in Years 9, 10 and 11 came into school with reading and writing standards that were in line with the national averages. Only writing was below the national average for pupils in Years 7 and 8. Literacy does impact on outcomes for pupils. The low standard of accuracy of basic grammatical skills, spelling and punctuation is because too many teachers accept work that is poorly presented and full of unnecessary errors.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Leaders have devised a new marking system. However, too few teachers use it regularly or do not check on whether pupils have made corrections following their intervention. As a result, too many pupils continue to present poorly constructed work with too many errors. In addition, some pupils find the mark scheme confusing and are not sure what the symbols mean.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Pupils arrive punctually to lessons and are ready to learn. In most lessons, there is no need for behaviour management as pupils conform to the expectations of their conduct. Inspectors saw no low-level disruption.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

There is a small group of pupils who have failed to conform. As yet, the school has not managed their emotional needs sufficiently.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

The attendance and persistent absence of a large group of pupils is not improving. Only Year 7 pupils are attending school in line with national averages. There are procedures in place to mitigate this issue but there has been little impact. Families have received letters about poor attendance, but no further meetings have been undertaken. There has been no support from the local authority’s education welfare officers (EWOs). The training that the local authority provided for staff failed to offer any new strategies for the school to use. As a result, attendance of pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, is far too low.

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Outcomes for pupils

The acting headteacher has provided pupil targets based on key stage 2 outcomes. This provides uniformity of expectation across the school. Most pupils in the school are of high and middle ability. There are very few pupils of lower ability. However, many staff hold a perception that varies from this and too many use excuses for poor progress and attainment.

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Outcomes for pupils

Teachers’ assessment is frequently inaccurate. Some departments, such as English and mathematics, have moderated with other schools and this has helped confirm attainment. Teachers are not assessing pupils’ progress regularly and there are no systems for intervening when a pupil falls behind in their understanding. As a result, pupils’ progress is still below national averages.

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Outcomes for pupils

The Year 11 assessment information, following their mock examinations, shows a decrease from results in 2018. Some teachers and middle leaders have unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved in a few months.

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External support

The external support provided by Queen Elizabeth’s School has maintained its high calibre. The executive headteacher and the acting headteacher continue to lead and manage the school proficiently.

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External support

The IEB has a sharper focus on school priorities and is providing regular monitoring of key areas.

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External support

The local authority’s principal adviser has supported the school well to ensure that leaders have an accurate and reliable evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. The local authority has supported the successful bid for strategic school improvement funding (SSIF) and brokered reviews of the use of pupil premium and the funding for SEND. There have been deficiencies in the support from the local authority to improve the attendance of pupils and reduce persistent absence. A minority of pupils with highly complex needs have not received suitable care packages and placements in alternative provision. Staff dealing with some of the most vulnerable pupils must escalate any issues as, too frequently, there is no support offered when concerns are first raised.

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