Woldgate School and Sixth Form College

Inspection of a good school: Woldgate School and Sixth Form College 92 Kilnwick Road, Pocklington, York, North Yorkshire YO42 2LL

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Outcome

Woldgate School and Sixth Form College continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this school. They feel well cared for and valued by the teachers and staff. Pupils get on well with each other and with their teachers. Pupils walk around the large school site in a calm and orderly way. In lessons, pupils work hard. They have positive attitudes towards their learning and this allows teachers to teach. Pupils support each other’s learning, so they get the best from their lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school offers pupils lots of opportunities for learning beyond their lessons. Pupils told us about how music and performances are a strong feature of the school. They were enthusiastic about the wide range of sports clubs and activities on offer. These activities take place after school and during lunchtimes. They were very keen to tell us that these activities are open to everyone.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that teachers and staff have high expectations of them. The school rewards pupils for their hard work and for their achievements inside and outside of the classroom.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils we spoke to said that they feel safe in the school. They do not believe that bullying is a problem at the school. They trust staff to sort out any problems they may have.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school still provides a good quality of education. Leaders consider all pupils as individuals and are ambitious for them to achieve as much as possible. They have thought about how pupils learn, what they should learn and when it would be best for them to learn it. Because of this, pupils have every chance of achieving to their potential.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The plans for all subjects make it clear what to teach pupils and when. This helps teachers to build up the important knowledge pupils need to attempt more challenging work in the future. Teachers have thought about how to make sure that pupils remember important concepts too. For example, in Year 9 science, pupils are learning about ‘salts’. 1–2 October 2019

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At the same time, teachers introduce balancing chemical equations. These equations represent salt making. Pupils will use their knowledge of this concept again and again in their later science studies. In strong subjects, teachers use tests to develop pupils’ understanding. For example, in history, teachers ask pupils to give reasons for Henry VIII’s actions. This allows teachers to find out how much pupils have remembered and understood.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get support in classrooms so they can focus on their learning. They achieve well in their subjects. Although disadvantaged pupils are catching up with other pupils in the school in all subjects, they do not consistently achieve highly.

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Many pupils study history or geography. But leaders have identified that in the past, too few pupils have not studied a language to GCSE level. They encourage pupils to do so if it is the right choice for them. Because of this, more pupils are now beginning to study a language to GCSE level.

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There are lots of activities for pupils to join beyond their lessons. Pupils enjoy leadership roles by becoming peer mentors or subject ambassadors. They take part in school productions and educational visits. Pupils say that they value the house enrichment days a great deal. These encourage pupils in different year groups to work with each other.

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Sixth-form students have an important role in school life. They help and support younger pupils by being prefects. Students told inspectors they get high quality careers advice. But they would like more advice on routes other than university entry as well. Most students stay for their entire A-level courses and do well in their subjects. The achievement of students who study technical subjects is high.

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Leaders consider staff workload. They provide support and the development they need. All staff told us that they are happy to be working at the school and that they feel supported by leaders. The governors are proud of the school community. They are right to be proud.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained to identify if pupils may be at risk of harm. There is a culture of safeguarding, which means that pupils feel safe and looked after while they are in school. Staff know what do if they have any concerns about pupils. Leaders have put in place electronic systems for teachers and staff. This allows them to make quick referrals to the safeguarding team if they have urgent concerns.

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Safeguarding

The school works with external agencies and with the local authority to protect vulnerable pupils. 1–2 October 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders should ensure that the substantial work done so far to improve the quality of education continues across all subjects. Leaders should focus on how assessment is best used so that it challenges pupils to use the knowledge they have remembered to answer more challenging questions and solve more complex problems in all subjects.  Leaders should ensure that all pupils consistently achieve highly, including those pupils who are disadvantaged.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Woldgate College, to be good on 13–14 May 2015.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 1–2 October 2019

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

Inspection number 10110695 Type of school Secondary comprehensive

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,131

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form

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Woldgate School and Sixth Form College converted to become an academy school on 1 January 2017. When its predecessor school, Woldgate College, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school makes use of alternative provision through AD ASTRA and through local authority commissioned placements.

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Information about this inspection

 We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, senior leaders and curriculum leaders for English, geography, history, modern foreign languages and science.  The lead inspector met with members of the governing body.  The subjects which were considered as part of the inspection through the deep dive 1–2 October 2019

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methodology were English, geography, history and modern foreign languages. As part of the deep dive methodology, inspectors visited lessons, talked to the curriculum leader for each subject, held discussions with the teachers and pupils from the lessons visited, and scrutinised pupils’ work.  To inspect safeguarding in the school, inspectors scrutinised the school’s single central register relating to the safe recruitment of those adults who work with pupils, along with records relating to safeguarding. Inspectors also held discussions with staff and pupils as well as with the designated safeguarding leader for the school.

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Inspection team

Barry Found, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Tricia Stevens Ofsted Inspector 1–2 October 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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