Cleeve School

Inspection of Cleeve School Two Hedges Road, Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 8AE

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Sixth-form provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 9–10 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are courteous and considerate in school and they feel safe and cared for.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Over the course of the last few years, pupils have begun to behave much better and the school is now calm and orderly. Pupils feel able to learn and their lessons are not interrupted by any poor behaviour. Bullying is very rare and teachers deal with it well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers provide ‘big questions’ in class and these engage pupils in lively discussions. The knowledge that pupils need to make progress is well organised and as a result they are learning and remembering more. The school promotes reading through many very effective approaches.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high ambitions for pupils and this begins from their first visit to the school. They visit the sixth form and go on a residential trip in Year 7. These events and the school’s life skills programme support strong personal development. The school provides pupils with many opportunities to develop their leadership skills. A range of committees enable pupils to have a strong voice and listen to their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The sixth form is a strength of the school. There are high expectations of students, who value the support of the staff. Students achieve well.

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better?

Senior leaders are very ambitious for all pupils to succeed. They have structured the curriculum so that everyone knows what knowledge is taught at what point. In lessons, teachers’ excellent subject knowledge and its presentation ensure that pupils know more and remember more. Teachers use questioning and assessment very well to check pupils’ misconceptions. There is a consistent approach to developing pupils’ vocabulary. The curriculum is broad. For example, leaders promote pupils’ learning of languages and aim to have 75% of the current Year 9 taking languages at key stage 4.

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better?

The school has raised its ambitions for disadvantaged pupils with some success. Staff know disadvantaged pupils well and use effective approaches. As a result, these pupils feel well supported and are performing better.

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better?

The school has some good approaches to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, the quality of information that teachers receive on pupils’ learning needs can vary in its usefulness. Teachers would value further training on how to ensure that their teaching better meets the needs of pupils with SEND.

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better?

Leaders and staff have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Pupils manage themselves well and are thoughtful of others. Classroom disruption is rare. Pupils behave well at social times and are punctual to their lessons. 9–10 October 2019

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The wider curriculum, from Years 7 to 13, enables pupils to reflect upon their beliefs and cultural identity. A life skills programme includes citizenship, an understanding of ethics and British values. There is an extensive extra-curricular programme. The comprehensive careers programme covers Years 7 to 13.

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The strength of the sixth form is due in large part to the high quality of leadership. Students’ achievement is strong and has been over time. The relationship between staff and students is very good and students value the balance of support and challenge that they receive. There is significant evidence of very good standards in many subjects. Leaders have a strong moral purpose and have the capacity to improve the sixth form even further. Their aim should be to enable students to secure the very highest grades and remove variation between subject areas.

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Leaders and governors have a clear vision for the school that unites the staff and has driven strong improvement over the past two years. Leaders put this into action with increasing effectiveness. This is an improved and improving school.

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The school has regained the confidence of its community. Open mornings are very well attended and the views of parents and carers are very positive.

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Governors and leaders have taken careful account of staff workload. They have created some practical steps to understand the issues and help staff to manage them. Governors are very well informed. They have a strong vision for the school. Governors are well organised and energetic in holding leaders to account and meeting their statutory obligations.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The school’s policy, procedures and culture of safeguarding are strong. Staff training is comprehensive and meets statutory requirements. The school is very effective in providing early help to its pupils and families. Good working relationships exist between the school and the local authority. This enables close agency working and early help being available to pupils and families. The training records for safeguarding are comprehensive. Leaders and governors have received the safer recruitment training.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have created effective, whole-school approaches to meeting pupils’ SEND needs. To improve upon these, the school should provide more detailed information for staff on pupils’ learning needs, and provide staff with further professional development. This will enable teachers to implement the curriculum with a greater impact upon pupils’ learning and more fully meet pupils’ needs 9–10 October 2019

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within their classrooms.  Leaders of the sixth form are ambitious for all students. They should strive for those students to reach the very highest grades in all subjects.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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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. 9–10 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111476 Type of school Secondary comprehensive

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,497

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 20–21 June 2017

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than the average-sized secondary school.  The great majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is average.  The proportion of pupils who are supported through pupil premium funding is average.  A small number of pupils attend alternative provision at Abbey View, a free school set up to provide support for pupils at risk of permanent exclusion.  The school is part of Sir Thomas Rich’s Teaching School Alliance, which comprises four secondary schools in the local area. 9–10 October 2019

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the headteacher, members of the governing body, members of the senior and middle leadership teams, newly qualified teachers and other members of staff during the course of the inspection.  The inspection considered the following subjects in depth, visiting classrooms, talking with team leaders and meeting subject staff and pupils: English, mathematics, science, modern foreign languages, design technology and music.  In order to inspect safeguarding, the lead inspector checked the school’s single central record of recruitment and vetting checks, considered its safeguarding policy, interviewed the member of staff designated as the safeguarding leader, and spoke with pupils and staff. Surveys of the views of parents and carers, pupils and staff were also considered as part of the inspection process.

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Inspection team

Malcolm Willis, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mark Burgess Ofsted Inspector 9–10 October 2019

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