Shaftesbury High School

Inspection of Shaftesbury High School Weldbank Lane, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 3NQ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good 29–30 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Shaftesbury High School is a welcoming and caring community. Pupils enjoy being at the school and feel safe. They say that staff are approachable and listen to them. Pupils report that instances of bullying are rare and when they do occur, staff deal with them quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils have had disrupted education or negative experiences in other schools. Teachers have high expectations of pupils and develop strong relationships with them. Pupils’ behaviour improves during their education at the school. Most pupils behave appropriately. In lessons, pupils listen well and follow instructions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a wide range of vocational courses, such as motor vehicle maintenance and fish farming. These placements help to motivate pupils and develop their practical and social skills well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ personal development is excellent. They are taught about equality and learn to respect others. Pupils have lots of opportunities to take part in activities such as competitions and visits. These help to develop their confidence and well-being.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are positive about the school. A typical comment from a parent was, ‘The staff have gone over and above to help my child feel settled and want to go to school.’

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better?

Leaders and the management committee are ambitious for all pupils. Leaders have designed a flexible curriculum which combines academic and vocational experiences for pupils. Teachers create a calm atmosphere in lessons and work hard to fill gaps in pupil’s knowledge. Pupils achieve well in a wide range of subjects. Disadvantaged pupils are catching up with their peers because of the effective support that they receive. Leaders have made sure that lessons are taught in a logical order in most subjects. However, this is not the case in all subjects, particularly science. Science lessons are not planned carefully and do not help pupils build their knowledge over time.

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better?

Pupils have regular opportunities to read. This happens in form periods and lessons. Pupils who need additional help get well-targeted support. This helps to develop their phonic skills so pupils can read unfamiliar words.

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better?

Leaders carry out careful checks when pupils join the school. This helps to identify their emotional, social and academic needs. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well. This is because teachers and teaching assistants provide them with high-quality support.

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better?

Leaders and staff manage pupils’ behaviour well. Many staff supervise pupils during 29–30 October 2019

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breaktimes. This helps to ensure that pupils behave well during social times. There are only rare occasions when pupils misbehave or use inappropriate language. Any issues are dealt with quickly. Pupils value the rewards system for good behaviour.

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Before joining Shaftesbury, many pupils did not attend school regularly. The attendance of many individual pupils improves during their time at this school. However, pupils’ overall attendance remains low. Absences are followed up with phone calls. Where appropriate, home visits are made. Leaders do not track patterns and trends in pupils’ attendance sufficiently well.

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Pupils’ personal development lies at the heart of the school. Leaders raise pupils’ awareness about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. This promotes the values of tolerance and respect for others. Pupils enjoy raising money for charity and volunteer in the local community. The personal, health, social and economic education curriculum enables pupils to learn about democracy, mental health and the importance of healthy eating. Leaders ensure that pupils receive helpful careers advice and guidance. This enables pupils to make better decisions about their futures.

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Staff are proud to work at the school and say that leaders always consider their workload. Daily meetings enable staff to share any concerns. Leaders have rightly identified the need to continue to provide training for teachers to develop their subject knowledge. Leaders’ views about the effectiveness of the school are overgenerous.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff, parents and pupils agree that the school is a safe place to be. Leaders make all the required checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff receive regular training on safeguarding. They know the procedures to follow if they are worried about a pupil’s welfare. Pupils learn about the risks associated with drugs and alcohol, knife crime and gang culture. Leaders work well with health, social care and other professionals to ensure that pupils get the help and support that they need. Leaders regularly check the safety and welfare of pupils who sometimes attend other settings.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In most subjects, pupils know what to learn and when and their work is sufficiently demanding. However, this is not the case in some subjects, such as science. Leaders need to ensure that the science curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced so that pupils build on their knowledge and skills. This will enable pupils to learn and remember more. 29–30 October 2019

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 Leaders should ensure that they establish pupils’ starting points with attendance. Leaders should capture improvements made by individuals, groups and cohorts to identify emerging trends and patterns. This will help to improve pupils’ attendance further.  The school’s self-evaluation is not as sharp as it should be. Leaders should ensure that self-evaluation of the school accurately reflects its strengths and areas for development.  Leaders should ensure that non-specialist staff continue to access professional development opportunities to strengthen their subject expertise.

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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. 29–30 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110941 Type of school Pupil referral unit

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School details

Date of previous inspection 17–18 September 2014

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Information about this school

 Shaftesbury High School is a pupil referral unit which provides secondary education for pupils.  The vast majority of pupils have been permanently excluded from school, or are at risk of permanent exclusion as a result of behavioural, emotional or social difficulties. Most of these pupils remain on the roll of their mainstream school apart from those who have been permanently excluded.  A small minority of pupils are new to the area. Fifteen per cent of the pupils currently on roll have medical needs.  Twelve per cent of the pupils currently on roll have a statement of special educational needs or are undergoing the process of having their needs assessed.  The majority of pupils in key stage 4 undertake vocational courses at a variety of alternative education providers: Fix it, CAST Fishery Management, Creativity Works Preston, Fir Tree Fishery, Preston Vocational Centre, Be DStressed, Eqwise, Preston North End and Preston College.

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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

 We had meetings with the headteacher, other senior leaders, subject leaders, 29–30 October 2019

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teachers, other school staff and with the chair and vice-chair of the management committee. We also held informal and formal discussions with many pupils and observed interactions during social times. We spoke to representatives of alternative providers used by the school. We also spoke with a local authority representative and the school’s improvement adviser by telephone.  We reviewed a wide range of evidence, including the school’s self-evaluation, improvement plans, and attendance and behaviour records. We also reviewed minutes of management committee meetings.  To inspect safeguarding we looked at safeguarding policies and reviewed the school’s record of checks on the suitability of staff and governors. We met with the designated safeguarding leader. We also spoke to pupils about safeguarding and considered parents’ views.  We analysed 17 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, 17 text

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responses from parents, 31 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire and 15 responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire.  We started the inspection by focusing on English, mathematics and vocational subjects. We visited a sample of lessons in these subjects, met with subject leaders, scrutinised pupils’ books and had discussions with teachers and a small group of pupils. We visited pupils who undertake vocational courses at two alternative education providers with the school’s head of vocational studies. On the second day of the inspection, we visited lessons in other subjects.

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Inspection team

Ahmed Marikar, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Dawn Farrent Ofsted Inspector 29–30 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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