Longcroft School and Sixth Form College

Inspection of Longcroft School and Sixth Form College Burton Road, Beverley HU17 7EJ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Sixth-form provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 14–15 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is improving, but school leaders know that there is still more to do to ensure that all pupils achieve well. Leaders know that they need to support curriculum leaders in their planning. They also need to improve attendance, careers provision and the sixth form. Although pupils enjoy school, it is only recently that they have started to make the progress they should. This is because leaders have now brought more consistent staffing to the school. There have been frequent changes in the leadership for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, they do not get the help they need consistently.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a calm and friendly place for pupils to learn. Pupils feel safe. They welcome the improved learning environment and the new building. Pupils say that bullying is rare.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff explain that behaviour is much better than it used to be. The new behaviour policy has made a real difference. It is clear that pupils know the boundaries. Pupils like the emphasis on rewards as well as sanctions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a lot for pupils to do at the school. The weekly newsletter shows the range of sporting and cultural activities, which the pupils enjoy.

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better?

Leaders shortened key stage 3 from three years to two and extended key stage 4 to three years. Leaders accept that this leads to pupils giving up some subjects too early and does not leave enough time to establish key skills and knowledge in key stage 3. Plans are in place to move to a three-year key stage 3 in September 2020.

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better?

In individual subjects, there are examples where leaders have thought carefully about the order in which teachers deliver the content. Curriculum leaders are aware of the need to return to key concepts and ensure that pupils have mastered them. However, curriculum leaders have not yet established these ideas firmly across the curriculum. The new leadership team has started a review of the curriculum with this in mind. Leaders understand the need to establish key skills and knowledge in key stage 3.

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better?

In the past, pupils have had frequent changes of teacher and often more than one teacher for a subject. This year, leaders have addressed this issue and pupils have welcomed the more consistent teaching. The benefits are very clear in English. In 2019, Year 11 pupils leaving the school made progress significantly below the national average. However, current pupils are making stronger progress. They know and remember more. Pupils spoke positively about having one teacher throughout the year.

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better?

The many changes in staffing since the previous inspection have hindered the provision for pupils with SEND. Several parents and carers commented on this in the 14–15 January 2020

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Ofsted survey. A new coordinator for pupils with SEND is now in place. Pupils with SEND get the same curriculum opportunities as other pupils. However, leaders know that there is still much to do for these pupils.

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Pupils and teachers state clearly that behaviour around school and in lessons has improved noticeably over the last year. The new behaviour management system is effective. Teachers and pupils have welcomed the use of technology to record both rewards and sanctions. It is rare for behaviour to disrupt lessons now. Pupils also conduct themselves well around school. The number of exclusions is reducing.

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Attendance improved in the last full school year, but there has been a slight dip since the beginning of the current academic year. In the past, exclusions were too high. Leaders have been successful in bringing the number down, but exclusions remain higher than the national average.

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New leaders are very clear about their vision for the school. They want to develop the whole pupil, bring them success in examinations and prepare them for adult life. They sum this up for pupils regularly in the Longcroft values. These are ‘Great Heart, Great Thought and Great Vision’.

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The school provides pupils with a wide range of opportunities for their positive personal development. This is especially the case through the arts and sport. A personal, social, health and economic education programme ensures that pupils learn about life in Britain and how to face and manage risk. At the moment, this is delivered both in lesson time and in form periods. Leaders understand that they need to review the two programmes to ensure that this aspect of the curriculum is delivered in a logical way. The careers programme is not as well developed across all year groups as it should be.

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Learners do not make the progress that they should in the sixth form. Learners enjoy the sixth form and have positive attitudes. They believe teachers are supportive. However, they speak strongly about inconsistency in nearly all aspects of their programmes of study. Learners are guided to courses that are well matched to their ability. However, once they are on the courses, programmes of study are not consistently planned in a logical order. In some lessons, books showed that topics are not covered in enough depth.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are very knowledgeable about safeguarding. They ensure that the culture in school is one of vigilance. They provide effective training for all members of staff, including governors, and keep them up to date via regular bulletins. Staff come forward if they have the slightest concern. Pupils have the confidence to talk to key staff if they have a problem or are concerned about a friend. Leaders respond promptly to any concerns and work effectively with a wide range of agencies. They follow well-established routines and record their actions clearly in writing. 14–15 January 2020

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Leaders make sure that pupils are well informed about risks to their safety. The curriculum helps pupils to recognise when they might be vulnerable.

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The register that records the checks on all adults in school is thorough and compliant with all the legal requirements. Pre-employment checks make sure that the adults the school employs are suitable to work with children.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Curriculum leaders have been very focused on key stage 4 in their curriculum planning and implementation. There is a review of the curriculum taking place, but the curriculum leaders are at different stages in their development. Consequently, there is variability in the extent to which the curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced across subjects. Leaders should enable curriculum leaders and teachers to construct a curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced, so that pupils acquire sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning and employment. This curriculum review should cover all subject areas, including the personal development curriculum. In this review, leaders should also look at all three key stages.  Leadership of the provision for pupils with SEND has been inconsistent. Pupils with SEND do follow the same curriculum as other pupils. Leaders must now ensure that they take action to address the weaknesses they have identified. In

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

particular, leaders should check regularly that the needs of pupils with SEND are fully met.  Pupils do not come to school often enough. As a result, they do not access the entire content of the school’s curriculum. Their learning suffers. Leaders must continue their efforts to improve pupils’ attendance further.  In the past, exclusions have been too high. As a result, the learning of some pupils has suffered. Leaders have had some success in reducing exclusions. However, they must continue their efforts.  Leaders are aware that careers provision is not firmly established across all year groups. As a result, younger pupils particularly are not getting the information they need to think about future careers. Leaders must ensure that the school’s programme matches the Gatsby benchmarks.  Over time, there has not been effective leadership of the sixth form. As a result, there have been inconsistencies across many areas. Leaders must continue their

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

focus on the sixth form. They must make sure that rigorous checks are in place to ensure a high-quality curriculum for all sixth-form learners. 14–15 January 2020

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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 are the school and you are 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. 14–15 January 2020

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

Inspection number 10121696 Type of school Secondary

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,001

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sixth form

Appropriate authority The governing body

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 11–12 October 2017

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Information about this school

 Governors and the local authority have worked with Wolds Learning Partnership to support the school and its leaders. Since Monday 4 March 2019, the chief executive officer of Wolds Learning Partnership has assumed the role of executive headteacher and a new head of school took up post. This arrangement was formalised from September 2019.  The school is larger than the average-sized secondary school.  The school provides alternative provision for eight pupils at St Patrick’s Alternative Education and Moor Villa Secure Unit.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 14–15 January 2020

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 We met with a wide range of staff. These included the executive headteacher, the head of school and other members of the senior leadership team. We also met with subject leaders. The lead inspector met with governors, including the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. He also met with a representative of the local authority and the chair of trustees for Wolds Learning Partnership.  To evaluate the quality of safeguarding, we spoke with pupils and staff. A meeting was held with safeguarding leads. Paperwork associated with safeguarding was reviewed. Discussions centred around how the school keeps pupils safe. The single central record was checked.  We spoke individually to newly qualified teachers, administrative staff and a supply teacher to check their views on pupils’ behaviour and attitudes.  We selected four subjects to look at closely during this inspection: English, science, mathematics and history. This involved meetings with subject leaders,

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joint visits with leaders to a sample of lessons in these subjects, joint work scrutiny with leaders, as well as discussion with teachers and groups of pupils from the lessons observed.  In addition, with the executive headteacher and the head of school, we scrutinised the work of disadvantaged pupils across year groups. This involved their work in a variety of subjects, including the performing arts, geography and modern foreign languages.  An inspector telephoned one of the alternative providers used by the school.  We considered the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaires. This included the pupil survey (no responses), the staff survey (69 responses), Parent View (135 responses) and the free-text responses to Parent View (90 responses). .

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Inspection team

David Pridding, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Marc Doyle Ofsted Inspector 14–15 January 2020

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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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