Linton Village College

Inspection of Linton Village College Cambridge Road, Linton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB21 4JB

p.1

Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Outstanding 11–12 February 2020

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is calm and orderly. Pupils are kept safe and free from bullying. Pupils’ personal development is good. The ‘Linton Learner’ develops character and promotes positive attitudes to learning. Pupils are challenged to get involved in a wide range of sports clubs, activities, and music and drama events. Trips and visits enrich pupils’ lives and add to their enjoyment of school.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Careers education, including work experience, is provided for pupils of all ages. Assemblies and personal, social and health education give pupils a good understanding of staying safe, respecting others and keeping healthy.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Results at the end of Year 11 are consistently high. However, not all pupils make enough progress. This is because they do not receive the support they need in lessons to help them with their learning. Pupils who struggle to read fluently do not get the help they require. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not do as well as they could. Parents who shared their views during the inspection also felt that pupils with SEND do not get the help they need.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Despite recent changes made to the way staff manage behaviour, not all pupils behave themselves. Pupils say that in lessons their learning is often disrupted, especially in mixed-ability classes.

p.2

better?

Increasingly, pupils join the school with a range of different needs and abilities. Leaders are adapting the curriculum to deal with the challenges which these changes present. The curriculum is suitably broad but the quality of provision varies too widely.

p.2

better?

In subjects such as science, where leaders are clear about what pupils should learn, the planned curriculum is consistently well taught, and pupils are keen to learn, work hard and achieve well. However, this is not typical because some curriculum leaders have not identified the key foundations of learning that pupils need to build so they can extend their knowledge and skills. Learning is not matched to the needs and abilities of pupils. Older pupils do not feel well prepared for their external examinations in some subjects.

p.2

better?

Pupils who need additional support to ensure that they achieve well in English and mathematics are not given the help they need. For example, pupils who struggle to read fluently do not get enough support. In lessons, when work provided for pupils with SEND is not well matched to meet their needs, they are then unable to access the full curriculum. Teaching assistants work hard to support pupils with SEND but are not shown what to do by teachers. Teachers do not adapt their plans to match 11–12 February 2020

p.2

3

work to the needs of less-able pupils. Consequently, pupils with SEND do not achieve well enough across all subjects in the curriculum.

p.3

3

Pastoral care and support for pupils are good. Currently, fewer pupils are excluded from school. Leaders have identified accurately the barriers to learning for disadvantaged pupils. However, they do not systematically check to see if their actions to support pupils’ learning are working. Funding to help younger pupils catch up is not giving them the basic literacy and numeracy skills they need. Pupils with poor attendance, particularly disadvantaged pupils, are more likely to underachieve because they miss out on their learning.

p.3

3

Pupils who shared their views with inspectors said that behaviour is better, following a spike in incidents of poor behaviour last year, but there is still some off-task behaviour which is distracting. They say that new rules are strict, but that their learning is often disrupted, and that teachers do not yet apply new expectations with any consistency. Some pupils, particularly boys, are resistant to the changes and are removed from lessons. This negatively affects their learning. Records show that a large proportion of pupils are removed from lessons or given detentions. Pupils told us that they want all teachers to manage behaviour properly.

p.3

3

Leaders have not established a good quality of education across the school, and have not provided strong enough support where pupils are likely to underachieve. Although behaviour is regarded as a priority for improvement, the impact of the school’s work is undermined by inconsistent application of policy and procedures. Some improvements have been made, but trustees and governors recognise that leaders need more challenge and support to achieve the further improvements needed. Plans are in place to join a larger trust later this year.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.3

Safeguarding

The record of pre-employment checks on staff is complete and well maintained. A team of leaders for safeguarding is knowledgeable and committed to keeping pupils safe. Regular updates ensure that staff remain alert to concerns. Records of safeguarding incidents and actions taken to resolve them are recorded systematically and stored safely. Procedures to check the whereabouts of pupils leaving the school part-way through the year have improved. Referrals to support agencies are made in a timely way. Safeguarding training is up to date. Assessments of the risks attached to keeping pupils safe on the school site are not fully updated.

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum does not enable all pupils to achieve well enough. There are weaknesses in mathematics and some foundation subjects. Leaders should continue to provide subject leaders with the training and support they need to 11–12 February 2020

p.3

4

improve their curriculum planning. They should also check the impact of this training and support on the outcomes achieved by pupils.  Some pupils with SEND do not get the support they need to help them to do well enough. Teachers do not plan suitable learning for them. The coordination of this area of the school’s work lacks rigour. This means that pupils with SEND do not achieve well. Leaders should check the quality of provision for pupils with SEND and put in place plans to improve it.  New arrangements to improve pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are leading to improvement. However, pupils do not behave consistently well enough. Senior leaders should evaluate the impact of the new arrangements to ensure that they are applied consistently by staff and they lead to good behaviour throughout the school.

p.4

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.

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

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

p.4

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 .

p.4

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

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. 11–12 February 2020

p.4

School details

Inspection number 10144036 Type of school Secondary

p.5

School details

Date of previous inspection 8 to 9 May 2012

p.5

Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, a new principal has taken over the leadership of the school. Currently, the principal is on maternity leave. The deputy principal leads the school on an interim basis.  The school is smaller than average.  The school uses the following alternative provision: Academy 21, London.  The school is part of the Chilford Hundred Education Trust.

p.5

Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

p.5

Information about this inspection

 We visited lessons with senior leaders to observe pupils at work. We carried out learning walks to observe the support provided for pupils with SEND and for disadvantaged pupils. We also walked around the school with a senior leader to gauge how effectively leaders promote good behaviour, and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural education. 11–12 February 2020

p.5

6

 We held meetings with senior and middle leaders, teachers, teaching assistants, newly qualified staff, five members of the governing body, and three groups of pupils.  We held telephone calls with a representative of the local authority, the leader of alternative provision used by the school and a parent who wished to share her views of the school with inspectors.  We observed the school’s work. We scrutinised pupils’ books. We looked at safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures, self-evaluation and improvement-planning, minutes of meetings of the governing body, records of behaviour and attendance, and other information provided by school leaders.  We considered 336 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. We also considered one letter and an email sent to inspectors during the inspection. Free- text comments and surveys of the views of pupils and staff were not used on this

p.6

6

inspection.  We conducted deep dives in the following subjects: English, mathematics, science, physical education, drama and music. We talked to leaders of these subjects, visited lessons, met with pupils and teachers and scrutinised pupils’ work in these subjects.

p.6

Inspection team

John Mitcheson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

p.6

Inspection team

Diana Fletcher Ofsted Inspector 11–12 February 2020

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

7

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7