Whitby School

Inspection of a good school: Caedmon College Whitby Prospect Hill, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO21 1LA

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Inspection dates: 16 and 17 February 2022

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this initial (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a full inspection were carried out now. The next inspection will therefore be a full (section 5) inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders place an emphasis on pupils’ well-being. Pupils trust staff to support and guide them. Teachers are ambitious for what pupils can achieve academically. Likewise, pupils know that their teachers want them to do well. However, teachers’ expectations for pupils’ behaviour vary. Some pupils misbehave and stop others from focusing on their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and courteous. They are keen to share their experiences. Pupils say they feel safe in school. Pupils say their opinions are valued and that teachers listen to them. The school council has been active in sharing pupils’ views and changes are taking place. For example, toilets are now allocated to different year groups. The majority of parents and pupils feel that bullying does not happen or is dealt with well by school. Records confirm that leaders take bullying seriously. However, a minority of pupils feel that bullying is not always tackled effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure that pupils are well prepared for their next steps. Leaders are ambitious for pupils in this regard. Careers information is locally relevant and personalised. Pupils receive guidance and experiences that explore the options of higher education, apprenticeships and jobs relevant to Whitby. Pupils benefit from experiences with local construction, engineering and manufacturing businesses. Pupils receive individual support to help them make informed choices.

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

The school has undergone a period of transition due to changes in leadership. The new headteacher is keen to ensure that new systems being introduced lead to positive changes for pupils. Despite recent challenging circumstances, staff feel proud to work at this school and be part of this team. 16 and 17 February 2022

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Leaders are ambitious for what they want pupils to learn. Pupils study two languages in Year 7. They have a range of options choices at key stage 4, including varied vocational qualifications. However, following options choices in Year 8, pupils stop studying some subjects before they have accessed the full depth of the national curriculum. Pupils sometimes start studying their GCSE courses before they have all the knowledge they need. Leaders are already planning how to address this.

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Leaders have thought carefully about what they want pupils to know. The curriculum is logically organised and pupils’ understanding builds over time. Teachers deliver challenging content. Teachers use effective questioning to see what pupils know. This was especially evident in key stages 4 and 5. Where the curriculum is well delivered, pupils respond positively. However, this is not consistently the case. In some instances, teachers do not check regularly what pupils know and remember. This means that some pupils find it more challenging to build on prior learning. Disadvantaged pupils do not attend school as regularly as expected. This results in these pupils not achieving as well as they should. Leaders have implemented new attendance systems to tackle this. They acknowledge that these systems have not had enough time to make an impact.

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Pupils’ behaviour in lessons is generally calm and purposeful. The majority of pupils are engaged in their learning and keen to do well. However, there is some disruption in lessons and teachers are inconsistent in how they deal with this. As a result, the learning environment is not as good as it should be.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the curriculum well. They speak highly of the support they receive from staff. Parents agree. Pupils with SEND are supported to ensure that they achieve highly. Leaders ensure that struggling readers receive effective support to improve their literacy. Leaders are in the early stages of providing more reading opportunities across the school. Teachers are currently focusing on improving pupils’ vocabulary and spoken language. This focus is beginning to have an impact. However, efforts to encourage pupils to read widely and for pleasure are inconsistent.

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Leaders are committed to the personal development of pupils. Pupils talk knowledgeably about tolerance, respect and diversity. Leaders do not shy away from delivering challenging messages. Pupils engage in meaningful discussions around important topics such as drugs, sexual harassment, peer-on-peer abuse and extremism. Pupils learn how to be responsible citizens and express their opinions through an active school council.

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Staff feel well supported. They say that leaders are approachable and willing to listen. Staff appreciate the new approaches that leaders are putting in place to improve the school, especially new behaviour systems. School leaders are not complacent. They are introducing more rigorous monitoring systems to make sure that staff are consistent in how they deal with behaviour. 16 and 17 February 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are vigilant in ensuring that pupils are kept safe. Staff are well trained in how to identify concerns and how to report them. Leaders make effective use of external agencies. For instance, the local police liaison officer offers support where necessary. Leaders are acutely aware of the risks their pupils face in their local area and carefully plan how to address these. Staff explicitly teach pupils how to keep themselves safe, including online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Not all teachers regularly and systematically check what pupils know and remember. This means that misconceptions are not identified and pupils struggle to remember what they have learned. Leaders should ensure that more rigorous systems are implemented, to ensure that teachers have an accurate picture of what all pupils have learned.  Not all pupils in key stage 3 are accessing the full depth of the national curriculum in some subject areas. This is because they make options choices in Year 8 and not enough content is covered before they stop studying some subjects. Leaders should ensure that all pupils benefit from the full scope and ambition of the national curriculum at key stage 3.  Leaders are not monitoring the implementation of the curriculum closely. This means that weaknesses are not being identified. Pupils receive a curriculum that varies in quality. Leaders should ensure that accurate monitoring takes place so pupils receive

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

the knowledge they require.  Disadvantaged pupils have high levels of persistent absence. As a result, these pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Leaders should ensure that strategies to support disadvantaged pupils with high persistent absence are reviewed.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately. 16 and 17 February 2022

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This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2017.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 16 and 17 February 2022

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form

Appropriate authority The governing body

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form

Dates of previous inspection 1 and 2 February 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Caedmon College is a member of the Whitby Secondary Partnership, a federation with Eskdale School. There is a single governing body across the two schools and Whitby Sixth Form.  A small number of pupils attend Outreach Whitby. This provision is run by the school.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, history and science. For each of the deep dives, inspectors spoke to subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, 16 and 17 February 2022

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visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors met with a range of leaders. They met with representatives from the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair. They also met with leaders responsible for careers and personal, social and health education (PSHE).  An inspector met with the leaders in charge of safeguarding arrangements. They checked logs and records of actions the school has taken to keep pupils safe. They spoke with a wide range of staff regarding safeguarding procedures.  An inspector met with the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator. They looked at a range of plans, reviewed documentation and visited pupils in lessons to see how they were supported. They also considered a sample of these pupils’ work.  The inspection team scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the school’s

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website, the single central record, minutes of governors’ meetings, the school’s self- evaluation and improvement plans, external reviews, careers and reading development plans, PSHE curriculum planning and records of behaviour incidents and suspensions.  An inspector visited the Whitby Sixth Form College site to look at provision for key stage 5 students.  An inspector visited Outreach Whitby and spoke to pupils. They looked at a sample of their work and spoke to staff.  Inspectors considered the 76 free-text Ofsted Parent View responses, the 61 staff survey responses and the 107 responses to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Katie Spurr, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Geoff Lumsdon Ofsted Inspector 16 and 17 February 2022

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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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