Newfield Secondary School

Inspection of a good school: Newfield Secondary School Lees Hall Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S8 9JP

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Outcome

Newfield Secondary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is an inclusive school with a diverse and happy community. Pupils and staff value and respect each other’s differences. Pupils are polite and courteous and typically treat people with respect. Staff plan carefully for pupils’ personal development. Pupils develop the characteristics which will help them to contribute to modern Britain.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. They can ask adults for help if they need it. Leaders resolve any rare incidents of bullying quickly and effectively. The school has clear behaviour policies which pupils understand. Pupils are rewarded for positive behaviours and achievements in all aspects of school life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The headteacher and all other staff have high expectations of how pupils should approach their studies. They do all that they can do to help pupils do well in school. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils, achieve well. Pupils benefit from studying a wide range of interesting subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Reading for pleasure is a central part of school life. Dedicated reading time in form tutor time and at the start of lessons ensures a calm and focused start.

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

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils at this school. School leaders lead with integrity, empathy and clarity. They have high expectations for pupils’ work and behaviour. Pupils respond well. Pupils and staff are proud to be members of the school community.

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

Across all subjects, leaders have implemented a well-considered curriculum. Subject leaders have thought carefully about the knowledge that pupils should learn and in which order it should be taught. Teachers design learning activities that help pupils to remember essential knowledge. They use questioning and discussion in lessons to check that pupils remember more of the curriculum. In some cases, pupils do not confidently share their 17 and 18 March 2022

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oral responses to teachers’ questions. Effective teaching of the curriculum, including for subjects such as mathematics and science, ensures that pupils achieve highly. Leaders have introduced new curriculum subjects that key stage 4 pupils enjoy. These include photography, film studies, and hospitality and catering.

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Teachers have positive relationships with pupils. Teachers regularly revisit prior learning and check pupils understand important learning. Most teachers help pupils to effectively build on their prior knowledge with confidence to then take on new and more challenging learning. On occasion, teachers sometimes move on to new learning before pupils are ready. In a small number of cases, pupils do not look after their exercise books and their written work is poorly presented.

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Teachers are effective in identifying the needs of pupils with SEND. Teachers and other adults make effective use of the information that they collect about these pupils. They adapt their teaching to help pupils with SEND access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.

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Leaders are passionate about ensuring that all pupils read fluently and often. To this end, they have put into place a range of strategies that successfully enable teachers to identify and support those pupils who find reading more difficult. These pupils are beginning to catch up quickly and read with increasing fluency.

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Pupils generally engage positively with their work. Low-level disruption is not a barrier to pupils’ learning. Leaders help to shape pupils’ character through a well-planned personal development curriculum. Through this, pupils learn to understand the wider world and the opportunities and challenges it presents. Leaders ensure that all pupils receive appropriate relationships and sex education and health education. Pupils are taught about high-demand job opportunities. The school’s core values and the pupils’ community context are used well to reinforce the career opportunities available to pupils.

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Leaders, including governors, are considerate of staff’s workload and well-being. Leaders seek and respond to feedback and make changes as a result. This is valued by staff, who are overwhelmingly positive about working at this school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have maintained an appropriate single central record of checks on the suitability of adults. The designated safeguarding leaders are well trained and qualified. They have ensured that suitable safeguarding policies are in place. All staff have received regular safeguarding training. Staff are vigilant and quickly identify if a pupil is at risk of harm.

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Safeguarding

Staff support pupils’ mental health and well-being effectively. They know how to identify concerns and they have the confidence in leaders to deal with these. Pupils feel safe. They know how to keep themselves safe, including when using social media. 17 and 18 March 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teachers do not promote pupils’ oracy skills sufficiently well. Pupils’ confidence in expressing their thinking is not consistently well developed. Leaders need to ensure that teachers encourage pupils to explain their thinking in depth and with confidence.  Occasionally, teachers’ checks of what pupils know and can remember are not thorough. This means that teachers sometimes move on to new learning before some pupils are ready. Leaders should ensure that teachers’ checks of pupils’ learning help them to fully identify the gaps that pupils have in their knowledge so that these can be quickly addressed.

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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.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 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. 17 and 18 March 2022

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1048

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 October 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A small number of pupils attend part-time alternative provision at a local provider.  The school is part of the Mercia Learning Trust.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other members of the senior leadership team. Meetings were also held with subject leaders and teachers. The lead inspector met with the chief executive officer of the Mercia Learning Trust and four members of the trust and local governing body, including the chairs.  Inspectors conducted deep dives in art, history, mathematics and science. In each subject, inspectors visited lessons, scrutinised pupils’ work and held discussions with subject leaders, teachers and pupils.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors spoke to pupils and members of staff. An inspector met with the designated safeguarding leader. Policies, procedures 17 and 18 March 2022

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and record-keeping were scrutinised. Case files were sampled to explore the quality of support received by pupils who may be vulnerable to risk.  Inspectors reviewed a range of school documentation, including policies and record- keeping for behaviour management, suspensions and attendance. Inspectors met with the leader for personal development.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in a range of situations, including at breaktimes, in corridors, at lunchtimes and in lessons. They also spoke to pupils about bullying and behaviour.  Inspectors considered the views of parents who completed Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online parental survey. Inspectors also considered the views of the parents and pupils who contacted them by email during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Tudor Griffiths, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Michelle Farr Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 March 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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