Court Moor School

Inspection of a good school: Court Moor School Spring Woods, Fleet, Hampshire GU52 7RY

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Outcome

Court Moor School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school lives up to its promise of ‘a great place to be and a place to be great’. Pupils value their education. They are happy and they feel safe. Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are consistently positive across the school. They are respectful, polite, considerate and caring.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a productive working ethos around the school. The learning environment is calm and purposeful. Pupils say bullying is rare. If it does occur, then it is quickly dealt with. Low-level disruption is not tolerated, and pupils have very high expectations of each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The extra-curricular provision is extensive. It covers a range of sporting, arts and club activities as well as trips abroad and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Pupils are encouraged to take on leadership roles. These include prefects, house captains and subject ambassadors as well as allies for those with protected characteristics.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are incredibly positive about the school. They say the school has high expectations and supports their child’s wider personal development. The vast majority recommend the school. Their written responses are summed up in the comment, ‘The teachers are superb and the leadership team awesome.’

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

The curriculum is broad and ambitious. It is carefully constructed to ensure all pupils leave school with a ‘sense of success, purpose, empowerment, adventure and belonging’. Curriculum content meets, and often exceeds, the requirements of the national curriculum. It is designed to ensure pupils see learning as an enjoyable experience.

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

Links with partner primary schools are well developed. This guarantees curriculum continuity and avoids curriculum repetition. The provision for careers is extensive and wide ranging. Pupils are well informed and supported. The school collaborates well with 12 and 13 July 2022

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post-16 providers. The number of pupils proceeding to post-16 education is high in relation to national and local averages.

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The take-up of the English Baccalaureate remains well below the national average because of the low uptake of languages. The school is aware and is working diligently to raise the profile and status of languages. Recent staff appointments are ensuring a greater ambition for the subject. The value of languages is not always sufficiently articulated to pupils.

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Leaders and middle leaders have worked hard to create a curriculum that is well suited to the needs of all pupils. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are high attainers. Strong leadership of the provision for these pupils ensures that they flourish.

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Disadvantaged pupils are well supported with the life skills they need to succeed. They are encouraged by their ‘teaching and learning coaches’ as well as knowledgeable teachers. The innovative support for these pupils is beginning to have a marked impact on their attendance and their performance.

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The school attaches considerable importance to reading. Leaders have used catch-up and recovery funding to ensure interventions are effective. Leaders consider reading as a life skill and support is provided for those who have fallen behind. Literacy and vocabulary are strongly promoted across the school.

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Teachers are highly skilled and have expert subject knowledge. This is used successfully to deepen pupils’ knowledge and support their understanding. Assessment practice is consistent. Pupils respond well to feedback. They know what to do to improve. Assessment helps teachers to understand what pupils know and remember over time.

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Leaders are reflective and innovative. They have extremely high standards and expectations. They are highly visible across the school. Teachers appreciate the way that leaders trust their professional judgement. They have autonomy to develop their curriculum and their teaching. Staff’s workload is well managed. They very much enjoy working in the school.

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Governors are enthusiastic, keen and knowledgeable. They have a particularly good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They care about the school and pupils’ achievements. The local authority enjoys positive relationships with the school. The school is highly regarded in the community.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are committed to keeping pupils safe. All staff have a clear understanding of their responsibilities. They receive regular safeguarding training and frequent updates. They know how to identify risks and know what to do if they have any concerns. The processes to ensure the safe recruitment of staff are robust. 12 and 13 July 2022

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The welfare, well-being and safety of all pupils are high priorities for the school. Pupils are taught how to stay safe through the effective personal development programme. They all have an adult they can talk to if any problems arise.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The number of pupils taking a modern foreign language is well below national averages and well below the government’s national ambition. Languages have not been sufficiently encouraged and promoted in the past. Leaders should continue their efforts to promote languages to ensure that pupils benefit from the future opportunities that studying a language provides, as well as improving first language skills, experiencing distinct cultures and building self-confidence.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2013.

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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 . 12 and 13 July 2022

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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. 12 and 13 July 2022

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1130

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Court Moor School is larger than the average-sized 11 to 16 mixed community secondary school.  At the time of the inspection, the headteacher was also acting as the interim headteacher at another secondary school in Basingstoke.  Two pupils attend alternative provision at an Ofsted registered college of technology.  The school meets the requirements of the Baker Clause, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information about approved technical educational qualifications and apprenticeships.

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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 conducted deep dives in English, mathematics, history and art. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of 12 and 13 July 2022

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lessons, talked to teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at examples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors held meetings with leaders, staff and pupils. They reviewed the single central record and checked the school’s safeguarding arrangements. Inspectors looked at school policies, curriculum documents, behaviour logs, attendance records and destination statistics. The lead inspector met with the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors considered 247 responses to the Ofsted Parent View online questionnaire and 152 additional written comments from parents. They looked at the survey returns completed by 104 staff and 334 pupils.

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Inspection team

Paul Metcalf, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Andrew Foster Ofsted Inspector 12 and 13 July 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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