North Chadderton School

Inspection of North Chadderton School Chadderton Hall Road, Chadderton, Oldham, Lancashire OL9 0BN

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Sixth-form provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 6 and 7 December 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including students in the sixth form, are proud to attend this welcoming school. They told inspectors that they feel part of a community where everyone is respected.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and students feel happy and safe at school. They know that staff care for them. For example, pupils enjoy well-being Wednesday each week, where they learn about looking after their own mental health.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand that leaders expect them to work hard and be kind. They rise to this standard and conduct themselves well. Poor behaviour rarely disrupts learning. When bullying happens, leaders deal with it quickly and effectively. Most pupils are confident that bullying will be resolved.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and students feel that they are listened to by staff. They have many opportunities to take on leadership responsibilities, such as sixth-form students working alongside younger pupils on the eco and charity committees.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have raised their expectations of what all pupils and students can achieve. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, there are some areas of the curriculum where pupils do not learn as well as they should.

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better?

Leaders have high aspirations for pupils and students in the sixth form. All pupils, including pupils with SEND, study a wide range of subjects. This includes those in the specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND (specially resourced provision). Students in the sixth form achieve well across a range of academic and vocational qualifications. However, pupils’ achievement in key stages 3 and 4 is uneven.

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better?

Senior leaders are in the process of finalising the curriculum so that pupils and students learn and remember more. In many subjects, leaders have thought carefully about the most important knowledge that pupils in key stages 3 and 4 need to learn. However, in some other subjects, leaders are not clear about the knowledge that pupils should learn. Pupils in key stages 3 and 4 do not develop a deep body of knowledge in these subjects.

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better?

Teachers know their subjects well. They use this knowledge to explain new learning clearly. Students in the sixth form benefit from expert teaching. As a result, students in the sixth form achieve well.

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better?

Leaders have recently improved their assessment strategies to identify the gaps in pupils’ knowledge. In some subjects, these strategies are not used effectively. This is because leaders have not finalised their curriculum thinking. As a result, teachers 6 and 7 December 2022

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are not as clear about what pupils should be learning. Added to this, teachers in these subjects have a less clear picture of how pupils are learning the curriculum. That said, senior leaders are acting swiftly to address these issues. Leaders’ systems to check how well students are learning in the sixth form are more advanced.

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Leaders use appropriate systems to identify the needs of pupils and students with SEND. They do this in a timely way. Leaders have improved the quality of the information that they provide to teachers about pupils’ additional needs. This includes those pupils who attend the specially resourced provision. Most teachers use this information increasingly well to adapt the delivery of the curriculum. This is enabling more pupils with SEND to learn well alongside their peers. However, on occasions, a few teachers lack the confidence to design learning that meets these pupils’ needs effectively.

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Leaders have recently introduced a range of strategies to encourage pupils to read more frequently. As a result, pupils are reading in school more often than they were before. Leaders have started to identify pupils who are not reading as well as they should. However, it is too early to see the full impact of this work.

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Most pupils behave well. Their polite and respectful conduct creates a calm atmosphere around the school. Leaders deal effectively with any poor behaviour and help pupils to learn how their choices affect others. Students in the sixth form are highly motivated and demonstrate increasing maturity.

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Leaders have developed effective strategies to improve pupils’ attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, pupils and students, including those with SEND, attend well. Leaders are in the process of helping a small number of pupils to understand the importance of attending lessons on time.

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Leaders have prioritised pupils’ and students’ character development through a well- planned personal development curriculum. For example, pupils and students learn about respect, consent and healthy relationships in an age-appropriate way. Students in the sixth form value the opportunity to explore democracy through working with the local youth parliament.

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Pupils and students access a thorough careers programme, including opportunities to engage with local employers. Students in the sixth form apply to a wide range of post-18 destinations, including universities and apprenticeships. They are well supported in their choices.

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Trustees and trust leaders know the school well and lead with integrity. They have taken positive action to build additional leadership capacity in the school. As a result, the quality of the curriculum has begun to improve apace. Leaders are mindful of staff workload and well-being. Staff, including early career teachers, value the support and development opportunities that they are given. 6 and 7 December 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have created a strong culture of safeguarding. They know their community very well. They have carefully identified the support that potentially vulnerable pupils and students may need to keep them safe.

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Safeguarding

Leaders work closely with local agencies to ensure that pupils and students get the help that they need when they need it. Leaders follow up concerns until they are sure that this help has been effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive thorough training. They know how to spot when a pupil might be at risk of harm. Trustees are well informed about the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements. They work with leaders to ensure that robust systems are in place.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, in key stages 3 and 4, leaders require further support to develop their curriculum thinking. They have not identified the most important knowledge that pupils should learn. This means that some pupils do not build a secure body of subject knowledge. Senior leaders should ensure that subject leaders are clear about what they want pupils to know and remember.  In a number of subjects, in key stages 3 and 4, teachers do not have a thorough enough understanding of what pupils have learned and remembered of the curriculum. This makes it difficult for teachers to identify and address the gaps in pupils’ learning. Leaders should ensure that assessment strategies in these subjects are well matched to the intent of the curriculum.  Leaders do not identify thoroughly enough the specific aspects of reading that some pupils struggle with. This means that pupils who struggle to read do not get

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

the most effective support to improve their reading knowledge. Leaders should make sure that they diagnose the gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge accurately and in a timely manner. This is so that pupils who are behind in their reading can catch up quickly with their peers.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 6 and 7 December 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. 6 and 7 December 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10226341 Type of school Secondary comprehensive

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1604

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sixth form

Headteacher Sarah North (executive headteacher), Adelle Greenwood (headteacher) Website www.northchaddertonschool.co.uk

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 23 May 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The Oak Trust.  The current headteacher was appointed in January 2022.  The school hosts a specially resourced provision for up to 12 pupils on behalf of the local authority. These pupils all have education, health and care plans and a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection, 13 pupils were attending the provision.  Leaders use an unregistered alternative provider for a small number of pupils.  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 education qualifications and apprenticeships. 6 and 7 December 2022

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection that the school has 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 spoke with the executive headteacher, other senior leaders, subject leaders and members of staff. The lead inspector also met with members of the board of trustees, including the vice-chair of trustees and both co-chief executive officers of the trust.  Inspectors completed deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, geography, art and design, and modern foreign languages. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils and students about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ and students’ work. Inspectors also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in other subjects.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils and students from Years 7 to 13 about their experience of school and their views on behaviour and bullying. Inspectors also observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at breaktimes.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s self- evaluation document, improvement plans, minutes of trust board meetings and records of pupils’ behaviour and attendance.  The lead inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority by telephone.  The lead inspector held meetings with the staff responsible for safeguarding and scrutinised the single central record. Inspectors considered leaders’ safeguarding processes and procedures. Inspectors discussed safeguarding with pupils, students and staff.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free- text comments. They also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for

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Inspection team

Ben Hill, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Phil Smith Ofsted Inspector 6 and 7 December 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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