Teignmouth Community School, Exeter Road

Inspection of Teignmouth Community School, Exeter Road Exeter Road, Teignmouth, Devon TQ14 9HZ

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Inadequate Leadership and management Requires improvement Sixth-form provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 13 and 14 March 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ experiences of school are too variable. This is because expectations have been low and the curriculum is not well planned. This especially affects disadvantaged pupils. Punctuality is poor, even though leaders have taken some action to improve it, for example by establishing a more purposeful start to the school day.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils recognise that behaviour and expectations are improving but are not good enough. Bullying sometimes happens, but staff deal with it promptly. Some pupils report hearing derogatory language. A few are reluctant to report it, but an anonymous reporting tool makes that easier.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have not established an effective personal development programme. Pupils have little opportunity to learn about values and citizenship. Pupils can develop their leadership skills. For example, recently appointed student leaders are just starting their new roles. Students are positive about some aspects of the school, especially about their relationships with staff and the broad choice of subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Extra-curricular opportunities exist where staff are able to run a club or trip. Pupils take part in activities such as The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Ten Tors and school shows. Sixth-form students are positive about their experiences and the wider provision of the sixth form. Alongside a broad range of subjects, enrichment in the sixth form is well planned.

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better?

The curriculum is poorly planned. Some subjects do not have a clear, sequenced progression of learning. Leaders have started work on this. In geography, for example, pupils follow a well-planned curriculum. They build on their knowledge to understand new concepts. In many subjects, however, this depth of planning is not in place and so standards are not as high as they should be. This leads to pupils not achieving as well as they could..

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better?

As a result of the curriculum and previously low expectations, disadvantaged pupils do not achieve well. They do not receive the support they need to catch up with their peers.

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better?

Leaders do not ensure that staff provide sufficient support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff are not given specific training to make sure support is effective. Some pupils in key stage 3 miss lessons to access literacy and numeracy support. These sessions are not carefully matched to the learning needs of pupils. Due to poor organisation, pupils are not able to return to their subject lessons and continue learning. Leaders do not plan intervention effectively. 13 and 14 March 2023

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Pupils who are in the early stages of reading do not follow a systematic approach to learning to read. Although pupils practise their reading, they do not learn to read with confidence and fluency. This hinders their learning of the curriculum.

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Leaders have prioritised improving poor behaviour in the school. New systems are starting to have an impact. Defiance and extreme behaviours are infrequent. When teachers are consistent in using the whole-school strategies, pupils respond well to these expectations. In most lessons, pupils behave calmly. However, these expectations are not applied with consistency, and some poor behaviour persists.

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The personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum covers the content pupils must learn. However, leaders have not planned the programme well. Staff teach challenging topics without depth or sufficient knowledge. As a result, pupils have limited understanding and do not remember their learning. They do not understand the relevance of the PSHE lessons. In the sixth form, the PSHE curriculum is well planned and age-appropriate. Leaders ensure there is a well- structured careers programme for all pupils. They make sure disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND receive the support and information they need. Pupils learn employability skills, attend work experience and are well prepared to make decisions about their next steps.

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There have been recent, significant changes to leadership. A newly amalgamated trust has led to the appointment of new leaders, trustees and a local governing body. These leaders have clarity about the improvement needed to bring change. In areas such as behaviour and curriculum planning, the work of new leaders is starting to take effect. The curriculum in the sixth form is better planned than in the rest of the school. However, there are significant weaknesses at the school for leaders to tackle. Parents comment on the decline in the performance of the school, but recognise the work of the new leadership.

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Leaders identify recruitment of staff as a hindrance to developing the curriculum. A focus on whole-school priorities means workload for staff is not always prioritised. However, staff are ambitious for change and supportive of the new leadership team.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure staff receive the training they need to identify concerns. Staff report concerns, which leaders act on in a timely way. The safeguarding team works with external agencies to provide additional support for vulnerable pupils. This means pupils get the help they need.

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Safeguarding

Leaders carry out appropriate employment checks to make sure staff are suitable to work with young people. Governors and trust leaders regularly check the efficiency of safeguarding practices. 13 and 14 March 2023

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Leaders respond to concerns by teaching pupils about risk and whom to report issues to. The pastoral area provides a place for pupils to seek advice and support.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils who are disadvantaged do not receive sufficient support or provision to help them overcome barriers to learning. As a result, they make poor progress compared to their peers. Leaders must ensure that the actions they have commenced are effective in tackling the declining progress of disadvantaged pupils.  The school’s curriculum is not planned and sequenced well in some subjects. This means there is not a clear progression of learning for pupils. As a result, pupils do not make the progress they should. Leaders need to ensure that there is time and training for staff to plan and implement subject curriculums.  Leaders have not prepared staff with the training and guidance to support pupils with SEND effectively. As a result, pupils with SEND do not receive the provision and adaptation they need to learn the curriculum as well as they could. Leaders must make sure teachers receive appropriate training and guidance.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not planned a coherent approach to developing pupils’ character. The curriculum does not develop pupils’ moral values. Leaders have not defined what they want pupils to learn. As a result, some pupils do not receive a wide set of experiences and are not well prepared for the world beyond school. Leaders need to ensure that pupils learn how to be well-informed citizens of 21st century Britain.

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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.

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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. 13 and 14 March 2023

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,012

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sixth form

Website www.teignmouthsecondary.co.uk Dates of previous inspection 30 and 31 October 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 At the previous inspection, Teignmouth Community School was part of the Osprey Trust. It was the only secondary school in the trust. The trust amalgamated with Estuaries Multi-Academy Trust in June 2022 to form the Ivy Education Trust. There are three secondary schools and five primary schools in the trust.  Since the previous inspection, the leadership has changed. The headteacher and two deputy headteachers were appointed in September 2022.  The trustees of the newly formed trust and the local governing body were recruited and appointed from June 2022.  The school uses three registered alternative providers and four unregistered alternative providers.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 7 to 13 with information and 13 and 14 March 2023

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engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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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

In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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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 held discussions with the headteacher, the chair of the trust, members of the senior leadership team, curriculum leaders, the chief executive officer and trustees, members of the local governing body and members of the teaching and support staff.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: mathematics, geography, art and photography and modern foreign languages. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, looked at curriculum planning, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  An inspector met leaders with responsibility for English and science.

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Information about this inspection

 In addition to visiting lessons in the deep dive subjects, an inspector visited lessons in PSHE.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the lead inspector examined school records. The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead to discuss safeguarding arrangements, including recruitment.  Inspectors viewed a range of school documentation, including minutes from governing body meetings and the school’s improvement and self-evaluation plans.  Inspectors spoke to alternative providers used by the school.  Inspectors considered the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments. Inspectors viewed the responses to the pupil survey and the responses to the staff survey. 13 and 14 March 2023

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Inspection team

Rachel Hesketh, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Helen Kerr Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 March 2023

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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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