Shipston High School

Inspection of Shipston High School Darlingscote Road, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 4DY

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 11 and 12 July 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are at the centre of school life at Shipston High. They uphold the school’s values of learning, respect, ambition and achievement in their actions. Learning is valued highly by all, and there are positive relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils are mature, polite and considerate of others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are clear and ambitious in their drive to make their school better. They have high expectations of all and help pupils to learn and grow in their understanding of the wider world to prepare them for adult life. Pupils rise to leaders’ expectations and achieve well across the curriculum. They also benefit from the house system in place to support them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils regularly debate topical issues and subject ideas with their teachers. There is a range of sporting and engineering-related opportunities to expand their horizons. Older pupils can become prefects and participate in community work, making valuable contributions to school life and beyond.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils show positive attitudes towards learning. This is clear through their written work and the pride they have in their achievements. Most pupils behave well, and this has improved over the course of the year. Pupils know they are cared for. They feel safe and happy in school. Pupils say that bullying is dealt with well when it occurs.

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better?

Leaders have developed a broad and balanced curriculum. They have considered the needs of all pupils. Subject leaders are clear about the knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn and practise. Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They know how best to share this with pupils and do so. This enables pupils to successfully develop their knowledge over a series of lessons.

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better?

All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), experience the same ambitious curriculum. There are clear processes in place to identify those who may need additional help. Adaptations are made to support pupils who have education, health and care (EHC) plans. However, there is too much variation in support given to pupils with SEND who do not have an EHC plan. Leaders are working to develop the SEND provision further, including through staff training.

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better?

Pupils who need support with their reading receive help to enable them to access the curriculum. However, leaders do not have a robust system in place to identify these pupils. This means that they do not receive help as quickly as they could, and some are not identified.

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better?

Leaders have a detailed understanding of behaviour incidents in school. They carefully track incidents of all kinds. Leaders evaluate this information to help them 11 and 12 July 2023

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support good behaviour in the classroom. Pupils described some variation in how teachers manage behaviour. On a few occasions, this leads to some disruption in their learning. Leaders are addressing these differences. Pupils and staff are aware of the behaviour management processes and feel that these are fair and clear.

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Attendance has improved greatly in comparison with previous years. Leaders’ expectations are much higher. These expectations have been communicated effectively to parents and carers and pupils. Leaders have worked well to ensure that pupils are in lessons and learning. Attendance is up, and persistent absenteeism is falling as a result.

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The personal development curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure that all areas of pupils’ wider development are supported. Pupils learn age-appropriate content in terms of relationships and how to keep themselves safe. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is considered across the curriculum. They receive valuable input about other cultures and backgrounds.

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Pupils are provided with unbiased careers advice from Year 7 onwards through a range of activities supported by external providers. Year 11 pupils have one-to-one careers interviews. Disadvantaged pupils in Years 9 and 10 also benefit from individual careers interviews. All pupils are supported appropriately to choose their next steps in education, employment or training.

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Governors are knowledgeable and committed and use their professional expertise to help develop the school. They check and challenge leaders’ work as well as providing support when needed. Leaders hold an accurate view of their own strengths and weakness. They know that communication with parents is an area that needs work. Results from the parent survey illustrated this. Some parents feel that they do not receive enough information about how well their child is achieving at school.

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Leaders are considerate of staff workload. New priorities and developments are carefully thought through. Leaders take action to support staff when changes are made to ensure that these are manageable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding. This is achieved through regular training and active reporting from staff. The designated safeguarding lead works effectively in partnership with external agencies to protect pupils at risk of harm.

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Safeguarding

Pupils feel safe and know whom they can talk to if they have any worries. They are knowledgeable about the measures they can take to keep safe when using the internet. Leaders make use of local and national information to make sure that 11 and 12 July 2023

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pupils are educated in current issues. Governors routinely check the effectiveness of the school’s safeguarding work.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils with SEND are not receiving effective support to enable them to progress through the curriculum. As a result, some pupils with SEND, particularly those who do not have an EHC plan, are not able to engage fully with the ambitious curriculum. Leaders need to ensure that teachers appropriately adapt the curriculum in all subjects and that they monitor the progress of all pupils with SEND through the whole curriculum.  Leaders do not routinely assess the reading ability of all pupils. This means that pupils who require additional support with their reading are not identified quickly enough and are therefore not able to engage with the curriculum fully. Leaders should ensure that pupils with gaps in their reading ability are identified and supported quickly and effectively to enable them to access the full curriculum.  Parents do not receive enough information about their child’s progress and how

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

they are supported more widely. This results in parents feeling that they do not know enough about what happens in school. Leaders need to develop engagement opportunities that are focused and have purpose, aiming to ensure that parents are better informed.

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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. 11 and 12 July 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  The school uses two alternative providers. Both are registered alternative providers.

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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 second routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 11 and 12 July 2023

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 Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, members of the trust and governors, senior leaders, subject leaders, teachers and pupils. They also talked informally to pupils and staff to gather general information about school life.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, mathematics, design and technology, religious education and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors reviewed the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum plan, spoke with the curriculum leader and visited form time and a house assembly. An inspector also reviewed the support provided for pupils at an early stage of reading.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including leaders’ plans to improve the school and their self-evaluation of the school’s work.

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 Inspectors took account of responses to the pupil and staff surveys, as well as those to Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors looked at records and spoke to staff in relation to behaviour, bullying and safeguarding.  Inspectors reviewed safeguarding arrangements by checking the school’s procedures for keeping pupils safe, the checks made to ensure safe recruitment and the quality of staff training.

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Inspection team

Richard Wakefield, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Graeme Rudland Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 July 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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