Chetwynde School

Inspection of Chetwynde School Rating Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA13 0NY

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Early years provision Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Stephen Jefferson. The school is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Andrew Wren, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Phil Huck. 7 and 8 November 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy being part of the close-knit community at Chetwynde School. Staff know pupils well and understand their needs. Staff ensure that pupils feel involved and included in school life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are helped to develop positive behaviours. They follow well-established routines. This ensures that pupils enjoy a calm and orderly atmosphere in lessons and around the school site.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Across the primary and secondary age-phases, staff have appropriately high expectations of what pupils should learn and can achieve. Pupils are well supported to realise these expectations. They typically achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand the importance of developing respect, responsibility and resilience. They have good relationships with each other and with staff. Typically, pupils show a commitment to looking after each other. They are appropriately supported by staff when occasionally there are small incidents of unkindness.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils of all ages are eager to learn beyond the curriculum through the clubs and sporting opportunities that are on offer. This helps pupils to develop their confidence and to strengthen their talents. For example, pupils particularly enjoy the opportunities to take part in school productions and singing events with other schools.

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better?

Trust leaders, the local governing body and the school have successfully tackled the weaknesses in the quality of education identified at the previous inspection. They have established a culture in which staff are well supported to develop their understanding and delivery of the curriculum. The school carefully considers the workload of staff when introducing change.

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better?

Pupils throughout the school benefit from a suitably broad and balanced curriculum. Staff have secure subject knowledge. They are usually very clear about the knowledge that pupils should learn and the order in which it will be taught. This ensures that most pupils are ready to learn new subject content in the next stage of their education.

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better?

Children in early years benefit from well-designed opportunities to learn through play and while learning with adults. Pupils in other key stages typically benefit from teachers’ clear explanations. They complete tasks that are well matched to the content of the curriculum. This ensures that they learn key knowledge effectively. Staff use assessment strategies well to identify what pupils know and remember. Many pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are well supported when they have gaps in their knowledge. As a result, pupils usually make good gains in what they know and remember across the 7 and 8 November 2023

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subjects that they study. However, in a few places, some pupils do not acquire new knowledge as securely as they should. This is because the support that pupils receive does not focus well enough on the specific gaps in their knowledge.

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Pupils of all ages, including children in early years, demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning. Their eagerness to take part in lessons ensures that they usually learn without disruption.

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The published data indicates that the proportion of Year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check was below the national average in 2023. The school is taking appropriate action to improve pupils’ success in grasping the phonics code. Staff are well trained to deliver a new programme for early reading. Children and pupils in the Nursery and Reception classes are taught to read as soon as they join the school. Children in Nursery Year practise saying and signing well-chosen sounds. Staff ensure that pupils in Years 1 and 2 are systematically introduced to the letters and sounds that help them to develop their reading. Pupils are supported with appropriate books and resources that are well matched to the sounds that they know. Consequently, pupils use their phonics knowledge with increasing confidence and accuracy to read with fluency.

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The school ensures that gaps in older pupils’ reading knowledge are identified promptly and accurately. Pupils in the primary age-phase are provided with regular, focused catch-up sessions delivered by well-trained staff. Pupils in the secondary age-phase practise reading during their subject lessons. Consequently, most pupils are well equipped with the phonics and reading knowledge that they need to read confidently when learning in other subjects. However, many pupils do not demonstrate a positive habit of reading for pleasure. This hinders the breadth and richness of pupils’ wider reading experiences.

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The school ensures that the needs of pupils with SEND are accurately identified. Staff are appropriately trained so that they typically provide effective support to these pupils in lessons. Pupils with SEND are included in all aspects of school life. They enjoy taking part in the same enrichment opportunities as other pupils.

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Pupils benefit from good-quality opportunities that promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Well-trained staff ensure that pupils learn about how to look after themselves and others. Pupils gain important knowledge about attitudes, traits and skills that will help them to make decisions about their future and to be ready for life in modern Britain.

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The school thoughtfully engages with parents and carers. Parents are well informed about the education their children are receiving. Most parents appreciate the school’s commitment to listening to and addressing parents’ views or concerns.

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The trust and members of the local governing body undertake their roles effectively. They use their rich insights into the education and other opportunities on offer to support and challenge the school rigorously. 7 and 8 November 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 At times, the support that pupils receive does not focus well enough on the gaps that they have in their knowledge. This means that some pupils struggle to understand what they are learning and, as a result, do not make the same gains in what they know and remember as others do. The school should ensure that staff use what they know about gaps in pupils’ knowledge to shape the support that they receive.  Many pupils do not read for pleasure as widely or as often as they should. This means that opportunities to develop their reading fluency and comprehension beyond the curriculum are limited. The school should ensure that pupils are encouraged and supported to read a rich and diverse range of texts regularly.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 7 and 8 November 2023

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 5 and 6 November 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Chetwynde School is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust.  The school makes use of one unregistered and two registered alternative providers to provide part-time education for a small number of pupils.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 11 with information and 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

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 7 and 8 November 2023

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 This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and senior leaders. They spoke with representatives of the academy trust, the local governing body and the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in English (including early reading), mathematics, history and music. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also listened to pupils reading.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive

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culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors spoke with leaders responsible for SEND and reading. They also looked at information about the support for pupils with additional needs.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in class and around the school site. They also scrutinised behaviour and attendance records.  Inspectors spoke with pupils from all year groups and considered the responses of the pupils who had responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for pupils.  Inspectors held discussions with staff and considered the responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire for staff.  Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the comments received via the free-text facility. Inspectors also considered the views that parents shared with them during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Michael Pennington, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jamie Lawler Ofsted Inspector 7 and 8 November 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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