Weston Secondary School

Inspection of Weston Secondary School Tickleford Drive, Weston, Southampton, Hampshire SO19 9QP

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The head of school is Andy Papanicolaou. This school is part of the Hamwic Education Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Robert Farmer, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Alice Wrighton. There is also an executive headteacher, Russell Slatford, who is responsible for this school. 6 and 7 February 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Weston Secondary is a diverse and vibrant community. The school has high ambitions for pupils. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school is working hard to put these ambitions into practice. However, not all pupils are achieving consistently well. Leaders are taking appropriate actions but improvements are not yet fully secure. There is too much variability in pupils’ learning across subjects currently.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are supported well and the majority know they are safe. Many pupils are confident they have someone to speak to if they need help. They know that, while bullying happens, staff take action to address this. However, some pupils are not always confident incidents will be dealt with well when they occur. While many pupils behave well, some do not which can disrupt the learning of others. Pupils do not attend school regularly enough and some are not punctual either to school or lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a range of extra-curricular activities, including music and sports clubs. Some pupils spoke highly of their involvement in these activities, including the school production. The majority of pupils are well mannered and confident. However, not all pupils receive the right information and teaching to support their personal development.

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better?

The school has designed a curriculum which is ambitious. Expectations for all pupils are high. This includes pupils with SEND and other disadvantaged pupils. While proportions of pupils who are studying the full suite of subjects in the English Baccalaureate at key stage 4 are currently low, there is a clear ambition that all pupils can access this. The school also provides a range of alternative, appropriate options.

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better?

The knowledge pupils need to learn has been clearly sequenced in the curriculum, which the trust has supported effectively. There has been significant investment in training staff to develop their knowledge of the curriculum and how to teach it. However, the delivery of the curriculum varies across the school. Not all staff have the knowledge and skills they need to ensure that pupils are all learning what is needed. The ambitions of the curriculum are not yet fully met. Not all pupils are achieving as well as they should.

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better?

Additional support for pupils with SEND in ‘The Hive’, ‘Gateway’ and ‘Horizons’ provisions is effective. Staff here have a strong understanding of the needs of the individuals they work with. Adaptions for some pupils across the curriculum are not as effective. Although some pupils with SEND receive effective bespoke support carefully tailored to their needs, this is not consistently the case for others. The school is committed to developing a culture of reading. They provide support for 6 and 7 February 2024

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pupils who have difficulty reading. This approach is not, however, rigorous enough to ensure all pupils are receiving the right help they need to learn to read quickly.

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The school has taken effective steps to ensure there is a clear approach to managing behaviour, including through the use of praise. This is not always applied consistently; therefore, not all pupils behave well. This disrupts lessons at times. Too many pupils are not attending school regularly. This is having a significant impact on their learning. In addition, not all pupils are punctual to school and lessons, which again means time focusing on learning is lost. The school is taking effective actions to address this, and there have been some demonstrable improvements.

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There is a well-designed plan for the teaching of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. Pupils are taught about different faiths and relationships and how to keep themselves safe, especially online. Pupils from Year 7 to Year 11 have access to a range of effective and appropriate careers information. However, the PSHE scheme is not consistently taught well across the school. Therefore, not enough pupils are benefiting from this provision.

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Trustees have a clear vision for the school and have taken effective action to ensure that progress is being made towards this. The trust has provided significant support to increase the capacity of the school to provide what pupils need, and it is clear that this is having a positive impact. Staff know they are supported well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Within and across subjects there is variation in how effectively the curriculum is being implemented. As a result, not all pupils are learning as well as they should be. The school needs to continue to ensure that teachers all have the knowledge and skills they need to deliver the curriculum effectively.  Not all pupils are attending school or lessons regularly enough. Some pupils are not punctual to lessons. This means they are not learning what they need to in order to be successful. The school needs to continue to take action around attendance and punctuality to ensure that more pupils are in school and in lessons on time.  While the new plans for PSHE are clear, there is variability in how effectively they are delivered. Pupils, therefore, do not all learn enough to support their personal development fully. The school needs to ensure that all pupils get the information that they need by supporting staff effectively to teach the programme consistently

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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). 6 and 7 February 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Hamwic Education Trust.  The school makes use of two alternative education providers, NTX Skills and the Southampton Hospital Medical Outreach, 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 13 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.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 6 and 7 February 2024

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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 held meetings with the headteacher, the executive headteacher and a range of other leaders. They also met with a number of teachers, including early career teachers. They also spoke to support staff.  Inspectors did deep dives in English, mathematics, science, geography, music and languages. They discussed the curriculum design with leaders, visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and spoke to pupils and teachers about the curriculum from the lessons they visited.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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 culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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 Inspectors met with members of the board of trustees.  Inspectors considered the views of 50 members of staff who responded to Ofsted’s survey.  Inspectors took account of the 37 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and the free-text responses and spoke to other parents.  Inspectors considered the views of pupils, both in response to Ofsted’s pupil survey and from meetings with groups of pupils from across the school. Inspectors also spoke to pupils informally about the school.

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Inspection team

Zoe Enser, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Shaun Jarvis Ofsted Inspector 6 and 7 February 2024

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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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