Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre

Inspection of a good school: Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre Surley Row, Emmer Green, Reading, Berkshire RG4 8LR

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Outcome

Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher is Rachel Cave. The school is a single-academy trust, which means other people in the trust have responsibility for running the school. The trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Arttu Rajantie.

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What is it like to attend this school?

High expectations for pupils’ behaviour and academic achievement mean that the school supports pupils’ ambitious aspirations effectively. Pupils are invariably polite, respectful and kind. The vast majority of pupils behave well and attend regularly. Pupils contribute to each other’s well-being enthusiastically, taking on a range of very meaningful leadership roles. The school’s effective work to develop pupils’ character is typified by sixth-form students who act as excellent role models for other pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s ‘inclusion charter’, created by pupils, makes a very positive impact on day-to- day life. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated and pupils feel safe. Pupils benefit from an impressive range of opportunities that support their wider development, both within the curriculum and beyond. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other disadvantaged pupils play a full and active role in the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Cultivating pupils’ reading is a real strength of the school. Weaker readers get the right additional help to become more fluent and confident, supporting their learning across the curriculum. The school develops pupils’ enthusiasm for reading widely, fostered through activities such as regular reading sessions, debates, visits from authors and competitions. The ‘Highdown Canon’ is a selection of culturally rich texts that the school recommends to pupils and encourages them to read. The diversity represented in these books contributes very strongly to pupils’ cultural and spiritual understanding.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The majority of pupils achieve very well across a broad range of subjects in key stages 3 and 4, reflected in their examination results at the end of Year 11. This includes the rising proportions of pupils who study the suite of subjects at GCSE in the English 26 and 27 March 2024

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Baccalaureate. The school carefully constructs the ambitious curriculum to meet pupils’ different needs effectively, including vocational options for some pupils in key stage 4 and in the sixth form. Despite a slight dip in outcomes at the end of Year 13 in 2023, current sixth-form students are making very strong progress through the curriculum. When any necessary improvements in teaching or the curriculum are identified, the school takes the right actions to address them. Trustees oversee the school’s work highly effectively.

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Staff have high levels of expertise and subject knowledge. The school invests significantly in an impressive programme of training and development opportunities for staff, which they appreciate greatly. The school makes sure that these activities are rightly focused on ensuring that teaching and provision improve constantly. Therefore, the approaches that teachers select and use are often very effective in supporting pupils’ learning in many subjects across the school. However, there is some variability. This means that, at times, pupils’ understanding is not developed as deeply as it could be so that they achieve even more.

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Pupils with SEND are supported effectively to reach the high expectations that the school has of them. Staff identify their needs accurately and make sure precise adaptations are made in lessons, when necessary. Although the school is similarly ambitious for the relatively small proportions of other disadvantaged pupils, it rightly recognises that their achievement is not high enough overall, including in examinations. While there are many examples of staff supporting these pupils effectively, this is not consistently the case. The school is taking the right action to address this issue, which means that these pupils are increasingly learning more securely.

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Pupils work hard and concentrate well in lessons. They are motivated to succeed. Sixth- form students exemplify these studious and conscientious attitudes. Staff manage pupils’ behaviour effectively in fair and balanced ways. The school’s work to improve pupils’ attendance, where necessary, is strong. While a small minority of pupils behave less well, the school’s actions are swift and effective. Behaviour incidents are reducing, therefore. Rates of suspensions and exclusions are low, and sanctions are used appropriately.

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Provision for pupils’ wider development is excellent. Pupils have a very strong understanding of the school’s values of ‘aspiration, respect and excellence’, which have a tangible impact on the school’s ethos. Pupils’ talents and interests are nurtured effectively through the curriculum and also in the very wide range of additional activities that they participate in, including trips, clubs and learning from visiting groups and speakers. Pupils learn how to stay safe and keep mentally and physically healthy. They develop strong character traits for future life, including making very positive contributions to the community and learning about the wider world. The school supports pupils very effectively to move on to appropriate and ambitious further education or employment.

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Trustees make sure that the school engages well and regularly with staff. Staff are involved in the decision-making processes around any changes. The school’s ‘fair workload charter’ sets out its commitment to staff development and well-being, but also to only making changes that have a positive impact on pupils’ learning. Staff are extremely loyal and committed, and are very proud to work at the school. 26 and 27 March 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not adapt lessons consistently effectively to support disadvantaged pupils. These pupils, therefore, do not achieve as well as other pupils overall. The school should continue its work to refine and improve provision for disadvantaged pupils so that they reach the school’s high expectations and achieve well in examinations.  Teachers’ pedagogical choices do not always deepen pupils’ learning fully. Pupils do not achieve as highly as they could, therefore. Building on its successful processes for professional development, the school should support teachers to consistently select the approaches which have most impact on pupils’ achievement.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2015.

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How can I feedback my views?

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 feedback 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. 26 and 27 March 2024

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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). 26 and 27 March 2024

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,558

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form

Website http://www.highdown.reading.sch.uk

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Date of previous inspection 2 October 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A small minority of pupils currently access alternative provision. This provision comes from seven different providers, two of which are registered. All of these pupils are accessing alternative provision on a part-time basis for a limited period. Most of their education is on site at school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils at the school is below the national average.  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

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 26 and 27 March 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school 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, senior leaders and other leaders. They met with a wide range of staff and pupils. They considered the responses to parent, pupil and staff surveys.  A wide range of the school’s documentation was taken into consideration, including policies and the school’s action plan.  The lead inspector met with representatives of the trustees and scrutinised minutes of their meetings.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, geography and business studies. 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.

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 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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Inspection team

Matthew Haynes, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Ally Aldridge-Gibbons His Majesty’s Inspector 26 and 27 March 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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