The Petersfield School

Inspection of an outstanding school: The Petersfield School Cranford Road, Petersfield, Hampshire GU32 3LU

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Outcome

The Petersfield School continues to be an outstanding school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Mark Marande. This school is part of the Bohunt Education Trust (BET), which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Neil Strowger, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Ray Morton.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff feel proud to be a part of ‘Team TPS’. Pupils achieve very well academically and grow personally. In responding to our survey, parents praised the rounded education the school provides. One parent reflected the views of many by commenting, ‘our children come home happy and enthusiastic about their learning. The extra-curricular programme is excellent.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary, and it is extremely rare for lessons to be disrupted. Pupils enjoy their learning and respect their teachers. They understand that the school has extremely high expectations of what they should achieve, which motivates them to work hard. Pupils treat each other with kindness and respect. They are equally polite and friendly when interacting with adults in school. Individual differences are respected and celebrated, contributing to a welcoming and inclusive environment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from an exceptionally wide range of extra-curricular opportunities which helps them to develop their character and pursue their interests. This offer is incredibly diverse, including options such as rock climbing, scuba diving and horse riding. Rates of participation are excellent. All pupils benefit in some way from the extra-curricular offer, and many flourish as they discover and develop new skills and talents.

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

Working with colleagues across the trust, the school has put in place a highly ambitious curriculum. The proportion of pupils entered for the English Baccalaureate is high. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve excellent outcomes in these subjects. The achievement of a small number of pupils with low attendance had a negative impact on 21 and 22 May 2024

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the school’s overall progress measure in 2023. This is not reflective of the exceptional quality of education provided by the school. Impressive work to improve attendance has ensured that persistent absence and its impact on learning are minimised for current pupils.

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The school has set out clearly what they expect pupils to know and remember in each subject. This knowledge is sequenced coherently so that it builds over time. The curriculum is broad and goes beyond the expectations set out in the national curriculum. Teachers introduce pupils to relevant concepts and examples that they know will interest and engage them.

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A strength of this school is how well the curriculum and its delivery enables all pupils to succeed. The high-quality resources used by teachers are clear and accessible to all pupils. Teachers check what pupils are learning and use this information to adapt the curriculum. These approaches help all pupils, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to thrive at this school. In the 2023 published outcomes, pupils with SEND made more progress on average than other pupils in the school. Pupils who need additional support with reading or mathematics are identified as soon as they start at the school and highly effective interventions are put in place to help them catch up.

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Pupils benefit greatly from a thoughtfully constructed programme of personal, social, health and economic education. They learn in detail about topics such as British values, morality and healthy relationships. Pupils talk about these issues with maturity and compassion for others. They have a detailed understanding of the importance of equality and what this means in modern Britain. The school’s work in this area is reflected in the thoughtful way that pupils interact with each other. There is an excellent programme of careers education, information and guidance for all pupils.

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Leaders are fully committed to considering the well-being and workload of their staff. Teachers enjoy working here because they are trained and supported well. The school works as part of BET to provide teachers and support staff with valuable networking opportunities. Teachers particularly appreciate the trust’s shared work on curriculum which has helped to raise standards whilst making their workload more manageable. Governors and trustees challenge and support leaders as appropriate. They are extremely ambitious for the school’s future and share leaders’ passion for ensuring all pupils achieve well and enjoy their time at The Petersfield School.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 and 22 May 2024

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Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding. 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in November 2018.

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How can I feed back 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 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). 21 and 22 May 2024

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1390

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 31 October and 1 November 2018

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Bohunt Education Trust, which is a group of nine secondary schools in the south of England.  The school uses four alternative providers, two of which are unregistered.  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.  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 the school’s headteacher and other senior staff about their areas of responsibility. The lead inspector spoke with representatives of the board of trustees and the school’s local governing board. He also spoke with the trust’s CEO.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, science, history and music. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample 21 and 22 May 2024

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of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also discussed the implementation of the curriculum in some other subjects.  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 culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors took into account the views of staff, pupils and parents by considering responses to our surveys. In addition, inspectors spoke with a wide range of pupils and staff during the inspection. Inspectors observed pupils’ conduct and interactions during breaktimes and between lessons.

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Inspection team

Chris Ellison, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jo Brinkley His Majesty’s Inspector 21 and 22 May 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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