Towers School and Sixth Form Centre

Inspection of Towers School and Sixth Form Centre Faversham Road, Kennington, Ashford, Kent TN24 9AL

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Inspection dates: 15 and 16 October 2024

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Sixth-form provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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The headteacher of this school is Richard Billings. This school is part of Towers School Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Jasmine Turner. 15 and 16 October 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

A sense of community and belonging ensures that pupils feel safe and happy at this friendly school. Pupils speak highly of the care they receive from staff, who know them well. Pupils are proud to attend Towers School. Staff recognise when pupils try their best. Clear rules and routines ensure most pupils behave very well. Pupils respect each other’s right to learn. Disruption is rare, so pupils focus and are able to learn well in lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ wider development is a priority for the school. Pupils learn about the importance of citizenship during their personal development lessons, where they have rich, purposeful debates about topics such as anti-social behaviour. The impressive school council and Year 11 prefects are role models for their peers. They play a key role in ensuring that pupils understand the importance of democracy through pupil voice. Pupils develop new interests and talents by engaging with a wide range of enrichment opportunities, such as cheerleading and chess club.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A small number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not receive their entitlement to a full-time education for extended periods of time. The school does not routinely review how effectively part-time timetables or external alternative provision supports pupils to re-engage positively with education. This means these pupils do not get the swift and precise support they need, further disengaging them from education.

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

The school ensures pupils access a broad and balanced range of subjects. The curriculum carefully sequences important knowledge and skills, building on pupils’ existing understanding. Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They use this to explain ideas and concepts clearly. This helps pupils make sense of complex ideas. Teachers identify and swiftly address gaps in pupils’ memory. Consequently, most pupils can remember learning long-term. Pupils, including students in the sixth form, are achieving better in national examinations and assessments. In lessons, teachers insist that pupils learn and use the correct terminology in their work and discussions. Pupils learn to become confident and fluent at reading. Those who need support to read well, receive effective help by expert staff.

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

Sometimes, teaching does not focus sufficiently on pupils developing important learning skills, such as problem-solving and independent thinking. This means some pupils are not confident when applying their understanding to more abstract ideas and concepts. The school recognises this. Teachers receive regular training and coaching to develop teaching practice. However, not all staff apply this training consistently, limiting how well pupils develop the ability to think critically.

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

Typically, pupils with SEND are able to learn well alongside their peers. However, information about pupils’ specific SEND needs is not always sufficiently detailed or reflective of their current needs. This means that some pupils do not receive the learning adjustments that they need to help them learn as well as they could. 15 and 16 October 2024

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Too many pupils are regularly absent from school. They miss important learning and do not benefit from the school’s effective personal development provision. Staff provide targeted support for families to address barriers to regular attendance. There have been some incremental improvements in pupils’ attendance, including for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. However, the school must raise attendance expectations further by strengthening its partnership with pupils, families and professionals.

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Staff consistently manage behaviour very well. Most pupils follow the school rules and behave kindly towards each other. The ‘Rashford Centre’ provides thoughtful support for pupils who need help to follow the school’s clear expectations. This provision has reduced the school’s use of suspension as pupils learn to take responsibility for managing their own behaviour.

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The school ensures pupils are well prepared for life. Pupils benefit from a rich and engaging careers programme that instils them with a sense of ambition. Sixth-form students learn important study skills. Those students who need additional help receive targeted academic mentoring to help them overcome barriers to achieving well. Pupils speak highly of the family feel in school. Year 7 pupils are well supported by Year 11 prefects, who guide them successfully through their first year of secondary school life. Towers School is ‘alive with the arts’. Alongside a very well-developed ‘Performing Arts’ curriculum, a vast offer of extra-curricular opportunities, such as trips to the theatre, enriches pupils’ cultural capital. The school focus on making these opportunities accessible for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.

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The school is well intentioned when using alternative provision or part-time timetables when needed. However, processes to review the impact of this support lack rigour and clear oversight. The school and trustees must take urgent action to improve how they evaluate the effectiveness of these provisions.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school does not systematically check how well part-time timetables and alternative provision help pupils to engage positively with education. Pupils who would benefit from additional support do not always receive the targeted help they need swiftly enough. Consequently, these pupils do not receive their entitlement to a full-time effective education for extended periods of time. This puts these pupils at risk from further disengagement from education. The school and trustees must urgently review how they monitor and evaluate the use of part-time timetables and alternative 15 and 16 October 2024

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provision to ensure pupils receive the swift help and support that they need to access suitable full-time education.  Staff do not always have access to the most up-to-date and accurate information about the needs of pupils with SEND. This means that some pupils with SEND do not get the precise support they need to help them learn. The school should ensure that staff are suitably aware of the needs of pupils with SEND so that they can adapt learning to help pupils with SEND access the curriculum.  In some lessons, teachers do not challenge pupils sufficiently to help them think deeply when solving problems or thinking critically. This means that some pupils struggle to apply learning to new ideas and concepts independently. The school must ensure that staff use their training to recognise when to remove support so that pupils learn with increased independence and automaticity.  A small number of pupils are persistently absent from school. They miss out on

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essential learning, which potentially has a negative impact on their education and wider development. The school should further strengthen its work with pupils, families and professionals to overcome barriers to regular attendance.

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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). 15 and 16 October 2024

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,558

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form

Dates of previous inspection 22 and 23 January 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Towers School Academy Trust.  The school uses one registered and two unregistered providers of alternative provision for a small number of pupils. It also provides The Rashford Centre, an on-site alternative provision for a small number of pupils at risk of suspension and exclusion.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information 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. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements 15 and 16 October 2024

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(quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 with senior leaders, staff and pupils. The lead inspector also met with the representatives from the board of trustees, including the chair of trustees.  An inspector visited a small number of pupils who were attending an off-site alternative provider of education. The inspector met with pupils, visited lessons, looked at pupils work and spoke to staff and leaders at the alternative provision.  The inspection team carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, performing arts (including drama, music and dance), modern foreign languages, science and business studies. They discussed the curriculum with subject leaders,

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teachers and pupils, visited lessons and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also looked at other aspects of the school’s curriculum, visited additional lessons and looked at further samples of pupils work on the second day.  Inspectors considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire, including the free-text comments. They also took account of the responses to the confidential staff survey and gathered the views of staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  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.  Inspectors reviewed and scrutinised a range of the school’s documents, including leaders’ plans for improving the school, minutes of trustee meetings, and records of

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Inspection team

Michelle Payne, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Debbie Brake Ofsted Inspector 15 and 16 October 2024

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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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