Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School

Inspection of Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School Chatham Street, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 7PS

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Inspection dates: 24 and 25 September 2025

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

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The headteacher of this school is Debra Liddicoat. This school is a single-academy trust, which means that the trust has responsibility for running the school. The headteacher is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust. It is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by John Waker. 24 and 25 September 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and successful at this caring and ambitious school. They work well together, listening and contributing thoughtfully in lessons and form time. Pupils display a sense of purpose and rise to the high aspirations that the school has for them. They attain well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils relish the challenges posed by their expert teachers. They have adapted swiftly to the mixed-sex form groups and lessons. Pupils support and encourage each other well, working confidently as individuals or in groups. Their respectful approach in lessons continues around the school towards each other and visitors. Although some need gentle reminders to wear their lanyards on the walk from one school site to another, they show responsibility and consideration for others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils take advantage of the wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer. From drama and music to sports and Combined Cadet Force and overseas trips, there is something for everyone. Pupils appreciate the range and variety.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the support the school provides for their children. Frequently, their comments speak of their children being ‘happy and thriving’, and many responses note that a culture of respect runs through the school.

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

The school has established an ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of pupils. All pupils follow the same curriculum in their mixed-sex classes and have settled well into this new organisation. There is clear ambition for all, but this is not realised as securely for disadvantaged pupils. Overall, these pupils do not routinely achieve the high outcomes that other pupils do at GCSE. While the school has started to address this issue, recognising that the lower attendance of this group is a factor, the intended impact is not yet realised.

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

Throughout the school, staff demonstrate their expertise in their subjects. Pupils recognise and appreciate the challenges posed. The recently introduced whole-school approach to help pupils recall and apply earlier learning to current topics is particularly successful. The school has also been successful in developing teachers’ learning techniques. For example, the methods of checking what pupils know and can remember support staff and pupils to recognise where some topics might need revisiting.

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

The ambition for pupils extends to their reading. While all pupils arrive at the school with secure reading fluency and confidence, the school provides additional support for those who need to grow their reading stamina. This ensures that pupils meet the expectations for reading across the curriculum. Alongside this, there is a culture of reading, and pupils discuss the varied books they read with enthusiasm. Sixth-form students who want to attain a higher grade for their GCSE English and/or mathematics are supported to do so successfully. 24 and 25 September 2025

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Pupils behave well, engaging with each other and their learning with care. Many report that the school is calmer now that classes are mixed. Inspectors found focused and respectful pupils across the school. The school’s work to improve attendance has been successful for most, particularly in the sixth form. However, there are still some sixth-form students who need to improve their punctuality. The school is aware of this and is addressing it.

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The work to support pupils’ personal development is well considered. It is matched to the needs of pupils and the local context. Pupils benefit from the rich activities to further their spiritual and moral understanding, particularly those linked to the local community and historical events that past pupils were involved with. Support for pupils’ careers information, education, advice and guidance is impressive. The school has designed relevant and useful personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education for sixth-form students, but restrictions in timetabling mean that some cannot access the full offer. Some of the sessions are not delivered to the quality that the school intends.

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Leaders have ensured that the change to the way that the school organises pupil groups has been achieved successfully. Staff are enthused by the support they have received with this and with the focus on developing their knowledge of learning strategies. This approach has carefully taken the workload and well-being of staff into account.

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Those responsible for governance have engaged very well with the external support they commissioned. They display a greater understanding of their role and the knowledge required to achieve this. There is a clear commitment to continue this journey of learning so that they can hold leaders to account and fulfil their statutory duties successfully.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Those responsible for governance are still on a journey of improvement. There remain gaps in their knowledge, and therefore in their effectiveness. They should continue the learning they have started so that they can fully hold leaders to account for school improvement and fulfil their duties effectively.  Pupils who are disadvantaged do not attend or achieve as well as other pupils. The school should ensure that all staff have the knowledge and skills needed to make the appropriate adaptations for pupils to help them attend routinely and to achieve highly.  The recent changes to provision for PSHE for students in the sixth form are not being implemented as leaders intend. This means that some students do not benefit fully from this important learning. The school should ensure that all students access the full PSHE offer routinely and that all staff deliver the sessions as intended. 24 and 25 September 2025

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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). 24 and 25 September 2025

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,388

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form

Dates of previous inspection 4 and 5 June 2025, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a single-academy trust.  The school uses one registered alternative provision.  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 inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a graded (section 5) inspection under the same Act. During a 24 and 25 September 2025

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graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (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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In accordance with section 13(4) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspection began on 24 September 2025 as a monitoring inspection. Having found that the school performance appeared to be improving, we deemed the inspection a graded (section 5) inspection. As a graded inspection requires more inspector time to complete than a monitoring inspection, three more team inspectors joined on the second day of inspection, 25 September 2025.  Inspectors met with leaders, including the headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the head of sixth form and other leaders. The lead inspector also met with trustees and governors.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, science, drama, religious studies and philosophy. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the

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curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the view 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 met with a range of staff and considered their views through the confidential staff survey.  Inspectors met with pupils formally and informally around the school, in lessons and at break and lunchtimes.  Inspectors took account of the views of parents and carers through the responses to Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Lucy English, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda Culling His Majesty’s Inspector 24 and 25 September 2025

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Paul Grundy His Majesty’s Inspector 24 and 25 September 2025

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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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