Holly Lodge High School College of Science

Holly Lodge High School College of Science

Address: Holly Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands, B67 7JG Unique reference number (URN): 104018

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders' work to ensure that pupils attend school regularly is highly successful. They have created a school that pupils want to attend. The calm learning environment, together with the multitude of enrichment opportunities, has helped to achieve this. Attendance continues to improve for all pupils, including those who face barriers to learning. This is because leaders take time to understand the encouragement pupils need before they put appropriate support in place. Where required, the school works closely with families to support increased attendance. The school has been particularly successful in reducing persistent absence over time.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Alongside rising attendance and leaders' focus on all pupils and staff respecting each other, most pupils show a positive attitude towards learning and engage well. They arrive punctually to lessons. Staff are fair and consistent when dealing with any behaviour issues. Where pupils find it more difficult to meet expectations, leaders provide well-considered, targeted support. They adapt the behaviour approach as needed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The recent reduction in suspensions and school consequences reflects the improvements in pupils’ behaviour. Bullying incidents are rare, and the school takes effective action to respond to any reported incidents. Pupils feel safe. Staff take a caring approach, when pupils have any concerns.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Holly Lodge provides an extensive, well-considered and responsive personal development and wellbeing offer that leaders keep under constant review. In weekly personal development sessions, pupils consider issues, such as hate crime and misogyny linked to discussions about gender equality. Pupils gain extensive and age-appropriate knowledge of physical and mental health topics. For example, younger pupils learn about the dangers of alcohol, drugs, smoking and vaping, while older pupils learn about contraception and pregnancy. Pupils learn how to stay safe on and offline.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Relationships, sex and health education is age-appropriate and responsive to pupils’ needs. Pupils demonstrate a clear understanding of risk, consent and healthy relationships. Leaders ensure that learning remains relevant. They adapt content in response to emerging issues and pupil feedback. Pupils who face barriers to their learning benefit from targeted pastoral and practical support. This enables them to access the programme fully and ensures that it meets their individual needs.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils are highly knowledgeable about cultural diversity. They can articulate what it means to have a characteristic protected in law, listing race and gender as specific examples. All pupils are encouraged to have a voice in the school, for instance, by joining the school council as a form group representative. Mental health, diversity weeks and wide-ranging cultural events further promote the community ethos in school. Pupils speak positively about respecting each other and adults in the school. They gain a firm grasp of fundamental British values.

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Expected standard

The school's careers curriculum is planned with care to ensure that it meets the needs of pupils and the community. Pupils increasingly benefit from bespoke guidance and access to a broad range of employers and external agencies. Post-16 students receive extensive support with university applications. As a result, all pupils are extremely well prepared to take their next steps in education, employment, training or apprenticeships.

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Expected standard

Pupils and students in the sixth form take part in various sports, arts and languages clubs. They also appreciate the opportunity to visit outdoor education centres and places of historical interest to develop their knowledge of other cultures and environments.

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Post-16 provision Strong standard

The school offers a broad and ambitious range of academic and vocational courses within the sixth form. Teachers use their subject expertise to skilfully deliver the curriculum. They know their subjects in depth and make consistently purposeful teaching choices in order to promote students' learning and progress in their studies. For example, teachers systematically question students to probe their understanding of complex topics and support them to provide extended answers.

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Post-16 provision Strong standard

Students achieve increasingly well and above national averages in academic and vocational courses. In class, students produce impressive work and make thoughtful verbal contributions. They are committed to their learning and attend regularly. Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities also produce high-quality work and progress to aspirational destinations. Many students make use of the ‘ambition’ room to further study and deepen their skills and knowledge.

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Post-16 provision Strong standard

Students in the sixth form are integral to the wider community across the school. They are role models and display encouraging characteristics, which younger pupils see and speak about confidently. Many students are appointed as ‘young interpreters’ to support a range of pupils who speak English is an additional language. This helps pupils communicate well and feel part of the positive school community quickly.

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Post-16 provision Strong standard

The sixth form offers a wide range of wider opportunities, which include leadership roles within sports and the arts. Effective guidance from the careers team support students to make informed choices about higher education, apprenticeships and employment. This includes carefully matched work experience placements with local employers that help to foster student independence while developing their practical skills. Students leave the post- 16 provision well prepared for their next steps, with a clear sense of direction and the skills to thrive in their destinations.

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Achievement Expected standard

Many pupils join the school needing immediate support with literacy and numeracy. A very high proportion of pupils are disadvantaged, and many speak English as an additional language. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, benefit from consistent teaching and well-targeted support over time. This enables them to achieve well across most subjects. Pupils are well prepared for their next steps. Leaders continue to strengthen pupils’ reading and writing. Many pupils achieve in line with national averages at GCSE. In the few subjects where outcomes have been weaker, leaders take effective action so that current pupils progress well. Disadvantaged pupils steadily close knowledge gaps.

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Achievement Expected standard

In the sixth form, students build their understanding of complex ideas and produce work of a high quality. Many sixth-form students achieve above national averages in both academic and vocational qualifications over time. Regardless of their individual needs, students gain the knowledge they need to be successful. This includes students who are disadvantaged. The school’s destinations’ data shows that students are ably equipped for university, apprenticeships and a wide range of career paths.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders routinely monitor the curriculum well. They use this information to develop what to teach and to decide how best to teach it. The curriculum is broad and balanced. Pupils learn key knowledge across a wide range of subjects, including languages and humanities. Pupils can also study technical subjects. The curriculum sets out what pupils need to know to achieve leaders’ ambitious goals. Professional development for staff builds their subject knowledge to help to drive improvements in teaching.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teachers have the expertise they need and, typically, they explain new concepts clearly. On the whole, teachers give effective feedback to help pupils improve. Generally, teachers consider carefully which adjustments are required to enable pupils to access learning fully. Many teachers adjust and adapt the learning within lessons well. On occasion, some teachers do not adapt learning well enough to support pupils who need more help or to challenge pupils to deepen their knowledge.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The school continues to develop pupils’ foundational knowledge effectively. Where pupils join the school without the core literacy and numeracy skills that they need, leaders are swift to identify this and put actions in place. However, there is further work to ensure that standards in reading and writing are as high as they are in mathematics.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The school has a very high proportion of pupils, who are disadvantaged and who speak English is an additional language. Leaders have prioritised their work on inclusion effectively. Staff are also deeply committed to supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and those known to children's services. The school's approach to identifying pupils' individual needs is effective, including those who join mid- year. Leaders review pupils' progress through the curriculum regularly. They make appropriate adaptations to the support pupils receive.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The school's approach to supporting pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs is focused on building positive relationships. Staff have received appropriate and extensive training on this, which is helping to meet these pupils' needs and promote high aspirations. Targeted support in provisions, such as ‘CAP’, helps pupils to re-engage with their learning. Leaders work proactively with a range of professionals to ensure pupils' needs are met. Pupils with SEND who need individual support mix well with their peers across the school.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The school’s use of additional funding, including the pupil premium grant, is effective. Leaders have a thorough knowledge of their disadvantaged pupils and the barriers they face. The school uses research-based strategies and works closely with other providers to ensure it has the most effective support in place. Leaders’ actions have a positive impact on improving pupils’ attendance and attainment.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders, including those with responsibility for governance, know the school and wider community well. The interests of pupils and their families are at the forefront of every action taken in this school. Leaders expect every pupil to be known and treated as an individual. This means specific barriers to personal and academic growth of each pupil are well known. Consequently, the school meets the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. Barriers that disadvantaged pupils may face in accessing the school's ambitious cultural and academic offer are removed.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have effective processes in place to check the quality of provision. Staff at all levels now have the expertise to apply these processes as expected. As a result, leaders and staff generally have an accurate and realistic picture of the school’s strengths. Where further focus is needed, leaders enact well-considered actions. Governors have a clear oversight of the school and, generally, ensure leaders are held to account well.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff are proud to work in the school. They value the care and attention leaders and governors give to their workload and wellbeing. Leaders value the views and input of staff. Governors and leaders place high regard on the important role that staff play in the improvement journey of the school.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

An atmosphere of mutual respect fills this school. Pupils get along well with each other. They feel able to be themselves, secure in the knowledge that bullying is rare and swiftly resolved. Pupils behave, learn and conduct themselves in line with the school’s ethos of ‘ambition-opportunity-community’. They are extremely quick to do the right thing and rarely need to be reminded to follow the school's well-established routines.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are well known and well cared for by staff. This includes the school's higher-than- average proportion of pupils, who are disadvantaged and pupils who speak English as an additional language. Typically, leaders take effective action to reduce any barriers to learning that these pupils may face. This is particularly evident in the highly positive way in which pupils engage with school and the curriculum. The school's nurturing ethos helps all pupils to feel at ease. The majority of pupils attend school regularly. Pupils who spoke to inspectors said that they feel safe in school and happy to be here. Most pupils enjoy their learning. Many pupils arrive in school with low levels of literacy and numeracy. When they leave at the end of Year 11, pupils have made positive progress from their individual starting points. Students in the sixth form achieve very well. However, in some subjects, some pupils do not attain as well as they could in national examinations at

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

the end of key stage 4. Leaders know which areas of the curriculum need additional support and put effective actions in place to raise standards.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils relish the wide range of opportunities that are available beyond the classroom. For example, some pupils serve as duty monitors, supporting leaders with daily communications. Others act as student ambassadors, who contribute positively to the school community. These roles help build pupils’ confidence and resilience.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that all staff adapt their teaching and assessment consistently to enable pupils, including those who face barriers to their learning, to receive the effective support and challenge needed to deepen their knowledge and key skills. Leaders should ensure that all pupils secure the foundational knowledge they need, particularly in reading and writing, to successfully access and develop their learning across the curriculum.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Philip Wright.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

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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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other school leaders, staff and pupils. Inspectors also spoke with members of the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair of governors, and a representative of the local authority.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school currently makes use of 2 registered alternative provisions.

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Lead inspector:

Stuart Clarkson, His Majesty's Inspector

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Team inspectors:

Thomas Walton, Ofsted Inspector Clare Turner, Ofsted Inspector Ezran Little, Ofsted Inspector Sultanat Yunus, Ofsted Inspector Debbie Tremble, His Majesty's Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 19 May 2026

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England. Headteacher: Imran Iqbal National average: 1,154

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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English and maths GCSE

Percentage of pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Attainment 8

A measure of pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 42.1 46.1 Close to average

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Progress 8

How much progress pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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national average

2023/24 (final) -0.10 -0.03 Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) 0.19 -0.03 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 24.1% 25.8% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 19.5% 25.8% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) 25.5% 25.2% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 38.4 34.9 Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 36.7 34.6 Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) 38.1 35.0 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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national average

2023/24 (final) -0.44 -0.57 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Destinations after 16

Percentage of pupils staying in education or employment for at least 2 terms after the end of secondary school (key stage 4).

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A-level average point score

The average points that students achieved per A-level entry.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 32.82 35.00 Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 32.55 34.38 Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) 31.23 34.16 Close to average

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A-level value added

A score showing students’ progress between the end of key stage 4 and the end of their academic qualification studies.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 7.4% 8.4% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 9.6% 8.9% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 9.2% 9.0% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 24.3% 23.4% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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