Court Moor School

116412 Unique Reference Number Hampshire LEA LEA 279821 Inspection number 26 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 Inspection dates Martyn Rhowbotham Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Spring Woods School address Secondary Type of school Fleet Community School category GU52 7RY 11 to 16 Age range of pupils 01252615065 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01252624490 Fax number 1100 Number on roll Mrs Eileen Bishop Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Beverley Stevens Headteacher 17 January 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279821 26 April 2006 - 11 to 16 27 April 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and three Additional Inspectors

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Description of the school

Court Moor School is an 11-16 community school of about 1100 pupils. It is one of two mixed comprehensive schools serving the town of Fleet, Church Crookham and the surrounding urban area. The cost of housing in the area is expensive. Most pupils are white British. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is low at 2.7%. The number of pupils with English as an additional language is low. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs is also low. Attendance is well above the national average. The school is a specialist science college and has a strong and distinctive ethos central to which is the concept of 'Caring to Achieve'. The school's facilities are used in the evening by the local community for adult education and there is a nursery on the school site. The school is oversubscribed.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Court Moor School, 26 April 2006 to 27 April 2006

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Grade: 2

Inspectors agree with the school's evaluation that the overall effectiveness of the school is good. Students make very good progress in years 10 and 11. Their achievements in GCSEs are good and significantly above the national average. Students' progress in English in years 7 to 9, though now improving, is slow. Students' involve themselves enthusiastically in the life of the school and this results in them taking a pride in their school and they are keen to do well. Students' behaviour in lessons and around the school is very good. They are polite and courteous and they enjoy their education. The very good relationships between students and teachers create a positive environment that supports learning well. Teaching is good and lessons contain interesting and challenging activities to which students respond well. In a few lessons the more able are not challenged sufficiently. Students' literacy, numeracy and

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Grade: 2

information and communication technology (ICT) skills are not developed sufficiently in all lessons and there is some inconsistency in the setting and marking of homework. The curriculum meets the needs of pupils well and the additional sporting, artistic, cultural and personal development activities are successful and valued by students. The care, guidance and support provided in the school enable students to feel safe and to learn effectively. The school ethos of 'Caring to Achieve' is embedded well throughout the school as are the developments in the curriculum and teaching and learning resulting from the school's specialist status. The headteacher and school leaders have a very clear view of the school's strengths and weaknesses and of what needs to be done so as to ensure all students reach their full potential. The school's own evaluation of its performance is rigorous and self-critical. The school's capacity

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Grade: 2

to improve further is very good. This is shown by the rigour of self -evaluation, the improvements since the last inspection and the determination and effectiveness of the headteacher and other leaders to provide the best possible education for all students. The school provides good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

‡ Further improve standards of achievement in English by the end of Year 9 ‡ Further develop literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) in all subjects ‡ Improve consistency in the setting and marking of homework

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Grade: 2

Achievement and standards are good. Students start the school with standards that are above the national average. The school builds on these successfully. Students speak confidently about their work and make good progress in lessons and with their written work. Consequently, students' attainment in GCSE examinations is significantly better than the national average. In 2005 the proportion of students gaining 5 or more A* to C grades at GCSE was 76% and the percentage of students gaining 5 or more 2 Inspection Report: Court Moor School, 26 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 GCSEs at grades A* to G was 99%. The school is in the top 5% for achievements in GCSE English when compared to similar schools despite some underachievement in English by the end of Year 9. Value-added in years 7 to 9 is improving overall and in 2005 it was significantly above that expected in science but below that expected in English. Actions taken to improve progress in English in years 7 to 9 are becoming

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Grade: 2

effective. In years 10 and 11 students' progress is very good leading to their high achievements by the end of Year 11. For example, in GCSE biology, design and technology, English language and literature, history, information technology, mathematics and religious studies students' attainment is significantly higher than that achieved by schools nationally. There are very good arrangements for supporting pupils with learning difficulties and/ or disabilities who make good progress and reach challenging targets. The school meets most of its challenging targets.

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Grade: 1

Students' personal development and well-being are outstanding. Provision for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of students is excellent. Behaviour in lessons and around the school is very good. Students treat each other with consideration and respect and they enjoy their education. Older students support younger ones well. For example, Year 10 students mentor Year 7 students with their 'Learning Challenge ' and Year 11 prefects support Year 7 tutor groups. Some Year 11 prefects have volunteered for the role because they had valued the support from older pupils themselves. Attendance and punctuality are very good and reflect the positive attitudes of students. Relationships between teachers and students are very good. Students appreciate the range of activities provided by their teachers, such as the Year 8 camping trip to the New Forest. Students feel safe at school and are able to turn to an adult if they have

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Grade: 1

a problem. They are encouraged to lead healthy lifestyles, such as drinking plenty of water and eating healthily. The School Council has helped to ensure that healthy options are available in the canteen and these have proved very popular. Students feel that they have a voice which is listened to; some took part in the interview process for the headteacher whilst others are designing space in the school grounds. Students make many good contributions to the wider community. For example, Year 10 students recently organised a charity event to raise funds for the Anthony Nolan Trust. Students are well prepared for their future well-being. One student commented on the sense of community in the school and felt that it had helped her to 'develop so much as a person. ' 3 Inspection Report: Court Moor School, 26 April 2006 to 27 April 2006

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good. Teachers share good practice in teaching effectively. The majority of lessons are planned well by teachers and take into account students' individual learning needs. Most lessons contain a good range of challenging tasks and activities that students enjoy doing. They complete them to a high standard and make good progress. Relationships between teachers and students are very good, creating a very positive environment for learning. Most students are keen to do well and their attitude to learning is very good. In the good and outstanding lessons, all students have a thorough understanding of what they are going to learn and what they must do to achieve success. Teachers expectations of what students can achieve are high and students respond well. Teachers check learning and understanding frequently and students receive regular feedback on how well they are doing. Students respond well

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Grade: 2

to this, work hard, make good progress and achieve high standards. In a Year 11 physical education lesson, students worked extremely hard at both the practical and theoretical aspects of their work and made outstanding progress in the development of their knowledge and skills. In an outstanding mathematics lesson on sample space diagrams, students tackled very complex and challenging activities individually and in pairs. The teacher checked their learning and progress throughout the lesson, enabling all students to achieve well. Students carried out tasks with enthusiasm, taking responsibility for their own learning and progress. Information and communications technology is used well in the more effective lessons to support learning but this, and the development of literacy and numeracy skills in lessons, is not yet apparent in all subjects. In a minority of lessons, the more able students are not always challenged

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Grade: 2

sufficiently and a few students spend time chatting rather than completing their work. The setting and marking of homework is inconsistent across the school.

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Grade: 2

The school provides a good curriculum, offering academic and vocational courses to meet the needs of all its students. The school has forged good links with its partner primary schools as well as Farnborough College of Technology, where a group of students in Years 10 and 11 follow vocational courses, closely supported and monitored by the school. Efforts are made to accommodate the needs of all students, nearly all of whom continue in further education when they leave the school. The school recognises the importance of foreign languages and almost all students take a GCSE course in at least one modern foreign language. Work- related learning, including enterprise and personal financial awareness is part of the citizenship curriculum. This is taught by a team of specialist teachers and has been planned rigorously to ensure that students have the opportunity to evaluate their own progress. Provision for ICT

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Grade: 2

lessons has been improved since the last inspection and now exceeds statutory requirements. Provision for literacy, numeracy and ICT across the whole curriculum 4 Inspection Report: Court Moor School, 26 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 requires further development in order to improve students' application of these skills to other subjects. The school provides a range of additional sporting, artistic, cultural, personal development and academic activities which have a very positive impact on students. Many students take part in trips and visits which they enjoy and benefit tremendously from. The curriculum for gifted and talented students meets their needs well. Some effective curriculum development, enabling departments to share effective practice, has taken place as a result of the school's specialist status and more work is planned.

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Grade: 2

The quality of care, support and guidance is good across the school. Work with external partners is good and systems are well established and serve students very well. Students feel safe because the environment is well organised and the systems in place ensure their welfare. The school's motto 'Caring to Achieve' is embedded well in the ethos of the school and students care for each other well. Students say that bullying is rare, but when it does occur, it is dealt with rapidly and effectively by senior staff. Older student volunteers mentor and befriend younger students to guide and support them in their learning. There are appropriate child protection procedures in place which are understood by all staff. Risk assessments take place for activities such as trips and visits. Students with additional needs and difficulties feel well supported and appreciate the help that is given to them. There are valuable extra support classes after school

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Grade: 2

for Year 9 students including additional English and mathematics lessons. The monitoring of personal and academic progress is done very well in Years 9 to 11 and students are very aware of their performance and their targets and what they need to do to improve. The school has adapted these procedures effectively and extended them into Years 7 and 8. This is developing students' awareness of progress towards their personal goals.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The recently appointed headteacher has quickly established a very clear vision for the school. This is shared by a dedicated and very competent senior leadership team and by middle managers. The determination and effectiveness of the headteacher and other leaders to provide the best possible education for all students demonstrates clearly the school's good capacity to improve further. The school motto of 'Caring to Achieve ' is the foundation stone for much of the school's success. There is a clear focus on raising achievement in the context of a caring school. The school's procedures for evaluating strengths and weaknesses are very rigorous. Strategies to continue to raise achievement are in place and understood by all staff. Procedures for monitoring teaching and learning are good and accompanied by appropriate support and intervention for individual staff and departments. Very

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Grade: 2

good arrangements for sharing good practice within the school are having a significant impact on the quality of teaching and learning. Continuing professional development 5 Inspection Report: Court Moor School, 26 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 of all staff is very well organised and clearly linked to established school priorities. Systems for tracking the progress of students in Years 10 and 11 are well established and linked to clear target setting for pupils. This goes some way to explaining the very good progress made by these students. These systems are still developing for students in Years 7-9 but are beginning to steadily improve the progress made by these students. Financial planning is very good and efficient use is made of resources. The school provides good value for money. Governors are very well informed and understand the school's strengths and weaknesses. They are very supportive 'critical friends 'who

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Grade: 2

make a significant contribution to many aspects of school life. 6 Inspection Report: Court Moor School, 26 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 .

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Grade: 2

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 Inspection Report: Court Moor School, 26 April 2006 to 27 April 2006

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Inspection judgements

16-19 School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

NA 2 How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA NA The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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Personal development and well-being

NA 1 How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the learners? NA 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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The quality of provision

NA 2 How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of the learners' needs? NA 2 How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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The quality of provision

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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Leadership and management

NA 2 How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners? NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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Leadership and management

The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them The extent to which learners make a positive contribution Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the

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Leadership and management

wider community The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams Yes Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form Yes Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Students As you know, we recently inspected your school. You probably saw us around the school and we may have visited one of your lessons. Some of you came to meetings with us, where you were very good at telling us about your work and your progress. You also told us what you like about school and what you thought could be improved. You were very polite and helpful during the inspection and were particularly good at giving us directions when we got lost! We were impressed with your behaviour in lessons and around the school. Some of your parents or carers filled in confidential questionnaires which we took into account when reaching our judgements. You all made an important contribution to the inspection and we would like to thank you very much for that. The main strengths of the school are: ‡ the standards you achieve in most subjects and the progress you make in years 10 and 11‡ your very good attitude to learning and your enthusiasm

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

for school‡ your good behaviour in lessons and around the school‡ the additional activities such as sports, clubs and visits‡ the way you support and care for each other‡ the very good relationships you have with most teachers So as to improve further, the school needs to:‡ make sure you do as well as you can in English in Years 7, 8 and 9 and ensure that all lessons are as good as the best ones.‡ set homework more frequently in some subjects and make sure it is marked quickly‡ help you to develop your literacy, numeracy and ICT skills in all lessonsMrs. Stevens has some really good plans to achieve these things. You can help a great deal by keeping up your good attendance and continuing to behave well and work as hard as you can in all lessons. We wish you every success. Yours sincerely Martyn Rhowbotham Her Majesty's Inspector

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