St Andrew's CofE High School

Inspection Report St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys

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126094 Unique Reference Number West Sussex Local Authority 293469 Inspection number 17 °18 January 2007 Inspection dates David Butler HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Sackville Road School address Comprehensive Type of school Worthing Voluntary aided School category BN14 8BG 12 °16 Age range of pupils 01903 820676 Telephone number Boys Gender of pupils 01903 231880 Fax number 721 Number on roll (school) L Evans Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Steve Jewell Headteacher 21 May 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 293469 17 °18 January 2007 12°16 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

St Andrew's is a smaller than average comprehensive school that draws most of its students from Worthing or nearby coastal towns. The number of students on roll has increased by about one third since the last inspection. Over 95% of students are of White British heritage. The proportion of students with learning difficulties or disabilities is similar to the national average. The school was designated as a specialist school for humanities in September 2005.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007

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Grade: 2

St Andrew's is a good school that provides a broad and balanced education for its students and cares for them well. The school has a very positive ethos that reflects its Christian values. Students are proud of their school, enjoy their education and have very positive attitudes to learning. They make good progress because they are taught well and receive very effective care, guidance and support. The school knows its students well and places a strong emphasis on meeting their individual needs. Students with learning difficulties or disabilities and those in public care make good progress. Equally, gifted and talented students are well catered for through enhanced curriculum provision and additional support. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and the great majority feel it is doing a good job. Students generally achieve well by the time they leave school. Standards, as reflected by GCSE results, are close to national averages. However, the proportion of students

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Grade: 2

attaining an A* to C grade in both English and mathematics is below what it should be. This is mainly because teachers' expectations of middle attaining students are not always high enough in these subjects. Teaching elsewhere is generally good but variation in the quality of marking means that some students are not always sufficiently clear about what they need to do to improve their work. Students' personal development is very strong. Their behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. They care for and respect each other and enjoy good relationships with their teachers. Students play a very active part in the running of the school through the student council and the 'make learning better' team. They make an important contribution to the local and wider community, for example through charity work. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The curriculum, including an excellent provision of lunchtime and after-school activities, strongly

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Grade: 2

underpins the development of healthy and safe lifestyles. Students are adequately prepared for employment, training or further education. The school is led and managed well. Governors provide good support and meet their statutory duties. The school makes effective and efficient use of its resources and provides good value for money. The additional funding for the school's specialism has been used to enhance provision in humanities but the specialism has not yet made sufficient impact across the school as a whole. Good progress has been made on most of the areas identified for improvement at the last inspection, demonstrating that managers and governors have good capacity to bring about further improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve teaching and learning in English and mathematics at Key Stage 4, particularly for middle attaining students, so that more students attain higher grades in GCSE. • Ensure marking is of a consistently high quality so that students are clear about what they need to do to improve their work. 2 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007 • Make more effective use of the humanities specialism to raise standards and achievement across the school.

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Grade: 2

Students achieve well in national tests and examinations. Students with learning difficulties or disabilities and those in public care make good progress, reflecting the high quality of support they receive. Students join the school with standards that are broadly average. They make good progress in the first two years at school and attain test results at the end of Year 9 that are above average. Progress in Years 10 and 11 is good in most subjects but there is underachievement by some middle attaining students in mathematics and English. GCSE results have improved significantly since the last inspection and in 2005 were similar to national figures. This represents good achievement in relation to students' prior attainment. Further improvements in GCSE results in 2006 continue this trend. However, the proportion of students attaining the higher A* to C grades in both English and mathematics is below what it should be.

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Grade: 2

The school recognises this and has given additional support to these departments. Data presented by the school indicate that results in GCSE English and mathematics by students currently in Year 11 are likely to show an improvement on those achieved in 2006. Lesson observations in English and mathematics confirmed that students are making at least satisfactory progress in Years 10 and 11.

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Grade: 2

Students' personal development and well-being are good. Behaviour is good in most lessons and in the open areas of the school. Lessons are occasionally disrupted by a few students, particularly when they are set tasks that do not engage them sufficiently. Most students greatly enjoy school. They attend regularly, develop warm relationships with each other and with staff, and feel safe in the buildings and playgrounds. Incidents of bullying and racism are rare, and are quickly resolved when they are made known to senior staff. The most recent data show a substantial fall in the number of fixed term exclusions, which had been relatively high in the previous academic year. Students make a full contribution to school life. The head boy and a small team of Year 11 students, elected by their peers, carry out their specific responsibilities, including leadership of the school council, well. All year groups are represented on

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Grade: 2

the council, which meets weekly, discusses a wide range of issues, and has been influential in bringing about improvements. The 'make learning better' team, open to all students, is beginning to influence the quality of teaching and learning. Team members are trained in evaluating lessons and mentoring students with specific difficulties. They have designed and introduced a computer program simplifying the system of teachers' awards for students' work and effort. Additionally, in Year 10, members of the student welfare team are trained as 'assistant tutors', offering wide-ranging support to students new to the school. 3 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007 Students are outstandingly keen to adopt healthy lifestyles. Many select healthy luncheon options in the canteen; some 30% cycle to school each day, and a significant number are involved in the wide range of lunchtime and after-school sports clubs.

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Grade: 2

Students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They confidently discuss moral and social issues, and are often reflective about events in the community and the wider world. Their cultural development benefits significantly from language studies and a wide variety of educational visits at home and abroad. Later this year, a group of Year 11 students will visit a school in Kenya, radically advancing a long-term relationship aimed at benefiting students in both schools. Students make an excellent contribution to the local community, through supporting town events and local and national charities. They are adequately prepared for further education and employment but they have limited opportunities to develop their enterprise skills.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning is good, enabling students to make good progress. Teachers' subject knowledge is a strength. Lessons are well planned and generally involve tasks that are appropriately matched to the needs of learners. The learning outcomes students are expected to achieve are generally made clear at the start of lessons, although some could be presented in more easily understandable language. Some particularly good teaching uses a variety of strategies to engage and maintain the interest of students, including the skilful use of questioning to consolidate and extend students' understanding of ideas. Some teaching also makes effective use of information and communication technology to enhance presentations and actively engage students. Teaching is less successful where expectations are not high enough, with students being set tasks that are insufficiently demanding, or where there is too

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Grade: 2

little variety in the activities to maintain interest and motivation. Regular assessment provides information that generally helps set targets for students. Marking of their work, however, varies too much. Some is of high quality but too much does not provide students with guidance on what they need to do next to improve.

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Grade: 2

The school provides a good curriculum that meets the needs of the great majority of students. A wide range of options is offered in Years 10 and 11. The school's specialist designation has had a positive impact on the numbers of students taking courses in humanities subjects. The vocational aspect of the curriculum has been strengthened and alternative curriculum arrangements are offered to those who find academic work particularly challenging. The increased flexibility programme enables students to link work at school with courses at local colleges. These courses are proving popular and are helping to improve attendance and motivation. The school offers challenge for 4 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007 more able students, for example though additional courses and early entry to examinations. Enterprise education is provided for all students through an enterprise

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Grade: 2

week, but the school recognises that it could make this a more worthwhile experience to develop students' knowledge and skills for future employment. There is a well organised programme of work experience in Year 11 but other links with employers to enhance the curriculum are less well developed. The programme of enrichment activities is of high quality providing students with opportunities to engage in a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and visits. The take-up of these opportunities is very good.

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Grade: 2

Many parents and students regard the provision of good quality care and support as one of the most important factors in making St Andrew's their first choice and rightly view it as a major strength in the school. Procedures for child protection fully meet legal requirements and staff are alert to symptoms of distress. The school has good systems for countering bullying and other forms of harassment. Form tutors develop good relationships with students and are seen as the initial source of advice about social, academic or personal difficulties. Very good support is provided for students with learning difficulties or disabilities and for students in public care. Effective induction procedures help Year 8 students settle in quickly and the pastoral system provides very good support for all students when needs arise. Students play an active part in ensuring the care and well-being of fellow students. Good advice and

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Grade: 2

guidance helps students choose their options for Year 10 and make informed decisions about further education, training and employment. Over 90% of students go on to full-time further education. The school tracks students' academic progress rigorously and senior staff monitor those who are underachieving regularly and provide them with additional support. Good use is made of data to set targets but students are not always clear about what they need to do to meet these. Parents and carers feel they are kept well informed about students' academic progress and personal development through written reports, consultation evenings and informal contact.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher and senior managers provide good leadership and management. They have a good understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses based on an analysis of data, observations of lessons, the views of parents and students and external evaluations by the local authority and other agencies. The good quality development plan gives priority to raising standards and improving the quality of care for all students. Senior managers provide a clear sense of direction and give effective support to middle managers, as well as making appropriate interventions where necessary. Governors provide very good support. Their detailed knowledge of the school, based on visits 5 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007 and their contact with students and their parents, enables them to identify areas for improvement and to ask challenging questions about how well the school is performing.

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Grade: 2

Heads of subjects generally manage their departments well but there is variation in how effectively they use assessment information to help students improve their work. The school works effectively with parents, welfare services and the local authority to support students. The great majority of parents feel well informed about what is going on in the school and that their views are taken into account on important decisions. The school runs smoothly from day to day. Buildings are maintained to a high standard and there are excellent facilities for sport, including the recent addition of a large all-weather pitch, developed in partnership with a local hockey club. The extra funding for the school's specialist designation for humanities has been used to enhance the provision in geography, history and religious education and take-up of these subjects is good. Support has also been provided for humanities in other local

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Grade: 2

schools. However, the specialism does not have a sufficiently high profile in helping to bring about improvement in subjects outside of the humanities or in other aspects of the school's work. Managers at all levels have been successful in bringing about improvements since the last inspection. National test and GCSE results have improved, the curriculum has been developed to better meet the needs of all students, more rigorous systems for tracking and monitoring the progress of students have been introduced and the school has been successful in gaining specialist status for the humanities. Managers have good capacity to bring about further improvement. 6 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007 .

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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: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 8 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 9 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

On behalf of the inspectors who visited your school recently, I should like to thank you for the warm and friendly welcome you gave us and for helping us with the inspection. Many of you told us that you are proud of your school and feel it provides a good standard of education and that it cares for you well. We agree with these views. Most of you make good progress in your work because you have good attitudes to learning and you are taught well. Some of the other things we particularly liked about your school were: • your enjoyment of education and involvement in the life of the school, including supporting each other • your personal development, including leading safe and healthy lifestyles and your spiritual, moral, social and cultural development • the care, guidance and support you are provided with to help you achieve as well as you can • the behaviour of the great majority of you in lessons and around the school

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• the way you contribute to the local and wider community, for example through your charity work • the way your school is managed and works in partnership with others to ensure you receive the best possible education and care. We have asked the school to make some improvements. Teaching in English and mathematics needs to be better in Years 10 and 11 so that more of you gain A* to C grades in GCSE. The marking of your work needs to ensure that you are clear about what you need to do to improve. We feel the extra funding for the school's specialist status for humanities needs to be used more effectively to bring about improvements across the school. We are confident that the headteacher, staff and governors have the skills to make your school even better in the future and hope you will play your part in this. Thank you again for contributing to the inspection and we wish you every success for the future.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

10 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE High School for Boys, 17 °18 January 2007

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