Derby Moor Community Sports CollegeOfsted inspection, 13 Mar 2008

Derby Moor Community Sports College Inspection report

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112952 Unique Reference Number City of Derby LA Local Authority 311067 Inspection number 12 °13 March 2008 Inspection dates Dilip Kadodwala 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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Secondary Type of school Community School category 11 °19 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 1267 School 0 6th form The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Paul Hezelgrave Chair Ms Wendy Whelan Headteacher 11 October 2004 Date of previous school inspection Moorway Lane School address Littleover Derby Derbyshire DE23 2FS 01332 772 706 Telephone number 01332 777939 Fax number

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11-19 Age group 12 °13 March 2008 Inspection dates 311067 Inspection number .

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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 four Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is a larger than average school. Just under a half of the student population is of White British background, with other students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds including Pakistani (32%) and Indian heritages (13%). The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is higher than the national average. The school serves some areas of social and economic disadvantage and a greater than average proportion of students are eligible for free school meals. The proportion of students identified with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above average, although the proportion who have a statement of special educational needs is average. Attainment on entry is just below average, particularly in students' literacy skills. The school has had Specialist Status in sports since April 2004.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008

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Grade: 3

Derby Moor's overall effectiveness is satisfactory. It rightly aspires to be better and current performance indicates that it is an improving school. The quality of leadership and management is satisfactory. The strong leadership provided by the headteacher and the supportive senior management team is raising staff expectations. Good self-evaluation and the rigorous tracking of students' progress are leading to the removal of barriers to improvement. The effectiveness of the shared sixth form is outstanding because students have access to an excellent quality of provision that enables them to attain high standards. Achievement and standards are satisfactory. Achievement has been good but a combination of factors led to a dip in 2007, which was reflected in the disappointing GCSE results. Moreover, not enough students at the end of Year 9 gained the higher levels in national tests in English and mathematics. Standards in science have not been rising as quickly as they have in English

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Grade: 3

and mathematics. The dip in standards was anticipated because the school has effective monitoring and evaluation procedures. Robust action taken by senior leaders to arrest the decline has been effective, so that current students are making satisfactory progress. However, much remains to be done to raise standards to national averages, particularly in science, and to increase the proportion of students who attain five or more GCSE A*-C grades, including English and mathematics. The school's specialist targets in physical education are met, as are the readjusted whole school targets. Students' personal development and well-being, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, are good. The school's sports specialism makes a good impact on students' personal development because it helps to raise their self-esteem, nurtures team-working skills and engenders a spirit of collaboration. Around the school, students are courteous and friendly

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Grade: 3

and relationships between and within different ethnic groups are harmonious. A minority of parents, in response to the inspection questionnaire, raised concerns about students' behaviour but many more of them feel that behaviour is good. The school has reduced fixed term exclusions significantly. Robust monitoring of behaviour in lessons shows a similar trend in the declining rate of inappropriate behaviour in lessons. Students removed from lessons are reintegrated into learning successfully. The great majority of students attend regularly and enjoy learning. Students say they feel safe and many take part in health promoting activities. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Students' good or better learning reflects the good quality teaching that is becoming more evident. Wider dissemination of effective teaching, including teachers' diagnostic marking, is helping to improve learning further. The

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Grade: 3

best marking is very detailed and clearly tells students how to improve. Some inconsistencies remain in the use of assessment information to inform the next steps in learning and to ensure that tasks are matched to students' specific needs. There is also insufficient challenge when lessons are too teacher dominated and not enough use is made of group or independent work. Leadership at the middle management level is responding to the drive to improve the quality of teaching and learning further, but the impact is not yet fully evident. The curriculum and other activities are satisfactory. Senior leaders expect the 2008 examination results to show the impact of initiatives taken to enhance the curriculum, including the provision of vocational courses. Overall, the quality of care, support and guidance is satisfactory. Pastoral support is a strength of the school, a feature also acknowledged by external welfare agencies. Governance

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Grade: 3

is satisfactory. Governors are increasingly more adept at providing challenge to senior leaders for standards attained. A recovery plan to manage a financial deficit has another year to run 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008 before the budget is balanced. Progress on improving most of the issues identified in the last inspection has been good. The school has good capacity to improve. Much has been done over recent months and initiatives and procedures are now beginning to impact on standards.

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Grade: 1

The effectiveness of the shared sixth form is outstanding. Standards are high, with 100% of students gaining grades A-E at Advanced level in 2007. Thirty per cent of students attained a grade A, improving on 20% in 2006. Learners meet challenging targets. Retention rates are high, attributed to the excellent support given to students in Years 12 and 13. Students display very positive attitudes and are complimentary about the quality of education they receive. They are confident and articulate. There is an active year council which is influential in bringing about improvements to provision. Students are encouraged to contribute to the school community, for example by being 'millennium ambassadors' in assisting younger students. Links with local businesses contribute strongly to students' economic well-being. Teaching and learning are outstanding and account for the high standards. Students use independent learning

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Grade: 1

skills and regular assessment clearly indicates what they need to do to improve. Academic guidance is robust, and students feel supported through termly reviews which involve parents. An enrichment programme provides opportunity for extra-curricular activities and participation rates are high, as is students' enjoyment. Leadership and management are outstanding. Students are very well supported, both academically and personally, reflecting the excellent liaison between the shared leadership of the two providers and subject staff.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards further, particularly in science, by the end of Year 9 and increase the proportion of students who attain five or more GCSE A*-C grades, including English and mathematics. ■ Ensure that middle leadership is more effective in those curriculum areas where teaching is inconsistent. ■ Ensure that the financial recovery plan is successful in resolving the budget deficit.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

Students attain standards that are broadly average by the end of Year 9 and their progress is satisfactory. However, science results in national tests at the end of Year 9 have been below average over recent years. In 2007, the proportion of students who attained five or more GCSE passes at A*-C grades, including English and mathematics, was below average. The proportion who gained A*-G grades was above average. Current school tracking data indicates that the 2007 dip in standards is being tackled robustly. Students are now making satisfactory progress towards challenging targets set by senior leaders. Because of the many different kinds of support available to them, students who find learning more difficult and pupils with disabilities, make good progress. Students who speak English as an additional language also make good progress. Students from Indian and Pakistani heritages make similar progress to their White

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Grade for sixth form: 1

peers. 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008

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Grade for sixth form: 1

Students' regular attendance shows their good sense of enjoyment of school and learning. Lessons, assemblies, and visits are used well to promote students' spiritual and moral development. Students appreciate and celebrate the rich diversity of cultures and faiths within the school. Students behave well around the school and in lessons. Instances of inappropriate behaviour by a minority of students are dealt with effectively and this is reflected in the decline in reported incidents. There has also been a sharp decline in fixed term exclusions. Strategies for improving attendance are working well so that the attendance rate is slightly better than the national average. Students say they feel safe around the school. They are taught about how to be aware of dangers and how to look after themselves and others in, for instance science, technology and physical education lessons, as well as in the wider world. The school successfully

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Grade for sixth form: 1

promotes a health-conscious attitude among students, both in their awareness of the value of healthy eating and drinking and in sports and physical activities. Participation in these activities and in other enrichment programmes is good. Students make the most of varied opportunities to help within the school and the wider community. Students' development of workplace skills is satisfactory as far as the development of basic literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) skills are concerned. Students are very positive about the other aspects such as vocational skills, interview techniques, workplace expectations, or choosing their next steps forward in life.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

The monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning is well established and increasingly making a positive impact. In the most effective lessons, teachers are enthusiastic about their subject and use a wide range of teaching and learning strategies to support and engage students. The use of questioning is good because it probes students understanding and encourages them to give extended answers. The work is challenging and pace is brisk. Growing strengths in assessment include involving students in assessing their own learning and marking which helps students to improve their work. Where this is evident, students have a good knowledge of marking schemes and levels of achievement. Although better use is being made of assessment data to inform the next steps in learning, this practice is not yet fully embedded across all subjects. There are also some inconsistencies in the use of assessment to match work closely

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Grade for sixth form: 1

to students' needs. Occasionally, teachers accept students' unnecessary chatter for too long resulting in students not making fast enough progress in lessons. There is insufficient challenge for students where lessons are teacher dominated and do not involve students in learning sufficiently. 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008

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Grade for sixth form: 1

Students benefit from a broad and balanced curriculum which has been adjusted recently to take better account of the needs of individual students. This is raising aspirations, especially in Years 10 and 11, with the introduction of vocational courses. The school works well with other providers, including local businesses, to enhance work related learning. A comprehensive programme of personal, social, health and careers education also prepares students well for the world of work, but students' financial and enterprise capability is underdeveloped. Well thought out plans are being implemented to ensure that the statutory requirements for religious education in Years 10 and 11 for all students and provision for ICT are fully in place from September 2008. The school's specialist sports status has a positive impact, for example with the development of the sports young leaders' award. There is a wide range of extra-curricular

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Grade for sixth form: 1

activities and a good number of students participate and enjoy the provision.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

Students, particularly the most vulnerable, receive good personal care and support because the school works well with outside agencies and deploys learning and peer mentors effectively. This includes support for those students who find learning difficult or have disabilities and those who are at an early stage of speaking English. The safeguarding procedures within the school are robust and are used as an example of good practice for other local schools. The school's strategies for improving attendance, particularly those that affect families taking extended holidays during term time, are increasingly successful. The careful monitoring of exclusions ensures that gender and ethnic group inequality does not occur. Careers advice and guidance on future pathways is helpful with Year 9 engaging in a careers project before choosing their option subjects for Year 10. Academic guidance is satisfactory. Termly reviews with students

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Grade for sixth form: 1

and parents keep them informed of progress towards targets and teachers use these to mark students' work. However, the quality of teachers' comments and the guidance for improvement are too variable across subjects. They are not helping students quickly enough to enable them to make better progress in learning.

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Grade for sixth form: 1

The headteacher provides strong leadership, ably supported by the senior leadership team. They have made staff aware of high expectations and restructured management responsibilities to ensure greater accountability at all levels. Staff morale has been raised so that there is an established sense of common purpose. Self-evaluation is good because it accurately identifies strengths and areas for further improvement. A broad range of views, including those expressed by students and parents, informs self-evaluation and school improvement planning. The result of senior leaders' work is increasingly successful but the impact on standards attained by students and their achievement has not yet had time to develop fully. Leadership at middle 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008 management level is becoming more confident in using student performance data so that it

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Grade for sixth form: 1

informs teachers' planning and teaching. However, middle leadership is not yet fully effective across all curriculum areas because some inconsistencies remain in the quality of teaching. Governors have a good understanding of strengths and areas for improvement. Procedures for review and self-evaluation integrate governors' roles and they support the school well. However their role in holding the school to account is under developed. Currently, the school provides satisfactory value for money. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008 .

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Grade for sixth form: 1

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008

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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

1 3 How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? Yes Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection 1 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 1 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

1 3 How well do learners achieve? 1 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

1 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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well-being of the learners?

The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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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range of needs and interests of learners?

1 3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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range of needs 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. 10 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008

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achievement 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 leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 1 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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 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? 11 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

14 March 2008 Dear Students Inspection of Derby Moor Community Sports College, Derby, DE23 2FS Many thanks for helping us with the inspection of your school. We were impressed with your warm welcome and courtesy. We judged that your school is satisfactory and improving because the headteacher and senior leaders have a clear vision for making the school better. The action they are taking means that you are now making satisfactory progress and attain broadly average standards by the end of Year 9. However, standards in science are below average, as is the attainment of five or more good passes at GCSE, including English and mathematics. We judged the effectiveness of the sixth form to be outstanding. Teaching is satisfactory and a growing number of lessons are becoming good or better. There is close monitoring of your progress and the targets that are set for you are challenging. We have asked senior leaders to make sure they remove the barriers that stop you from making

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

faster progress. These include lessons where teachers do most of the talking without involving you more in learning and assessment. A small number of you distract others from learning and you can help by concentrating on tasks set for you. We think that your personal development and well-being are good. The school provides many opportunities for you to develop into mature young people. The school's sports specialism enables you to cooperate well with others and maintain healthy lifestyles through participation in the many sports activities which you say you enjoy very much. You play your part by attending regularly and behaving well in lessons and around the school. You appreciate the support and care provided by staff so that you feel safe. The curriculum meets most of your needs and the introduction of vocational courses is helping to widen the choices available for you to do well. The 2007 GCSE results were disappointing for a number of reasons which have been dealt with

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

effectively. We have asked senior leaders to work with you to ensure that standards rise in 2008 and beyond. With all best wishes for your future. Dilip Kadodwala Her Majesty's Inspector 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Derby Moor Community Sports College, 12 °13 March 2008

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