St Clement's High School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that the administration of documentation around safeguarding reflects the effective practice in the school, and that governors undertake more rigorous checks on the quality of this aspect of the school’s work.
• Continue to improve the quality of teaching and achievement, most notably in mathematics and science, especially for middle prior attainers, including those who are disadvantaged, so that progress is more rapid to raise pupils’ level of attainment.
• Increase the attendance, and reduce the persistent absence, of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, so that it is at least in line with the national average for all pupils.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders, governors and staff collectively have raised the quality of provision in the school since it opened in February 2014. The historic low performance, and poor pupil behaviour, of the predecessor school are in the past. Achievement, teaching, learning and behaviour are now securely good.
• The headteacher’s resolute commitment to the pupils in his community is acknowledged by many pupils and parents. He has focused on getting the basics right; improving the learning environment, ensuring his staff model core values of respect and courtesy, and raising the quality of teaching and learning. As a result, the school is a welcoming and vibrant place, where happy pupils are developing into caring young adults.
• The trust has been instrumental in the school’s improvement. The trust’s passion, and dedication to the school, is evident in its constant work to support leaders to raise standards. For example, recruitment remains a challenge for the school, but the trust’s executive headteacher works tenaciously with the other schools in the trust to see where mutual support can be provided. Consequently, although recruitment is a persistent issue, the trust provides the capacity that the school needs to continue to provide a broad curriculum.
• Leaders and trust advisers are rightly proud of the culture of ‘in house’ training among the academies in the trust. Middle and senior leaders are supported to ‘grow’ into new roles and positions. Subject leaders undertake cross-school moderation in preparation for the new GCSE syllabuses. Leadership at all levels is strong and improving.
• Leaders have created a curriculum which allows pupils to access breadth in their studies. Pupils achieve well in a variety of subjects. In particular, leaders have used the additional Year 7 catch-up funding to ensure that pupils who enter the school with lower standards of attainment begin to catch up with their classmates, especially in their basic literacy skills.
• Leaders and staff promote the importance of inclusion through the curriculum, and in their actions. Pupils are taught in lessons, and around the school, about what it is to be a caring and respectful citizen, and the importance of diversity in British society. As a result, people’s differences are recognised and celebrated at St Clement’s High School.
• Leaders have used the additional funding they receive for disadvantaged pupils effectively, to raise achievement and aspiration. Leaders use funds for basic equipment, small-group tuition and additional lessons. Leaders also provide additional financial support to disadvantaged pupils so they access educational trips, for example to Berlin to enhance their studies in history. Most disadvantaged pupils are now aspiring to achieve more in their future, and going on to post-16 destinations in education, training or employment.
• The knowledgeable leader for special educational needs is ensuring that funding is being used effectively constantly to review and revise the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Many parents commented positively about the support for their child’s needs. The leader is using reviews to develop even sharper guidance to staff about practical classroom strategies that would help pupils learn even more effectively.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the strengths and weaknesses in the school’s provision. Governors come from a range of professional backgrounds. They use their expertise to question school leaders about the effectiveness of their actions. The local governing body works collaboratively with the trust, and the senior team, to ensure that they have a good understanding of the work of leaders and staff in the school.
• Governors ask challenging questions of the senior team, especially about the achievement, attendance and behaviour of pupils. They visit the school regularly to liaise with their link department areas. Governors use the information that they gather on their visits to confirm the information that they receive from the senior team. They check on the effectiveness of the spending of the additional funding that they receive, and have identified that the middle-attaining disadvantaged pupils in mathematics are a key focus for 2016/17.
• Governors undertake routine reviews of the single central record of staff recruitment to ensure that the school is undertaking all of the statutory checks when recruiting staff. They participate in regular training so that they are clear on their responsibilities, and ensure that staff are having regular and updated training on child protection and safeguarding. They also ensure that an annual safeguarding audit is undertaken and act quickly on any issues identified as requiring improvement. On occasion, though, their checks on the administration of some of the safeguarding practice in the school are not precise enough.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The single central record of checks on staff is appropriate. Staff files are well maintained with the associated paperwork. The appointments of staff meet all statutory requirements.
• The work of the designated safeguarding leaders and pastoral team ensures that pupils receive timely, and effective, support from a range of different external and internal services where required, such as family liaison support work.
• Staff are well trained in the most up-to-date guidance, including ‘Prevent’, which focuses on preventing pupils becoming vulnerable to radicalisation and extremism. Staff make appropriate referrals to the designated safeguarding team, and feel confident to follow up their referrals if they remain concerned about a pupil’s well-being.
• Pupils are taught how to stay safe, both online and in the wider world. They access a number of lessons, such as citizenship, and assemblies, which give additional guidance about the dangers of sexting and child sexual exploitation. Pupils say that they feel safe, and that there are staff who they can go to when they are worried about things.
• Some of the administration around safeguarding does not reflect the effective practice in the school, for example the school’s safeguarding policy. Leaders acknowledge that checks of the school’s administration of some of its paperwork need to be more precise and routine.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Most teaching, learning and assessment is good, with some that is especially strong.
• Staff have worked with other schools in the trust on cross-school marking and moderation. This is helping teachers to quality assure and check that their judgements about pupils’ achievement are accurate and rigorous. Teachers use this understanding to give precise advice and guidance to pupils about how to improve their work.
• Most teachers use assessment information, and a thorough understanding of their subjects, to plan lessons over time that help pupils to build on their prior learning. For example, in a Year 10 geography lesson, pupils were asked to use their learning from the previous lessons and apply it to make a decision about the positives and negatives of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. This was particularly helping the most able pupils in the class to revise their knowledge and apply it to an examination question in the lead-up to a test.
• Teachers use questions effectively, encouraging pupils to explain their reasons for their answers. For example, in a Year 7 history lesson pupils were being asked to use an array of evidence to decide whether life in the middle ages was fun. The whole lesson was focused on pupils using their prior knowledge to answer this question, and make an overall judgement about an aspect of medieval life.
• Pupils are encouraged to read, both in lessons and out of school. The most able and least able pupils who read to inspectors did so with fluency and confidence. Small-group and one-to-one tuition is helping the least able pupils to gain basic skills in reading and comprehension. This is supporting their learning across the curriculum. In particular, the least able pupils are being supported to structure written work very effectively, especially in English and humanities. Consequently, the quality of extended written work is becoming increasingly effective for these pupils.
• Teachers plan effectively for the different needs of pupils in their lessons. For example, the communication between teaching assistants and teachers is ensuring that those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and less able pupils, receive timely intervention in lessons to ensure that they learn effectively.
• Teachers are using the school’s marking and feedback policy to give clear guidance to pupils about what they need to do in order to improve their work.
• Staff who are new to the profession are well supported. These staff appreciate the support that they receive to plan for pupils’ specific needs. They are confident in the guidance that they receive, to teach with increasing effectiveness.
• Some less effective teaching, in the rare instances where it exists, does not plan precisely or well enough for pupils’ different needs in lessons. Most notably, in some mathematics and science lessons, planning and activities are not secure enough in ensuring that pupils deepen their knowledge, or develop new skills quickly enough.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Many pupils and parents comment on the high-quality pastoral care provided at the school. Parents report particularly on the excellent communication from the pastoral team when they raise concerns, or need help or guidance. Pupils feel that staff are vigilant and dedicated to helping them. Pupils said that staff ‘go the extra mile’ to support their academic and personal needs.
• Year 7 pupils, and their parents, commented on the high-quality transition and induction that they receive when they first join the school. This is well-organised and systematic work with primary-aged pupils in the community and beyond. This is a real strength in the school’s provision and is ensuring that pupils are confident and happy to start at the school.
• Pupils are being given increasing opportunities to have a voice in the way that the school runs. A significant proportion of pupils are proactive members of the school council. This articulate and thoughtful group of young people meet with staff and leaders to represent the ideas of pupils in the school.
• Children looked after are happy and attend well. They are supported academically and socially, which ensures that they make friends and attend well. Their safeguarding and well-being is monitored effectively. Leaders have identified that further work to ensure that these pupils have an active voice in how their funding is allocated would further enhance this positive experience.
• While safeguarding is effective and pupils are safe, some of the administration around safeguarding is not as sharp or precise as it could be, and does not fully reflect the effective practice in the school. One example is the safeguarding policy and staff code of conduct, which does not always reflect the very specific and unique context of the school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Leaders have put extensive thought and effort into developing the site since it opened, to ensure that it provides a welcoming learning environment for pupils and visitors. Leaders have invested in much-needed redecoration. They also ensure that the celebrations of pupils’ work and achievements are regularly updated to reflect what pupils are currently achieving. The school is a vibrant place that welcomes pupils through its doors.
• The passion of leaders, staff and the trust is evident in both their work around the school and in the commentary from pupils. Pupils commented that ‘The best thing about this school is the staff; they make the school what it is.’ In particular, older pupils are glowing in their praise for the headteacher, and for the ‘transformation’ in the school since it opened, especially in behaviour and teaching.
• Staff promote positive relationships. Most pupils follow their example in the way they treat each other and staff in the school. Consequently, the school’s use of fixed-term exclusion and permanent exclusion is now reducing, as are the numbers of concerns about pupils’ behaviour within the school.
• Published information about the attendance and persistent absence of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities indicates that this is not yet at national average. Leaders, the trust and governors have made this a priority focus for 2016/17. There is clear evidence that the strategies employed by leaders are starting to have an impact on individual pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Results in 2015 and 2016 showed continued improvements in the quality of outcomes for pupils.
• In almost all year groups, pupils enter the school with levels of attainment that are significantly lower than those expected for their age. From this low starting point, pupils’ overall achievement in Year 11, in 2016, was broadly in line with the national average. Consequently, pupils made better overall progress at St Clement’s High School than did pupils nationally.
• In 2016, pupils achieved well in a range of subjects. In English and humanities pupils’ achievement overall was above the national average. Pupils also made rapid progress and achieved well in a number of non-core subjects such as art, photography and drama. Pupils’ overall progress in science and mathematics was broadly in line with the national average.
• In 2016, disadvantaged pupils in Year 11 made progress that was broadly in line with other pupils nationally from their various starting points. This is a clear improvement in the achievement of these pupils over time. However, in science, disadvantaged pupils’ progress was below the national average, especially for the very small numbers who were least able.
• The percentage of pupils who achieved a good pass in English and mathematics rose in 2015. This fell slightly in 2016, as a result of a dip in mathematics attainment. However, leaders have identified that the quality of teaching, and standards for middle prior attaining pupils, is an area for improvement, and features heavily in their current development planning and strategies.
• The progress of pupils who had special educational needs and/or disabilities, in 2016, was broadly in line with the national average. The numbers of pupils with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan are very small in each cohort, so it is not possible to report on their achievement without identifying individual pupils.
• The most able pupils make good progress and attain well, most notably in English, humanities, science and an array of non-core subjects. This means that their attainment is broadly in line with the national average for the most able pupils. There were no high prior attaining disadvantaged pupils in Year 11 in 2016 to report on. However, there are no discernible differences between the achievement of the very small proportion of high-attaining disadvantaged pupils currently in the school, and their classmates who started the school with similar attainment.
• Improvements in the achievement of pupils and in the quality of information, advice and guidance, are ensuring that pupils are securing better destinations for their post-16 provision. The numbers of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, who are accessing higher education, training or employment are rising, and likely to be above the national average.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140557 Norfolk 10023350 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Other secondary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 590 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Academy trust Ed Weightman Nigel Willingham 01553 828 648 www.stclementshigh.org.uk office@stclementshigh.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• This is a smaller than average school. The numbers on roll have been increasing year on year for the last three years, and it is nearly at full capacity.
• The school opened in February 2014 under the sponsorship of the West Norfolk Academies Trust (WNAT). The predecessor school was in special measures.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the additional funding (pupil premium) is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average.
• The school meets the current minimum government floor standards for achievement.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors undertook learning walks and observations in 25 lessons. Some of these lessons were observed jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors also visited a tutor time and an assembly. Inspectors also undertook a work scrutiny of pupils across the five year groups in a range of their subjects.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, executive headteacher/chief executive officer of the trust, a number of trust advisers, senior leaders, middle leaders, the chair of the trust, and the chair of the local governing body.
• Inspectors reviewed a range of school documentation, including that relating to safeguarding, site safety, achievement, attendance and behaviour.
• Inspectors reviewed 49 parental responses on Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents during the inspection, including the free text commentary. Inspectors also reviewed 16 pupil survey results, and 34 staff survey results. Inspectors also reviewed the school’s own surveys. Inspectors met with a number of pupils formally and spoke to pupils in lessons and around the school.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ arrival to the school, and their conduct at break and lunch, as well as between lessons.

Inspection team

Kim Pigram, lead inspector Carole Herman John Wilson Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector