Chadwick High School Ofsted Report

Full report

In accordance with section 13(4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching to at least good so that different groups of pupils make stronger gains in their learning across the curriculum by ensuring that:
  • pupils have more opportunities to develop their reading and writing skills both in English lessons and across the curriculum
  • teachers review how they deploy teaching assistants, so that these adults are able to make a greater contribution to pupils’ learning
  • teachers plan lessons which enthuse and engage pupils
  • teachers plan lessons which build on pupils’ prior learning, tackle gaps in their skills and knowledge and help them to make strong progress
  • teachers plan lessons which stretch the most able pupils and challenge them to achieve more
  • staff receive appropriate quality training to further improve their practice, including opportunities to learn from existing strong practice in the school
  • new pupils are given the support they need so that they do not disrupt the learning of their peers when they join classes.
• Improve leadership and management by:
  • developing the role of middle leaders so that they have a greater responsibility for improving teaching and learning
  • sharing responsibility for improvement more evenly across the school
  • continuing to develop feedback to teachers, following checks in the classroom, to help them improve their practice
  • making sure that the new governors use the wealth of information available to them to secure a deeper and more accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses
  • the new governing body working more collaboratively with senior leaders to set the strategic direction for the school
  • strengthening monitoring of the school’s improvement plan so that governors and senior leaders make sure that those responsible carry out the agreed actions within the given timescales to ensure that pupil performance improves
  • ensuring that the newly formed pastoral team take urgent action to improve attendance further and reduce persistent absence so that no groups are disadvantaged by poor attendance
  • refining the school’s assessment and tracking system so that progress is broken down into smaller steps so that leaders can keep a close eye on progress of all groups of pupils, including the most able, disadvantaged and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, across the school and identify any emerging patterns and trends earlier
  • making sure that those pupils who are ready are given more opportunities to take responsibility for their own behaviour so that they can learn to self-regulate more successfully
  • carrying out more frequent checks on the impact of the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management can be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders and governors have an overly rosy view of the school’s performance. They understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses but have allowed the school’s considerable progress since the previous inspection to inflate their judgement about how well the school is performing.
• The school’s local authority adviser carried out the pupil premium review shortly after the previous inspection. Although the school did take on board the advice given at the time, the new link governor and member of staff responsible for pupil premium are not aware of the review and its recommendations. The school has developed a strategy for allocating this additional funding which is helping those disadvantaged pupils who need additional help to catch up and keep up with their learning. However, the lead is not checking up frequently enough on these pupils to nip any emerging issues in the bud nor making sure that the school’s most able disadvantaged pupils are making the progress that they are capable of.
• The school makes sure that it takes time to assess pupils on admission. The school works well with other professionals to identify any undiagnosed special educational needs. Senior leaders work well with the local authority’s special educational needs team to gather information quickly so that pupils receive the specialist support that they need to be successful. A number of the pupils move on to local special schools. The school is responding to the increasing numbers of pupils with additional needs, including autistic spectrum conditions and attachment disorders, through specialist training for staff. However, the special educational needs coordinator does not pay sufficient heed to the academic progress of these pupils during their time at Chadwick, to ensure that they are catching up quickly from their different starting points.
• The school makes sure that teachers’ performance is evaluated regularly through lesson observations, work scrutinies and pupils’ performance data. The headteacher works with external colleagues to carry out these activities as part of her own professional development. However, despite standards improving since the previous inspection, there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching across the school. These inconsistencies are leading to variations in pupils’ performance across the curriculum.
• The headteacher has been the main driver for school improvement. She has taken it on herself to develop and implement the school improvement plan. Middle leaders are starting to step up to the mark but do not yet have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, nor are they being held to account for the impact of their actions on pupils’ performance.
• The school has taken action to put an assessment and tracking system in place. This system is still under development. Teachers make sure that they provide assessment data on a half-termly basis but the assessment bands are wide so that it is difficult to evaluate small steps of progress over time. Moreover, leaders are not yet using the information to inform discussions with middle leaders and teachers. However, interventions are put in place for those pupils who need additional help. In art each band has been broken down into smaller steps and so is producing some useful information for both teachers and leaders.
• Individual subject teachers help prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. For example, the school encouraged pupils’ interest in last year’s referendum. Teachers provided opportunities for pupils to find out about the European Union and what it does. Moreover, pupils looked at how different newspapers reported the implications of Britain leaving the European Union and their potential influence on voters. The school has developed plans to join up the different aspects of pupils’ personal development from September.
• Since the headteacher took up post, she has worked tirelessly to make the changes needed to improve the school. She has not shied away from the enormous challenges she has faced over the past two years. She has provided strong, determined leadership which has left no-one in any doubt about the standards she expects.
• The headteacher has brought a breath of fresh air to Chadwick. She has made sweeping changes to staffing and a number of staff have moved on. The headteacher has filled these vacant posts with enthusiastic teachers who share her high aspirations for pupils. She has reviewed the roles and responsibilities of senior staff to capitalise on their skills and experience.
• The school has considerable success in re-engaging pupils who have failed in other schools. The school rebuilds pupils’ trust in teachers and other adults who work in schools. Staff provide pupils with the support they need to overcome personal challenges so that pupils have a second chance to succeed in education. Many pupils are able to reflect on their behaviour in their previous schools and consider the impact that it had on others. Pupils and their families appreciate the positive difference that Chadwick makes to their lives.
• The senior leaders have transformed the school’s curriculum offer. The headteacher has made some strong appointments to the teaching team who have brought a wealth of subject expertise and enthusiasm. At key stage 3 pupils study a broad range of subjects, following the national curriculum now. The new teachers are helping to develop the school’s curriculum offer in key stage 4 as well. Consequently, pupils are able to study for a range of different qualifications which stand them in good stead for their next steps.
• The headteacher ensures that staff participate in weekly in-house training. Following the previous inspection this focused on safeguarding, but now other leaders, including the special educational needs coordinator, have contributed to the programme. A number of subject teachers attend local network meetings, take part in external moderation sessions and attend examination board briefings to hone their skills. This training is helping staff to hone their skills and keep up to date with educational developments.
• The school works well with children’s social care colleagues and parents and carers to support children looked after. Leaders make sure that they monitor the attendance of these pupils closely and work with carers and families to overcome any barriers. Despite some challenges in planning next steps for some of this group, the school are undeterred in making sure that they have appropriate destinations to move onto. The school’s pastoral team offer comprehensive support to this vulnerable group, making sure that additional funding for these pupils is spent wisely.
• Pupils are encouraged to consider the challenges faced by others. For example, older pupils visited a museum to find out about historical and contemporary slavery. Pupils organise and take part in a wealth of charity fundraising events. As part of The Prince’s Trust programme, some pupils held a bingo night for their friends and families. Other pupils worked together, in the gymnasium, to compete a sponsored ‘row to Ireland’, encouraged by the PE teachers.

Governance of the school

• Following the previous inspection, the membership of the governing body has changed completely. A new chair and vice-chair have taken up post. New members have been appointed who have the skills, experience and expertise to provide effective strategic leadership for the school. This new team are starting to work together to provide support and challenge to the school’s leaders. However, it is early days. At this time, governors do not have a sufficiently secure understanding of the school’s performance. Moreover, they are not involved fully in setting the school’s priorities or monitoring the school’s progress against its agreed actions.
• The previous governors did commission an external review of governance. However, most of the changes to the governing body occurred after publication of the report so many of the findings are now irrelevant.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders ensure that rigorous checks are carried out on all staff to make sure that they are suitable to work with children. A number of senior leaders and governors have attended safer recruitment training. The bursar makes sure that the school’s single central record of staff complies with requirements.
• Leaders make sure that staff keep up to date with their training. Staff are vigilant. They follow up meticulously on any concerns, making sure that these are reported to the designated safeguarding lead. The school works well with external partners to provide pupils and their families with the support that they need. Pupils can identify adults at the school whom they can talk to if they have any worries. Pupils are adamant that there is no bullying at the school. They are confident that any rare incidents would be dealt with effectively by staff. Pupils appreciate the school’s work to help them keep themselves safe. Pupils feel safe and well cared for.
• The headteacher has reviewed the school’s use of alternative providers and now employs a smaller number of higher-quality alternative providers. The school carries out regular checks on these providers to make sure that they comply with statutory requirements so that pupils are kept safe at all times.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching is inconsistent across the school. There are some subjects where the quality of teaching is exemplary, such as art. In one example, pupils painting in the style of the abstract artist Luiza Vizoli were able to talk clearly about how they could make progress against a clearly set out framework. Pupils, proud of their achievements, spoke enthusiastically to inspectors about their art and design lessons.
• In some lessons, teachers and other adults provide very high levels of support to pupils, to the detriment of pupils’ learning. For example, in English pupils have too few opportunities to develop their reading and writing skills. In mathematics, on the other hand, teachers present challenging tasks based on real-life situations which hook pupils into learning and make them think hard.
• Some pupils’ poor rates of attendance have a negative impact on their learning. Frequent missed lessons mean that pupils lose momentum with their studies, making it hard to pick up from where they were at.
• A minority of teachers set tasks that are not sufficiently challenging for pupils, including for the most able. These teachers do not demand enough of their classes, consequently the pace of learning in these lessons is too slow. In most subjects, by contrast, teachers use their strong subject knowledge to plan well-considered lessons which help pupils to take huge strides in their learning, filling gaps in their learning and making up ground lost prior to joining Chadwick.
• In some lessons pupils lose focus. In these lessons, teachers do not plan tasks which engage and enthuse pupils and encourage them to try their best. Conversely, some teachers know their pupils extremely well and use this information well to help pupils to be successful. For example, in science, pupils’ existing knowledge and understanding was skilfully built on following an experiment they had carried out in a previous lesson. Questions were adeptly reframed to help the pupils grasp a tricky concept.
• Although from time to time support staff can hamper pupils’ learning by offering too much support, on other occasions these staff make a strong contribution to lessons. Some support staff are well attuned to pupils’ moods, picking up quickly on pupils who disengage from learning and swiftly redirecting them to the task in hand.
• New teachers have brought their subject expertise, knowledge of the new curriculum and qualification requirements as well as understanding of age-related expectations to the school. Their skills and expertise have improved the quality of teaching across the school. While they may not have experience of working with pupils who have challenging behaviour, they plan lessons which capture pupils’ interest and help them to make academic progress.
• Pupils appreciate the efforts of most staff to build strong, supportive relationships with them to re-engage them in learning. There is clear evidence in pupils’ work that they listen to and act on advice from their teachers. Moreover, many teachers use questioning well during lessons to check pupils’ understanding and deepen their thinking. This helps them move learning on quickly for those most-able pupils as well as constantly check for any gaps in learning for those pupils who have been out of school for long periods of time.
• Teachers use the comprehensive information which they are given before a new pupil joins their class well. In particular, this helps them to plan carefully for those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities so that they can meet their individual needs.
• Pupils both achieve well and enjoy physical education. The physical education teachers endeavour to engage pupils in sport by offering a wide range of activities to encourage pupils to find a sport which they enjoy. They make sure that pupils have opportunities to see sport played at the highest level, for example taking pupils to see a premier league game at Old Trafford. Teachers have taken pupils to the Manchester Velodrome so that pupils have had a chance to experience Olympic-standard facilities. Teachers have arranged competitions against other schools to give the most able pupils the opportunity to develop their skills further.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. The school helps pupils to overcome their previous negative school experiences. However, while pupils do develop more positive attitudes to learning, they remain overly dependent on adult support to make sure that they settle to work and complete the tasks assigned to them.
• Pupils and their parents appreciate the school’s work in increasing pupils’ confidence, re-engaging them with learning and giving them a more positive outlook on life.
• Staff help pupils to plan for their next steps. Although pupils are often reluctant to leave the school as they feel happy and safe at Chadwick, staff make sure that they help pupils move on. Older pupils receive comprehensive advice and guidance to help them decide what they want to do next. Pupils were inspired by the visits they made to university open days. They have made good use of what they found out on these days as well as other information to make well-considered choices of qualifications.
• Citizenship and personal, social, heath and economic education teachers deliver a wealth of lessons and courses which help prepare pupils for working and home life when they move on. Teachers do not shy away from addressing tricky issues and making sure that pupils have the information they need to make decisions whether about finance, relationships or drugs and alcohol. Teachers make sure that pupils are aware of what is going on in the world around them. Teachers help pupils to find out more about current affairs such as last year’s referendum so that pupils can form their own opinions.
• Teachers encourage pupils to make better choices so that they are fit and heathy. Pupils enjoy their food technology lessons, learning how to make healthy food from scratch. Younger pupils learn about changes to their body during puberty and how to take care of themselves. Older pupils learn about what makes a healthy relationship. The physical education teachers offer a number of after-school activities including boxing and badminton to encourage pupils further to take part in physical activity.
• Pupils respect each other. Bullying incidents are extremely rare. They recognise that they all have faced personal challenges and are sensitive to each other’s needs. Regardless of their ethnicity, faith or sexual orientation, pupils are accepted and valued as part of the Chadwick community. The school made sure that provision, including toilets, were reviewed so that transgender pupils are treated equally. Moreover, they provide considerable support to pupils who are considering their sexuality.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• A minority of pupils, typically those new to the school, struggle to remain on task and stay in class in some lessons. Long periods of time out of class or out of school prior to joining Chadwick mean that these pupils do not have the necessary behaviours for learning. Leaders do not make sure that these new pupils are ready to rejoin lessons so that they avoid any disruption to the learning of existing pupils.
• Teachers and teaching assistants do not give those pupils who are ready enough opportunities to take responsibility for their own conduct, both in lessons and around school.
• Many pupils have had long periods out of school or on part-time timetables prior to joining the school. The school makes sure that pupils have high levels of support to help them establish good patterns of attendance and punctuality. Most pupils’ attendance shows a marked improvement over time. Leaders ensure that there are robust systems in place to follow up swiftly on any absence. Although the school deploys a range of strategies to encourage good attendance, there are a significant number of pupils who are persistently absent. The school works well with external partners to help those parents who struggle to get their children to school. However, leaders recognise that more needs to be done. A new pastoral team, led by the deputy headteacher, has been set up and policies and procedures strengthened.
• Almost all the pupils have experienced failure in their previous schools. Almost all have been permanently excluded. The school carries out comprehensive assessments on entry to establish the reasons why pupils’ school placements had broken down. Leaders use this information well to plan the provision for each pupil. As a result, the overwhelming majority of pupils make considerable progress. The frequency and severity of behaviour incidents reduces over time for most pupils.
• Many pupils have struggled to establish positive relationships with adults in the past. The majority of staff are adept at building good relationships with pupils. These adults quickly earn pupils’ trust and respect. Staff are skilled at identifying when pupils are finding it difficult to conform to the school’s expectations. Consequently, most pupils make a success of their time at Chadwick.
• The school keeps a close eye on the quality of alternative provision. Regular quality assurance checks ensure that pupils achieve well in these settings. Leaders’ judicious matching of pupils to provider and course means that pupils engage well and work hard.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Work in pupils’ books, the school’s own assessment information and external examination results show that pupils’ achievement is improving. Despite these positive headlines, pupils’ outcomes are not yet good because there has been more success in some subjects than others and standards across the board are not yet high enough. For example, outcomes in mathematics at the end of key stage 4 are improving rapidly from the poor results in 2015. However, although outcomes in English are improving, these are variable. Pupils do not have enough opportunities to hone their reading and writing skills, both in English lessons and in other subjects, so that they have a firm foundation on which they can build in readiness for external examinations.
• A significant proportion of the pupils at Chadwick have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Often, these needs have gone unrecognised before the pupil joins Chadwick. Many of these pupils move on to specialist provision due to their high levels of need. However, while the local authority undertakes statutory assessment, school leaders make sure that these pupils receive any additional support they may need.
• The school’s assessment lead tracks individual pupils’ progress across the different subjects, from the time pupils join the school. Leaders make sure that any additional information about a pupil, including special educational needs, eligibility for free school meals or being a child looked after, is highlighted as part of the school’s tracking.
• Pupils enter Chadwick at different times in their secondary education. The school endeavours to prepare as many pupils as they can to move back into mainstream schools or onto specialist provision. However, leaders find it challenging to find places for all pupils so a significant proportion remain at the school until the end of key stage 4. The headteacher is working with local authority colleagues and senior leaders from nearby schools to try to overcome this.
• Senior leaders in local schools pay testament to the school’s successful work with pupils who are at risk of permanent exclusion. These senior leaders evidence the positive difference that the school makes to pupils’ attitudes to learning. As a result, most of these pupils successfully reintegrate into their mainstream school to complete their secondary education.
• The school prepares its oldest pupils well for their next steps now. Over the past two years almost all pupils have secured high-quality post-16 provision, whether education, employment or training. The school’s insistence on key stage 4 pupils studying for recognised academic accreditation means that pupils can gain the qualifications they need to get onto the course of their choice.
• Outcomes at the end of key stage 4 have improved considerably since 2015. Despite considerable gaps in their education prior to joining Chadwick, the majority of pupils gain GCSEs in English, mathematics and science. In addition, pupils gain additional qualifications including computing and art as well as vocational qualifications including motor mechanics.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 133398 Lancashire 10039538 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Pupil referral unit School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Pupil referral unit 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 47 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Kersten Jarmen Christine Mitchell 01524 840831 www.chadwickhigh.co.uk enquiries@chadwick.lancs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 28–29 April 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Pupils join the school at different ages and different times in the academic year. Almost all pupils have been permanently excluded or at risk of permanent exclusion prior to joining the school. Many pupils have not attended school, attended part time or have been working outside the classroom for a long period prior to their admission to Chadwick.
• The school serves pupils from mainstream schools in Lancaster, Morecambe, Carnforth and Garstang.
• Almost all members of the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair, have been appointed since the previous inspection.
• The head of school took up post in July 2015, following a long period of instability in the school’s leadership.
• The proportion of pupils who come from minority ethnic groups is much lower than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is much lower than the national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is above the national average.
• There are many more boys than girls on roll.
• The school works with three alternative providers to broaden the curriculum offer for pupils currently: Lancaster Training Services, Strawberry Fields Training and Preston Vocational Centre.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning across the school, including joint observations with the headteacher. Inspectors checked work in a range of pupils’ books
• Discussions were held with senior leaders, middle leaders, members of the governing body and representatives of the local authority.
• Inspectors spoke to headteachers of two local secondary schools.
• Inspectors examined a wide range of documentation, including that relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance, school improvement planning and assessment information.
• Inspectors spoke formally with pupils as well as informally during the school day and observed them during breaktimes
• Inspectors spoke with a number of parents by telephone during the inspection and considered responses to the school’s own surveys of parents.
• Inspectors spoke formally with a group of staff.

Inspection team

Pippa Jackson Maitland, lead inspector Linda Griffiths Ian Hardman

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Senior Her Majesty’s Inspector