Hawkley Hall High School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that teachers use their assessment of pupils’ learning to make future learning suitably challenging and so strengthen progress, including that of disadvantaged and lower-attaining pupils.
• Sharpen the impact of leaders by ensuring that:
  • policies and documentation, including those relating to the use and impact of the pupil and catch-up premiums, fully reflect the school’s provision and assist in its further development
  • the quality of leadership, including middle leaders’ quality assurance of the work of subject departments, is consistently strong and effective.
• Further increase strategic accountability by continuing the process of identifying the responsibilities of the multi-academy trust, the local governing body and other school leaders.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and other leaders ensure that the school is harmonious and hard-working. Leaders and other members of staff clearly demonstrate that they are working for the benefit of pupils.
• The school suffered a decline in its performance in the recent past. Pupils’ achievement weakened and their behaviour was not as good. The headteacher, working with others, is ensuring that the difficulties the school faced are being resolved. Pupils’ progress has increased and they behave well. They are tolerant and respectful of each other.
• Leaders are honest in their evaluation of the school. They know its strengths and weaknesses. They use the school’s development plan as a tool to achieve continuing improvement and then to check that changes are successful. This is one example of the systematic approaches used by senior leaders.
• Middle leadership has been strengthened by the appointment of new leaders and careful training. Senior and middle leaders complete externally accredited leadership training programmes. In addition, senior leaders know the stage of different leaders’ development and so are able to provide individual support and training. The impact of middle leadership is not as consistently effective as that of senior leadership.
• Leaders provide a comprehensive training programme for staff. This has been increasingly refined so that the needs of individual members of staff are met. It links into the system for managing staff performance. Teachers and others welcome the opportunities provided. Staff are keen to take part and seize the opportunities provided, even when they are not required to attend. They told inspectors that they particularly value the activities that allow them to learn from each other.
• Current leaders have revised the curriculum to address weaknesses that they judged meant that pupils were not provided with the best possible experiences. They have reintroduced vocational courses, taught in the school, for pupils who would benefit. In addition, more time is provided for GCSE science courses. In the past, the European Computer Driving Licence qualification was offered. This had the effect of hiding underperformance in the published progress measures for the school. This school no longer offers this qualification. Furthermore, the use of GCSE entry before the end of Year 11 is no longer prevalent. A smaller proportion of pupils than typically found enter a GCSE in modern foreign languages. This limits the proportion of pupils completing the full range of qualifications in the English Baccalaureate group of subjects.
• Leaders have ensured that the curriculum builds progressively from Year 7 to Year 11. They have planned schemes of work that link with the assessment criteria they have set out for the secondary schools in the multi-academy trust. This arrangement gives staff a clear framework for judging how well pupils are meeting the criteria. However, it does not always provide the greatest possible depth of learning.
• Staff ensure that pupils develop strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. Leaders have successfully built a school community where other people matter. Pupils’ conduct towards others demonstrates that they know the difference between right and wrong. Their cultural awareness is developed in the curriculum in subjects such as art and personal, social and health education (PSHE). In addition, the range of extra-curricular opportunities available means that pupils can experience further musical, sporting and other activities. Very recently, pupils have quickly raised a significant sum of money to help an ex-pupil with medical needs.
• There were no responses to Ofsted’s inspection survey for parents and carers during this inspection. However, recent surveys organised by the school indicate that parents are happy with its work.

Governance of the school

• The school’s governance arrangements include a local governing body, as well as the multi-academy trust. A number of governors are also trustees. In addition, until the appointment of the current headteacher, the trust’s previous chief executive officer (CEO) was also the executive headteacher. This very close linkage of people with responsibility for different aspects of governance made ensuring that there was clear accountability for the school harder. Over time, those responsible for governance were not able to intervene sufficiently to prevent the recent, and now reversed, decline in the school’s performance. The new CEO and chair of the governing body are working to ensure that responsibilities are fully clear.
• Governors and trustees commit considerable time and energy to the school and its pupils. From the start of this school year, governors agreed to form a small standards committee to provide greater focus on the school’s performance and the ability to take urgent decisions in a timely way. Members of this committee know the school very well and use this knowledge to provide strong challenge to leaders. Governors and trustees have not been afraid to take firm action when needed, for example in deciding that the school should request to no longer be a teaching school and in resolving staffing issues.
• The arrangements for ensuring that the school’s finances are properly accounted for are suitable. However, those responsible have not ensured that the additional funding available to support disadvantaged pupils improved the success of this group of pupils sufficiently in the recent past. In addition, the systems for reporting how this funding is used and its impact, together with the catch-up funding for pupils who join the school with lower starting points, have not been detailed enough. The school has recently appointed a new member of staff whose responsibilities include the school’s use of the pupil premium funding. The helpful and well-received support for pupils with SEND indicates that the additional funding for these pupils is used well to support their welfare and social needs.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The programme of training for staff about potential safeguarding risks is thorough and regular. It includes different aspects of safeguarding, such as protecting pupils from coming into contact with extreme views or the risk of radicalisation. Staff are fully aware of what they should do if they have a concern about a pupil, including who they should notify. Senior leaders carefully follow up any such concerns, including with external agencies when needed. Detailed records are kept.
• At the start of this inspection, an out-of-date version of the school’s safeguarding policy was published on the school’s website. Leaders resolved this during the inspection. However, until this was done, there was inaccurate information for parents about who they should get in touch with at the school if they had a safeguarding concern.
• Pupils are taught about how to keep safe, for example when using computers. They told inspectors that they feel safe in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Pupils typically learn well and make strong progress.
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge. Very often, they use this well and so provide confident teaching. They ask probing questions which build up pupils’ learning and keep them interested and engaged in the activities provided. Pupils then have confidence in their teachers. The relationships between teachers and pupils are positive. These characteristics are apparent in teaching in many subject departments, including, for example, English and history.
• Occasionally, teaching is not as successful, generally for lower sets and, sometimes, when less-experienced teachers are less confident in using their skills. When this happens, smaller groups of pupils sometimes dominate the learning of the class. In addition, teachers’ expectations of what lower-attaining pupils are able to achieve are too low.
• Teachers put considerable emphasis on helping pupils to use their literacy skills, for example by using technical language properly. Pupils are further helped by the subject-based information included on the exercise book covers provided by each department. However, teachers place less focus on some other aspects of written English, for example the use of full sentences and capital letters.
• Teachers use the resources available to them to support pupils’ learning well.
• The school collects assessment results for each pupil every half term to determine how well each is achieving. Senior and middle leaders then discuss the findings to help them ensure that pupils are not falling behind. This process gives leaders a comprehensive picture of how different groups of pupils are succeeding. In between the main assessment points, teachers complete their own assessments through written tasks and other class activities. Where teaching is most effective, teachers are skilful in using this small-scale assessment to adjust their teaching, for example in their questioning, so that pupils build from their previous knowledge and understanding. Many teachers use their ongoing assessment of pupils’ understanding, knowledge and skills to provide helpful feedback to pupils on how well they are learning. Some teachers encourage pupils to complete assessments of their own and other pupils’ work. This is sometimes less successful because pupils, particularly in lower-ability sets, miss errors, which they then repeat.
• The school has introduced an electronic system for recording pupils’ homework. Many pupils use this diligently to make sure that they complete the tasks which are set. Teachers use homework to extend and consolidate pupils’ learning. For example, in mathematics, regular homework is used to help pupils practise and build their skills in important types of calculations.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils are very well cared for in school. They say that they feel safe and know who to talk to if they have a concern. When needed, staff work closely with partners from outside the school to support pupils.
• Bullying in the school is very rare. Some of the pupils who talked to inspectors could not bring any example to mind. However, pupils were confident that, should any issues arise, these would be quickly and positively resolved by staff or other pupils. The school’s records for this school year also indicate that bullying is seldom seen. Pupils told inspectors that disrespectful language, including racist and homophobic words, is not heard.
• Pupils are proud of their school. They demonstrate this in the smart way they wear their uniform and the care they take in their work. There is very little litter. Pupils look after the school buildings very well.
• Pupils understand what they need to do to learn well. They are confident in completing individual tasks but also benefit from the ability to support and learn from each other.
• Leaders ensure that pupils have a say in decisions which affect them. For example, the student parliament has recently discussed the quality of catering. New arrangements for this have been made and the food provided has improved. In addition, pupils have been closely involved in considering planned changes to the school uniform.
• The school’s PSHE includes half-termly sessions that cover topics such as sex and relationships education and drugs education in depth. There is also a continuing weekly programme of tutor-led work on a wider range of topics as diverse as democracy, mental health and refugees. This approach gives pupils a strong understanding of their own possible needs and the needs of other people, as well as a strong understanding of the values they need to thrive in modern Britain.
• The school’s careers education programme is very well planned and implemented. Leaders are in the process of extending it by introducing work experience for Year 10 pupils to further raise their aspirations.
• The arrangements for those pupils who attend off-site provision include careful checks that they are attending properly, learning and behaving well.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Their good, and frequently very good, behaviour in class supports everyone’s learning. Low-level disruption in class is rare. The school’s expectations of high standards of behaviour have been recently reinforced by the clear emphasis on the ‘Hawkley Way’. Pupils demonstrate the Hawkley Way in their approach to work and other people at school.
• Pupils respond well to the school’s expectations. For example, lining up to enter the school is calm and well organised. Similarly, pupils are sensible and patient, if needed, as they leave school at the end of the day.
• Pupils are friendly and respectful to each other and to adults, including teachers and visitors. They were very courteous and helpful to inspectors.
• The rate of fixed-term exclusion broadly matches the national average. However, this rate was higher last year as a result of the school’s determination to improve standards of behaviour. Leaders had determined that these standards had fallen somewhat at that time. Of the pupils whose poor behaviour leads to fixed-term exclusion, there are many more boys than girls.
• Pupils attend school regularly. Absence rates broadly match the national average. Pupils arrive punctually at school and do not waste time moving between lessons. Their sensible movement around the school is one feature which demonstrates how they behave well, even when they are not being closely supervised by staff.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils currently in the school make good progress. This demonstrates a reversal of the declining progress of pupils over their time in the school over the previous three years.
• In 2016, Year 11 pupils’ progress from their starting points at key stage 2 was above average. This fell to average in 2017 and below average in 2018, with pupils typically achieving a third of a grade lower in each of their GCSEs than similar pupils across the country. Over the same time, the difference between the progress of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally widened to over two thirds of a grade. This decline was, in part, due to previous decisions made about the curriculum which meant that it did not support pupils’ success as well as possible.
• Leaders and other staff introduced the new system for recording and evaluating pupils’ progress just over a year ago. It provides clear evidence that current pupils in Year 11 are reaching higher standards. For example, teachers set last year’s GCSE mathematics papers as a mock examination for current pupils. The marks they achieved were higher than last year’s pupils at the end of the year. Similarly, scores on internal tests have risen. Year 11 pupils’ current success indicates that they are learning better than in the past. This is also the case for disadvantaged pupils.
• Inspection evidence, including scrutiny of work in pupils’ books and observation of teaching and learning, shows that pupils in all years typically progress well. This is particularly the case for pupils in higher sets. In some lower sets, progress is weaker. The school’s own assessment system indicates that pupils, in general, are on track to reach the demanding targets now set.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported to ensure that their particular needs are met. However, it is not as clear that such pupils make the fastest possible academic progress, particularly those without an education, health and care (EHC) plan. For example, the school’s records of the scores of such pupils in Year 11 indicate that they have made smaller gains than others so far this year.
• Younger pupils make gains in their reading skills as a result of additional teaching provided for those who join the school with lower key stage 2 assessment results. All pupils in key stage 3 have planned opportunities to develop their reading as part of English lessons.
• Most pupils leave the school to go on to sixth-form or college courses. Some take up apprenticeships. The school’s careers education programme helps to ensure that courses are suitable for pupils’ needs and aspirations. The proportion of pupils who do not successfully transfer to the next stage in their education is very small.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 138110 Wigan 10058112 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 Secondary comprehensive School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Number of pupils on the school roll Academy converter 11 to 16 Mixed 1,042 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andy Wilson Phil Rimmer 01942 204 640 http://hhhs.net/ admin@hhhs.net Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• This school is somewhat larger than average. The number of pupils is increasing.
• Nearly all pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• While the proportion of pupils with SEND is lower than found in most schools, the proportion of pupils with an EHC plan is above average. The school has additional provision to support the needs of up to 13 pupils with autism spectrum disorder.
• A small number of pupils attend off-site alternative provision at Three Towers Alternative Provision Academy, Tyler Lee Hair Company and Cast North West.
• In 2012, the school converted to become an academy and formed the Rowan Learning Trust. This multi-academy trust now sponsors four schools, including this school. The chair of the trust is also the chair of the local governing body at the school and some other governors are also trustees. Until the appointment of the current headteacher, the trust’s previous CEO was also the executive headteacher of the school. The new CEO is the headteacher of another school in the trust.
• The academy’s predecessor school was most recently inspected in 2009. It was judged to be outstanding.
• The headteacher was appointed in 2017. Since then, a number of new middle and senior leaders have been appointed, including in mathematics and science. A relatively high proportion of teachers in the school were newly qualified teachers in the previous academic year.
• The school is currently a teaching school. However, it has been agreed with the Department for Education that this designation should cease from September 2019.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders, middle leaders and other members of staff.
• Inspectors met with groups of pupils and spoke to others in lessons and during breaktimes. Inspectors observed pupils’ conduct throughout the school day and as they left at the end of the school day.
• Inspectors observed teaching and learning, including during morning tutor time. Some of this was carried out jointly with senior leaders.
• Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ books jointly with senior and middle leaders. In addition, other workbooks were examined during lessons.
• An inspector met with the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and another governor.
• Inspectors scrutinised school documents about outcomes, teaching and learning, behaviour and leadership. These included the school’s record of self-evaluation and its development plan. In addition, records and information about safeguarding and minutes of meetings of the full governing body and those of the governors’ standards committee were considered.
• No parents completed Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, during this inspection. Inspectors considered parents’ responses to surveys recently carried out by the school.

Inspection team

David Selby, lead inspector Kath Harris Dean Logan Annette Patterson Philip Wood David Woodhouse Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector