Crookhorn College Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Raise the progress and attainment of all groups of pupils so that pupils achieve at least as well as other pupils nationally in all subjects.
• Leaders and governors need to ensure those pupils who frequently miss school attend school regularly so that they can catch up with other pupils nationally.
• Leaders should ensure that pupils are more accurate in their spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher, ably supported by the leadership team, has a strong and clear vision for the school. Leaders know the school’s strengths and weaknesses well and have ensured that action plans are in place to bring about the necessary improvements. They have responded promptly and incisively to the disappointing GCSE examination results in 2018. Consequently, current pupils are making strong progress from their starting points. Parents are largely positive about the school. For example, one parent commented, ‘The leadership is visible and has an obvious impact on staff striving to constantly improve and encourage children to be the best they can be.’
• Leaders are knowledgeable about teaching and learning and are able to provide effective support and guidance to teachers to improve pupils’ learning. Staff training is closely linked to strategies to improve pupils’ progress. Staff feel very well supported by senior leaders; this support has led to improvements in teaching. Newly qualified teachers are also trained well.
• Leaders’ monitoring of teaching is highly effective. Subject leaders and teachers value the regular collaborative planning time to improve the quality of teaching. Typically, subject leaders have a very clear understanding of their subject’s strengths and areas that need further development. As a result, learning is improving across all subjects. For example, the ‘live coaching’ in lessons provides valuable feedback to teachers to support them in improving pupils’ learning.
• Leaders have engendered a strong ethos of high expectations for pupils’ behaviour and academic progress. Consequently, the school provides a calm and orderly environment for learning. Leaders have significantly reduced the previously high numbers of pupils receiving fixed-term exclusions.
• Leaders have reviewed the curriculum to ensure that more pupils are now taking the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) suite of subjects. The number of pupils taking a modern foreign language has increased significantly. Leaders have provided a comprehensive and well-planned personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education programme that meets pupils’ personal needs well. Pupils value the opportunity to gain an understanding of financial matters, for example in calculating the annual percentage rate when borrowing money.
• The curriculum is enhanced by a comprehensive extra-curricular programme that pupils readily take part in. Examples include the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, and politics, dance and music clubs. Cultural days such as Japan and China days help to broaden pupils’ perspectives and understanding of other cultures. Pupils are prepared extremely well for life in modern Britain. Through the curriculum and assemblies, pupils are made aware of current topical issues, for example in raising their awareness of Holocaust Memorial Day, World Water Day and International Women’s Day. A typical comment from a parent was, ‘The staff all go the extra mile for the children and provide so many enrichment opportunities.’
• Leaders have ensured that the school environment supports learning and recognises pupils’ achievements. For example, the quality of displays around the school is exceptional and recognises pupils’ successes and effectively supports their social and cultural development.
• Pastoral leaders support pupils’ personal development very well and also closely monitor their academic progress. The four pastoral houses create a strong sense of community. One pupil commented, ‘It’s like a family.’
• Leaders and governors make excellent use of the additional funding available to support disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. Leaders have clear plans in place to use pupil premium funding effectively. They evaluate the impact of support, and consequently, the progress of current disadvantaged pupils is similar to that of other pupils in the school. Pupils who join the school with below-average literacy levels are supported well by the use of Year 7 catch-up funding to improve their levels of literacy and numeracy.
• The leadership of pupils with SEND is particularly strong. Well-trained learning support assistants skilfully guide pupils to help them to understand and improve their work. Consequently, pupils with SEND make strong progress.
• Staff are aware of the vulnerability of the high number of children looked after. These children are supported very well and their attendance has improved so that it is well above the national average for all pupils.
• External support provided by the Hampshire Improvement and Advisory Service is highly valued, particularly by subject leaders. The support has been effective in engendering a culture within school where teachers reflect well on their teaching.

Governance of the school

• Governors have a clear vision for the future of the school and value highly the inclusive nature of the school. They see the school as an integral part of the local community. Governors receive detailed and comprehensive information about the school from leaders. Consequently, governors challenge leaders appropriately and set high expectations for pupils’ progress.
• Governors have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. They undertake appropriate training, including the safeguarding of children. Governors have managed the deficit budget well. As a result, the school is on target to remove the deficit soon. Governors know the school’s strengths and weaknesses, but occasionally they need to be more precise in evaluating the impact of funding on raising pupils’ achievement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. School leaders ensure that policies and procedures are comprehensive. Leaders liaise very effectively with outside agencies when the need arises. Staff and governors have received appropriate training to support pupils’ well-being. Typically, pupils feel very safe and feel able to talk to an adult in school if they have any concerns or worries.
• Leaders ensure that the current policies and procedures address current threats to keeping children safe. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe when online and are aware of the risks of radicalisation.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• In the main, teachers plan learning well and provide constructive support to enable pupils to improve their work. Typically, the pupils work very hard. For example, the most able pupils say that they are challenged in lessons and are able to persevere with difficult work. As a result, the progress of all groups of pupils is improving.
• Leaders ensure that pupils are carefully tracked and appropriate support is in place to help pupils, where necessary. Consequently, pupils’ current work has improved significantly.
• Teachers’ frequent feedback to pupils is particularly effective. Pupils are able to improve their work and, consequently, make stronger progress. Leaders have focused on improving pupils’ use of subject-specific vocabulary. However, pupils’ use of grammar and their accuracy in spelling key words are not yet consistently good in all subjects. For example, a minority of pupils do not use subject-specific language well enough to describe and annotate their work in art and technology.
• Teaching is particularly strong in English, mathematics, science and modern foreign languages. Teachers’ insightful and targeted questioning of pupils helps to strengthen and deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Pupils are willing to take responsibility for their own learning. For example, in geography and history, pupils have prepared valuable revision notes to help them prepare for their GCSE examinations. In addition, in English and modern foreign languages, pupils enhance their writing by readily using dictionaries. Pupils’ progress is slower in art and technology at GCSE.
• Typically, teachers have strong subject knowledge and they make very effective use of resources to support and check that pupils understand the work. Furthermore, displays in classrooms are used well by pupils, particularly pupils with SEND, to help them with their work.
• Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning and they take great pride in their work. Pupils listen attentively to each other when discussing difficult concepts. For example, in mathematics, pupils’ discussions deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts through problem-solving activities.
• Strong relationships between pupils and teachers support a conducive learning environment. On the whole, pupils enjoy school and appreciate the help that teachers give them to improve their work.
• Pupils who are frequently absent are not able to complete their work well enough due to the gaps in their learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Overwhelmingly, pupils are attentive and keen to learn. They are able to work equally well in groups and independently. Pupils were highly courteous to inspectors during the inspection and regularly held open doors for inspectors and helped them find their way around the school. They frequently politely greeted inspectors with a ‘Good morning’ or ‘Hope you’ve had a good day’.
• Pupils are aware, through the highly effective PSHE education programme and assemblies, of how to keep themselves healthy and safe. Pupils are respectful to each other. They reported that bullying, including homophobic and racist bullying, is very infrequent, and that staff deal with it carefully when it occurs. Pupils are tolerant of each other’s differences and pupils praised the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) club that is available.
• There is a strong culture of praise throughout the school. Pupils are proud of their achievements and wear their achievement badges with pride. One parent commented, ‘The reward system and challenge badges inspire my child to do more and feel a sense of achievement.’ Pupils have frequent opportunities to take on roles of responsibility. For example, pupils lead clubs in dance and science.
• Pupils who attend alternative provision at the Woodlands pupil referral unit are able to follow GCSE pathways to enable them to progress to further education. Pupils’ progress is reviewed regularly by the school, the pupil referral unit and parents. Current pupils are likely to meet their target grades. Attendance is carefully monitored and pupils attend well.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. The headteacher and leaders set high expectations of behaviour. As a result, pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Behaviour is typically calm and considerate and disruption to learning is rare. When it does occur, it is well managed. Typically, the lack of litter and graffiti exemplifies how well pupils care for their school.
• Leaders’ actions have improved pupils’ attendance. Overall attendance, for disadvantaged pupils and for pupils with SEND, is in line with the national average. Leaders have implemented a range of strategies to improve the attendance of those pupils who are persistently absent. Leaders’ actions have not yet improved the attendance of these pupils in order to ensure that they make better progress in their studies. The school works closely with outside agencies to help pupils to improve their attendance. Leaders have been successful in improving the punctuality of pupils to school and to lessons with their ‘Ready to learn’ approach.
• The number of pupils who received fixed-term exclusions has been particularly high in the past. Leaders have been highly effective in significantly reducing the number of fixed-term, including repeat, exclusions. Permanent exclusions are in line with the national average. The school’s use of the internal isolation room has reduced, reflecting the improving standards of pupils’ behaviour. The school is very inclusive and supports vulnerable pupils well, helping them to be successful.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Leaders acted decisively to improve pupils’ progress at GCSE following the disappointing and well below average results in 2018. Some qualifications were not included in the school’s performance tables. The work of pupils in all year groups indicates that pupils are now working in line with what would be expected from their starting points. Current Year 11 pupils are making expected progress in line with the aspirational targets set by the school.
• Pupils make strong progress in English. GCSE results in 2018 showed that pupils made more progress in English than in other subjects and broadly similar progress to other pupils nationally.
• The most able pupils are given suitable work to challenge them so that they are able to attempt more difficult tasks. For example, in mathematics, pupils wrestle with harder concepts that deepen their understanding. As a result, the most able are making strong progress at GCSE.
• GCSE results in 2018 showed that progress of disadvantaged pupils was significantly below that of other pupils nationally. It is improving, and the standard of their work is similar to that of other pupils in the school.
• Pupils with SEND are guided well in their learning. Teachers’ and learning support assistants’ questioning carefully probes pupils’ understanding to help them find the right answers. In addition, boys’ progress is improving and is close to that of girls in the school.
• Careers education is a strength of the school. Pupils receive highly effective careers advice and guidance, and vulnerable pupils receive further support. Pupils value the careers interviews and are highly positive about the opportunities provided by work experience. The school’s continued support for pupils after they have finished their GCSEs ensures that exceptionally high numbers continue to further education.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 116428 Hampshire 10084368 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary comprehensive School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Foundation 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 792 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Mrs Jackie Branson Mrs Sarah Bennett Telephone number 02392 251120 Website Email address www.crookhorn.hants.sch.uk sarah.bennett@crookhorn.hants.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 7–8 October 2015

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized secondary school.
• The majority of pupils (95.5%) are of White British heritage, with a proportion of minority ethnic groups broadly in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND (19.7%) is above the national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils (31%) is just above the national average (28%).
• Currently, a small number of pupils attend alternative provision at Woodlands, the local authority pupil referral unit.
• The school is part of a soft federation, the Havant Federation.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in 58 lessons, including a number of short visits to tutor groups. The majority of lessons were visited jointly with senior leaders. During visits to classes, inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books.
• Inspectors examined a selection of pupils’ work from key stages 3 and 4.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher and staff, including newly qualified teachers and academic senior and middle leaders. Inspectors took account of 67 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.
• The lead inspector met a representative group of governors.
• Inspectors took account of 124 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, as well as written comments submitted by 80 parents.
• The lead inspector spoke to the local authority school improvement partner.
• Pupils’ views were gathered from meetings with pupils from all year groups and from 19 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey. Informal conversations with pupils took place around the school and at different times of the school day.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of school documentation. This included leaders’ evaluations of the school’s performance, the school development plan, information about standards and pupils’ progress, information on the school’s website, records of pupils’ attendance, minutes of governing body meetings, and a range of policies and information, including those relating to safeguarding.

Inspection team

Christopher Lee, lead inspector Anne Turner James Rouse Suzanne Richards

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector