John Hanson Community School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve how teachers plan to meet the learning needs of the most able pupils by:
  • developing the school’s approaches for writing extended responses across a wide range of subjects
  • increasing the opportunities for the most able pupils to tackle work at the highest levels in humanities and modern foreign languages.
• Refine the whole-school approaches that enable disadvantaged pupils, especially those who are falling behind, to catch up rapidly and make good progress from their starting points.
• Further support middle leaders, especially those new to post, by:
  • ensuring that middle leaders evaluate the impact of their work more effectively
  • enabling them to identify and apply the strategies that rapidly increase pupils’ progress the most in their subjects.



Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher is driven and determined that all pupils should thrive and excel. He has set out a clear vision to transform the school and build a strong community of high-performing learners. Following his appointment and the disappointing results in 2017, he has taken difficult decisions to replace leaders who did not share his ambitions.
• The systems in place to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the school are increasingly accurate. Senior leaders are now more confident about evaluating the provision than in the past. Leaders are effectively evaluating the progress of different groups more closely than previously. They have taken rapid action to address historical underachievement. Consequently, vulnerable and most-able pupils are beginning to make stronger progress than before.
• Leaders have improved the quality of teaching in the school. They have made the most of links with local schools to support areas identified in the past as weak. As a result, teaching in these subjects is improving rapidly. Staff professional development is well planned and appropriate. Staff are positive about the support that they receive, especially the timely teaching and learning conferences.
• The headteacher has introduced a greater level of accountability and rigour to the management of staff performance. As a result, leaders ensure that weak performance is not rewarded. Those new to the profession are well supported. Middle and senior leaders work closely to improve teaching, and there is evidence of sustained improvement in most subjects across the school.
• New leaders appointed to bring additional expertise are beginning to make an impact on key areas of the school. For example, new leadership in English has transformed the way the department now works. As a result, expectations of what pupils can achieve have risen significantly. However, new leaders in other areas of the school have not made such a rapid impact because they lack confidence in effectively evaluating the impact of the school’s approaches on different groups of pupils.
• Additional funding is used effectively. Leaders have rightly prioritised improving the support for disadvantaged pupils. As a result, disadvantaged pupils are making rapid progress and are catching up with pupils with similar starting points in most subjects and year groups. The funding for the very small number of pupils who need support with their reading is also used well.
• The curriculum is increasingly a strength of the school. Leaders have chosen to expand the opportunities for pupils to learn different subjects at key stage 3. For example, leaders have actively recruited additional specialist staff, so that pupils may study up to three languages. At key stage 4, leaders ensure that pupils can pursue their passions by offering an appropriate range of academic and vocational subjects. The school’s drive to explore new curriculum approaches to raise standards for the most able is bearing fruit. For example, pupils especially enjoy the challenge of working in teams to solve real-world problems, such as designing more aerodynamic helicopters for the armed forces.
• Leaders make good provision for pupils’ moral, spiritual, social and cultural education. They experience a wide range of assemblies and talks. The extensive tutor programme is helping pupils to develop their understanding of democracy, morality and sexuality. Pupils also gain a perspective on a wide range of different viewpoints, as well as exploring British values such as tolerance, democracy and the rule of law in tutor time.
• A significant strength of the school is the range of opportunities that pupils have to learn beyond the classroom. There is a wide range of after-school clubs, including those for sports, music, drama and the arts. Pupils especially relish the international trips to the Netherlands and Germany.
• The local authority provides sharply focused and appropriate guidance. Following the previous inspection, the local authority supported the school to review leadership. Since then, the local authority has carefully brokered appropriate support from local partners to help leaders drive up standards. The school continues to make good use of these links and leaders enjoy working in collaboration with other providers.
• The vast majority of parents are supportive of the school. Most parents who raised concerns in the inspection survey reported that leaders dealt with the issue swiftly and effectively.

Governance of the school

• The governors are highly knowledgeable about the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They have taken difficult decisions to bring about change and provided extensive support for the headteacher to restructure leadership since his appointment. Governors took swift action to strengthen the management of performance, so that the systems to reward staff are now more robust than in the past.
• Governors offer challenge and support for leaders. They are especially effective at questioning leaders on the school’s work to improve teaching and learning. Governors are ambitious for the pupils to do well and are adept at using school performance information to test leaders’ assertions about the progress of groups, especially disadvantaged pupils.
• Governors are regularly informed about the work of leaders and other staff to keep pupils safe. They have a good understanding of the potential risks for pupils and usefully deploy those governors who have specialist expertise to check on the school’s safeguarding policies.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There are clear systems in place to keep children safe. Checks on, and training for staff are suitably robust. Staff with specific responsibilities receive regular and appropriate training. Leaders have good links with local services, which provide additional support when required.
• All staff are alert and aware of what to do if they have a concern. As a result, pupils feel safe and well looked after. Pupils are confident about reporting any worries, and say that staff manage these quickly and efficiently. Parents are also confident that their children are well cared for.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching is good. The new procedures for teaching and learning are well established and increasingly consistently applied across most subjects. Where teaching is most effective, pupils work hard and find the work ‘really challenging’. There are now strong systems in place that support pupils in reaching the highest grades. Pupils across both key stages, and especially in English, mathematics and science, are confident learners.
• Teaching in English and science is increasingly effective. Teachers use their subject knowledge well to plan lessons that pupils enjoy and excel in. Teachers develop skilfully pupils’ understanding of key concepts. As a result, pupils use subject terminology adroitly. Work in books is extensive and well presented.
• Teaching in mathematics is improving rapidly. Teachers are increasingly using the information about pupils’ prior performance well to plan learning. Teachers also use the new assessment system well to raise the expectations of what pupils can achieve. However, in a few instances in key stage 3, the most able pupils report that they occasionally find the work too straightforward.
• Staff use the school’s teaching guidelines increasingly well. They have an accurate understanding of the needs of their pupils, including those who are disadvantaged or have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. There is an emerging whole-school approach to tilt the best teaching towards these pupils. For example, in photography, disadvantaged pupils can describe the strengths and relative weaknesses of their work and are confident about the next steps that they need to take. The school drive to develop teamwork is also impressive, with pupils given significant opportunities to lead learning in a variety of subjects.
• Where teaching is less effective, pupils are less confident about what they are learning and what they need to do to achieve the highest grades. In humanities and modern foreign languages, pupils are not achieving as well as elsewhere because teachers are not yet consistently applying the school’s systems to stretch the most able. For example, in a French lesson, most-able pupils worked slowly through vocabulary that they had already grasped.
• Teachers use the school’s assessment procedures effectively. They address misconceptions quickly and ensure that pupils receive useful guidance regularly. As a result, in both key stages, pupils respond diligently and improve their work in depth. For example, in a Year 10 English lesson, pupils used assessment criteria confidently to develop an extended response comparing themes and the intertextuality of gothic literature.
• The teaching of literacy across the school is developing rapidly. Staff now have higher expectations about the teaching of vocabulary. Outside the English faculty, some staff lack confidence on how to improve the most able pupils’ extended writing. This is particularly the case in the humanities subjects. However, those pupils who need additional support for literacy receive appropriate help that ensures that they learn well and catch up.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• The school provides pupils with a range of experiences of different cultures and places. Pupils report that they really relish these opportunities to broaden their horizons.
• A real strength of the school is the careers programme. Pupils value the detailed guidance they receive during their time in school. As a result, pupils are confident about what they want to do in the future, and therefore above-average numbers of them continue into further education or training.
• Pupils feel safe and nurtured. They state that teachers ‘care about the pupils, even the naughty ones’. They report that staff take their concerns seriously and act with alacrity to resolve any issues. Pupils are confident about using social media safely. The school provides pupils with useful information about issues such as drug and alcohol misuse, so that they are well prepared to manage any future challenges they face.
• Bullying is managed well because leaders have established good systems. Records show that there has been a reduction in bullying over the recent past. Vulnerable pupils are especially positive about the support they receive and how much more open and tolerant the school is now.
• The school works well with other agencies, especially those local services that provide care and additional help to vulnerable pupils. For example, leaders have developed a programme to inform and support pupils who may experience domestic abuse.
• Pupils in alternative settings are well supported because leaders regularly check on their safety and progress.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils improve their work regularly and strive to do their best. They enjoy opportunities to lead and work with others.
• Pupils move around the school calmly and follow instructions well. They enjoy their social time and are respectful of each other. Older pupils provide helpful advice and direction, so that during unstructured time, the school is well ordered and tranquil.
• Behaviour in lessons is good. Pupils are confident to share their ideas and give opinions in class. They work especially well in groups and recognise the value of teamwork.
• There is little disruption to learning. Pupils respect the rules and value the higher expectations established by the new headteacher.
• Pupils who attend alternative programmes, both part time and full time, make good progress and are well supported.
• Attendance has improved, including for disadvantaged pupils. More pupils are attending more regularly than in the past. However, leaders acknowledge that more remains to be done to support those pupils who currently do not attend frequently enough.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils, especially most-able pupils, achieved significantly less well in the past than their peers with similar starting points nationally. In 2018, pupils’ attainment in key measures improved and was broadly in line with the national average. Pupils’ progress also improved to be closer to the national average in many subjects. Current performance information shows that pupils’ attainment and progress across the school are rapidly rising in many subjects, especially in science and English.
• In 2017, there was a significant gap between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of others. Leaders developed effective approaches to support disadvantaged pupils. As a result, this gap halved in 2018 and current information shows that disadvantaged pupils are making better progress than before in many subjects. However, not all staff are using the school’s approaches consistently, so that some disadvantaged pupils are not catching up on missed learning quickly enough.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are achieving increasingly well. The majority of current pupils with education, health and care plans are making progress towards their targets, and those pupils who require additional support are making better progress in English and mathematics than in the past. Leaders recognise that more work to evaluate the most effective support is required to further accelerate these pupils’ progress.
• The most able pupils achieved less well than similar pupils nationally in 2017 and 2018, especially in humanities and subjects that are not part of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). However, in 2018, the most able pupils made better progress in mathematics, science and English. Current information shows that the most able pupils are being challenged more effectively across a wide range of subjects, especially those joining the school or starting their GCSEs.
• The school’s approach to supporting pupils’ reading is well developed. Pupils who join the school with attainment below the expected standard for their age receive timely and appropriate support, so that by the end of the year, the majority are catching up with their peers.
• Most pupils go on to further education, employment or training because they make the most of the varied opportunities during their time in school. As a result, the number of pupils staying on in education has risen and is now above the national average.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 116405 Hampshire 10053027 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 Community school 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 876 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Sara Falk Russell Stevens 01264 352546

www.jhanson.hants.sch.uk

adminoffice@jhanson.hants.sch.uk

Date of previous inspection 15–16 June 2016

Information about this school

• John Hanson Community School is an average-sized 11–16 school.
• The headteacher was appointed in June 2017 and has appointed two new senior leaders and two new middle leaders this academic year.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well below the national average.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• The school uses alternative provision, at the Andover Education Centre, for four pupils.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors met with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders and a range of staff, including those recently qualified. They also met with governors and a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors visited all year groups to observe learning in the school. In many cases, inspectors were accompanied by the headteacher and senior leaders.
• Inspectors spoke to a range of pupils formally and informally, including those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged. Inspectors also attended assemblies and tutor time.
• The inspectors looked at pupils’ work in class and with leaders. They also discussed pupils’ attainment and progress with leaders.
• Parents’ views were considered through the 110 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.
• The inspectors also considered the 56 survey responses submitted by staff and the 115 survey responses submitted by pupils.
• Inspectors checked records and documentation related to governance, behaviour, staff appraisals, and monitoring and improvement planning.
• The checks made on staff about their suitability to work with children were scrutinised by inspectors.

Inspection team

Seamus Murphy, lead inspector Richard Kearsey Harry Kutty Nicholas Simmonds

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector