The Hayling College Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the progress made by all pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, by:
  • reducing the inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, especially in science at key stage 4, so pupils are well prepared for their GCSE examinations
  • ensuring that pupils who frequently miss school attend school regularly so that they can catch up with other pupils nationally
  • sharing the best practice in teaching found within the school across all subject areas.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher is passionate in his commitment to enabling all pupils to succeed. This was summed up by a parent, who commented on Ofsted’s online questionnaire that, ‘The headteacher and staff are thoroughly invested in the children, making them the best they can be. Well done!’

• Leaders accurately evaluate the school’s strengths and areas needing improvement. Leaders are not complacent and they have acted swiftly to bring about significant improvements since the last inspection. Leaders have developed a positive culture of improvement that is shared by all staff.
• Leaders recognise that, while improvements are under way in many subject areas, there is further work to do to secure improvement, particularly in science. Leaders acknowledge there is more work to be done to ensure that pupils do at least as well as other pupils nationally.
• Leaders make effective use of strong systems for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning, and hold staff to account well. Subject leaders systematically make use of information from assessments to inform their planning for learning. They meet frequently to share ideas and good practice. As a result, there have been substantial improvements in teaching and learning. Leaders recognise that this work needs to continue in order to raise standards to be consistently high across the school.
• Leadership of the provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is strong. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) understands how to use additional staff to support pupils precisely, both within classrooms and through additional interventions. Teachers are provided with clear guidance and effective strategies which enable them to help pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities to learn well. One parent said: ‘The SENCo provision and communication with parents has, in my experience, been excellent. The school has brought the best out in my child.’
• Teachers value the opportunities for professional training, which is tailored to meet their needs, including the opportunity to lead developments within school. For example, this has led to improvements in English and mathematics. Newly qualified teachers appreciate the focused support they receive from their mentors.
• Leaders have reviewed the curriculum to ensure that it better meets the needs of all pupils. They recognise that the number of pupils taking modern foreign languages has been particularly low in the past. Owing to refinements in Year 7, where pupils were able to learn languages more frequently, the current numbers of Year 8 pupils opting to take GCSEs in this subject are rising.
• Inspectors’ conversations with staff and pupils revealed a strong sense of community in the school. Pupils show care and respect towards each other. They are prepared well for life in modern Britain. Pupils have a clear understanding of fundamental British values through the well-planned personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education lessons, assemblies, and tutor-time activities they attend. Many subjects successfully promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning by enhancing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of a wide variety of cultures.
• Pupils are able to experience a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities. For example, pupils enjoy the chance to be able to take part in school productions, the orchestra, the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, debating, and girls’ rugby. Pupils are able to make further suggestions for clubs through school council. These opportunities help to broaden pupils’ experiences.
• Leaders use the catch-up funding in Year 7 well to improve pupils’ reading ages and develop their literacy and numeracy skills. Year 8 pupils who read to inspectors were able to use effective strategies to interpret words. This has led to more pupils reading for pleasure.
• Parents and carers are provided with appropriate information to enable them to see how well their children are doing against school targets. The majority of parents feel they are kept well informed about their children’s progress. One parent said: ‘I am really pleased with the way the staff and headteacher have helped my son, in Year 7, to settle in. His tutor is very caring and communicates well with me.’
• The local authority has been effective in supporting subject leaders to identify precisely the actions needed to improve teaching and learning further. Its support with professional development is leading to improved outcomes for pupils.

Governance of the school

• Governors are a driving force for school improvement. They are very clear about the expectations they have of all pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils. They share the headteacher’s passion that every child can be successful.
• Governors receive detailed and comprehensive information from school leaders. Their visits to departments and lessons ensure that they are well informed about what is happening in school. This enables them to ask challenging questions of leaders and ensure that recent improvements are maintained.
• Governors are managing the financial challenges facing the school well. They ensure that the impact of any cutbacks on pupils’ learning is minimal.
• Governors fulfil their statutory responsibilities effectively. They undertake regular training relating to areas such as radicalisation and safer recruitment of staff. They also stringently oversee the school’s work to keep pupils safe.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is a systematic and methodical approach in making sure that all appropriate checks are carried out to ensure that staff are safe to work with pupils.

• All staff understand their role in keeping pupils safe and are vigilant and rigorous in working with external agencies in following up any concerns. Pupils know what to do and who to approach should they have any concerns around their safety.
• The school’s policy on safeguarding and staff training is comprehensive and fully up to date.
• Pupils are taught well about aspects of safeguarding, for example e-safety and child sexual exploitation. Pupils feel safe and know how to keep themselves safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers use their strong subject knowledge and skilful questioning to challenge and deepen pupils’ understanding in lessons. Teachers intervene when necessary to help pupils progress faster.

• Teachers carefully guide pupils, so that they are able to tackle more difficult work. This was seen to work particularly well, during the inspection, in English and geography, where pupils were provided with a clear framework that enabled them to extend and improve their writing.
• In English, teachers are astute in targeting their questioning so that it both challenges pupils and builds their confidence. This leads to pupils developing their ideas further and being able to discuss difficult issues, for example funding dilemmas in the National Health Service. Pupils are encouraged to broaden their use of language from Year 7 onwards. They are exposed to, and use, a wide vocabulary, both orally and in their writing.
• Most-able pupils are challenged well by teachers both through precise questioning and by being provided with more difficult work to do. The pupils rise to the challenge. In mathematics, a number of the most able Year 11 pupils have taken the GCSE early and they have achieved the highest grades. They are now studying the further mathematics GCSE, to develop their algebraic skills more fully.
• The majority of teachers give pupils helpful feedback in line with the school’s policy. Pupils appreciate the time they are given to reflect on their next steps and make any necessary improvements to their work. For example, in English, pupils are challenged to think, plan and redraft work. They are able to consolidate and develop further their skills and apply these to new contexts.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are supported by a range of effective strategies and resources to enable them to flourish. Pupils’ work shows they are making strong progress.
• Occasionally, where teaching is less effective, teachers do not plan well enough to ensure that the time in lessons is spent well. A few teachers do not check well enough that all pupils understand, so their rate of progress slows.
• Strong and effective relationships between teachers and pupils enhance pupils’ capacities to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. Relationships based on mutual respect help pupils to feel safe and confident. Pupils are not afraid to make mistakes in lessons and are able to use teachers’ feedback to improve their work.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.

• The comprehensive PSHE programme enables pupils to learn about and understand the importance of healthy lifestyles. They are taught how to keep themselves safe, particularly when online. Pupils were able to tell inspectors, accurately, how they would report any concerns when using social media and the internet.
• Pupils have the opportunity to explore wider social and global issues through assemblies, PSHE lessons, and through many subjects across the school. Pupils are able, through school council, and teachers asking their views, to make suggestions to improve their school. For example, pupils asked that there should be more of their work displayed around the school. This has led to corridors having vibrant displays of pupils’ work.
• Pupils are happy and feel safe. They enjoy school and value the care and support provided by staff. Pupils report that bullying is rare, and if it does occur, it is swiftly dealt with by staff. Older pupils are aware of the risks of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation.
• Senior pupils are able to apply to take on additional responsibilities such as being prefects and all pupils can submit an application to become a ‘student voice ambassador’. This helps to further develop the pupils’ sense of belonging to the school. In assemblies, pupils have the opportunity to perform music in front of their peers. These opportunities lead to pupils growing in confidence.
• The vast majority of parents are very positive about the school. Nearly 90% would recommend the school to other parents. One parent commented, ‘Good communication from tutor and administration staff. All staff respond to any queries very quickly… and made my daughter feel very settled and confident from the start.’

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good and they are polite and courteous. Pupils were welcoming to the inspectors. During break and lunchtimes, pupils socialise happily together and interact well with each other, and with staff.

• Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school and most move purposefully at lesson-change times, even in the narrow corridors. In lessons, pupils are keen to learn, and disruptions to learning by pupils are infrequent.
• Where teaching does not fully engage pupils, a small minority of pupils do not concentrate well enough and their progress slows. Occasionally, this small group disrupts the learning of others.
• Due to effective approaches to managing pupils’ behaviour, the number of exclusions is low, continues to reduce and is below the national average.
• Pupils are proud of their school. They respect the school environment, wear their uniform with pride, and rarely drop litter.
• The attendance of pupils making use of alternative provision is good. They study an appropriate range of courses to meet their needs. This helps them to progress to the next stage of education. Their behaviour has improved and good provision is made for their welfare.
• Attendance overall is above the national average. The attendance of some disadvantaged pupils, which has been lower than for other pupils, is improving rapidly. However, a minority of pupils still do not attend school as frequently as they should. This is hindering their progress.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Due to strong teaching and close monitoring, current pupils are making good progress in many subjects, whatever their starting points or particular learning needs. They are set ambitious targets that reflect leaders’ high aspirations for them. Pupils in all year groups are making strong progress towards meeting their targets.

• Following a period of sustained improvement in teaching, pupils generally achieve well in tests and examinations. In 2017, Year 11 pupils made progress similar to other pupils nationally from similar starting points in their GCSE examinations. Their progress in English and mathematics GCSEs was in line with the national average for all pupils. However, disadvantaged pupils did not achieve as well as other pupils in the school or as other pupils nationally.
• In 2017, pupils did not achieve as well in GCSE science as they did in English and mathematics. Leaders have taken prompt action to ensure that current pupils are making stronger progress. The school’s own information, based on regular assessments, shows that pupils are attaining a higher standard of work than pupils did previously. Due to carefully planned support, disadvantaged pupils are making progress at a similar rate to other pupils in the school. The most able disadvantaged pupils are often making better progress than pupils with similar starting points nationally, due to the high level of challenge provided by teachers. For example, in English, pupils’ skills in writing and their ability to interpret texts are well developed.
• Most-able pupils are provided with opportunities to extend their learning through the challenging work they are given. For example, in a Year 7 mathematics lesson, a group of pupils were given the difficult task of working out the surface area of a ‘frustum’ (a truncated cone). In art, in key stage 4, pupils have the opportunity to take their GCSE early and move onto higher AS-level work.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities continue to make sound progress through the effective support provided from other adults, both within lessons, and through focused interventions to enable them to better access the curriculum. For example, additional interventions to support pupils have helped them rapidly improve their reading ages.
• Catch-up funding is used well to ensure that pupils who started Year 7 below national levels in English and mathematics make accelerated progress. These pupils have acquired a range of strategies to help them read better and they now regularly choose books to read from the school library.
• A small number of pupils attend off-site provision at Woodlands Education Centre, a pupil referral unit. They follow a programme tailored to their needs and are making steady progress from their starting points. School staff have regular contact with staff in the off-site provision to check pupils’ attendance, safety and progress.
• Effective careers education and guidance support pupils to continue in education or training, on leaving the school. The guidance is highly valued by pupils and they appreciate the regular careers interviews in key stage 4, and attending a careers fair in Year 9. This enables them to be aware of the wide range of career opportunities available. Visits to universities are helping to raise further the aspirations of disadvantaged pupils.

School details

Unique reference number 116423 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 10040945 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary Comprehensive School category Foundation Age range of pupils 11 to 16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 530 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Maureen Mills Headteacher Colin Rainford Telephone number 02392 466 241

Website www.hayling.hants.sch.uk Email address adminoffice@hayling.hants.sch.uk

Date of previous inspection 26–27 January 2016

Information about this school

• The school is a smaller-than-average-sized secondary school.
• The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is in line with the national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is broadly in line with the national average.
• The school is a member of the Havant Federation of Schools, a partnership of seven secondary and two special schools.
• A small number of pupils attend the Woodlands Education Centre pupil referral unit in Havant.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in 39 lessons, including a number of short visits to tutor rooms. Several lessons were visited jointly with the headteacher. During visits to classes, inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books.
• Inspectors also examined a selection of pupils’ work from key stages 3 and 4.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher and other staff, including newly qualified teachers, academic senior and middle leaders, and pastoral leaders. Inspectors also met governors, including the chair of the governing body, and an external adviser from the local authority.
• Inspectors took account of 89 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as written online comments submitted by 72 parents and one letter from a parent.
• Pupils’ views were gathered from meetings with groups from Years 7 to 11, and from responses to Ofsted’s student questionnaire. Informal conversations with pupils took place around the school site.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of school documentation. This included leaders’ evaluations of the school’s performance, the school improvement plan, information about standards and pupils’ progress, the school’s website, records of behaviour and attendance, external reviews, governors’ minutes, and a range of policies and information, including those relating to safeguarding.

Inspection team

Christopher Lee, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Colin Lankester Ofsted Inspector Peter Swan Ofsted Inspector