Chamberlayne College for the Arts 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 attendance, especially of those pupils who are persistently absent.
• Embed fully the behaviour strategies so that they are applied consistently across the school.
• Further improve the consistency of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and improve pupils’ outcomes by ensuring that teachers and teaching assistants:
  • use their knowledge of what pupils know and can do to plan and deliver activities that move pupils on rapidly by providing the correct level of challenge
  • raise their and pupils’ expectations of the quality and quantity of what pupils can produce.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher, ably assisted by his leadership team, has transformed Chamberlayne. He has established a culture of high aspirations for academic and pastoral learning. His belief in the pupils, staff and community has created a sense of purpose that is shared throughout the school. A sense of determination to achieve the best for all is palpable.
• Leaders have rapidly improved pupils’ behaviour, the quality of teaching and pupils’ attitudes to their learning. As a result, current pupils are making stronger progress in their learning overall. Leaders are fully aware of the remaining inconsistencies in these areas. They have well-considered plans that are already proving effective to address these.
• The high-quality professional development programme provided for teachers and teaching assistants has been central to achieving the improvements throughout the school. Leaders have carefully matched training to ensure staff development. This has been exceptionally successful, and staff are very positive about the difference that it has made to their practice. Leaders have also made thoughtful use of external support from local schools.
• The local authority has worked closely with school leaders to provide timely support and challenge. Staff at all levels have benefited from very effective support from the local authority advisers. Middle leaders in particular are very complimentary about the positive impact on their practice that this support has had.
• The vast majority of staff have fully subscribed to the school’s new motto, ‘Expect More. Achieve More.’ However, leaders recognise that further work is required to raise the ambition and expectations of a minority of staff and pupils.
• Leaders have carefully designed a broad and balanced curriculum that is matched to the needs of the pupils. They ensure that pupils receive good-quality independent careers education, information, advice and guidance, building this up from Year 7. Pupils and their families receive personalised support when deciding examination options and post-16 choices.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported very well through dedicated lessons, assemblies and a wide range of visiting speakers and groups. For example, pupils showed sensitivity and thoughtful understanding when speaking with a visiting Holocaust survivor.
• A wide range of pupils take part in the myriad of extra-curricular opportunities. They enjoy clubs as varied as ‘rampaging chariots’, yoga, book group, sports and ‘Rock School’. Many pupils also gain their Duke of Edinburgh Award. Pupils appreciate the time, expertise and care that staff provide through these experiences and on a day-to-day basis. Many pupils spoke of the way that staff will take the time to listen and support them with learning or any worry.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has rapidly transformed provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. She has worked closely with them to identify their individual needs and how these can be best addressed. She makes sure that staff understand how to support them effectively.
• Leaders’ work to improve the attendance of pupils has been successful although too many pupils are still persistently absent. The recent addition of a mini-bus driver and escort to collect pupils is showing initial success. However, leaders are aware that this is not a sustainable solution to the issue.
• Leaders have used the pupil premium funding effectively to remove pupils’ barriers to learning. Initial evaluations of the impact of the Year 7 catch-up funding for literacy and numeracy show some success, but leaders are aware of the need to accelerate the impact of this work.

Governance of the school

• Governors have contributed to the rapid improvement of the school through their hard work and careful scrutiny of leaders’ work. Along with school leaders, they are ambitious for the school and fully understand the task at hand. They are under no illusions that there is still much to be done to improve the consistency of provision for pupils.
• Governors are well trained and have a good breadth of skills. They use these well to challenge school leaders and hold them to account. For example, they have made sure that leaders at all levels evaluate their actions carefully in order to understand the impact that they have on raising pupils’ progress.
• Governors play an active role in the life of the school, visiting regularly to gain first-hand understanding of the quality of experience that it provides for pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have created a strong culture of safeguarding where adults and pupils are alert to potential signs of worry and they know how to report these concerns quickly. Open and honest discussion of national and worldwide events is established, and that supports pupils well to understand risk and ways of keeping themselves safe.
• Staff are trained well and participate in frequent updates that help to keep their knowledge and awareness of potential risk at the forefront of their minds. School processes are organised efficiently, and leaders make good use of external specialists when required.
• Leaders follow the guidelines for safer recruitment closely, making sure that all required checks are completed carefully. The single central register of these checks meets requirements.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school is still not consistently good. Most teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and they plan lessons that are based on what pupils already know and can do. They create a sense of purpose that raises pupils’ self-belief and determination, encouraging them to attempt work that they might find tricky. However, a minority of teaching still does not link to what pupils can do or need to learn next. Activities in these lessons are not purposeful, and pupils do not learn enough to make good progress.
• In the lessons for which teachers have not planned activities that are informed by information about pupils’ prior learning, pupils’ progress is limited, often because all pupils undertake the same activities. In these lessons, some pupils do not attempt work, or they complete it quickly because it is too hard or too easy for them. In a small minority of lessons, the most able pupils had to wait for others to complete their work and did nothing during this time.
• Teachers across the school use the training that they have received in order to ask questions that help pupils to learn well. For example, many teachers do not accept pupils’ first answers when they know that they can add detail or make useful links to their prior knowledge. Pupils enjoy this challenge and respond well to it, often supporting each other with respect and a sense of triumph when they make strong connections.
• Most teachers promote the whole-school initiative to ‘talk like an expert’ that supports pupils to improve their vocabulary. This is especially strong in science where many pupils use technical vocabulary with knowledge and precision.
• The SENCo has provided effective training for staff so they can support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. The clear majority of teachers use this well to adjust learning activities and help this group of pupils to make good progress.
• Pupils like the verbal and written feedback that they receive, and many use this to improve their work. Inspectors saw increasing levels of pride in some pupils’ books, with improvements in their accuracy and detail. However, not enough pupils complete work, or they produce work of varying quality over time. Some teachers accept this lack of consistency, despite pupils being able to produce a greater quality and quantity at times.
• The vast majority of staff apply the behaviour strategy consistently, and pupils have responded well to the clear sanctions and rewards. Incidents of poor behaviour that prevented other pupils from learning have reduced rapidly. However, some low-level disruptive behaviour remains that interrupts learning, and there is too much variability in how staff apply the sanctions to deal with this.
• Teachers and teaching assistants are very positive about the professional training that they receive. They identify the improvements they have made to their practice and share their learning effectively across the school. This training is improving teaching, learning and assessment successfully.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. This is because some pupils’ attitudes to their learning are not yet consistently positive and they rely too much on staff encouragement to get going with tasks. Their expectations of themselves can be low, and some pupils frequently leave work unfinished, which has a poor impact on their progress.
• Pastoral care for pupils is strong and supports them well. Pupils speak highly of the way that staff make time to listen to them and help to sort out any worries. The overwhelming majority of pupils said that they feel safe at school. They appreciate the safeguarding education that they receive and feel confident that they could recognise extreme behaviours, including issues associated with radicalisation. They know what to do to keep themselves safe in and out of school.
• Almost all pupils told inspectors that bullying is rare at the school and that staff deal with any issues effectively. A few parents and carers and pupils raised concerns about the effectiveness with which leaders deal with bullying incidents, but inspectors found no evidence to support these worries. School records of incidents show that a wide range of strategies is used, including external agencies when required.
• A sense of pride in achievement is developing across the school. Pupils feel honoured to wear their ‘subject colours’ badges and to collect awards in the celebration assemblies.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Pupils who have been at Chamberlayne prior to the current behaviour strategy are adamant that behaviour has transformed for the better. Many identified this improvement when they spoke with inspectors during this inspection and during the previous monitoring visits. Pupils were polite, respectful and courteous to each other, staff and inspectors in and out of lessons.
• The behaviour strategy is becoming more effective in promoting high standards of behaviour overall. However, it has not yet been securely established throughout the school, and there is some inconsistency in its application. Pupils are, rightly, frustrated when this happens. Pockets of low-level disruption remain in some lessons and these prevent other pupils from learning effectively.
• Attendance has improved rapidly since the previous inspection due to leaders’ effective actions. However, it remains lower than the national average, and high numbers of pupils are persistently absent.
• A small number of pupils attend a local alternative provision, Compass School. Leaders work closely with this school in order to continue their pastoral support and to check that pupils make good progress with their learning and attend regularly.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ attainment and progress overall have improved due to the stronger quality of teaching, learning and assessment. However, the legacy of underachievement means that outcomes overall are still too low.
• Published information about 2017 GCSE examination results shows that pupils’ overall progress was below the national average. School information suggests that this is also likely to be the case for current Year 11 pupils. This cohort made better progress during this academic year, but it was not rapid enough to catch up from previous inadequate provision.
• Current pupils’ progress and attainment are improving. School information and pupils’ work shows that pupils in Years 7, 8 and 10 are making sound progress overall including in English, mathematics and science. The progress of pupils in Year 9 is more erratic, partly due to poor attendance, which means that too many pupils are missing learning.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils has improved and is now in line with that of their peers in school. This improvement is due to the effective use of the pupil premium funding.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are making much stronger progress than previously due to their greatly improved attendance and the leadership of the provision for this group of pupils. Staff have a secure understanding of their needs, and most provide targeted support that is highly effective.
• The small number of pupils who attend alternative provision make reasonable progress. Increasingly, they succeed with their personal learning targets and are supported well to successfully return to Chamberlayne.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 116454 Southampton 10047145 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 Foundation 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 408 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Phil Hand Nick Giles Telephone number 02380 447820 Website Email address www.chamberlayne.org info@chamberlayne.org Date of previous inspection 14–15 February 2017

Information about this school

• The current headteacher was appointed to the substantive role in May 2017 after a period as acting headteacher from January 2017. A new leadership team joined him in September 2017. The new governing body was formed in March 2017.
• The local authority has provided significant support and challenge throughout this period.
• The school is a smaller-than-average secondary school.
• The majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who are from a disadvantaged background is far greater than average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, including those who have an education, health and care plan, is much higher than average.
• A small number of pupils attend Compass School, an alternative provider for pupils who are at risk of permanent exclusion.
• The school currently meets the government floor standards, which set the minimum standards for pupils’ attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 22 part-lessons across the school, visited an assembly and the school’s internal isolation room. These activities were undertaken jointly with school leaders. Inspectors also scrutinised a sample of pupils’ work.
• Inspectors held meetings with senior leaders, other staff, the chair of governors and the school improvement officer from the local authority. They also took account of the views of external professionals who work with the school, including the educational psychologist and a leader at the alternative provision.
• Inspectors spoke with pupils in lessons and around the school, including at break and lunchtimes. They met formally with a group of pupils and considered the school’s pupil surveys.
• Inspectors considered the views of parents and carers. They took account of 30 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and the school’s own survey of parents and carers. They also met with a small group of parents.
• Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation, including information available on the school’s website and records relating to pupils’ attainment, progress, attendance and behaviour. Information on governance, including minutes of governors’ meetings, was examined. The school’s improvement plans and self-evaluations were scrutinised, along with records of the school’s work to keep pupils safe.

Inspection team

Lucy English, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Deirdre Fitzpatrick Ofsted Inspector