Rosebery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve rates of progress in mathematics for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities so that their outcomes match or exceed national averages.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The school has a highly distinctive culture and ethos, enshrined in ‘The Rosebery Way’ and driven with passion by the headteacher. She has an exceptionally clear vision for learning, for the opportunities she wants pupils to have and for the kind of citizens she wants them to be.
• Parents recognise the inspiring leadership that the headteacher provides. One parent who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, wrote, ‘Ms Allen is a remarkable, outstanding leader.’ Another said, ‘Each girl is made to feel they are important whatever their academic ability.’
• Leaders demonstrate uncompromising ambition for all pupils in the school. They are meticulous in checking how well pupils are doing in every subject and in every year group, and they hold teachers rigorously to account for pupils’ progress. They are relentless in ensuring that every pupil makes exceptional progress, in particular the most able, the disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The headteacher acknowledges that the recruitment and retention of teachers in some subjects has been challenging in recent years. Partly in response to this, the school works closely with a local teaching school to train new teachers. Several of these trainees have subsequently secured teaching posts at the school. The headteacher has also made some astute appointments, particularly in subject leadership positions. These leaders now play a strong role in helping to drive the school’s ambitious improvement plan.
• Staff are highly supportive of the school and proud to be a part of it. A member of staff who responded to the online questionnaire wrote, ‘Working here is a joy and privilege.’ The headteacher has encouraged the development of a coaching culture in the school, in which the most effective practitioners share their skills with others. Teachers feel well supported and say that leaders provide them with excellent opportunities to improve their skills and develop their careers. They also confirm that leaders provide effective support for their well-being.
• Leaders ensure that the curriculum is broad and balanced and that it meets all pupils’ needs. They have taken account of national research to design a bespoke curriculum for Rosebery School. A key feature of this curriculum is a one year ‘bridging’ programme in Year 9, which enables teachers to prepare pupils thoroughly for their GCSE courses. At key stage 4, pupils follow a demanding curriculum, which prepares them extremely well for further study, either in the school’s sixth form or with another provider. Leaders have rightly identified a small number of pupils for whom a modified version of this curriculum is more appropriate.
• Pupils benefit from an exceptionally rich extra-curricular offer of lunchtime and after-school clubs. Around one fifth of the school’s population take weekly instrumental or singing lessons, and pupils have many opportunities to perform in and out of school. Around 250 pupils are involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, while a high proportion of pupils represent their school in a range of competitive sports. Pupils are strongly encouraged to engage and excel in extra-curricular activities. For example, recently a team came third in the Surrey rocket-car challenge and two pupils reached the national finals of a poetry competition.
• Leaders make effective use of additional funding, including for special educational needs, the pupil premium and Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium, to accelerate the progress of disadvantaged pupils and enable those who enter the school with below average achievement to catch up. As a result, current pupils who are disadvantaged or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities demonstrate rates of progress similar to all other pupils across a range of subjects, including in English and mathematics.
• There is a real vibrancy in the school’s outstanding provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and active promotion of British values. ‘The Rosebery Way’, which underlines the school’s commitment to a tolerant and diverse community, is well understood by pupils and practised on a daily basis. As a result, pupils are exceptionally well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders fulfil their responsibilities in relation to equalities legislation extremely well, and take highly effective steps to raise awareness of and celebrate the rights of those with protected characteristics. Leaders actively promote an open, tolerant culture, as evidenced in the recent diversity week which was organised and led by sixth-form students.
• Pupils receive highly effective and impartial careers advice. The careers programme is taught through the school’s personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum. Pupils can also call on the services of a dedicated member of staff and attend the annual careers fair. The school’s alumnae association makes a contribution by helping to arrange work experience placements for older pupils. In 2016, no pupils were classified as being not in education, employment or training.

Governance of the school

• Governance is highly effective. Governors have a sharp understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and use this understanding to hold leaders rigorously to account for the progress pupils make. They robustly challenge the headteacher and her senior team about progress against the priorities they have set. They receive reports from a range of leaders about aspects of the school’s work and ask searching questions of them. Governors rigorously monitor the impact of additional funding provided by the government to accelerate the progress of disadvantaged pupils and those who need to catch up. They challenge leaders to ensure that any differences between the achievement of these pupils and that of other pupils diminish rapidly. They also check that the performance management policy is implemented fairly and robustly.
• Governors are committed to the success of the school, and are assiduous in carrying out their statutory duties, in particular in relation to safeguarding. They are proactive in ensuring that they have accessed appropriate training. Governors recognise their responsibility to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the school and, to this end, are actively exploring membership of a multi-academy trust. Governors have rightly identified the progress of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in mathematics as a key priority for this year.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Pupils’ welfare and well-being have a very high priority in the school, and there is a strong culture of safeguarding that permeates all that the school does. Consequently, pupils feel safe and have the confidence to talk to their teachers about any concerns they may have.
• Leaders ensure that the school is compliant with all current safeguarding regulations and guidelines. Vetting checks on staff and volunteers are carried out rigorously, and record-keeping is exemplary.
• Staff have received appropriate and high-quality training in safeguarding, which includes training on radicalisation, child sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. As a result, staff have a deep knowledge of the potential risks their pupils face and recognise the need to be vigilant at all times. There are clear procedures in place for reporting safeguarding concerns, and staff understand what they are and how to use them.
• When it becomes necessary to involve children’s services in a safeguarding matter, the school’s designated safeguarding leaders are tenacious in ensuring that pupils receive the support they need. They keep careful records of all such cases and store these records securely. However, leaders report some frustration concerning slow response times from the local authority.
• Governors are conscientious in ensuring that their own child protection training is up to date and in checking that school leaders implement agreed policies rigorously.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Much of the teaching in this school is quite simply inspirational. Teachers have very high expectations of their pupils and provide them with sustained levels of stretch and challenge. Teachers’ excellent subject knowledge, clear explanations and skilful use of questioning enable pupils to master difficult concepts and new subject matter successfully. Pupils relish the opportunities they are given to explore and explain their thinking. As a result, they make exceptionally strong progress across the curriculum.
• Well-established routines enable teachers to make the most effective use of learning time. Lessons are brisk and purposeful, characterised by mutual respect between staff and pupils. Not a minute is wasted. This is because pupils are inspired and motivated by teachers’ enthusiasm for their subject. For example, in a Year 8 mathematics lesson on sequencing, pupils were gripped with intellectual curiosity when their teacher introduced the idea of ‘logical paradoxes’.
• Teachers’ planning is highly effective in meeting the needs of all pupils, including the most able, those who are disadvantaged, and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teachers ensure that pupils have frequent opportunities to develop their literacy skills across the curriculum, including through extended writing. Teachers are alert to any misconceptions pupils may have and are quick to correct them. They check pupils’ progress meticulously and give them incisive feedback on their next steps. Pupils know what they have to do and make effective use of the time teachers give them to improve their work.
• Pupils are immensely proud of their work and talk with genuine passion about their learning. Pupils’ presentation of their work is invariably of a high standard and often impeccable. They willingly accept responsibility for their own learning and progress, and constantly seek to improve, both in their lessons and in the many extra-curricular activities they undertake.
• Teachers are uncompromising in their efforts to ensure that pupils experience a rigorous and demanding curriculum. For example, pupils in a Year 7 English class confidently discussed how two writers used the conventions of gothic literature in their writing.
• Parents receive regular information about their children’s progress in parents’ evenings and in annual reports. Leaders work with a focus group of parents to improve and refine the reporting process. Parents appreciate the information they receive from the school, though a small number of parents feel they would like more advice on how to help their daughters at home.
• Very occasionally, teaching does not fully meet pupils’ needs. Where this is the case, pupils’ attitudes to learning and pride in their work are less strong. Leaders are aware of this and, where necessary, provide effective support and challenge to improve the quality of teaching.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare Outstanding

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils model the values enshrined in ‘The Rosebery Way’ in an exemplary fashion. They are ambitious for their own futures and display excellent attitudes to their learning. They concentrate hard on their work and contribute enthusiastically to group work or class discussions, showing respect for one another’s views. They are highly reflective learners and are hungry for the feedback they receive from their teachers and peers, which they act on conscientiously in order to improve their own work.
• Pupils are very proud of their school and relish the many opportunities they have to contribute to the wider life of the school. For example, pupils enjoy taking part in the annual ‘Rosebery Day’ activities, led and organised by sixth-form students. Older pupils run a rigorous selection process to choose members of the student voice team. The junior leadership team provides a forum for pupils to debate teaching and learning, pupils’ well-being and the school environment.
• The school makes excellent provision for pupils’ emotional and physical well-being and pupils appreciate all that teachers do for them. Participation in extra-curricular activities is high and pupils benefit from an exceptionally rich programme of sporting and cultural activities. Pupils seize the many opportunities they have to take part in dramatic and musical performances in school and beyond, as well as to represent their school in a wide range of sports.
• Pupils who need extra support for medical, social and emotional issues have access to a wide range of services provided, or brokered, by the school.
• Pupils have been taught about all forms of bullying, including online, homophobic and racist bullying. They firmly reject all forms of discrimination, and they are proactive in working with staff to tackle any rare incidents of bullying that take place in their school.
• Pupils play their part in ensuring that Rosebery is a tolerant and inclusive school. They have a sharp understanding of equality and diversity issues. For example, in a recent ‘diversity’ week, organised by sixth-form students, pupils took part in a variety of form-time and assembly activities.
• Pupils feel exceptionally safe in school. They also know how to keep themselves safe from a variety of risks out of school, including when they are using the internet.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils conduct themselves in an exemplary manner in lessons, in corridors and around the school. They are thoughtful towards each other, respectful of their teachers and unfailingly polite to visitors.
• Fixed-term and repeat exclusions are well below the national averages. Leaders take effective action to support the very small number of pupils whose behaviour is very challenging.
• Pupils love coming to school, as shown by their exemplary attendance over a number of years. Leaders are keenly aware that a very small number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, or who are disadvantaged, are frequently absent. Leaders work closely with the families concerned and go the extra mile to remove any barriers to regular attendance. Recent attendance figures suggest that these efforts are beginning to bear fruit.
• A very small number of pupils attend a range of alternative providers to support their behaviour and attendance, or to access specialist provision for their emotional or medical needs. Leaders check that pupils who attend alternative provision behave and attend well, are safe and make strong progress in their learning.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils’ attainment on entry to the school is well above the national average. During their time at Rosebery, pupils continue to make substantial and sustained progress in a range of subjects, including in English, mathematics and science. By the time they leave Year 11, pupils’ progress and attainment are consistently well above national averages.
• Published outcomes for 2016 show that progress and attainment for all pupils, including for the most able, were well above national averages overall. Across the curriculum, for example in English, mathematics, science, humanities and modern foreign languages, pupils’ outcomes were also well above those achieved by their peers nationally.
• Disadvantaged pupils, including the most able, performed strongly, making progress at least in line with and often better than other pupils nationally. The attainment of disadvantaged pupils was at or above national averages in all subjects, apart from in mathematics, where it was slightly below the national average.
• The progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities was in line with the progress of other pupils nationally in all subjects, except in mathematics, where their progress was well below the national average for all pupils.
• Pupils currently at the school make exceptionally strong progress from their various starting points in all subjects. Pupils’ workbooks show that the most able, those who are disadvantaged, and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making similar rates of progress to all other pupils. This is also true of mathematics, where leaders’ actions have been effective in ensuring that vulnerable pupils make rapid progress.
• In English, pupils achieve outstanding outcomes because their writing is highly analytical, their use of language is sophisticated, and their spelling and grammar accurate. In mathematics, the curriculum has been revised to take account of increased demands in the primary phase. As a result, pupils make a flying start to their mathematics studies in Year 7. In modern foreign languages, pupils write and speak with a high degree of accuracy, moving with ease between past and present tenses as early as in Year 9.
• In all subjects, pupils speak fluently, using specialist language accurately. This helps them to engage in higher-level reasoning and grapple with challenging concepts, so that they make rapid progress in their learning. The school actively encourages and makes excellent provision for reading. Pupils read widely, fluently and with gusto. The well-stocked library is a hive of activity, while pupils are given opportunities during their form periods and English lessons for silent reading.
• Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for their next steps in education, and take up post-16 opportunities that closely match their career plans. All pupils who completed their GCSE courses in 2016 either joined the sixth form at Rosebery, left to follow appropriate courses at another 16 to 19 provider or took up apprenticeships.
• Leaders have rightly identified that, while above average for all pupils, published outcomes for mathematics show that disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities did not progress as well as they did in their other subjects. Current assessment information suggests that these pupils are now making stronger progress from their starting points in mathematics.

16 to 19 study programmes Outstanding

• The 16 to 19 study programmes offered by the school meet all statutory requirements.
• Published outcomes for 2016 show that students made substantial and sustained progress from their starting points overall and in almost all subjects. Disadvantaged students achieved rates of progress in line with all students nationally. The most able disadvantaged students made particularly strong progress.
• Students are very well prepared for the next steps in their lives and education. Most students go on to university. In 2016, three quarters of those students who applied to university accepted offers from their first-choice institution. Over one third secured places at one of the country’s 24 leading universities. Over one third of students also selected university courses in subjects related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
• Students who choose not to apply to university are very well supported in finding appropriate further education courses, apprenticeships or employment.
• Leaders’ rigorous checks on progress show that current students, including those who are disadvantaged, continue to make substantial and sustained progress. Effective support is in place for any students whose progress appears to have stalled or who are experiencing difficulties with their academic programmes.
• Teaching in the sixth form is highly effective. Students respond with enthusiasm to the exceptionally high levels of challenge evident in virtually all subjects, including subjects where past outcomes have been relatively weaker, for example in physics and business studies.
• Teachers give students incisive and well-targeted feedback on their work. Students value this feedback and are assiduous in putting their teachers’ advice into practice.
• Students speak extremely highly of the provision in place for them. They say that the advice and guidance they received before joining the sixth form was invaluable. They are equally appreciative of the ongoing support they receive from their form tutors and their planned programme of careers education. Students’ attendance and behaviour are excellent and they act as exemplary role models for other pupils in the school. Students feel safe and teachers give them high-quality support to help them stay safe in and out of school, including online.
• Students willingly seize opportunities to play a leadership role in the school. They are highly visible around the school, for example as department or house prefects, as mentors to younger pupils or as sports leaders. Sixth-form students also organise a number of whole-school events, such as diversity week and ‘Rosebery Day’, and are active in raising money for charity.
• Leaders ensure that students have access to a rich programme of extra-curricular activities, including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award, for which take-up is high. Parents express high levels of satisfaction with the provision their daughters receive.
• Leaders have an accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses in the sixth form. They are highly ambitious and leave no stone unturned in ensuring that all students reach their potential. Leaders continue to provide robust challenge and support to teachers in the small and diminishing number of subjects where pupils’ outcomes are not as strong as expected.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 137736 Surrey 10024683 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 Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Academy converter 11 to 18 Girls Girls Number of pupils on the school roll 1,466 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 282 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mrs Isabel Ramsay Ms Ros Allen 01372 720439 www.roseberyschool.co.uk/ rallen@rosebery.surrey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 30–31 January 2013

Information about this school

• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• Rosebery School is a larger-than-average comprehensive school for girls.
• The school converted to academy status in December 2011.
• Around three quarters of pupils are of White British heritage, while the remaining 25% of pupils represent a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is much lower than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is also much lower than the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• A very small number of pupils attend alternative provision with a range of local providers, including St Peter’s Teaching Centre and Access to Education (A2E).

Information about this inspection

• This inspection was carried out over three days. It began as a section 8 short inspection, carried out by two inspectors. In order to gather further evidence, the lead inspector converted to a section 5 inspection. On day 2, one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors arrived on site, taking over as lead inspector. A telephone conversation was held between him and the previous lead inspector, to enable a handover of evidence from day 1. The headteacher was present during the conversation. On day 3, seven team inspectors worked with the lead inspector to complete the inspection.
• Over the three days, inspectors carried out 71 visits to lessons, across all key stages. Many of these visits were carried out jointly with a member of the senior leadership team.
• Inspectors also held meetings with senior and middle leaders to gather evidence about a variety of aspects of the school’s work.
• A meeting was held with members of the governing body, which included the chair of governors.
• Pupils discussed their views about school with inspectors
• Inspectors considered the views of parents by analysing 225 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 156 free-text responses.
• The views of staff and pupils were also considered by analysing 85 responses to the staff survey and 440 responses to the pupil survey.
• Inspectors scrutinised documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation form, current assessment information, the school improvement plan and minutes of governing body meetings.
• Inspectors also scrutinised pupils’ learning in their workbooks.
• Safeguarding procedures at the school were reviewed.

Inspection team

Gary Holden, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Peter Fry Mary Davies Susan Derrick Ian Bauckham Steve Baker Richard Carlyle Gerard Strong

Mark Bagust, lead inspector Peter Fry

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector