Guiseley School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that it is consistently good by ensuring that:
  • most-able pupils are stretched and challenged to achieve the top grades in GCSE subjects where they have not achieved the top grades in the past
  • all teachers have the same high expectations of what pupils can do and achieve, especially at key stage 3
  • pupils make good progress from their different starting points
  • strong practice in teaching, particularly evident in the sixth form, is shared more widely to improve the quality of teaching across subjects.
• Improve pupils’ behaviour, by:
  • ensuring that pupils respond quickly to staff requests, both in and outside of lessons
  • eliminating any low-level disruption from lessons.
• Improve the impact of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used more effectively to improve their attendance, reduce exclusions and ensure that they make consistently good progress across year groups
  • leaders are sharper in their analysis of the impact of plans to improve pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching and learning. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders have not checked precisely enough on the impact of whole-school strategies to improve teaching and learning. As a result, although the strong practice in teaching, particularly evident in the sixth form, has been shared, this has not had an impact.
• In the past, funding to support disadvantaged pupils has not been used effectively. Teachers have not been clear about the barriers to learning faced by some disadvantaged pupils. Subsequently, both progress and attendance have declined for disadvantaged pupils in the last academic year. Leaders now have a stronger plan in place, which identifies barriers to learning combined with a clear set of actions to support disadvantaged pupils. This is having some impact. For example, disadvantaged pupils in Year 10 are making better progress across a range of subjects.
• Middle leaders have not been accurate enough in their analysis of the impact of plans to improve teaching and pupils’ outcomes. This has led to pupil underachievement in subjects such as humanities. Leaders are addressing this and sharper plans are now in place, including more rigorous quality assurance and subject reviews.
• Leaders and governors have ensured that additional funding to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is being used effectively to ensure that these pupils make good progress. The Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up funding is also used well. As a result, a number of pupils no longer require additional support to improve their literacy and numeracy skills.
• Leaders review the curriculum regularly. Consequently, the curriculum is broad and balanced and pupils appreciate the wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer including chess club, cookery club and a number of sporting activities.
• Leaders have opted for a mainly academic curriculum to suit the high-prior-attaining profile of pupils on entry to the school. Leaders have placed a strong emphasis on the English Baccalaureate subjects. As a result, a higher proportion of students than the national average achieve the English Baccalaureate.
• The school’s system for the performance management of staff is appropriate. Targets are challenging and linked to subject and whole-school priorities.

Governance of the school

• Governors are actively involved in the school. For example, they visit their link departments, review health and safety documentation and meet with pupils to find out their views. As a result, they are well aware of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. However, governors have not ensured that leaders have addressed areas of weakness rapidly enough.
• Governors know how funding to support disadvantaged pupils has been used. However, governors acknowledge that it has not been targeted precisely enough to improve the progress and attendance of disadvantaged pupils. They are also aware that pupils are not performing consistently well across all areas of the curriculum.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is a culture of safeguarding at the school. Staff are well trained and kept regularly up to date with any local safeguarding issues.
• The school has a large pupil welfare team which includes the designated senior leader for safeguarding, a social worker, a full-time counsellor and pastoral mentors. The team provides support for pupils and ensures timely referrals to external agencies.
• Leaders and governors are wholeheartedly committed to supporting pupils’ mental health and well-being. As a result, there are growing systems of support in place for pupils from Year 7 to Year 13.
• The link governor for safeguarding meets regularly with senior leaders, and governors receive regular reports on safeguarding. Governors have completed training on mediation and restorative justice so that they have a clear understanding of practices used in school to support pupils.
• Statutory checks on staff are compliant and up to date.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching is not consistently good because there is too much variability in quality across the curriculum.
• Off-task behaviour in some lessons is hampering pupils’ progress. In these lessons teachers have to work hard to keep pupils on task. In some cases this is because pupils spend too much time completing low-level activities that do not encourage them to think more deeply about their learning. This was particularly evident in key stage 3.
• Inspectors found in some subjects there is a lack of pupil engagement, particularly when there is insufficient challenge. However, when expectations are high pupils rise to the challenge and are much more engaged in their work.
• Since the previous inspection, leaders have introduced a new feedback policy. This is not consistently applied. In subjects such as mathematics, pupils respond well to teacher feedback but in other subjects, such as geography, pupils’ response to feedback is variable.
• As part of teachers’ professional development, they engage in action research projects, which focus on improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. Although these projects have been wide and varied, they have not been scrutinised for impact sufficiently enough. Leaders are addressing this and have plans in place to ensure that the impact of professional development leads to consistently strong teaching across subjects.
• Inspectors found that teaching is stronger in modern foreign languages, triple science and mathematics, where pupils are given regular opportunities to reflect on their work. As a result, pupils are clear about what they need to do to improve. High expectations, strong teacher modelling and effective questioning ensure that pupils are challenged to make good progress in these subjects.
• Homework is regularly set and completed. In the examples of homework seen during the inspection, there was a strong emphasis on the development of pupils’ literacy skills.
• Leaders have made reading a high priority in key stage 3. As a result, pupils enjoy reading and they read with confidence.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare Requires improvement

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Leaders are committed to promoting equality. For example, a recent Black History Month project, which incorporated female role models, such as women in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), enabled pupils to develop a better understanding of the roles women played.
• Pupils are taught about healthier lifestyles and given the option to practise mindfulness, where pupils reflect on their feelings. Pupils also learn about first aid. As a result, pupils’ mental health and well-being is well supported.
• Pupils have opportunities to take responsibility and develop their leadership skills. Pupils talked to inspectors with enthusiasm about their involvement in the school council, which has become more active and reflective of the school’s population.
• Leaders place a high priority on developing pupils’ creativity. This has been recognised by the school achieving the Artsmark gold award. During the inspection, a local art gallery provided pupils with an opportunity to develop their creative skills through an artist workshop.
• Adults teach pupils to stay safe online. Pupils can talk about the risks of social media, and the internet, and how to minimise these risks in order to stay safe. Pupils are confident that if they have a problem they can tell a member of staff.
• The majority of parents, in response to the online survey, Parent View, said they believe their children are safe at school. Similarly, the majority of pupils say they feel safe in school and if bullying does occur, adults deal with it well. However, a small number of pupils say that bullying can sometimes persist.
• Pupils are generally smartly dressed in their uniforms. On the whole, they come with the correct equipment and are usually well prepared for their lesson; taking pride in the presentation of their work.
• There is a comprehensive programme to support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, which is aligned to the school’s core values of ‘Achieve, Respect, Challenge and Care’. Pupils confirm that they are regularly taught about aspects of fundamental British values. They talked confidently about respect, tolerance and democracy. However, the school needs to do more to develop pupils’ understanding of different cultures.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Most pupils behave well, but instances of low-level disruption were seen in lessons during the inspection. Some pupils told inspectors that the behaviour of others can affect their learning and that teachers’ management of behaviour is inconsistent. As a result, learning is disrupted in some lessons.
• A small minority of pupils are boisterous during break and lunchtime and they do not respond quickly enough to staff instructions. Inspectors also heard some pupils using inappropriate language.
• Pupils can demonstrate very positive attitudes towards their learning, particularly in Year 11, but at times younger pupils, especially boys, are too easily distracted.
• Overall attendance rates declined last academic year. Persistent absence remains too high, particularly for vulnerable groups.
• The attendance of disadvantaged pupils has not improved and this is having a detrimental impact on their learning and progress. Leaders now have in place more robust plans to address this and have recently appointed a member of staff to improve attendance for this group of pupils. However, it is too early to measure the impact.
• Over the past two years, fixed-term exclusions of disadvantaged pupils have been particularly high. Leaders have now addressed this and there have been no fixed-term exclusions, so far, this academic year.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils join the school, in Year 7, at significantly higher-than-average starting points. In 2016, the progress pupils made in their GCSE examinations was in line with the national average. Based on provisional outcomes for 2017, the progress made by pupils in their GCSE examinations declined. This does not represent good progress.
• Most-able pupils did not make strong progress across their GCSE subjects in 2017, based on provisional outcomes. The proportion of pupils achieving the top grades at GCSE decreased. Throughout the school, inconsistency in the extent to which the most able pupils are challenged has resulted in too few of these pupils reaching the standards of which they should be capable. However, in mathematics a high proportion of pupils achieved the top grades of 7 and above in 2017.
• In 2016, the progress disadvantaged pupils made, from their different starting points, was significantly below the national average. Based on 2017 provisional outcomes, the progress made by disadvantaged pupils did not improve. However, current key stage 4 pupils are making better progress because leaders have introduced more robust systems to track pupils’ progress. Consequently, pupils who are at risk of underachieving are now identified earlier. This means that timelier intervention is beginning to have a more positive impact on pupils’ learning and progress.
• Evidence in pupils’ books and folders viewed by inspectors shows that the progress of groups of pupils over time is variable, particularly in humanities. Attainment in mathematics and modern foreign languages has been higher because of the stronger progress pupils make in these subjects.
• Detailed assessment of need, combined with a range of interventions, including timely and effective support, ensure that the needs of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are met, including in their academic progress.
• A small number of pupils access alternative provision and in many cases this has helped to improve their attendance and access courses that meet their needs.
• As a result of an effective careers and guidance programme, pupils are provided with a range of information to make informed decisions about their next steps. Pupils are taught about the benefits of teamwork and team building. They have access to careers fairs and university open evenings, which help them find out more about the options available to them. Consequently, a higher proportion of pupils compared with the national picture stay in education, employment or training. However, younger pupils would like more advice about university options earlier.

16 to 19 study programmes Good

• After a dip in results in 2016, the progress that students make in the sixth form is improving strongly and is now good. Students make good progress in vocational courses, science, modern foreign languages, English language and psychology. Progress in history and English literature is improving.
• The regular feedback teachers give to students helps them to recognise misconceptions. Students’ response to feedback enables them to increasingly close gaps in their knowledge, understanding and skills. The newly introduced student assessment books ensure that students can clearly see the progress they are making over time.
• The curriculum in the sixth form is enriched by a comprehensive personal, social and health education programme combined with employability workshops. Students have responded increasingly to involvement in the National Citizenship Service, developing their leadership skills and providing them with wider opportunities outside school.
• Strong pastoral support, and mindfulness programmes, are helping to support students’ well-being. Students say they feel well supported by staff and talked to inspectors very positively, and confidently, about their experiences in the sixth form.
• Students in the sixth form contribute well to the life of the school. For example, they run debating societies, elections and referendums.
• Students speak highly of the good-quality advice and guidance they receive to help them make decisions about university and apprenticeship applications. As a result, in 2017, 88% of pupils achieved their first choice university placement and an increasing number of pupils are going onto apprenticeships. A high uptake of work experience in Year 12 helps students in their preparation for the world of work.
• The progress that sixth-form students make in GCSE resit mathematics is above that of similar students nationally. There are good opportunities for students to develop their mathematics skills across the curriculum, for example in A-level geography.
• Requirements for the 16 to 19 study programme are met and students have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. Retention rates on both academic and vocational courses are above the national average.
• Leaders’ more robust checks on the quality of teaching in the sixth form have led to stronger teaching across a wide range of subjects. Leaders acknowledge where improvements are still needed, for example in humanities, and have clear plans in place to address any areas of weakness.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 108085 Leeds 10036514 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 Foundation 11 to 18 Mixed Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1,370 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 215 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mrs A Lawton Mr P Morrissey 01943 872315 www.guiseleyschool.org.uk info@guiseleyschool.org.uk Date of previous inspection November 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is an 11 to 18, larger than average, comprehensive school.
• The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• The attainment of pupils on entry to the school is typically significantly above the national average.
• The vast majority of pupils are from White British families. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well below the national average.
• In 2016, the school met the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum performance expectations for secondary schools.
• The school uses the following alternative provision for a small number of pupils: James Project, Educ8, and Leeds City College.
• The school has a collaborative sixth form arrangement with St Mary’s Menston. This enables the school to offer a wider range of subjects in the sixth form.
• The school supports initial teacher training as part of Leeds School Centre Initial Teacher Training.
• The school has achieved the Artsmark gold award.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors gathered a wide range of information during this inspection, including through observations in lessons, some of which were undertaken jointly with members of the senior leadership team. Inspectors also visited tutor time and an assembly.
• Inspectors looked at a wide range of pupils’ work in lessons and together with senior leaders.
• An inspector listened to pupils read.
• Inspectors held meetings with school staff, including the headteacher and the head of school, members of the local governing body, a local authority officer and members of the senior and middle leadership teams.
• Inspectors spoke to pupils both formally in meetings and informally during breaks and lunchtimes.
• Inspectors took account of the 146 responses to the online parent questionnaire, Parent View, email correspondence received from parents, 64 responses to the staff online questionnaire and 108 responses to the pupil online questionnaire.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documentation relating to the school’s work including the self-evaluation document, improvement plans, school policies, minutes of the governing body meetings and documents relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

Inspection team

Michele Costello, lead inspector Stephen Mckenzie Fiona Dixon Garry Stout Julia Wright Michael Wardle

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector