Frederick Gough School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to improve the progress made by pupils, by:
  • providing greater challenge in lessons
  • establishing all teachers having consistently high expectations of what pupils can achieve
  • focusing on providing activities in lessons which meet the needs of all pupils.
• Further improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils.
• Develop the effectiveness of middle leaders, by:
  • ensuring that they routinely evaluate their actions to make sure the actions taken have the desired and biggest impact on improving pupils’ progress
  • having clear, measurable success criteria on all development plans, which link to improving pupils’ progress.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher is determined to provide an inclusive environment in which all pupils can learn well. As a result, Frederick Gough School is a school where pupils are cared for and provided with a good education and the skills to take the next steps in their lives. As one member of staff said, ‘It is our role to help pupils negotiate this modern world.’
• The curriculum is broad, balanced and flexible enough to meet the individual needs of the pupils. The range of subjects pupils can study incorporates the artistic, technical, vocational and academic. Enrichment activities are plentiful and many pupils take advantage of them. ‘Challenge days’, combined with a well-thought-through personal and social education programme and assemblies, mean pupils understand well the world they live in.
• Arrangements to support pupils as they move into the school, through the school and leave the school are strong. Pupils are able, because of the guidance they receive, to make informed choices about what they are going to do next. Parents appreciate being involved in these arrangements. As a result, the proportion of pupils at the end of Year 11 who are not in employment, further education or training is extremely small.
• Additional monies, such as the pupil premium funding, are spent on removing the barriers to pupils participating in their education. The school has focused on removing the social barriers to pupils participating in school life. This means pupils attend school more regularly and are involved in all the activities the school offers, such as trips to China. However, the day-to-day attendance of disadvantaged pupils is still below that of their peers. The catch-up money received for literacy and numeracy is spent effectively to improve pupils’ progress in these two areas.
• Middle leaders have focused on providing a broad curriculum. They understand and can explain the main strengths and weaknesses in the school and their departments. Departmental development plans are in place to tackle the weaknesses. However, too often the development plans focus on completing tasks. There is a lack of evaluation of actions and as a result it is not clear which actions have the most impact on improving pupils’ progress.
• When alternative provision is used, leaders ensure that it is the most appropriate for the pupil concerned. Leaders check carefully on the attendance and progress made by pupils in alternative provision.

Governance of the school

• The governors of Frederick Gough School share the headteacher’s passion to provide a broad and balanced curriculum within an inclusive environment. Governors have a good working relationship with leaders and managers of the school.
• The governors are knowledgeable about the strengths and weaknesses of the school and know what is being done to improve the school further. Governors monitor what is happening and know what improvements have been made since the last inspection.
• Governors are determined to support the school to remove barriers pupils have to enable them to participate in all aspects of school life. Governors monitor the spending of additional monies to make sure the money is spent to achieve this goal.
• Governors challenge and support leadership well by visiting the school regularly to find out more information. They participate in senior leader review meetings with heads of departments, which means governors are able to report back first-hand knowledge of improvements.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Safeguarding and the well-being of pupils are at the forefront of everything the school does.
• Regular training ensures that all staff are aware of what their responsibilities are. This, combined with the school’s robust procedures, means concerns are picked up quickly. The school’s proactive approach, such as employing a social worker and providing in-school mental health support, means pupils are able to access the support they require, quickly, and in school.
• The school has strong links with outside agencies to ensure that pupils receive the support they need from the right people. Regular meetings mean that staff can provide a coherent and coordinated approach to supporting the most vulnerable pupils. Parents overwhelmingly confirmed that their children were safe at the school; a view backed up by the pupils themselves.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers use their good subject knowledge and the school’s accurate assessment information to plan activities which meet the needs of the majority of pupils. High-quality questioning probes pupils’ understanding of their work further. As a result, across the curriculum, pupils make good progress.
• The majority of teachers have high expectations of what their pupils can achieve and challenge them to meet those expectations. In some lessons, however, the activities presented lack challenge and for some pupils the work is too simple. Pupils confirmed that in many lessons they felt challenged but that in a few lessons the work was too easy.
• There are few incidents of low-level disruptive behaviour. This is because of the good relationships and mutual respect between pupils and staff.
• The development of pupils’ literacy skills is a key focus. Pupils are given many opportunities to develop their spelling and produce extended pieces of writing across the curriculum. For example, in child development lessons pupils had to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different pieces of equipment. Pupils had to put forward a reasoned argument as to why they recommended the purchase of each piece of equipment. As a result of these opportunities, pupils’ literacy skills are improving.
• Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities are supported well both in and out of lessons. Staff understand the individual needs of these pupils and as a result they make the same good progress as their peers.

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’s slogan, highly visible on the side of one of the buildings, embodies the focus for pupils, staff and governors: ‘Try your best, be nice and you will do well.’
• Pupils understand how to become successful learners and what they need to do to take the next steps in their lives. Pupils show pride in their work, demonstrated through the presentation of their work and the willingness to keep trying when they do not always succeed first time. This was seen in physical education lessons when pupils were encouraged to evaluate their skills and consider what they needed to do to improve even further.
• Pupils know and understand what they need to do to keep themselves safe, both in the ‘real world’ and the ‘virtual world’. They are clear about what bullying is, and they state there is someone to talk to if they need to. Pupils and parents also are happy that bullying is dealt with swiftly. However, they stated, and this is confirmed by the school’s logs, that bullying rarely happens.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. In lessons, pupils listen to each other and respect others’ views. There are strong relationships between staff and pupils. This means, in the vast majority of lessons, pupils behave well throughout.
• At social times pupils self-regulate their behaviour. The pupils treat the school environment and the resources provided for them with respect. For example, no graffiti was seen by inspectors and sports trophies are not tampered with, despite being on open display.
• The prefect system allows pupils to take responsibility for supporting other pupils with their behaviour. Prefects appreciate these opportunities to take responsibility and say they are respected by the other pupils and supported by the staff to carry out their roles.
• Pupils have positive attitudes about coming to school. They wear their school uniform with pride.
• Pupils’ attendance here is above pupils’ attendance nationally. Due to successful and well-thought-through strategies, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is rising. However, it is still below the attendance level of their peers. The school works well with parents and outside agencies to improve attendance. As a result, there are many success stories of pupils now attending school more regularly.
• The number of pupils excluded for a fixed period of time is falling and is below the national average. This is because of the strong support networks in place to deal with issues before they result in pupils being excluded. Very few pupils are excluded more than once. This is because when pupils are excluded the re-integration strategies ensure that they are positively supported to re-join the school community and they are able to reflect on their behaviour.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils, regardless of their starting points, make good progress across the curriculum.
• In 2017, pupils’ progress at the end of Year 11 dipped, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and in English. Actions put in place, including additional training and support for teachers, meant that in 2018 pupils’ progress improved.
• There is a range of considered strategies to improve the progress made by disadvantaged pupils. Many of these strategies support the learning of these pupils in the classroom. The strategies develop the pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding and enable them to confidently approach the work they have to do. Across the school these pupils are making much better progress than in the past. Differences in the progress made by these pupils and their peers nationally at the end of Year 11 are decreasing considerably.
• Pupils who enter the school with lower levels of literacy then their peers are supported well. An integrated programme to develop literacy across history, geography and English is well thought through. This programme develops these pupils’ literacy skills well. Across the school, as shown in books, pupils are encouraged to review and develop their literacy skills.
• The most able pupils are provided with additional challenge through the school’s ‘reach programme’. The programme focuses on the provision of highly challenging and though-provoking activities. However, this level of challenge was not seen by inspectors to be a feature in all lessons or in relevant pupils’ work. The programme also aims to raise the aspirations of pupils by providing them with opportunities to visit universities such as Cambridge. The programme also provides useful revision techniques and develops the skills needed for future life. This programme is contributing to the improving progress made by the most able pupils.
• Pupils are encouraged to read. The library is welcoming and well resourced. It is much used by pupils during lessons and at social times. Evidence shows that the reading ages of pupils who enter the school with lower reading ages than their chronological ages are improving, allowing them to better access the rest of the curriculum.

School details

Unique reference number 118097 Local authority North Lincolnshire Inspection number 10047878 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary comprehensive School category Maintained Age range of pupils 11 to 16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 1,319 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr Michael Galey Headteacher Mr Ben Lawrance Telephone number 01724 292930 Website www.frederickgoughschool.co.uk Email address admin@frederickgoughschool.co.uk Date of previous inspection 31 March 2015

Information about this school

• The school uses the following alternative providers: the Darley Centre, North Lindsey College, The Skills Centre Plus, Act Fast and Keys 7KS, depending on the needs of the pupil concerned. At the time of the inspection there were only a very small number of pupils in alternative provision. Therefore, their attendance and progress are not commented on.

Information about this inspection

• During the inspection, the inspection team visited 62 lessons. Some of these were short visits, others were longer. Some of these visits were carried out by inspectors accompanied by senior and middle leaders of the school. In addition the inspection team looked at a large number of pupils’ books to consider the progress made by pupils currently in the school. Science and mathematics books were looked at with the leaders for those subjects.
• The 127 responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire, Parent View, and the 61 free-text responses were taken into account. In addition, the inspection team considered the school’s own review of parents’ views. There were no responses to Ofsted’s staff or pupil surveys. However, the inspection team took account of the pupil and staff surveys presented by the school. Views of pupils were also collected through formal meetings, and informal discussions at social times. Pupils were listened to reading in literacy lessons.
• Meetings were held with representatives of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body, senior leaders, middle leaders and members of staff. A telephone call was made to a local authority representative. The school’s information about safeguarding, outcomes for pupils, teaching and pupils’ welfare was considered.

Inspection team

Tanya Stuart, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Michael Cook Ofsted Inspector Gordon Watts Ofsted Inspector Rajinder Harrison Ofsted Inspector Julian Appleyard Ofsted Inspector