Alder Grange School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Senior leaders and governors have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas that require further development. The school's plans for improvement tackle the right issues.

Teaching is good in most areas of the school. Teachers appreciate and benefit from a wide range of professional development opportunities to improve their practice. Experienced staff support and challenge trainee teachers well to develop their skills.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge and many provide useful feedback to pupils about how to improve their work. Effective explanations and skilful questioning promote good learning. The school is parti...cularly effective in supporting pupils whose circumstances make them potentially vulnerable.

All adults in the school work as a team to ensure the well-being of pupils at risk from harm. Pupils behave very well in lessons and during the less structured times of the school day. They are polite, courteous and respectful.

Pupils are very friendly and welcoming to visitors. Pupils make good progress in a wide range of subjects. Disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are catching up with others.

Pupils are very proud of their school and are provided with many opportunities to develop leadership and team skills. Leadership of the sixth form is good and standards are improving. Teaching in the sixth form is consistently good.

Leaders have worked hard to ensure that all sixth-form students receive the highest quality guidance and support. There are inconsistencies within and across subjects because routines for checking by middle leaders are not sufficiently rigorous. In English and history, progress is less consistent than in other subjects.

Very occasionally, work set is too easy or too hard. When this happens, pupils do not make as much progress as they could. Governors engage in regular training to update their skills.

The governing body is beginning to challenge senior leaders more effectively. Governors have not yet fully evaluated the impact of the pupil premium funding with sufficient rigour. Pupils' attendance rates are close to the national average and improving overall.

However, the attendance disadvantaged pupils is not improving as rapidly as the attendance of others.

Information about this school

This is a smaller-than-average-sized secondary school. It is non-selective within a locality that operates a selective system.

The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs/or disabilities is above average. The proportion of pupils who are supported through pupil premium funding is average. The majority of pupils are of White British origin.

Approximately 15% are of Bangladeshi heritage and about 10% speak English as an additional language. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress by the end of Year 11. Alder Grange has a strong commitment to Initial Teacher Training, being the lead school in the Pennine Lancashire SCITT, and has a high level of participation in school-to-school support as a National Support School.

The school's headteacher is supported by a head of school who has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the school. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. A small number of pupils are educated in alternative provision including at Coal Clough.

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