Burnley High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Burnley High School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be part of this tight-knit community. Pupils and staff say that there is a family feel to the school. Adults in the school know pupils well and care for their well-being and safety.

Pupils are appreciative of the high-quality facilities available to them in the new school building.

Pupils feel safe when they are in school. They know who to speak to if they are worried or upset.

Pupils told inspectors that if bullying does happen, teachers ensure that it is sorted out quickly.

Teachers have high expectations of pupils' behaviour. Teachers consisten...tly apply the clear and straightforward rules of Burnley High School, known as the 'BHS Way'.

Pupils behave well. They move around the school calmly and act sensibly towards one another during social times. In lessons, pupils listen carefully and join in when asked to do so by their teachers.

Leaders, governors and trustees are ambitious for all pupils. They have high expectations of what pupils should achieve. Leaders ensure that staff prepare pupils well for their future lives.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), progress well through the curriculum.

Pupils benefit from a strong personal development curriculum. They gain the knowledge that they need to live safe and happy lives.

Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular activities including many trips to places outside of school. For example, all Year 8 pupils enjoy a geography trip to the Lake District where they study both the landscape and the impact of tourism on the area.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders, including trustees, have ensured through recent changes that all pupils, including those with SEND, learn a suitably broad and ambitious curriculum.

For example, leaders and trustees are successfully increasing the proportion of pupils who study the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects.

Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, progress well through key stage 3 curriculums in most subjects. Subject leaders have worked closely with trust advisors to design well-ordered curriculums that enable pupils to build their knowledge logically and securely over time.

However, in a small number of subjects in key stage 3, leaders' curriculum design is less effective. As a result, pupils are not able to use the knowledge that they have gained confidently, fluently or within unfamiliar situations.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge.

They explain concepts clearly to pupils. Teachers know the mistakes that pupils are likely to make when learning new content and help pupils to avoid making those mistakes. They know their pupils well and adapt the teaching of subject content to the specific needs of their pupils.

Teachers take opportunities to make links between current learning and earlier topics. This helps pupils to remember what they have learned previously.

Teachers use a wide range of strategies to check that pupils have learned and fully understood the intended curriculum.

Teachers adapt the curriculum to cover any learning that pupils may have missed or forgotten. Pupils listen carefully to the advice from their teachers and conscientiously correct and improve their work.

Pupils behave well around the school site.

They appreciate and respect the facilities within the new school building. Pupils follow the well-established school routines without fuss. Typically, lessons take place without disruption.

Pupils want to do well and have positive attitudes to their learning.

Leaders identify the needs of pupils with SEND quickly and accurately. Teachers and learning support assistants use the information that leaders provide to support pupils with SEND to learn well.

This helps pupils with SEND to progress through the same ambitious subject curriculums as their peers.

Recently, leaders have built upon established systems to identify more precisely pupils whose reading knowledge is weak. The changes leaders have made enable them to pinpoint the specific problems that individuals face with their reading.

Leaders have invested in specialist staff and additional resources to support pupils who are less confident readers. As a result, more pupils are becoming more confident and fluent readers. Leaders have introduced several new schemes to encourage all pupils to read more widely.

Subject departments have developed reading challenges to help pupils build subject specific vocabulary. This has enabled pupils to become more confident in using this vocabulary.

Leaders have a well-designed personal development curriculum in place.

The curriculum provides pupils with opportunities to learn about and discuss issues relevant to their current and future lives. Teachers are well trained to deliver the personal development curriculum effectively. Lessons are supplemented by sessions led by external speakers who are knowledgeable in their field.

Pupils told inspectors about a recent talk that helped them clearly understand the dangers of knife crime.Pupils receive age-appropriate careers education, information, advice and guidance. They also have opportunities to receive independent careers advice.

Staff appreciate how leaders and governors have taken steps to reduce their workload. Staff, leaders and governors appreciate the high-quality support they have received from the trust since the school joined in April 2020.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are well informed about local and national safeguarding matters. They use this knowledge to ensure that safeguarding training is thorough and that all staff are kept informed about the most recent developments. Leaders ensure that any safeguarding concerns are identified quickly and that appropriate and timely action is taken.

Staff know how to spot the signs that may indicate that a pupil is at risk of harm. They know to share any concerns with leaders. Leaders work well with external agencies to ensure that vulnerable pupils and their families get the help that they need.

Pupils are very knowledgeable about how to keep themselves and their friends safe. This is because they benefit from a strong culture of safety which is present across the whole school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a minority of subjects in key stage 3, leaders have not designed a curriculum that supports pupils to learn about these subjects in sufficient depth.

As a result, some pupils do not acquire the essential knowledge in some aspects of the curriculum as securely as they should. Leaders should ensure that, in these subjects, curriculums are designed so that pupils gain the same rich body of knowledge as they do in other subjects.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2017.