Carr Hill High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

In recent years, staff have raised their expectations of pupils' achievement. Even so, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should due to the uneven delivery of the curriculum.

Some pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), forge positive relationships with their teachers.

Pupils typically believe that they have trusted adults that they can go to for support. The school is strengthening its approach to help pupils foster positive attitudes towards learning. Many pupils are increasingly interested in their learning and they want to do well.

In the main, pupils respond positively to the new behaviour management sys...tem. New routines have improved pupils' conduct in lessons. Nonetheless, the updated strategies have not had the desired impact on the poor behaviour of a small number of pupils.

The continued poor behaviour of these pupils makes some of their peers feel less happy and safe around school.

The school has recently developed new opportunities for pupils to take on roles of responsibility. These leadership roles help to develop pupils' resilience and respect for others.

For instance, the resilience team enjoy supporting and mentoring Year 7 pupils to help them settle into school. Such positions help pupils to build their confidence to work with others across different year groups.

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

The school, and members of the governing body, have brought about some positive changes since the previous inspection.

For example, pupils now have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. A greater proportion of pupils in key stage 4 choose a wide range of subjects to study. This is preparing them better for their future career choices.

The school has also redesigned the subject curriculums to ensure that the knowledge that pupils need to learn is identified clearly. Subject content is organised sensibly to help pupils to revisit and effectively connect their prior knowledge to new learning.

Recent changes to the curriculums have helped teachers to know what pupils should learn and when this will happen.

Nevertheless, teachers' success in delivering the new curriculums is variable. While some teachers have mastered the new approaches, others do not teach subject content effectively. At times, they present content that is too easy or is too difficult for pupils to understand.

As a result, pupils learning across different subjects is uneven.

Some teachers use assessment strategies effectively to identify and rectify errors in pupils' learning. This helps some pupils to gain a secure body of knowledge.

However, other teachers do not successfully identify the gaps that pupils have in their learning. This means that some pupils are not able to build on what they know and can do over time.

Reading has high priority.

Pupils who find reading difficult benefit from support that helps them to overcome gaps in their reading knowledge. Typically, these pupils become increasingly confident readers. The school also encourages pupils to read widely and regularly.

The needs of pupils with SEND are identified accurately. Specialist support is used to ensure that these pupils' needs are met well. Nonetheless, as with their peers, the achievement of pupils with SEND is variable across the curriculum.

The school identifies the barriers that prevent pupils from attending each day. It takes appropriate action to address high absence rates. Even so, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent remains above the national average.

Many pupils care for each other. They show respect to their peers and to staff. Nevertheless, the school has not been fully successful in eradicating the persistent poor behaviour of a small number of pupils.

Occasionally, staff do not use the agreed strategies to manage pupils' behaviour consistently well. Some parents, carers and pupils raised concerns about the negative impact that the poor behaviour of a few pupils has on others at the school.

The personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is designed carefully to develop pupils' awareness of personal safety and healthy living.

Pupils gain a strong understanding of the economy and personal finance. In the main, they gain a secure insight into different faiths and beliefs in society. Furthermore, pupils receive helpful careers advice to help them to make well-informed decisions about their next steps.

Some pupils expand their learning beyond the curriculum through visits, clubs and extra-curricular activities. For instance, some pupils enjoyed learning about historical events during their visit to New York. However, the take up of some of these activities and clubs are not promoted widely enough for some pupils, including those who are disadvantaged.

As such, these pupils have fewer opportunities to broaden their experiences, talents and interests.

Members of the governing body ensure that they are well informed about the school's strengths and areas for development. This helps them to routinely support and challenge the school.

Most staff appreciate the consideration that the school gives to their workload. However, a small number of staff believe that the work demands placed on them are hard to manage. The school, in partnership with the governing body, is currently working to address these concerns.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• At times, the way in which the subject content is presented does not enable pupils to build on their knowledge securely. This means that some pupils, including those with SEND, do not achieve well.

The school should ensure that some teachers are better equipped to deliver the curriculums so that pupils know and remember more. ? Some teachers do not check on pupils' learning effectively or address pupils' misconceptions well enough. Consequently, some pupils do not have the knowledge that they need to learn new subject content.

The school should ensure that some teachers use assessment strategies effectively to identify and then remedy any gaps in pupils' knowledge in a timely manner. ? The behaviour policy is not implemented consistently well by some staff. Occasionally, the strategies to manage behaviour are not effective in addressing the poor conduct of some pupils.

As a result, some pupils do not enjoy school due to the continued disruptive behaviour of other pupils. The school should support staff to use the agreed behaviour management strategies so that they have the desired impact. ? The school does not promote its extra-curricular offer well enough.

This means that the participation in clubs and visits is low, especially among disadvantaged pupils. This limits pupils' understanding and experiences of the wider world. The school should design opportunities to promote pupils' wider development better so that more pupils can broaden their experiences, talents and interests.