Church Stretton School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Church Stretton School continues to be a good school.

The headteacher of this school is John Parr. The school is part of TrustEd Schools Alliance, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school.

The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Sarah Godden, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Mark Anderson.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like the fact that this is a small secondary school as it means everyone knows each other well. This is why many feel a strong sense of responsibility to the school and local community.

Many play a role in making decisions as school council representatives. Ol...der pupils act as 'bus captains', supporting younger pupils on their way to and from school.

Pupils are keen to be successful in the future and want to achieve well in their examinations.

They work hard in lessons. The importance of reading is valued, and pupils have access to a diverse range of books to read for enjoyment.

The majority of pupils meet the school's high expectations of behaviour.

There are a few who take advantage of times when they perceive consequences will not be followed through. Pupils want there to be greater consistency in how behaviour is dealt with by all staff. The school is working on this.

Pupils appreciate the wide range of clubs on offer, mainly at lunchtimes. These currently include badminton, 'Stretton Singers' and creative writing. The school has made sure that pupils develop an understanding of the diversity of wider Britain.

They enjoy a broad range of trips and visits to enhance their learning.

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

The curriculum is broad and ambitious. For example, all pupils benefit from a rich creative arts curriculum and can choose to study the triple GCSE science option at key stage 4.

The number of pupils choosing the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects is increasing.Pupils achieve well by the time they leave school and an impressively high number move into sustained education, employment or training post-16.

Learning in all subjects has been carefully sequenced to ensure it builds over time.

The curriculum includes regular opportunities for pupils to apply their learning independently. These opportunities help teachers assess how much pupils have learned and identify any gaps in knowledge. Any gaps or misconceptions are revisited effectively in subsequent lessons.

Year 10 pupils were revisiting key questions from their recent mock examinations to strengthen their knowledge.

There is a lot of good practice in how teachers deliver the curriculum. They have strong subject knowledge and explain new information clearly to pupils.

They use questioning well to check pupils' understanding and move learning forward. However, not all learning experiences are of the same high quality. For example, there is some variation in how well vocabulary is reinforced and in the effective modelling of writing.

Most pupils are keen to engage with the tasks they are given. However, some discussion activities are not structured in a way that enables pupils to deepen their thinking and understanding. Leaders know where pockets of inconsistency exist and are working to strengthen them.

The school provides well for any pupils who may require adaptation or additional support to succeed in their learning. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities have their needs identified and staff receive helpful, easily accessible information to help them adapt their teaching accordingly. Those pupils who are not yet secure readers benefit from equally strong support and make rapid progress.

Although most pupils behave well, there are a few who do not. This is because they know that not all staff follow the school's behaviour expectations to the same standard. The school is currently reviewing its behaviour policy to improve this.

Pupils know the importance of good attendance because the school makes it a priority. Attendance is in line with national averages. There has been a significant reduction in the number of pupils who are persistently absent.

Trustees, governors and leaders work well together to ensure the school is meeting its responsibilities and pupils are enabled to be successful. Staff value the ways in which their workload has been reduced. Most parents and carers appreciate the education their children receive at school.

Pupils benefit from high-quality careers education, which sets them up well for a successful future.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, there is variation in how well the curriculum is implemented by staff.

Sometimes, the choice of task or method of delivery, does not encourage all pupils to be actively engaged in their learning. The school should ensure that best practice is shared so that the quality of education is of a consistently high standard across the school. ? There are not enough planned opportunities for sustained and meaningful discussion in lessons.

This means that pupils' discussions do not always deepen their learning or enable more creative thinking. The school should ensure that pupils develop their oracy skills effectively to extend their ideas and deepen their learning across the curriculum. ? There are times when the school's behaviour policy and practices are not applied consistently.

As a result, some pupils' inappropriate behaviour is not always tackled well enough. The school should ensure that all staff follow the school's agreed policy for managing pupils' behaviour.

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

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

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2019.

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