Court Moor School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Court Moor School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school lives up to its promise of 'a great place to be and a place to be great'.

Pupils value their education. They are happy and they feel safe. Pupils' behaviour and attitudes are consistently positive across the school.

They are respectful, polite, considerate and caring.

There is a productive working ethos around the school. The learning environment is calm and purposeful.

Pupils say bullying is rare. If it does occur, then it is quickly dealt with. Low-level disruption is not tolerated, and pupils have very high expectations of each other.

The extra-c...urricular provision is extensive. It covers a range of sporting, arts and club activities as well as trips abroad and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Pupils are encouraged to take on leadership roles.

These include prefects, house captains and subject ambassadors as well as allies for those with protected characteristics.

Parents are incredibly positive about the school. They say the school has high expectations and supports their child's wider personal development.

The vast majority recommend the school. Their written responses are summed up in the comment, 'The teachers are superb and the leadership team awesome.'

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

The curriculum is broad and ambitious.

It is carefully constructed to ensure all pupils leave school with a 'sense of success, purpose, empowerment, adventure and belonging'. Curriculum content meets, and often exceeds, the requirements of the national curriculum. It is designed to ensure pupils see learning as an enjoyable experience.

Links with partner primary schools are well developed. This guarantees curriculum continuity and avoids curriculum repetition. The provision for careers is extensive and wide ranging.

Pupils are well informed and supported. The school collaborates well with post-16 providers. The number of pupils proceeding to post-16 education is high in relation to national and local averages.

The take-up of the English Baccalaureate remains well below the national average because of the low uptake of languages. The school is aware and is working diligently to raise the profile and status of languages. Recent staff appointments are ensuring a greater ambition for the subject.

The value of languages is not always sufficiently articulated to pupils.

Leaders and middle leaders have worked hard to create a curriculum that is well suited to the needs of all pupils. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are high attainers.

Strong leadership of the provision for these pupils ensures that they flourish.

Disadvantaged pupils are well supported with the life skills they need to succeed. They are encouraged by their 'teaching and learning coaches' as well as knowledgeable teachers.

The innovative support for these pupils is beginning to have a marked impact on their attendance and their performance.

The school attaches considerable importance to reading. Leaders have used catch-up and recovery funding to ensure interventions are effective.

Leaders consider reading as a life skill and support is provided for those who have fallen behind. Literacy and vocabulary are strongly promoted across the school.

Teachers are highly skilled and have expert subject knowledge.

This is used successfully to deepen pupils' knowledge and support their understanding. Assessment practice is consistent. Pupils respond well to feedback.

They know what to do to improve. Assessment helps teachers to understand what pupils know and remember over time.

Leaders are reflective and innovative.

They have extremely high standards and expectations. They are highly visible across the school. Teachers appreciate the way that leaders trust their professional judgement.

They have autonomy to develop their curriculum and their teaching. Staff's workload is well managed. They very much enjoy working in the school.

Governors are enthusiastic, keen and knowledgeable. They have a particularly good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They care about the school and pupils' achievements.

The local authority enjoys positive relationships with the school. The school is highly regarded in the community.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are committed to keeping pupils safe. All staff have a clear understanding of their responsibilities. They receive regular safeguarding training and frequent updates.

They know how to identify risks and know what to do if they have any concerns. The processes to ensure the safe recruitment of staff are robust.The welfare, well-being and safety of all pupils are high priorities for the school.

Pupils are taught how to stay safe through the effective personal development programme. They all have an adult they can talk to if any problems arise.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The number of pupils taking a modern foreign language is well below national averages and well below the government's national ambition.

Languages have not been sufficiently encouraged and promoted in the past. Leaders should continue their efforts to promote languages to ensure that pupils benefit from the future opportunities that studying a language provides, as well as improving first language skills, experiencing distinct cultures and building self-confidence.

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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in April 2013.

Also at this postcode