Cressex Community School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

The school's leaders have established a strong climate for learning, which has led to improvements in the quality of teaching and examination results for students. Students develop good knowledge, skills and understanding in most subjects and particularly in mathematics. Students make good progress overall from low starting points.

The improvement in students' achievement is a direct result of the school's drive to improve learning and teaching. Teaching is good and improving. Teachers have high expectations and are ambitious for students' achievement.

Students enjoy a rich range of learning experiences to match their abilities ...and interests. Students work hard and behave well. The school is a harmonious community where students get on well and are respectful of each other and of adults.

Relationships between staff and students are a strength of the school and have a positive impact on students' learning and behaviour. The sixth-form course run for a small group of students is outstanding. Students make excellent progress from their starting points because they follow a well-planned curriculum that offers them an appropriate qualification.

Governors understand the school well. They give good support to leaders and ask them searching questions about the school's performance to make sure it continues to improve. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teaching is not yet outstanding.

Students do not get enough feedback, either through marking or in discussion on how they could improve their work. Some subject leaders are still developing their skills. Their actions do not have sufficient impact on improving their areas of responsibility.

Information about this school

The school is smaller than the average-sized secondary school. It has a non-selective admissions policy but is in a selective authority, where more-able pupils can choose to go to a grammar school if they pass the 11-plus examination The proportion of students who are disabled or who have special educational needs supported through school action or school action plus or who have statements of special education need is above average. The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium is above average.

The pupil premium provides additional funding for students known to be eligible for free school meals and looked-after children. The proportion of students with English as an additional language is higher than the national average. The majority of students are of Pakistani heritage.

The proportion of students from minority ethnic groups is well above average. An above-average number of children are eligible for Year 7 catch-up funding, which is for students who did not achieve the expected level in reading or mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2. There is a very small sixth form that offers one course for a group of students wishing to study Children's Care, Learning and Development.

While the school is now full in the lower years, the upper school has had a significant number of spare places. As result, many students join the school after the usual starting point. Some of these students, having recently arrived in the country, start with weak communication skills, while others arrive having had an unsuccessful previous school experience.

No students attend any form of alternative provision. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress in English and mathematics. The school is in a trust called the Cressex Cooperative Learning Partnership, which consists of the following partners: Wycombe Abbey School, The Cooperative College, Buckinghamshire County Council and Buckinghamshire New University.

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