Faringdon Community College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Faringdon School is a rapidly growing school. Pupils in all year groups, including the sixth form, enjoy their lessons and are well supported by staff.

Opportunities are provided to broaden pupils' interests and experiences. Pupils are excited for their future and willingly participate in extra-curricular activities. They are proud to take part in volunteering and help around the school as 'environmental protection officers'.

Additionally, older pupils act as buddies to younger ones in school or as sports leaders who regularly help at local primary school events.

The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour and is working to make sure that all pupil...s can meet them. While most pupils consistently behave well, a small number have found this more difficult.

These pupils welcome the individual support they now receive. This is helping them to steadily improve their behaviour and their ambition at school.

Pupils appreciate the lessons they have about positive relationships and staying safe.

This means that pupils have a well-developed sense of fairness and of being part of a community. They know who to talk to if they have concerns and pastoral support is increasingly personalised. Bullying is not tolerated.

Leaders act quickly should it occur.

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

The school's ambitious curriculum prepares pupils well for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Pupils study a wide range of subjects and appreciate the choice they have of both GCSEs and A levels.

In most subjects, staff use their strong subject expertise to teach knowledge at the right time and then check pupils' learning. However, in the subjects where this is less precise, teachers are not always clear about the order in which specific knowledge should be learned, making it difficult to consistently check pupils' understanding. This means pupils do not always achieve as highly as they could.

The school recognises this, and continues to provide additional training and support as needed.

The school makes sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive support in lessons. However, because some staff are not familiar enough with pupils' individual needs, this support is not precisely targeted.

The school is working to ensure staff are clear about the needs of pupils with SEND, and to ensure that the support provided is of high quality.

The importance of reading is prioritised. At the start of each lesson, quiet reading time helps pupils to quickly settle and boosts their reading practice.

Frequent checking of pupils' reading ability means that the school is able to provide help should any pupil need more support.

The school's sixth form is vibrant, and students enjoy their studies. In lessons they benefit from very good relationships with their teachers and each other.

This leads to a learning atmosphere where knowledge is deepened through discussion, tailored tasks, and activities. Students play an important role in the school and are particularly proud of the whole-school performances, where they play leading roles and support younger pupils in their acting debuts.

Most pupils behave well and are polite and welcoming.

They have positive relationships with their teachers and the vast majority are respectful to one another. However, sometimes pupils' learning is disrupted, and at times a small minority of pupils do not meet the school's expectations of behaviour. In the past, the school's behaviour systems have not always been used by staff as consistently as leaders intended.

In response to this, the school has deliberately strengthened both the support pupils receive and the clarity of how pupils are expected to behave. This has been effective in reducing the number of incidents, but further work is needed so all pupils are helped to meet the expectations of behaviour.

The attendance of some pupils is too low.

The school recognises how this has led to some pupils having gaps in their subject knowledge and understanding. The school has put new systems in place to help pupils attend regularly. Leaders know the importance of continuing to focus on these to ensure pupils do not miss out on valuable learning.

Pupils value the personal development opportunities offered, including the effective careers programme. Sixth-form students have a broad understanding of the range of choices they have after A levels. Termly 'PD Days' teach pupils about how to stay safe and healthy.

A range of clubs and activities help to develop pupils' broader interests, and the school is ambitious to do more. International trips, such as skiing, to the CERN Laboratories in Switzerland and to Uganda, enhance pupils' understanding of the world.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, curriculum thinking is still being refined. As a result, in places, pupils do not learn as much as they could. The school should ensure that, for all subjects, staff have a secure understanding of the sequence of knowledge pupils need to learn over time and check this is building towards the ambitious end points.

• Currently, the support that some pupils with SEND receive is not as precise as it should be. This means that pupils are not always getting the support they need. The school should continue to ensure all staff have the knowledge they need to provide the required precise support for pupils with SEND to achieve well.

The school is continuing to refine policies and practice related to behaviour. As a result, there are some inconsistencies in how well some staff implement the identified strategies. The school must continue to support staff in understanding the shared expectations and approaches.

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