Filey School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have started to work with other schools to plan what pupils will learn, and when.

As a result, many pupils are beginning to learn more than they have previously. This is not true for all pupils. Those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not achieve well.

Teachers are often not aware of how to help pupils with SEND to learn. Often, pupils with SEND sit in lessons without learning anything.

The new behaviour policy means that lessons are disrupted by poor behaviour less often and that teachers can teach.

Pupils told us that behaviour has improved in lessons because they do not want to get a detention. Many pupils... and parents feel that the new behaviour policy is unfair. They feel that the reasons for the changes have not been communicated effectively.

Pupils are not taught consistently to respect people who are different from themselves. Pupils and staff told us that discriminatory language, particularly regarding sexual orientation, is commonly used as 'slang' around the school. Pupils accept it as the norm and do not challenge or report it.

Bullying happens around the school. Pupils told us that it is often overlooked by staff as 'banter' or 'just boys being boys'. When bullying is reported to staff, it is investigated and dealt with but not always as quickly as it could be.

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

Leaders at all levels have been slow to address the weaknesses identified in the inspection of 2018. Leaders' plans for bringing about improvements are often based on reacting to events rather than planning ahead. Plans that do exist are often not well thought through and lack the detail required for them to be successful.

Those responsible for governance know the significant weaknesses of the school. Leaders of the EBOR Academy Trust have identified that the trust does not have the necessary experience of secondary education to be able to provide the support that the school needs to improve. They have arranged for a trust with secondary experience to work intensively with the school.

Leaders have used this external support to improve the quality of education that pupils receive. This has been effective in many subjects where decisions about what pupils will learn, and when, are giving teachers greater clarity about what they should teach. These changes are supporting teachers to teach more effectively and many pupils to achieve more highly than they have previously.

Pupils with SEND are not served well by the school. Pupils' needs are identified, but many teachers do not know how to make adaptions to their lessons to help pupils with SEND learn effectively. Plans to train staff in how to support pupils with specific difficulties are vague.

There is a culture among some staff that the progress of pupils with SEND is the responsibility of the special needs team. Relationships between many families of pupils with SEND and the school are poor.

Personal, social, health, citizenship and economic (PSHCE) provision is weak.

PHSCE has not been prioritised by school leaders. Not all pupils receive full timetabled PHSCE lessons. The newly introduced curriculum consists of individual lessons loosely connected in broad themes.

There is little consideration given to how pupils will develop knowledge and understanding over time. Sometimes, what pupils are taught in lessons does not match with what leaders have identified they want pupils to learn. Leaders do not do enough to check on the quality of what is taught, or how well pupils have learned.

This leaves some pupils insufficiently prepared for aspects of life in modern Britain.

Leaders have ensured that pupils receive independent careers advice. As pupils returned to school following the most recent period of restrictions, leaders prioritised pupils in most need of advice, including those with SEND.

The number of pupils excluded from school on more than one occasion is high. Leaders do not consider patterns of behaviour that lead to exclusion for individual pupils, or across the school as a whole. This prevents staff from being proactive and taking steps to minimise the likelihood of behaviour leading to exclusions.

Leaders are reliant on external support for making decisions about how to improve their school. Without the high levels of support currently being received, the progress evident in some areas would stall and not be able to begin in others.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have ensured that all staff receive regular safeguarding training. There are clear systems in place for staff to report any concerns about a pupil's well-being. The school's designated safeguarding lead takes appropriate action, including working with external agencies, to keep pupils safe.

Leaders ensure that necessary checks are made on newly appointed staff before they start work in school.

During the period when schools were closed to most pupils, leaders ensured that systems were quickly set up to check on the well-being of pupils. This included visiting pupils' homes where necessary.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Improvement planning lacks clarity. Leaders need to carefully consider what they want to achieve. They should then plan the key steps necessary to achieve those goals and articulate them clearly to staff and other stakeholders.

• Leaders have not ensured that pupils with SEND are supported to achieve highly. Leaders must ensure that all staff know how to support pupils with additional needs. Leaders must ensure that pupils receive this support in lessons.

• The school does not prepare pupils well enough for life in modern Britain. Some pupils use discriminatory language as a matter of course. Leaders should ensure that the PHSCE curriculum is designed to build knowledge and understanding over time so that pupils learn how to interact appropriately and value each other equally.

• Leaders do not routinely consider patterns in poor behaviour, including bullying. This prevents them from taking steps to address those issues proactively. Leaders should put in place systems to analyse negative behaviours and use this to identify key issues in school.

Leaders should address recurring behaviour issues for individual pupils and across the school as a whole. ? Although leaders have improved the curriculum in many subjects, there are some subjects where necessary improvements have not yet taken place. Leaders should ensure that efforts are redoubled in these areas to ensure that pupils have the same opportunities as they do in other subjects.