Finham Park School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.

The school provides a caring and stimulating environment where students thrive academically and socially. The school is very well led. The headteacher and other leaders, including governors, continue to bring about improvements in the quality of teaching, learning, behaviour and attendance.

Students make excellent progress and do very well in their GCSE examinations. Standards in English and mathematics are high and continue to rise. All groups, including disadvantaged students and those who are disabled or have special educational needs, make equally rapid progress.

The social, moral, spiritual and cultural development ...of students is very strong. They have a wealth of opportunities to take part in cultural and sporting activities, and many overseas links help foster their understanding of the wider world. Teaching is consistently good or outstanding across age groups and subjects.

Teachers know all about their students' abilities and interests, and provide lessons which engage them and help them make rapid progress. Their marking is typically helpful in raising standards, although not always rigorous in improving literacy skills. Students have very good attitudes to learning and conduct themselves in an exemplary fashion around the school.

The school works very well to keep students safe at all times. The sixth form is well led. Improvements to teaching have led to current students making good progress, although some who join from other schools do not settle as quickly as they could and make slower progress as a result.

Students gain good examination results and the large majority go on to university. The remainder enter training or employment. Sixth formers make a strong contribution to the life of the school.

Information about this school

Finham Park School is a larger-than-average secondary school with sixth form. It converted to become an academy school on 1 August 2011. When its predecessor school, also called Finham Park School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be outstanding.

Around 60% of students come from White British backgrounds. The proportion of students from minority ethnic backgrounds is around 40%. This is higher than average.

Around 20% of students are of Indian heritage. The proportion of disadvantaged students supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for those in care and those known to be eligible for free school meals, is about one eighth, around half the national average. A very few sixth form students undertake part of their education at Coundon Court, Tile Hill Wood School and Language College, or Bluecoat Church of England School and Music College.

About one in seven of the students are disabled or have special educational needs. This is close to the national average. The school provides part of the education for a very few of its students at Henley College, City College, Coombe Abbey Country Park, Brakes Training, and Heart of England Training, all situated in Coventry.

The headteacher is a National Leader of Education and the school provides support to other schools in the local authority and in the wider region. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress by the end of Key Stage 4. It also meets the interim minimum standards for sixth form students.