Fir Vale School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders want to put pupils on the pathway to success.

However, the curriculum is not strong enough to fully realise this vision. Variability between subjects and teachers means that some pupils do not consistently benefit from a good quality of education. For a minority of older pupils, the English curriculum is not appropriately ambitious.

Pupils are friendly, confident and keen to make visitors feel welcome. Pupils behave well in lessons. They generally meet the high expectations set for them.

Sometimes, they are too enthusiastic to be involved and shout out. Staff deal with this well when it happens. Incidents of serious poor behaviour have reduced over ti...me.

Difference is celebrated among the school's diverse community. Staff organise 'togetherness' activities. These help pupils to build friendships with peers, who they might otherwise not socialise with.

Pupils enjoy their 'elective' activities each Wednesday. For example, pupils can teach dance to younger pupils, learn new cooking skills or participate in sports leadership activities. This builds pupils' character.

Pupils trust staff and feel safe in school. Bullying is tackled effectively. Staff undertake effective work with both the victims of bullying as well as perpetrators.

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

Leaders have improved several aspects of the school. They have addressed previous issues around how well pupils interact with one another and with staff. The conduct of pupils is markedly better than it was in the past.

Pupils benefit from a strong personal development offer. However, not all pupils access an appropriately ambitious and broad curriculum. Around a sixth of pupils stop learning about English literature from Year 10 onwards.

This limits their exposure to important works of English, such as plays by Shakespeare. As a result, some pupils' horizons are broader than others.

There is variability in how well the curriculum is designed.

In some subjects, there is a well-thought-out and ambitious curriculum in place. For example, the mathematics curriculum supports pupils to build their knowledge over time. However, other subject curriculums are not as well structured.

Some subject leaders have not ensured that the curriculum helps pupils to remember important content over time. Others have not considered how the curriculum deepens pupils' understanding of important concepts. Very occasionally, teachers do not follow the planned curriculum.

This means that pupils have varying educational experiences.

Contrastingly, there is a very strong reading curriculum in school. Most pupils arrive to the school behind in their reading.

Some pupils arrive unable to read at all. Staff who teach reading are well trained. They use assessment well to identify pupils' starting points.

The school's 'literacy hub' delivers a range of well-designed programmes to help pupils catch up. This includes intensive support to give effective help to pupils who arrive with little or no English.

Leaders have trained staff on how to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

However, some information given to staff about pupils with SEND lacks precision. Some advice for teachers does not address pupils' individual needs. Some teachers do not use this information effectively.

This means that some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they could. Further training is underway to ensure that staff know how to better meet particular learning needs.

Pupils are lively but well behaved.

Effective training has ensured that staff have positive interactions with pupils in school. There is a genuine warmth between staff and pupils. Leaders tackle poor attendance robustly.

They have redoubled their efforts to ensure that pupils attend school regularly.

Leaders have developed a high-quality personal development offer. The provision to support pupils' pastoral needs is a notable strength.

Timetabled ethics lessons give pupils a valuable opportunity to debate big moral questions. An improved careers programme gives pupils useful information about their future prospects.

Staff appreciate the stability that senior leaders have given to the school.

Trustees often discuss staff well-being at their meetings. Staff feel that leaders consider the impact that decisions might have on staff workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a well-established culture of vigilance among staff. They receive regular safeguarding updates. This keeps staff abreast of any emerging safeguarding issues.

Staff know what might indicate that a pupil could be at risk of harm. When staff pass on concerns, staff responsible for safeguarding take timely action. Pastoral and safeguarding staff meet regularly to evaluate the actions that they have taken to support individual pupils and to put any necessary further support in place.

There is a well-designed programme to educate pupils about how to stay safe in the community and online. For example, pupils are taught about healthy relationships in an age-appropriate way throughout their time at school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• For some pupils, the curriculum lacks sufficient breadth and depth.

Some key stage 4 pupils are not exposed to English literature. This means that they have gaps in their cultural capital. Leaders should ensure that their vision for the curriculum is consistently realised by subject leaders and teachers, so that all pupils access an appropriately ambitious and rigorous curriculum in all subjects.

• There is variability in how well the curriculum is designed and implemented between subjects. Subject leaders have not given sufficient thought as to what important knowledge pupils need to know and remember in their subjects. This means that pupils find it hard to recall previous learning.

Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is well structured to support pupils to build and embed important knowledge in their long-term memory. ? Teachers do not adapt the curriculum consistently well for pupils with SEND. Although teachers are given advice on how to support pupils with SEND, this information lacks precision.

Some teachers do not use the information that is given to best effect. As a result, some pupils with SEND have gaps in their knowledge. Leaders should ensure that staff receive precise information and effective training, so that all pupils with SEND achieve well.