Holte School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Holte School welcomes everyone. It is a calm and safe environment in which pupils learn well. Pupils treat each other and adults with evident respect.

They are confident that staff will resolve any disagreements. Staff provide an exceptional quality of pastoral care.

The school sets high expectations for pupils' learning and conduct.

The school has established a consistent approach to managing pupils' behaviour, and everyone understands it. This enables pupils to recognise the impact of what they do. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school.

Attendance is above the national average, and has risen steadily.

The school pays great at...tention to developing pupils' character. Pupils learn about different cultures and about world events.

Staff teach pupils how to manage setbacks, and offer them lots of opportunities to develop skills in leadership. Many pupils take part in clubs at lunchtime or after school.

Leaders have planned an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Teachers know their subjects well. They make sure that work builds on what pupils already know and can do.

The inclusive sixth form offers a range of good opportunities.

Students in the sixth form particularly like the personalised help they get with their work.

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

The school has planned an ambitious, broad curriculum. At key stage 3, pupils follow all the subjects in the national curriculum.

The large majority go on to follow a course leading to GCSEs in English, mathematics, modern foreign languages, humanities and science. Leaders plan learning so that pupils add to what they already know. They ensure that the content pupils learn reflects pupils' varied cultures.

Leaders identify those who join the school with weaker reading skills. They provide these pupils with extra help, so that they catch up well. Teachers promote reading, and make sure that pupils across the school read widely in different subjects.

Teachers have a secure grasp of their subjects. Teachers pay good attention to the different knowledge and skills that make up each subject. They help pupils to remember what they have learned by testing, for example, their knowledge of previous learning at the start of the lesson.

Teachers check on pupils' learning and, in general, help them to address any misconceptions. However, in the main school, there are inconsistencies in how effectively the curriculum is delivered, both within and between subjects. In some subjects, teachers do not make best use of assessment in order to determine what pupils need to learn next.

Although pupils achieve well, there are inconsistencies in pupils' academic success by the end of key stage 4.

Staff are ambitious for pupils with SEND. Leaders identify their additional needs accurately, and provide clear guidance for staff on how best to meet them.

Pupils with SEND follow the same curriculum as their peers, and learn well.

Pupils behave very well in lessons because there is a clear understanding of what the school expects. Pupils concentrate hard, take pride in their work and listen carefully although, in some classrooms, they are reluctant to actively contribute to the learning.

In the sixth form, students attend well and use their study time wisely.

Staff know pupils and their families very well. They provide high-quality support for those experiencing difficulties, expertly drawing on help from other agencies.

Leaders have planned an impressive programme of personal development that teaches pupils about healthy relationships and how to stay safe. Pupils learn about the wider world and how to be good citizens. In particular, they come to respect themselves and others, and understand how to resolve conflict.

The school has received national recognition for this visionary work.

The school delivers a programme of careers guidance that builds through the key stages. Staff provide individual pupils, and students in the sixth form, with impartial advice about education, employment and apprenticeships.

However, the school does not ensure that pupils in all key stages get some information they need early enough. This means that their experience of the world of work is somewhat limited.

Leaders make sure that staff are well trained for the jobs that they do.

Less-experienced staff receive effective support when they join the school. Staff say that leaders take their workload into consideration. Leaders understand what they need to do to improve the effectiveness with which the curriculum is delivered across the school.

Nevertheless, there is a lack of clarity about how leaders intend to put their ideas into action.

Recent appointments to the board of governors have strengthened its capacity to hold leaders to account.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There is inconsistency in the effectiveness with which the curriculum is implemented within and across subjects. As a result, too much variation remains in classroom practice and in the impact of the curriculum on pupils' outcomes. The school should establish how it will use its monitoring and evaluation processes to identify the actions it needs to take in order to secure high-quality delivery of the curriculum across the school.

• The school's programme of careers education, information and guidance does not provide pupils and students in the sixth form with some information early enough. Their experience of the world of work has been restricted. The school should ensure that this guidance is provided at an appropriate time so students benefit fully from these experiences.

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