Hornsea School and Language College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

The school is very well led and managed in a way that has engaged the enthusiasm and support of the staff, parents and carers and students. The senior leadership team have succeeded in driving improvement since the last report. Expectations of staff are high and they have understood and adopted the vision for the school set out by the leadership.

Staff feel their views and ideas are listened to and valued; they feel they are participating and contributing to the process of self-evaluation. The school's senior leadership team and middle managers know how well the school is doing. There are robust systems in place for the monitoring and evaluation of progress and staff are called to account by senior le...adership and by governors for the progress made by students in their faculties.

Given the improvements since the last inspection, and the good understanding they have of developments needed in the school, the senior leadership team have demonstrated good capacity for sustained improvement. Since the last inspection there has been an improving trend in outcomes for students. Their attainment at GCSE has improved and overall their progress has improved, although this is not consistent across all subjects.

The school has recognised this and continues to work on bringing about consistently high standards. Currently, the more-able students are not consistently making as good progress as other groups of students. This is because : they are not always set sufficiently challenging work.

The assessment of students, while accurately determining standards, has not always led to a planning response by teachers for groups and for individual students. The frequency and the quality of feedback to students are too inconsistent. There are lost opportunities in the use of tutor time to review students' performance and to develop challenge for them on what they need to do to improve.

There are heartening examples of the school being very successful in promoting the learning of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school's success in providing for the needs of most groups is good. Students speak positively of the care, guidance and support they receive.

Any incidents of inappropriate behaviour are quickly dealt with and students know where they can go for advice and guidance or to talk over any problems they encounter. Consequently, behaviour is good. Care, guidance and support in the school are good and there are good systems in place to liaise with appropriate agencies to bring about support and improvement.

Members of the sixth form speak positively about the support they receive and the fulfilment they get from acting as mentors to younger students. Pupils' behaviour is good in class and around the school. The school's specialism in languages has had a positive impact on the school.

A range of language lessons are being provided for the community and a good number of families have been involved in exchange visits with a French school. New technologies have allowed the school to connect to classrooms in Argentina and to have Skype contact with a Spanish school. Languages are actively involved in curriculum collaboration with other subjects such as music, art and mathematics.

Information about the school

The school is larger than the average for secondary schools and is situated in Hornsea, a small seaside town in North Holderness, East Yorkshire. The school was designated as a Language College in September 2004 and was redesignated as such in July 2008. The school has a lower-than-average proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.

It has a proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups that is well below the national average, as is the proportion of students who speak English as an additional language who speak English as an additional language. The school has a larger-than-average proportion of students who have a statement of special educational needs but the proportion having special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The school had its designation of Investor in People reconfirmed in November 2008.

It achieved the International School Award in 2008. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) designated the school a Mentor School in September 2007 and gave the SSAT Inclusion Award at the highest level of Transforming and Leading in autumn 2009. The Healthy Schools status was reconfirmed in May 2010 and the SSAT awarded the Investing in Community Engagement Quality Mark in August 2010.